When Bill Russell took it PERSONALLY
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 พ.ค. 2024
- A story about the time Bill Russell got angry, and achieved history as a result.
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#nba #basketball #finals - กีฬา
What’s your favorite “took it personally” story?
when during a half time interview, the interviewer asked why he didnt listen to his coach, he then blocked 1/4th of all the suns shots for the rest of the game, holding them to a 24% field goal percentage, and leading them to a 20 point comeback
The two very similar stories of Bill Russell in the video and Tim Duncan in 2014
My favorite took it personally story is one when a old mj who was 40 told kobe he never be him and in the all star game he went crazy the next time they face another one is when devin booker thought he was him and was talking all that but then a luka by him self whoop bro.
Some guard was talking shit to Wilt in a scrimmage, and then he told him your not getting another point and proceeded to block every single shot he took for the rest of the game
LeBron James "getting his feelings hurt" by the Warriors in 2016 in Game 4 and then having one of the best performances in NBA Finals history
IN A 15 YEAR SPAN( FINAL 2 YEARS OF COLLEGE .. 13 YEAR NBA 🏀 CAREER) .. OL'🐐👑BILL RUSSELL#6 WON 13 CHAMPIONSHIP 🏆 .. INCLUDING THE FINAL 2 AS A PLAYER-COACH ..
With a 55 game win streak and an Olympic gold in basketball. He was also qualified for high jump in the Olympics but opted for basketball.
Russell was such an amazing defensive mind. I wish blocks were recorded during his career.
Amazing mind period, probably the smartest player on and off the court of all time
Mannn imagine how any blocks him and Wilt averaged per game??? 😧
@Michael Barnes well according to available data, both were in the 8+ range. A key difference that favored Bill was the technique. Wilt loved the showmanship of a good swat to the back row while Bill pretty much every time tried to float a block back into his own or a teammates hands to start the fastbreak and steal possession.
@@kannon1610 true indeed Bill always tried to keep the ball in play and secure the possession
@@kannon1610 I wonder how many triple doubles he had
I have told people this in years, bill russell was the first nba player with a killer instinct, he wasn't meek, this was his advantage over wilt
Facts
Russell was also a world-class athlete in his own right. He just wasn’t the all-time freak level mutant that Wilt was.
Wilt was not meek. what a nonsense comment.
@@page8301 No, Wilt was 100% meek especially compared to Russell. It's not that Wilt didn't have it, he was just...
He reminds me of a quote from Kobe about Shaq "Generally guys at that size are a little timid and they don’t want to be tall, they don’t want to be big. This dude, though, he did not care. He was mean, he was nasty, he was competitive, he was vindictive..."
Well Wilt wasn't mean, nasty or vindictive. Competitive, yes. But he played like he didn't want to be huge - usually, unless he was pissed off. Wilt was a mostly-gentle giant. He wanted to be seen as more than godzilla imposing his will through shear force, especially in that era. It was much more acceptable, according to the rules/refereeing and the basketball culture to be physically domineering in Shaq's time too.
Wilt was absolutely the most awesome physical force ever to play, but he rarely brought that to bear. Russell brought everything he had to bear and went for the throat with it in a way Wilt did not.
Jack McMahon said ""The best thing that happened to the NBA is that God made Wilt a nice person... he could all have killed us with his left hand."
@@samantharay6098 Wilt wanted to be seen as more than just a big strong guy, he wanted to be acknowledged for his skill. That has nothing to do with "meek" so the claim that he was "meek" is nonsense. He was as competitive as anyone else, something a meek person would never be.
If the NBA Finals MVP and NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards had existed since the 1950s, Bill Russell would have won quite a few NBA Finals MVP and NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards.
Yes indeed most if not all the Finals MVPs and probably split the DPoY with Wilt in winning the award each year they played maybe won more by a few
Bill Russell was one ankle injury away from realistically winning 10 rings in a row and we just sit back and act like that’s normal.
He’s One Ankle Injury and One Wilton Norman Chamberlain from going 13/13 😂😂😂. Bill was him
@@TheOGHoopByTheBook ✅✅✅✅✅
People don’t realize how much of a dog bill Russell was
Absolutely.
Which is mind blowing bc being arguably the greatest defender ever REQUIRES being a dog
@@juliothom2408 Bill is kind of like Clyde Drexler in that throughout their whole careers, they always looked 48 years old
I do. I highly respect those players from that era. Unlike so many do not today
“What if I told you Bill Russell had that Dawg in him?”
It took almost 9 minutes on an 11 minute video for you to get to the point, and it was freaking worth it. Please, do more storied videos like this.
This was a very entertaining video, kinda makes me rethink about Russell’s overall career man just won and is the definition of winning
People underestimate Bill and Wilt because of the era they played in but Bill was going against and 7'1 250-275 pound man with a 40+ inch vertical who was also fast for his size and still won 11 rings in that era
Bill and Wilt would be superstars in the current era
Yeah rebounding was inflated back then but so is points now
Both are tremendously underrated. People act like they weren't world class athletes. Bill Russell could have been in the Olympics for high jumping. His length / ridiculous wing span and world class high jumping and people act like he would be outmatched by todays athletes is ridiculous. The way people talk about the 1960s is ridiculous they act like its 2000 years ago when the average height was 5'4" or whatever. Its VERY RECENT history. 1960s were actually somewhat a golden era in athletics with world class athletes in many sports. Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, Bullet Bob Hayes arguably the only guy even in the conversation with Bolt for title of fastest man in history. Muhammad Ali etc. Chamberlain is the GOAT of all of them though. Russell was a great Bball IQ, physical player, freak athlete and all time great rebounder and Chamberlain had that 55 rebound game against him. I dont care how inflated the rebounds are, they could be double for all I care but to me that dominance over someone like Russell, no one can compete with Chamberlain.
Actually points were inflated back then lol, back when wilt averaged 50 scoring was through the roof.
Bill Russell is Ben Wallace in todays game
@@lukeinvictus69 Wilt was the only one doing it tho, ahead of his time
Even though I'm quite young myself even I know scoring now is much more inflated, non stars can randomly have a 40 to 50 point games.
It's largely because of the many ways players can score nowadays, the paint is not clogged anymore, no hand checking, it's easier to draw fouls.
@@DeeReeseBeats Well, 50 points is an exceptional scoring average to be sure, even for that time. However, you're wrong about the scoring now being more inflated. Scoring now is higher when compared to the 90s, yes, but not compared to the 1961 season. In the 1961-62 season, there were multiple teams that averaged over 120 points per game, and multiple players averaged 30 points per game in the same season that wilt averaged 50. This is a verifiable fact, not opinion, that scoring was higher in that season than it is today.
This often gets ignored but Baylor had fallen off by the time Wilt arrived, in the 69 postseason, he averaged just 15 points on a horrible 43.2%ts (league average was 48). 18.7 points on 50.7% ts (league average was 49.8) in the 1970 postseason and played 11 games across the next 2 seasons. Baylor played well in the first regular season in 69 but beyond that he was a non factor if not a net negative.
@Slywerk Baylor did not play "amazing" in 1970, 18 points on league average efficiency
@Slywerk I really don't get your argument, he scored 18 in a lot of games but also below 18 in a lot of em, thats why we use averages. He had 50.4% ts in the 70 playoff and the average was 49.8. 18 points back then is like 15.5 today, he was decent as a role player 3rd option but not even a fraction of his prime
@Slywerk Wilt focused on defense, rebounding and passing on the lakers. He tried to let west and baylor handle the scoring load, obviously he had to stepup after baylor declined, but he was very impactful with those other aspects. It's funny, he played like Russell did at that point, and more effectively I might add, as he was a better rebounder and passer, and he was the best post defender in the game at that point. Unfortunately those same people who say Russell is better will also say wilt fell off on the lakers just because his scoring averages went down, even though that wasn't his role on that team.
@Slywerk You are so full of shit lmao, didn't know true shooting was a "fantasy stat". Of course nearly half the players will be under the league average, ITS THE FUCKING LEAGUE AVERAGE. Let's not act like an old and injured Baylor was doing things on defense and rebounding like Rodman was. I also find it funny how you make it such a big deal that he was 13th in ppg even though there were only 8 teams, by your logic Kelly Oubre and Kuzma averaging 20 a game should be the top free agents. Baylor at that point wasn't providing much defense, playmaking or rebounding and his scoring was very mediocre for a second option (taking almost as many shots as Wilt btw).
@Slywerk slywerk? More like good work. You dug into all the details. I will agree with the OP, though, that Baylor did *seem* to fall off, your details notwithstanding. He did get replaced, as 1 of you said, largely by Happy Hairston and Jimbo, bc after he retired obviously they went on that record 33 win game streak en route to the chip.
Its fair to say that Bill Russell was the greatest leader in the NBA.
Magic Johnson got to be in their
@@coachwane in the same room with Bird, Thomas and MJ. BUT overall, it was Russell.
Bill Russell Was A Dfensive Beast Imagine If He Had A good Scoring game to
No need to the celtics played fast on the break and he often started it from his rebounding and passing cause obviously no 3 pointer if you didn't play fast it's ineffective offense, Bill always said he tried to make wilt run when ever they played
He had a fine offensive game (15 ppg) but with sharpshooters like Heinsen and Sam Jones ....
Russell averaged 15 points for his career and over 4 rebounds. He wasn't a specialist. The Celtics had better scoring options, but Russ could score if needed.
He could score when he wanted it he dropped 30 & 40 in a Game 7 once
@@donshults7772 he avg 15 and 22 rebounds he was a SPECIALIST. please go do research.
It pains me Defensive stats (Blocks & Steals) were not officially recorded in the 1950's & 60's. I believe Bill Russell's name would be revered differently with his defensive prowess.
Very true, I think Wilt's even more. In the 112 games where blocks were recorded he averaged 8.3 blocks.
@@justicefelipe4794 I agree. For as great Bill’s defensive numbers would have been, Wilt’s would have been insane close to a triple double in blocks maybe. Bill the GOAT in my humble opinion lol
@@justicefelipe4794 100%. Wilt would be very hard to keep out of the GOAT conversation. 50 ppg season, league leading assist season, and total defensive dominance... even in the 1980s he shut down the showtime lakers with a bunch of college kids. th-cam.com/video/Ae4UhI-o_Fg/w-d-xo.html What a legend
Bill the real goat. 11/13 years won the chip. From start to finish he was a champ. If they only made accolades, awards and tracked stats since the beginning Russell,Mikan and Wilt would have their rightful spots at the top
they should be at the top of the majority if people aren't ignorant stat watching morons
@The Juggernaut plus a ton of triple doubles, a few quad doubles, probably a few steals title cause he always kept the ball in play + 13 all def selections
@The Juggernaut Been preaching this for years. Church. Its a big man's league.
@@TheJuggernaut-qt9cs even without all that I see him as one of four or five legitimately and respect everyone immensely that thinks so
Bill's my GOAT :)
Bill Russell paved the way for players that play with pure defense and playnaking like Draymond Green, Dennis Rodman, and many more....
-Ron, The Almighty Rat King
Bill Russell is the prime example of “defense wins championships”
Don’t forget the other 6 hofers he had that actually scored points ijs
@@discokidd1264 don't forget that despite the whole teammates carrying narrative that those HoF teammates multiple times composed the league's worst offense and would win their games by strangling opponents to far below their usual production, not outshooting them.
@@discokidd1264 BILL RUSSEL MADE THEM HOFS. THEY NEVER WON WITHOUT HIM. Dont forget the 2 chips in highschool and 2 ncaa chips and gold medal
@@kannon1610 bill Russel made them hofs. How many chips they won without him.
@corey thomas i believe Sam, Cousy, and Havlicek would have been HoF material either way, but they're damn sure not winning most of their chips without Bill. So many people look at their ppg and go "look at their points, that makes them the better player" and forget that if you asked any of *them* who the single most valuable player on 90% of those championship runs was they would say Bill Russell was. Why? Because despite those guys being great in their own right, they usually combined forces to only be in the bottom half or sometimes even *the worst* offensive team in the whole league. So how could that possibly achieve 60 win seasons and take championships from competition when all their opponents' average offensive production was better than theirs? By strangling them every night with the nearly undisputed greatest defensive player of all time drastically cutting down their opponents' typical offense to even lower levels than their own.
yo how has no one thought of calling him the billy goat yet
Easy mate, this is not hate its facts, thats because he was a literally bad player at the offensive side of the ball, every “GOAT” candidate call it MJ, Kareem, LBJ, Kobe or who ever you want is probably great at both sides or at least addecuate on the one he is not excelent as Magic, who was great at stealing the ball, Bird made some all defensive teams, or Tim Duncan had a reliable shot to go to in his offensive game and was a legit 18-20 point socrer while being a amazing defender. Bill doesnt has that on his favor
@@josemiguelcachafeiro1331 bruh you don’t even know that lol. Bill averaged 15 a game that’s not bad for a center for one. Two none of those guys you named ever dropped 30 points and 40 rebounds in a playoff game before. That was Bill. He could score when he wanted to but he was a pass 1st player he said it himself dude.
@@josemiguelcachafeiro1331 HE BETTER THAN MJ. 11 in 13 year's is better than 6 in 15 year's. Fmvp and dpoy and steal and blocks. Didn't EXIST in the 60s. Bill the true goat.
@@michaelbarnes2126 averaged 15 on 44% shooting from the floor as a center that plays close to the basket, in an era with high pace and inflated stats, yeap thats not good at all so that he could score when he wanted its no true in fact he struggle to score when he tried, now the rebounds easy to put up a lot of those when people miss a lot in that many attemps, Elgin Baylor an SF averaged 15 a game and its easy when that is the only thing you are supposed to do. Now the the pass first Tim Duncan, Wilt, Kareem are way more efficient and average at least 4 to 5 point more wilt puts 15 more points in 54%, in the same era Bob Pettit averaged 26 in the same percentage and just 1 assist less with 16 boards so he had to be good in both sides. He is top 10 for most just because of the rings if he had 2, 5 or 7 and no one would talk about him
@@coreythomas3633 on what base you saying that, if it is only rings then you have to take count of competition Bill played in an era with no free agency, so teams couldnt get better in the off seasons, there were only 9 teams way less than the 30 of Jordans era, so if teams cant get better, he is on the best one and there are only a bunch of teams winning gets easy, not all rings are built the same
I truly enjoyed this video! I learned a ton from it!
Great video. It's always interesting to hear about old legends, and these type of stories are always the best
I didn’t know this story. It’s great! Thank you for sharing it.
Awesome video, Jonny :)! I love learning about NBA history, especially the rivalry between Boston and LA. This video is informative and intriguing. Keep up the nice work.
Lakers were dysfunctional and let egos get in the way. Of course, Wilt had a huge ego. But Coach Van Breda Koff also had an ego.
Even if they hated each other, which they probably did, the coach should've put Wilt in the game. He should have played to Wilt's ego. Something like "Go show us how good you are Wilt! Now's your chance to kick Bill Russell's ass before he retires!"
Wilt stunk all series that was on him
@Slywerk , he may be playing amazing but they were trailing by 15pts. The time that the lakers made a comeback was when he sat on the bench. As a coach, would you disrupt your good offense now or would you bring in a player that despite playing amazing was playing poor team offense before? Obviously the coach went for the good thing he has that time than gamble on playing wilt again. Remember, wilt was notorious for disrupring his team's offense. Might be the reason they were trailing before he went out of game.
There's also the time Wilt was asked why he "refused" to obey his coach in a half-time interview. In the second half, the Big Dipper scored 15 blocks, for a game total of 23. He blocked every fourth shot attempt by the entire opposing team and kept their collective FG% to 24%. In the process, he turned a 24 point half-time deficit to a 20 point victory.
Oh, and this was one of his televised games, on Christmas day 1968, so there should be video evidence.
This game also cemented the view of Wilt being a loser as he simply couldn't get it done when it mattered the most. Lakers actually had their best run after he got "injured", and when he wanted to get back in, the Lakers coach wouldn't let him as he didn't think Chamberlain had what it takes to finish it. He thought their backup center, Mel Counts, played better.
I’m happy I wasn’t alive those times as a lakers fan it would of haunted me to know we could of gotten that chip
Saaaame
It's kind of funny how we have mystified players' Took-It-Personally moments when all it is is players using a healthy and productive outlet to take out their frustrations which is the more applicable lesson we should take away from these moments.
Good comment.
It’s referencing a quote from Jordan. There’s no mysticism involved. MJ used to make up reasons to hate his opponents in order to excel. Kind of psycopathic, to be honest, but it worked.
@@bowmanencore Even then, that's mostly him motivating himself to succeed.
Best NBA youtuber No doubt.
Look up "Thinking Basketball"
Lately your posting frequency has been crazy Jonny. It's top notch stuff as always, just please watch out so you don't burn out
I appreciate it bro!! I’m not too worried tbh. The reason for the increase in frequency is because my wife has started helping me by editing and prepping the audio, so now I can produce videos much quicker. Our income has basically tripled since the change, so we’re quite motivated too 😂 I used to be frustrated that I couldn’t produce videos as fast as I can come up with ideas…. but now I can, so honestly I’m just more happy with this new upload schedule all-around 👍
@@jonnyarnett awesome!
These SHOULDER were built for a REASON 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
That line was cold. Bill has that dawg in him.
Outstanding! The wiser of the fields. How knowledgeable efforts should course not only stats but diverging energies to verse a beloved contenence.
Thank you Jonny! When are you going to post up your 150 questions video?
Bill Russell may not be the GOAT today, but he absolutely was the GOAT for a time
He STILL IS,11 chips in 13 year's did it against a guy who avg 50.
Antihero video I can point to when people disrespect the late, great Bill Russell. He didn’t ask to be placed in the 50’s NBA era he just decided to dominate it. Could score when he wanted to as well, dropping 30 & 40 in a Game 7 in that 10-0 Finals record. He’s the Billy GOAT lol
10-0on game 7's. I think he lost 1 finals because he got injured during the series.
Good vid Johnny
agreed. you go Johnny!
What an awesome story!
Best basketball TH-camr is Johnny Arnett
Bro you got the best intro in the game
I’ve seen this game before but this was a good video, u deserve more views
I thought this was going to be about him demanding a salary $1 higher than Wilt Chamberlain's.
8:04
And 3 year later, the Lakers FINALLY (sorta, Elgin had retired by then) carry out Jack's plans.
that's a great one
The one true GOAT 🐐
Can't be the GOAT if you have weaknesses imo
he was a below average offensive player of his time, so definitely can't be goat. Wilt was a slightly worse defender, better rebounder, better passer, wayyyyyyyyyy better scorer but with much worse teams
@@batssama "the team around his changed" bro what are you talking about? His team was basically the same his entire career. Along with bill, Sam Jones and 4 other players also left. So obviously the team would be shaken up, besides, they were back to contention after just 2 more seasons. Russell was objectively below average on offense, 15 points a game (which would be like 13 adjusting to today's game) on below league average efficiency. Wilt was better in every way except defense, and the gap there was quite small too
@@batssama That's nice, but you can't be the goat when you shoot 42% for your career. A center no less.
@@batssama Just look at the year by year rosters, they remained largely the same. Obviously things will change a lot in 13 years, he was literally on the same team the entire time. There are few that had the team stability that bill had so i find it pretty dumb that you're using team instability as an argument for him. The numbers do show that Steph was way more efficient, he was also a better playmaker. Not sure where you're getting at, Wilt was undeniably a better scorer, passer and rebounder. This is not just something that the numbers support but something that basically everyone agrees on
Bill DID lose once in a Finals series - against Atlanta his second year, when he spent 2.5 games out hurt and the Celtics didn't quite make it to Game 7.
My all time Starting five:
Russell
Jordan
Kareem
Bird
Magic
sports is abt winning first and foremost not stats, as the undisputed alpha of his teams he should be right on top of everything
This had to be a crushing defeat. Ouch.
As soon as i saw the title, i knew where this video was going. Lol
For some reason Bill Russell cussing seems weird. Like he’s too nice of a guy or something 😂
Bill Russell nice? He's one of the angriest human beings I've ever seen. Odd take
I know what you mean! Feels odd to me too. But he was soft spoken when appropriate and fiery when it came to competition and civil rights. He mellowed out a lot as he got older too, so i feel like that might be a lot of where we get that impression of him as a nicer guy
Look up "wilson burger" and see how "nice" Bill Russell was.
Just wanna hElp the video🎉
Arenas tripping hard. Dream already killed ORLANDO SHAQ. Joker good but let's see how consistent he'll be before placing him over anyone
When did Hakeem kill Shaq? What games were you watching 👀
@melvynsngltn27 it's called the 95 nba finals, aka the sweep. Shaq couldn't do anything with that man. It was BBQ chicken
@@Westlyn80 I saw every game
@@Westlyn80 Hakeem couldn't do nothing with Shaq. Hakeem took 30 shots to score 33ppg 🤣🤣 meanwhile Horry, Drexler and Elie outplayed Shaq's supporting cast something so would of noticed if you watched that series
@melvynsngltn27 ok... now do u remember the schooling? Shaq needed help with that man. Shaq always had issues with skilled centers. He himself said he'd hated playing against rik Smits. Smits had an offensive bag down in that hole.
Jerry west was a monster
Russell never lost the 7th game.🤯🤫🤯
And people praise Jordan for not even getting there his comp was weak that’s why he never been in one lol
@@michaelbarnes2126 MJ is the guy who won the most against a + 60 team in the playoffs. 🤷♂️
@@ericfurst6091 ok so? What does a regular season record have to do with playoff success? Not much apparently
@@ericfurst6091 how many 60+ win teams actually won a title lol
@@ericfurst6091so ? Russell comp gets underrated and the teams he faced were better then the teams jordan faced in the playoffs
🎉❤
(I published all this on one Facebook page some years ago; it comes in 3 parts)
BILL RUSSELL VS. WILT CHAMBERLAIN AS OFFENSIVE PLAYERS: THE GAP WAS NOT NEARLY AS BIG AS PEOPLE THINK
Everybody thinks that Wilt dominated Bill as a scorer and overall offensive player, and that is one aspect of the rivalry where Russell is not much of a match to Wilt. No doubt that was usually the case in the regular season. But come PLAYOFF time, Bill Russell the 11-time champion was in many ways just as good if not an even BETTER offensive player as Wilt! Furthermore, Wilt's dominating scoring seasons actually came in the first half of his career, when his team did not meet much playoff success. If we only count the latter part of his career (especially his days with the Los Angeles Lakers) when Wilt started winning more games plus his pair of titles, we can see that the gap in scoring between Chamberlain and Russell is AMAZINGLY close, not just in the postseason but EVEN in the regular season. Here are interesting facts that are usually overlooked when people engage in the Russell vs. Chamberlain debate:
1. THE GAP IN PLAYOFF SCORING PER GAME WAS NOT THAT HIGH
Bill Russell's career average in the postseason was 16.2 ppg (a point higher than his 15.1 career regular season scoring average). Nothing compared to Wilt's, right? Check again: Wilt's postseason scoring average for his entire career was 22.5 ppg. Almost 8 less than his regular season average. And just 6 points (3 field goals) more than Bill. It was NOT double Russell's average or anything like that like in the regular season.
It is clear that Bill Russell stepped up his game in the playoffs, even on offense. On the other hand, it seems that Wilt Chamberlain did not or could not. And that partly explains why he only has 2 championships, although his team had home court advantage throughout the playoffs, or at least during the Final series, up to 6 times: four times as the top-seeded team in the league, and two more as the Finals team with the better regular season record and thus home court advantage in the Finals (including the last Finals of Russell's career in 1969).
2. ACTUAL AFTERMATH OF WILT'S HISTORIC 1961-1962 SCORING SEASON: BILL DELIVERED, WILT DID NOT
In the 1961-62 season, Wilt famously averaged 50.4 points per game, including a legendary 100-point performance. That game and the entire season are among the most important highlights of his career, and in fact have passed to sporting legend. But what is hardly known is that, in the crucial Game 7 of the Eastern Finals between the Philadelphia and Boston, Wilt was held by Russell to only 22 points in the game - a full 28 points less than his season average! Aside from his tremendous defensive effort, Russell nearly matched Wilt in scoring with 19 points, which matched his season average. Wilt didn't even top his team in scoring in that game, which Boston won by only 2 points. Anything close to a "normal" game from Wilt (say, 40 points) might have made the difference between a win or elimination.
Incredibly, Russell in fact was for most of the game matching Wilt of the 50-point average n scoring, and with a few minutes left, was actually outscoring him 19-17, before Wilt to his credit scored 5 straight points to tie the game. But Sam Jones won it with a jumper for Boston with a few seconds left.
After that win in the conference finals, Russell then went on to score a team-high 30 points with 40 rebounds in Game 7 of the 1962 Finals vs. the Lakers. So he scored MORE points in his final game of this season than did Wilt in what was his landmark scoring season. Just one of many amazing and unexpected facts about their careers.
3. POINTS PER GAME IN FINALS: AGAIN BILL DELIVERED, WILT DID NOT
In the NBA Finals, Russell averaged 16.4 ppg. In what would be a surprise for many, Chamberlain for his part averaged just 18.6 ppg in the Finals. So Bill averaged about the same ppg in the regular season, playoffs and Finals, while Wilt's Finals scoring was 11.5 ppg less than in the regular season - and just 1 more made basket per game than Russell. If you add that to points scored by teammates off their assists (Bill averaged 4.5 assists per game in the Finals while Wilt averaged 3.8 assists per game, they are practically tied in total offensive contributions to the team.
4. RUSSELL TOPPED TEAM IN SCORING IN SOME OF HIS CHAMPIONSHIP RUNS; WILT NEVER DID
In at least 4 of Russell's 11 championship runs (1961, 1962, 1965, 1966), he topped his team in scoring average in the Final series, or scored the most points in the title-clinching game. That did NOT happen in any of Wilt's 2 title runs (but he did win NBA Finals MVP in 1972). He cannot therefore claim what Russell can, that he was the top playoff scorer for a team he led to the championship. Very odd.
5. RUSSELL VS. WILT AS PASSERS
Many know that Wilt once led league in assists. But Russell's career 4.3 apg nearly matches Wilt's 4.4 apg. And Russell was listed 12 times in the Top 20 for the season in assists, which beats Wilt's 7 time appearance in the Top 20 (both appeared 4 times in Top 10). Plus, Bill's career playoff mark of 4.7 apg actually tops Wilt's 4.2 apg in the postseason. (TBC)
(PART II)
6. POSTSEASON GAME 7 PERFORMANCES: RUSSELL STEPPED UP HIS GAME, ESPECIALLY IN FINALS WHERE HIS GAME 7 SCORING AVERAGE ACTUALLY TOPPED WILT AND KAREEM!
Before Wilt joined LA prior to 1968-69, their averages in all playoff Game 7's were 25.3 ppg for Wilt, an even 20.0 ppg for Russell. Bill in fact averaged as high as 21.0 ppg in postseason Game 7's (8 in total) prior to his becoming a playing coach starting in the 1966-67 season.
Counting their final matchup in 1969, Wilt averaged 24.4 ppg in Game 7's and Russ 18.6 - which meant that again, Russell topped his regular season average in scoring when it came to Game 7, while Wilt scored considerably less than in the regular season.
And counting only Game 7's of the FINALS, here is an amazing set of facts:
Wilt was 0-2 and scored 19.5 pgg in 2 Finals Game 7's played in his career.
Russell on the other hand went 5-0 and scored 20.4 ppg, BETTER than Wilt! (In fact, before his low 6-pt output in Game 7 in 1969, Russell's average in this situation was 24.0 ppg)
Interestingly, Bill Russell ALSO beats Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (the all-time leading scorer in NBA history) in this respect, as Kareem in 3 Finals Game 7's scored 19.7 ppg (he went 1-2) . That's less than Russell's aforementioned 20.4 ppg average.
Russell's scoring high in Game 7 of the NBA Finals was 30 points in 1962 (overtime win vs. Lakers). Kareem's was 29 in 1984 (loss to Boston) and Wilt's was 21 in 1970 (loss to Knicks). Russell beats them as well in that respect, although he was nowhere near the scorer that Kareem and Wilt were! In that 1962 game, he delivered 30 points (even shot 14-17 on free throws!), while in Wilt's last game, he scored 28 less than his average in the regular season.
Very unexpected, but just another sign of the Boston Celtic legend's greatness.
7. BILL RUSSELL THE CELTIC ACTUALLY AVERAGED MORE POINTS PER GAME IN THE PLAYOFFS THAN WILT CHAMBERLAIN THE LAKER!
If you only count Wilt's last 5 seasons while playing for the Los Angeles Lakers (not his previous time with the Warriors and 76ers), Wilt averaged 15.8 ppg in the playoffs. Russell as stated earlier averaged 16.2 ppg in the playoffs for his career. So that is another totally unexpected stat: Bill Russell the Boston Celtic was a GREATER SCORER in the postseason than Wilt Chamberlain as a Los Angeles Laker!
I am old enough to have started watching sports, especially basketball, starting around 1975 or 1976. I did not get to see Wilt or Russell or even Jerry West and Oscar play. But my elders were always telling me that Bill Russell could actually match up to Wilt even as an offensive player when he had it on. They must have been referring to Wilt as a Laker, when he no longer was scoring so many points as he wanted to play like Russell and focus on rebounding and defense and feeding his high-scoring teammates.
But they also were saying that Russell had the ability (which Wilt did not) to rebound the ball and take it all the way for a basket or assist, pretty much like some guards or forwards. So he was like a point center in that respect. Wilt only became more interested in assists when he wanted to prove a point, and actually did so and led the league in total assists (sometimes at the expense of missed opportunities to score). Bill also was more ambidextrous than Wilt, as he could hit hook shots with his off-right hand.
8. EVEN IN THE REGULAR SEASON, WILT CHAMBERLAIN'S SCORING AVERAGE AS A LOS ANGELES LAKER DID NOT DWARF BILL RUSSELL'S NUMBERS
Despite his dominance playing as a Philadelphia and San Francisco Warrior earlier in his career, people mostly remember Wilt Chamberlain (or have images in their mind of him in uniform) for his days as a Los Angeles Laker, in part because he enjoyed his highest team success in that uniform, and there were more games shown on TV, including color TV. And here we must also note: even in the REGULAR season, Wilt Chamberlain as a Laker averaged a mere 17.7 ppg, a far cry from his earlier days with the Philadelphia and SF Warriors when he averaged 41.5 ppg. That 17.7 ppg average represents just barely over one more made basket per game than Bill Russell's career 15.1 ppg in the regular season. (TBC)
(PART III)
9. IN FACT WILT CHAMBERLAIN'S SCORING NUMBERS FOR THE ENTIRE PERIOD WHEN HE ACHIEVED HIS MOST SUCCESS AS A TEAM PLAYER WERE NOT ACTUALLY MUCH GREATER THAN BILL RUSSELL'S NUMBERS FOR HIS ENTIRE CAREER
As earlier said, people tend to remember Wilt's days as a Laker in part because this was when he attained most success as a team player: during his 5 seasons there, they made the Finals 4 times (but winning just once, although they had the home court advantage 3 times), and also posted the former all-time best regular season record of 69-13 in 1971-72. But we also need to consider his final 2 seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, when he won his first title in 1966-67 and then his team posted the NBA's best record in 1967-68 . And so counting in those final 2 seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, Wilt's regular season average ppg for the final 7 years of his career was no more than 19.8 ppg, while his playoff average for the same period was (not unexpectedly) slightly less at 17.6 ppg. These figures are not exactly that much more than Bill Russell's regular season (15.1 pgg) and especially playoff (16.2 ppg) scoring averages (more on this later).
So the overall career scoring numbers are only skewed in favor of Chamberlain due to his dominance as a scorer for the first 6-7 years of his career, when (unlike Russell) he could not lead his team to real playoff success. His teams could not even win 50 games in the regular season until his 7th season (though he did make the 1964 Finals as a San Francisco Warrior).
10. BILL RUSSELL'S PLAYOFF SCORING NUMBERS DURING THE MOST REMARKABLE PERIOD OF HIS CAREER WERE ALSO ACTUALLY SUPERIOR - YES, SUPERIOR! - TO WILT'S PLAYOFF SCORING NUMBERS FOR HIS OWN PEAK PERIOD OF TEAM SUCCESS
And we end on another remarkable statistic. We have discussed Wilt's performance during the period when his teams achieved their peak success. For comparison, most would agree that the most successful period of Bill Russell's career would be during the unparalleled "eight-peat" between the 1958-59 to 1965-66 seasons, when his Boston Celtics won a record 8 straight titles while Russell was winning 4 of his 5 regular season MVP awards.
During this period, Bill Russell's playoff scoring average was 18.3 ppg. What is totally unexpected is how this is actually SUPERIOR to Wilt's own above-cited mark of 17.6 ppg for the aforementioned 7 seasons from 1966-67 to 1972-73, when he gathered the highest team success of his career (including his 2 NBA championships).
If we had to add had 1 more Chamberlain season to make it an equivalent 8-year period as in Russell's case, then we could add his playoff numbers from the 1965-66 season, when his team won over 50 games and posted the best regular season mark in the NBA for the first time in his career. This 8-year period for Wilt was the most successful of his career in terms of playoff success, and he won 3 straight regular season MVPs plus 1 NBA Finals MVP during this period.
But even then, Chamberlain's playoff scoring average for those 8 straight seasons would be an even 18.0 ppg - still slightly less than Russell's playoff scoring average of 18.3 ppg during his run of 8 straight titles, while not nearly having the same amount of playoff success.
Russell won 8 straight titles, while Chamberlain for his best 8-year period had 4 seasons where his team had the best regular season record (and only won in two of those years; the other two they did not even make the Finals) plus 2 more seasons where his team had home court advantage in the Finals (1969, 1973) but lost. In another Final (1970), they were going against a team (Knicks) whose star center (Willis Reed) was injured in Game 5, and they still could not win it. Wilt went just 2-3 in the Finals in this 8-year period, even as he tried to play more like Bill Russell and score less points while concentrating more on rebounding, defense and passing (as previously stated).
This has to be considered another truly amazing feature which would just validate the magnificence of Bill Russell and his apparent superiority to Wilt Chamberlain. It does NOT mean that Wilt was a bum. He remains in my Mt. Rushmore of all-time greats along with MJ, Kareem and Bill (LeBron is #5 for me). And if you argue that Wilt was greater, or that he was even the goat, it s alright with me, as you can certainly make great arguments for that. his stats were COLOSSAL.
But I am just saying that Bill Russell's supposed weakness (his lack of offense) was not actually such a weakness at all if you count for clutch performances, as well as putting things in context. The GUY AVERAGED MORE POINTS IN GAME 7 OF THE NBA FINALS, THAN WILT OR KAREEM! AND HE WON THEM ALL!
So is Bill Russell overrated? If anything, he is UNDERRATED, especially as an offensive player, where he delivered when it counted the most. And he definitely must be considered among the top 3 players of all time for me.
❤ :)
So he did a Dennis Rodman job, defend and rebound like a beast and let the other 4 do the job on offense because he did next to nothing. I really expected a game like 25 points with 20 rebounds.
Jerry got the last laugh by winning finals mvp
Bill Russel got the last laugh because jerry still LOST😅😅😅
The 68 eastern conference finals were a strange one because of the assassination of Dr king .Both the 76's and the Celtics were deeply effected by this .Phily in particular couldn't raise there game .
Philly also had injuries and choked hard by shooting putrid
@@tj5180Philly choked
Bill Russell was basically Tom Brady in the 60s.
Nah
Never cheated either 😂
HELL NO BILL WON 11 IN 13 YEAR'S. TOM WON 7 IN 20.
12 teams 11 rings....
12 teams mean better competition best players in the world joined 10 to 12 teams. MEANS....... EVERY TEAM A SUPERTEAM.
@@coreythomas3633 hmmm yes...Shaq, Wilt, Jordan
3 on 3
To any other 3 team
Those prime ass dudes don't lose to nobody FACTS
Ah yes sorry 4 the off topic
@@AdLast BILL RUSSEL kept a guy that avg 50 ppg. From winning a championship even when he joined jerry west and elgin Baylor. STILL WON goat.
@@AdLast MJ never played a WILT CHAMBERLAIN. He had the WEAKEST competition.
Older I get the more I see how we always disrespect the older generation in sports like we are somehow just better than the last generation no matter what
47 and better shape than most guys are in there 20s so yes I believe wilt and Russell would dominate basketball today very easily
He went and scored 11 points?!
I'd love to know what the Lakers players thought of their owner's pre-game, hubristic shithousery.
10-0 in game 7's. Easily the most clutch player in league history.
22-0 in winner take all games
@@andrewbrown9981 he has to be the most clutch player ever
Wilt and West eventually won a title together in 1972 🏆
If the ballons were not placed above them... Lakers would have won!!!
Kinda sad what he did after that. 🤔
Lakers, "the super team" that never was 😂😂
Russell was a bigger better version of Rodman who could actually score
If only wilt played the whole game...
THE TRUE GOAT OF THE NBA. he stop wilt chamberlin who avg 50. From winning chips.
Long Live Weed
MJ looks like a child next to Russell.
1st
Sorry nvr got 1st in my life
As if Shaq don't break Bill Russel in half....come on now
Honestly the sixers could have won it that year if they kept wilt.
jack can't really cook
What I learned is that the speaker doesn't care to mention that Russ was a player coach until the last minute!
1st
Bill is my number two all time, it’s very hard to not have him number 1 but MJ also Was Winner being 6-0 obviously not as good as Bill. MJ also Dominated like Wilt again obviously not as good as Wilt. But combined that makes MJ one. So I have MJ Bill Wilt top 3
6-0 in the finals against WHO? Bill is 12-0 in the finals if he doesn't have a ankle injury. 11 BETTER THAN 6 STOP THE STUPIDITY.
@@coreythomas3633Bill couldn’t take over the game in legitimately every aspect, close but not quite. Also 6-0 is still 100%, is it not? Don’t be stupid. As of who he played A solid Lakers Team, A deep Blazers teams, A MVP Led Barkley Suns who had the best record that year, A Payton and Kemp led sonics team that was good, The Stockton and Malone led jazz who sure were older then most teams but they weren’t bums by any means.
@@TheOGHoopByTheBook BEST BASKETBALL PLAYER EVER. BILL RUSSEL Yes it about WINNING. 5mvps 11 chips in 13 year's. THANK YOU NBA FANS FOR ALWAYS TALKING ABOUT WINNING. BUT ONLY BRING UP WHEN WE TALK ABOUT MJ.
@@TheOGHoopByTheBook MJ fans dont know
# MJ never won without Scottie and phill Jackson.
# choked a 2-1 lead against PISTON
# was a LOSER below 500 BEFORE tgey drafted Scottie PIPPEN.
#been swept twice
#NEVER BEAT LARRY BIRD IN HIS PRIME
#beat the WEAKEST COMPETITION aka expansion league.
#never beat the best competition in the finals like (GSW,SPURS).
#got a first round pick,STILL CHOKED WITH THE WIZARDS.)........
@@TheOGHoopByTheBook mj got swept by shaq in 1995. And swept twice in 86 87. CHOKED from 1984 to 1990. He QUIT TWICE he had the best team in the 90s. Winning 55 games. Mj OVVERATED no goat. Mj had the better team and better head coach his whole career. STOP WITH THE EXCUSES.... MJ so GREAT he can't win without Scottie and phill Jackson. 😂 lebron the goat.
1. Bron
2. Mj
3. Kareem
4. Bill
5. Wilt
6. Duncan
7. Magic
8. Kobe
9. Bird
10. Shaq
He had 6 points
😂😂😂
Dropped 30 and 40 in another Finals games against the Lakers. Didn’t need to this game Jonny is mentioning 😂
@@michaelbarnes2126 so the team took it personal not Bill Russell
@@jthehoopgod9152 dude he was the player/coach at this point lol.
@@jthehoopgod9152bill took it personal
and i take it personally how much you OPENLY ignore me and not make a video on Dream Team 2 (94 FIBA Team). like seriously. i know you see me
You make it lol
@@lukeinvictus69 why? im not the one always asking for suggestions 🤣😂
@@lukeinvictus69 what a stupid response ahaha
@@markjackson6431 well you're making it sound like he owes it to you or something lol he'll make it if he feels like it im sure hes seen your comment by now
@@lukeinvictus69 i’ve been asking for 2 years. around the same time to get the Mark Price video. actually he does own me something because he said he would it on fourth of the july. and he didn’t, he came out with that video about the top 10 best Olympic teams. idk someone who prides themselves on pointing out lesser known basketball facts and videos, you’d think he would do it 😂🤣
Bill Russell averaged 9 - 21 - 5! Good but NO WHERE near finals mvp level! Now that we’re woke let’s stop with false narratives. The stars were:
Halvlicek 28-11-4 and FIVE Celtics averaged double figures with Russell NOT being ONE OF THEM. Jerry West went for 37-4-7 and Baylor (bad knees) averaged 18-10-4.
Bill Russell was NOT the Celtics best player, it was Havlicek! Jerry West won finals mvp and John NOT BILL would’ve won had it went to a member of the Celtics. Wilt led ALL PLAYERS in rebounds and blocks had they counted them.
Bill Russell was probably averaging around 8 blocks and 5 steals and has the most defensive impact and 2nd best OFFENSIVE impact on the team
@@JohnnyRodgers3 how??!! He SIX Celtics averaged double figures and Russ wasn’t one of them. But it’s a fair assumption that he had the SECOND BIGGEST Offensive impact.
Wilt could block the Sky Hook against prime Kareem (1972 WCFs) your ASSUMING Bill led the series in Blocks? Wilt definitely led that series in rebounds I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume he led it in Blocks too.
What are you talking about??? Bill averaged 15 a game in the regular season. And in one of those Finals games dropped 30 & 40 you crazy 😂
@@michaelbarnes2126 In THAT series, in which the narrative is to never offend Bill Russell, he averaged 9-21-5 to Havlicek’s 28-11-5, West’s 37-4.7-7.4. At most he was just barely the 3rd most valuable player of THAT series. Wilt averaged 11 - 25 - 3, Elgin Baylor averaged 18-10-3.9. FIVE Celtics averaged double figures, and Bill Russell wasnt one of them. Wilt led all players in rebounds THAT series.
@@cedricbeard4609 in that series. In the 10 others he’s had some high scoring games
Simple put bill Russell just wasn’t as good as advertised. Good in defense but absolutely nothing special on the offensive end. He has 11 rings only because he played with more HOF than the entire combined league of the time!
Bullshit. There were not winning titles before Bill got there one. Two he could score when he wanted to he dropped 30 points and 40 rebounds in a Game 7 once. You really can’t imagine how why blocks and steals he was averaging? Crazy numbers dude he was an Olympic high jumper and crazy athlete you fool 😂😂😂
Sure, 6 points.... Honestly, Bill was great, but super overrated.... Put any great center in those Celtics and we talking about them...
Bro it’s okay you still have time to delete this
@@jordont.tetreault8419 put Wilt, kareem, moses, hakeem, shaq, and they have a bunch on rings too... Robinson, walton, Reed.....
no way. Chamberlain is the GOAT but if you put anyone else besides Russell as center for those teams then Chamberlain has like 8 or 9 rings. Russell was a freak athlete. The other bigs of that era are underrated athletes in general but especially Russell. Bill Russell was a world class high jumper in track and field and could have been an Olympian if he chose to. The intangibles are also real Bill Russell was an ultimate competitor and leader. His leadership was futher proven when he won titles as the player coach. Chamberlain still more or less dominated Russell most of the time but without Russell all those other HOFers on the celtics aren't enough to overcome Chamberlain.
@@tomdemay6147 Wilt Lost to Reed and kareem for example.... He could have more rings and he didn't....
@@reimixo he lost to them when he was past his prime and the celtics weren't winning those championships. im talking about Wilts prime years which coincided with the Celtics dynasty.
The GOAT
Bill Russell paved the way for players that play with pure defense and playnaking like Draymond Green, Dennis Rodman, and many more....
-Ron, The Almighty Rat King