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The Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell was as competitive as anyone, his desire to make the game of basketball a top sport in the world made him the winningest athlete.
Bill Russell at 88 years of age, left the world recently, breaking every heart that loved the great man but left a legacy behind which everyone is celebrating to give tribute to one of the greatest athletes to ever walk the earth.
And when we say that, we do not just mean athletes that walked alongside Dr Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, or Muhammad Ali as some of the greatest civil rights activists of all time. We mean a 6ft 10′ giant who had the tenacity of world-class track stars.
Imagine a centre who could jump over another NBA player on a fast break could dunk the basketball after taking off from the free throw line. Reckless isn’t it? But whatever that man did, he did in his proper senses.
And that is why he was able to win 11 championships in a 13-year career dominating the game through and through. That dominance is and always will be untouched because not even NBA franchises can do what Russell’s Celtics did back in the day.
Also read: Michael Jordan releases statement on passing away of Celtics legend Bill Russell
Yes, you read it right. Bill made 12 Finals appearances in his 13-year career. It’s been 20 years since the last new franchise came into the league, but to this day there are TWELVE franchises that have a combined total of less than 12 NBA Finals between them. Credits: StatMuse.
Bill Russell played in more Finals games than the
Pacers
Raptors
Magic
Nets
Jazz
Mavericks
Nuggets
Hornets
Clippers
Grizzlies
Timberwolves
Pelicans
Combined. pic.twitter.com/oVXdH9u9x2
Some
Others would think there are 30 teams in the NBA now as compared to 8 during Bill’s time. That’s an answer in itself. The lesser the number of teams the more the competition with much better talents at a time on the court.
Also read: Skip Bayless cold-heartedly attacks LeBron James for not posting a social media post about Bill Russell’s passing
We all already have made up our minds about the league being too easy at the time Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and many other legends played the game. And that is never going to change, is it?
It’s just that the rules of the game allowed the players to do what they did and play how they played. Their numbers might vary a little bit but those players would anyways be legends of the game in whichever era they played in.
A sports enthusiast, crazy about basketball and football. Like putting forward my opinion on the things I know about, but restrain myself from doing that in my articles because my job is to report. Cover everything Lakers and NBA-related, both old and new.
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