As the NBA season starts, we're all waiting to see if Kobe and the Lakers can do it again
. We're also waiting to see how Lebron and the Heat do. At a recent event, me and a group of guys had that traditional discussion. Who's the greatest basketball player of all time? Like most times, people said Mike. For years, I agreed with them. Then I "discovered" Bill Russell.
Now as a Knick fan since I was in junior high school, this pained me to even think about a Boston Celtic doing anything that I should acknowledge as half way good. The Bird years were brutal. A friend of mine in college who was from Boston even tried to tell me about Bill. But being from New York, listening to what the Celtics did well wasn't an option.
But once I "grew up" I realized that Bill Russell was an amazing sports figure. Simply for the fact that he coached and played at the same time.
Now the NBA has had some great coaches and it's had some great players but for someone to do both at the same time doesn't even seem possible. But Bill did it. And he won 2 NBA Championship rings in the dual role.
Having played varsity basketball in high school I can't even fathom how he managed to coach and play. Never mind win championships. But here are the stats on Bill Russell that leave NO question about how great he was:
11 Championships in 13 seasons
2 Championships as Player/Coach (1967-1968 & 1968-1969)
I could go on with more stats but why bother? Bill Russell is the reason the MVP of the NBA Finals will never be named after Michael Jordan. 11 rings and 2 as a player coach.