Why is Bill Russell not the GOAT?

I always put him top 5. He was the most dominant player of his era.

Retired before the Jordan-lovers were born.

Because other players were better.

Did you miss the game tonight?

That was before the merger and there were only about 8 to 10 teams. Very few players were his size. can you imagine no limits on spending, no draft, etc? the league was so different and insignificant at that time.

Bill Russell is essentially a rich man's super competitive version of Ben Wallace

Russell is the greatest winner of all time but not even close to the greatest player

quote:

---

I always put him top 5

---

i do to, but some of the opinions in the above post have very good merit...

quote:

---

He was the most dominant player of his era.

---

agreed, but again, it was a weak "era".... however, i think if he could time travel and play in the 80's and 90's he'd still be dominant.... in today's NBA, not sure how he'd really fit.... may be a good player, but the game is VASTLY different from even back in the 80s, much less the 50's and 60's....

quote:

---

he played in an era without many teams so titles are somewhat less valuable he played on a super team his individual accomplishments weren't the best of his era

---

More teams does not necessarily equal less meaningful titles. More teams could mean talent is more diluted so one player can now dominate. Or maybe not, we won't truly ever know who was the best.

Because...



this was the entire league.

He is the GOAT. But as we pull away from his accomplishments we replace the unreplacable. There has only been one Bill Russell and the ignorance of excellence will never diminish his greatness. If you don't recognize you are truly a moron.