Bill Russell's era was tougher than mj's and lebrons

[Bronbron23]

There were a third of the amount of teams there are now so everyone was loaded. Imagine taking the talent in the NBA now and making 10 teams. Everyone would be stacked.

Funny thing is that some people will use the amount of teams in Russell's era in an attempt to discredit him but if anything it should enhance his legacy. What's the difference between now and then really? Yeah there may be alot more teams but how many actually have a legit shot at the title? 4? Maybe 5?

All this talk about a couple super teams. Pretty much every team was a super team in Russell's era

[Vino24]

There were a third of the amount of teams there are now so everyone was loaded. Imagine taking the talent in the NBA now and making 10 teams. Everyone would be stacked.

Funny thing is that some people will use the amount of teams in Russell's era in an attempt to discredit him but if anything it should enhance his legacy. What's the difference between now and then really? Yeah there may be alot more teams but how many actually have a legit shot at the title? 4? Maybe 5?

All this talk about a couple super teams. Pretty much every team was a super team in Russell's era
Agree. Russell beat the toughest completion consistently. Who did MJ beat that was on Wilt

[SouBeachTalents]

Nah, you can never convince me playing only two playoff series is tougher than playing 4

[Vino24]

Nah, you can never convince me playing only two playoff series is tougher than playing 4
In an era where segregation was practiced? Disagree

[Bronbron23]

[QUOTE=Vino24]Agree. Russell beat the toughest completion consistently. Who did MJ beat that was on Wilt

[Vino24]

Well there was this one guy named Shaq that he swept. Is that good enough for you :facepalm
Oh a rookie? Cool I guess

[TheMan]

There were a third of the amount of teams there are now so everyone was loaded. Imagine taking the talent in the NBA now and making 10 teams. Everyone would be stacked.

Funny thing is that some people will use the amount of teams in Russell's era in an attempt to discredit him but if anything it should enhance his legacy. What's the difference between now and then really? Yeah there may be alot more teams but how many actually have a legit shot at the title? 4? Maybe 5?

All this talk about a couple super teams. Pretty much every team was a super team in Russell's era
Bullshit, you can't tell me that an era where Bob Cousy goofy one handed dribble was considered elite handles was the hardest era ever...foh

[brutalBBQ]

Yeah OP, must have been difficult being a 7 foot athletic beast constantly facing 5.7 milkmen, plumbers and bakers.

[iamgine]

It's like saying WNBA only has 12 teams therefore it's tougher than the NBA. Bill Russell's era indeed had 1/3 the team but only 1/20 the talent pool compared to today. Maybe much less.

Unless we're talking about 'tough' from a life perspective, in which case it's correct. They didn't have the cushy shoes, the nutrition, the tech, the planes, the money. It was indeed much much tougher in Bill's era from that context.

[tontoz]

:roll:

There was no money in the game in Russell's era so the NBA didn't attract the athletes that today's game does. Duh

[LAmbruh]

Yeah OP, must have been difficult being a 7 foot athletic beast constantly facing 5.7 milkmen, plumbers and bakers.
:lol :lol

[imdaman99]

:biggums: the trolling on here is getting harder and harder to be entertained by :lol

He was on the most stacked team of the time.

[Psileas]

Well there was this one guy named Shaq that he swept. Is that good enough for you :facepalm

He's 1-1 vs Shaq, 1-0 vs Magic and 0-2 vs Bird, so, that makes it 2-3 vs players anywhere near Wilt. Russell was 7-1 vs Wilt and also 2-0 vs Oscar and 7-0 vs West (6-0 vs his teammate, Baylor), so, he's 16-1 vs his era's most elite competitors.

[keep-itreal]

Bill Russell played against a bunch of unathletic white dudes. FOH with this BS:roll:

[Bronbron23]

Bill Russell played against a bunch of unathletic white dudes. FOH with this BS:roll:
So what. Birds Celtics was one of the best teams ever and they were a bunch of white dudes and unathletic black dudes. Shit the warriors post me were looked at as the best team ever and they weren't any more athletic than the teams Russell played against.

[Bronbron23]

:roll:

There was no money in the game in Russell's era so the NBA didn't attract the athletes that today's game does. Duh
They made enough for that time. Nothing like today but good enough to get paid for playing a game you love

[BarberSchool]

Thread title deserves a slap, trolling/sarcastic or not.

[superduper]

The trolls :facepalm

[Hittin_Shots]

:biggums: the trolling on here is getting harder and harder to be entertained by :lol

He was on the most stacked team of the time.

Is this he HoF argument? Team wins that much nearly everyone is making the hall of fame..

[DaRkJaWs]

OP, i think you meant Wilts Era. Not Russells.

[Bronbron23]

OP, i think you meant Wilts Era. Not Russells.
I used Russell's era just to make a point but u could use any era really. The point is the lesser amount of teams the more loaded each team is. People act like having 30 teams means it's harder because there's more competition but it dosnt. There's still the same amount of teams in contention now than there was 50 years ago. Theres 30 teams in the league but how many teams really have an honest shot at contending? 4 maybe 5. If you shortened the teams in the NBA to 11 it wouldn't make it any easier to win a title.

[Manny98]

No because Russells teams were absolutely loaded in comparison to the rest of the league

[Bronbron23]

No because Russells teams were absolutely loaded in comparison to the rest of the league
They were only loaded because of Russell though. Was Miami not loaded when Bron was there? Were the warriors not loaded because of kd? Or Lakers in 2000 because of Shaq? Take any one of those guys off those teams and there not considered loaded anymore

[SouBeachTalents]

They were only loaded because of Russell though. Was Miami not loaded when Bron was there? Were the warriors not loaded because of kd? Or Lakers in 2000 because of Shaq? Take any one of those guys off those teams and there not considered loaded anymore
Take KD off the Warriors they're still easily one of, if not the best team in the league. Lol at trying to compare that to taking Shaq off the Lakers :oldlol:

[Bronbron23]

Take KD off the Warriors they're still easily one of, if not the best team in the league. Lol at trying to compare that to taking Shaq off the Lakers :oldlol:
Take kd off the warriors and they're no longer "loaded". Pre kd warriors weren't successful because they were loaded. They were successful because there on and off ball movement was the best in the league and one of the best ever.

[sdot_thadon]

Op you kina have a point, but I'm not sure to what degree. We don't know enough about the 60s to be certain but more teams definitely water down the talent pool some.


Nah, you can never convince me playing only two playoff series is tougher than playing 4
Maybe so, but I doubt Boston was going to lose to an 8th seed. I wonder if they were copying the NFL model back then with bye rounds.


Bullshit, you can't tell me that an era where Bob Cousy goofy one handed dribble was considered elite handles was the hardest era ever...foh
educate yourself on the rule changes since then. Being able to only dribble with one hand is always laughable, but stylistically guys dribbled that way because the rules didn't allow the type of ball handling that's common now. Modern players would be great then too, but they'd shave imaginary buckets from their totals for turnovers. And not just the current era, but the 2000s and 90s for sure, probably some 80s guys too. So many perimeter guys would be called for carrying and traveling, and big ball handlers like Kd and Giannis wouldn't be ballhandlers anymore in the 60s.

[SouBeachTalents]

Maybe so, but I doubt Boston was going to lose to an 8th seed. I wonder if they were copying the NFL model back then with bye rounds.
No doubt, but we've seen so many teams title chances affected in the first 2 rounds

2007 Mavs & Suns
2010 Cavs
2012 Bulls
2013 Thunder
Last years Warriors
Multiple Spurs teams
The entire CP3 Clipper era

You even had future champs like the '00 Lakers, '08 Celtics & '14 Spurs taken to an elimination game in the first round

So while obviously the competition, especially in the first round, probably wouldn't have made any difference, avoiding two entire rounds leaves you much less susceptible to upsets and ESP injuries. That just plays too big a factor imo