David Thorpe Calls Bill Russell Overrated on ESPN Chat

[No boos for RA]

My first post here, been reading for a long time.  Had to respond to this topic with a story.  I live in Memphis now, but grew up in central Mass.  My first NBA game was game 5 of the NBA finals in 1963, Celtics vs. San Francisco Warriors.  Celtics were up 3-1.  Amazing that average folks could get tickets to a game like that, but back then it was not so difficult. I was 9 years old, with my Dad, and another kid my age and his father.  I was in awe of everything.  An incredible memory -- we were in the lobby and Wilt walked by.  No idea why he would have been coming in that way, but there he was, in suitcoat and tie, and a hat with a feather in it.  Greeted by a chorus of boos, but he just smiled and waved as he walked on.
 
We were in the nosebleeds of the old garden.  In addition to Wilt, the warriors also had Nate Thurmond, who was a rookie that year, starting at forward. At 6-11, that combo was probably the first 'twin towers'.  So I get a kick out of the poster who says Russell faced all guys 6-5 except for Wilt.  Not true.  He faced guys his size or bigger the majority of the time.  The warriors also had Guy Rogers and Al Attles in the backcourt.  They were pretty good, as were all of the teams the Celts faced in the finals in those years.  It was a close game all the way, going back and forth with neither team leading by more than 3 or 4 points.  Wilt was dominant and his stats probably dwarfed Russell's, but the last 3 minutes, Russ took over.  He blocked a couple of Wilt's shots, got every rebound offensively and defensively.  He was everywhere.  And the play I'll never forget. Celt's ball up by one with about a minute left.  Sam Jones misses a shot that bounces high up straight above the rim.  Wilt seems to have the rebound with 2 hands, and as he's coming down, Russell takes it away with one hand and slams in through the hoop in one motion.  The place explodes, and Celtics go on to win the championship.  Wilt dominated the rivalry with Russell statistically, but Russell always seemed to own him at the end of games.  He seemed to be able to put it into a gear that nobody else could match.  These stories have grown over the years until they become like myth or legend, but there's a strong element of truth in them.  If the Celts were in a game at the end, you always knew Russell was going to do something special to seal the win.  We all expected it as fans.  Moreover,the confidence his teamates must have had with him on the floor could not be matched. 

I don't know if he was the best ever, and always think that's a silly argument.  But I also think it's impossible for him to be overrated.  If he was in the gym today with all the other greats in their prime, I'm not sure who'd be the first pick.  There's a strong argument for MJ, and probably a few others before him.  But, if I had the first pick, I don't think I could take anyone but Russ.

[phantom]

Hey No Boos, popped your TP cherry for a good insightful first post..  Hope to read more of your stuff, it's always good to have old timers around. 

You raised a good point, you can't really judge something until you see it with your own two eyes.  But to me it's obvious that this writer was going for sensationalism and shock value to get his name out there, sports writers/reporters whatever he is, they seem to be getting sleazier by the day, the guy's a joke and nothing more..  Just another guy with a big mouth and a bad opinion.

[TitleMaster]

Russell takes it away with one hand and slams in through the hoop in one motion.  The place explodes, and Celtics go on to win the championship.  Wilt dominated the rivalry with Russell statistically, but Russell always seemed to own him at the end of games.  He seemed to be able to put it into a gear that nobody else could match

I guess the idea here is that if Russell was required to score throughout a game that he would. And a lot of people don't realize it. The modern day take on Russell was that the Celts were a scoring team (with the Tommys and the Hondos) and all he had to do was rebound. So what it does is reduce Russ's stature from the superstar to that of either a low scoring Ben Wallace or a no scoring Rodman. And the truth is that Russell scored when it was necessary to score.