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(Esquire) Hero The debut of Netflix's Bill Russell: Legend. He had more rings than fingers   (esquire.com) divider line
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    More: Hero, Boston Celtics, Basketball, Pete Maravich, Bill Russell, Creativity, Wilt Chamberlain, National Basketball Association, African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954-68)  
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240 clicks; posted to Sports » on 08 Feb 2023 at 4:06 PM (6 weeks ago)   |   Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook



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Scorpitron is reduced to a thin red paste
2023-02-08 2:54:39 PM  
Meh. Back when it took one single series to get to the Finals and there were only about two teams that were any good.

Seriously, Russell is great, but most of those championships were pretty unimpressive.
 
Snapper Carr
2023-02-08 4:11:22 PM  
When your starting 5 is all in the Hall of Fame, you might win a few games.
 
mcmnky
2023-02-08 4:22:32 PM  

Scorpitron is reduced to a thin red paste: Meh. Back when it took one single series to get to the Finals and there were only about two teams that were any good.

Seriously, Russell is great, but most of those championships were pretty unimpressive.


So why didn't that other good team win 11 in 13 years?

There are all sorts of legitimate reasons we can't make direct comparisons between players or teams from different eras, but comparing Bill Russell strictly to contemporaries, just those teams that played in the same league and faced the same number of opponents in the play offs, the gap between what he and the Celtics did vs what they did is impressive.
 
NewWorldDan
2023-02-08 4:26:31 PM  

Snapper Carr: When your starting 5 is all in the Hall of Fame, you might win a few games.


When there's only 8 teams in the league and most of them aren't very good, you might win a few championships. There's no doubt Bill Russell was the best player of his era, but it's completely meaningless to try to compare him to the modern NBA.
 
dletter
2023-02-08 5:00:14 PM  
11 rings... I mean, he can find a place for all of them.
 
The_Sponge [TotalFark]
2023-02-08 5:08:38 PM  
...and he was on an episode of Miami Vice.
 
gameshowhost [OhFark]
2023-02-08 5:13:33 PM  
mmm, jayne kennedy

/also - bill russell was one of the coolest grumpy folk ever
 
dletter
2023-02-08 5:28:39 PM  

NewWorldDan: Snapper Carr: When your starting 5 is all in the Hall of Fame, you might win a few games.

When there's only 8 teams in the league and most of them aren't very good, you might win a few championships. There's no doubt Bill Russell was the best player of his era, but it's completely meaningless to try to compare him to the modern NBA.


There are points between you and mcmnky's point.

Yes, you can't go "He (and the Celtics) won 11 titles!" so that makes them crazy better than the 90s Bulls or him better than LeBron.   But, they were clearly the best in their era, and you install the level of talent on those teams in the last 30 years NBA (that includes the players involved having the better training, diet, etc of players now), they are probably at worst, a Spurs like team that wins a championship every 3-4 years or so over 14 years, and at best, something with a compressed ability to win titles like the 90s Bulls (which w/o Jordans "exile", probably win 7 or 8 in the decade instead of 6).  But, no way in hell in a 26-30 team NBA winning 11 titles.
 
Klippoklondike [TotalFark]
2023-02-08 5:29:33 PM  

The_Sponge: ...and he was on an episode of Miami Vice.


Damn, I didn't know that.  Boy that show really liked guest stars

Miami Vice Staring BILL RUSSELL ☘ 🤔
Youtube FTjqOV06g4I
 
LL316
2023-02-08 9:05:17 PM  
I just started the Donahey doc. I'll need a palate cleanser after watching that asshole.

The Kings beat the Lakers. What an asshole.
 
LL316
2023-02-08 9:07:24 PM  

NewWorldDan: Snapper Carr: When your starting 5 is all in the Hall of Fame, you might win a few games.

When there's only 8 teams in the league and most of them aren't very good, you might win a few championships. There's no doubt Bill Russell was the best player of his era, but it's completely meaningless to try to compare him to the modern NBA.


Because there's just no way he'd be even better than he was, but with advances in diet, exercise, and living conditions?

The only real way you can compare players across generations is how much better they were than their peers.
 
Your_Huckleberry
2023-02-08 10:00:31 PM  

The_Sponge: ...and he was on an episode of Miami Vice.


I just watched that yesterday. Michael Richards made a pretty good baddie. And Russell sure wasn't a great actor.
 
Broktun
2023-02-09 8:45:30 AM  

LL316: NewWorldDan: Snapper Carr: When your starting 5 is all in the Hall of Fame, you might win a few games.

When there's only 8 teams in the league and most of them aren't very good, you might win a few championships. There's no doubt Bill Russell was the best player of his era, but it's completely meaningless to try to compare him to the modern NBA.

Because there's just no way he'd be even better than he was, but with advances in diet, exercise, and living conditions?

The only real way you can compare players across generations is how much better they were than their peers.


I have pondered the question of could an elite athlete of 50-100 years ago compete today.  I think so.  There are always going to be persons who are naturally bigger, faster, stronger, and more athletic than others.
I think what has changed over the decades is technology from flying chartered jets instead of taking a train, to sports medicine, to individual nutrition.  The list is long.

I guess what I am trying to say if you would plop a 15 year old Jim Thorpe into 2010, we would be talking about him today as being one of the best at what ever sport he chose to play.
 
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