Replace rookie Bill Russell with rookie Dwight Howard

[coastalmarker99]

Replace rookie Bill Russell with rookie Dwight Howard. How many finals do you think the 1956-1969 Celtics win with Dwight taking Russell's place on those Celtic teams from that era.

This is might be disrespectful but it is a genuine question i have. How many finals do the 1956-1969 Celtics win with Dwight instead of Russell? Obviously Russell is one of the greatest players/leaders in nba history. but would Dwight's athleticism be OP in that era as Wilt's was.

Howard, I think would win at least 5 to 7 titles with the Celtics from that era as they were a legendary team and a great supporting cast for him as the Magic were through I do think Wilt would steal some titles away from Howard if he replaced Russell so i say 6 to 7 titles for Dwight if he replaces Russell as I don't know how he would handle Wilt.

[Kblaze8855]

Bill Russell ran plays from all 5 positions, developed into a player/coach, and was genuinely beloved by his teammates. It’s hard to say Dwight matches that chemistry building. He could be another Walt Bellamy doing 30/20 and barely remembered. Plus his back went out at 26 with modern medicine. Drop his ass into 1961 with that same back problem. He might never have recovered.

[coastalmarker99]

The main thing about Russell was that he was the only answer for Wilt so this question would most likely depend on how Howard would do against Wilt .. I don’t think Howard is as smart as Russell tho so I could see him not winning all the chips Russell was able to win from 1956 to 1969.

[coastalmarker99]

Bill Russell ran plays from all 5 positions, developed into a player/coach, and was genuinely beloved by his teammates. It’s hard to say Dwight matches that chemistry building. He could be another Walt Bellamy doing 30/20 and barely remembered. Plus his back went out at 26 with modern medicine. Drop his ass into 1961 with that same back problem. He might never have recovered.

That's interesting to think about and thanks for bringing that up Blaze as yes I did forget about Dwghts back injury my bad if that still happens then Wilt has free reign over the 60's past 1961. We would most likely think of Wilt as the goat or top 3 all-time as he wins a lot of titles maybe 6 to 8 if Dwight can not recover from his back injury and play for the Celtics afterwards,

[coastalmarker99]

A lot of player's legacies change from that era if Dwight takes Russell's place for one Wilt is viewed as the undisputed goat when he retires in 1973 or 1974 with more rings and awards to his career also West might have won more then 1 ring for his career and maybe Baylor gets a ring as well before he retires.

[HylianNightmare]

Bout 2

[coastalmarker99]

Bout 2

what are you on drugs Dwight gets at least 4 to 6 rings with the Celtics they were that stacked that even Dwight's antics can't mess them up

[HBK_Kliq_2]

I don't think it really would work like that because Dwight had a massive decline after 2012 and was never the same player. Dwight's personality is a goofball, he could never match the intensity/leadership of Bill Russell.

2008-2011 Dwight would be the perfect 2nd best of a dynasty. I think Duncan was arguably inferior to Manu on offense from 2005-2008. Replacing 2005-2008 Tim Duncan with 2008-2011 Dwight and you may get similar results. Dwight never had another superstar on his team like 2005 Manu. All Dwight has to do is average 20 points 47% TS vs pistons in finals and have Manu do most of the offensive work. Replace Russell for an entire career though? Not a chance.

[tpols]

let's be real... wilt would eat him alive. nate thurmond was just as if not more jacked than dwight. Centers didnt lack size or strength back then. They completely shit on centers of today from an athleticism perspective. If you want to do transplants do it with guards where the talent was clearly less spectacular.

[HBK_Kliq_2]

what are you on drugs Dwight gets at least 4 to 6 rings with the Celtics they were that stacked that even Dwight's antics can't mess them up

You got to remember Russell was an elite passer. Dwight was a worse then average passer. That plays a huge part in some years as well. Even with Bill, celtics offense was ranked dead last during some of those title years.

[coastalmarker99]

You got to remember Russell was an elite passer. Dwight was a worse then average passer. That plays a huge part in some years as well. Even with Bill, celtics offense was ranked dead last during some of those title years.

You are right maybe with Dwight on the Celtics suffer more on offence and if he still suffers that back injury then Wilt would have eaten him alive so they most likely don't get 11 titles with Dwight replacing Russell.

[86Celtics]

You were right in your opening post. It is disrespectful. Howard could never have the success that Russell had because above all else Russell was a winner and a born leader. Howard is anything but.

[Marchesk]

A better one to time travel would have been Hakeem Olajuwon.

[ImKobe]

A better one to time travel would have been Hakeem Olajuwon.

That Boston team would have won a ton of championships with pre-injury Dwight & even post-injury Howard was still a great player from 2013-18. As great as Russell was, no one's matching Celtics' overall talent in the 50s, even if you replace him with a lesser player.

[HBK_Kliq_2]

That Boston team would have won a ton of championships with pre-injury Dwight & even post-injury Howard was still a great player from 2013-18. As great as Russell was, no one's matching Celtics' overall talent in the 50s, even if you replace him with a lesser player.

Bill Russell at 34 years old was playing 48 minutes a game in the 1969 finals vs Wilt. Dwight couldn't even do that at 27 years old when he was declined and with Lakers. There's a huge difference between their longevity I would say.

[coastalmarker99]

Bill Russell at 34 years old was playing 48 minutes a game in the 1969 finals vs Wilt. Dwight couldn't even do that at 27 years old when he was declined and with Lakers. There's a huge difference between their longevity I would say.

Seriously if Russell his legendary kryptonite comes along 20 years later in 1976 Wilt ends up being viewed as the undisputed goat with his team achievements being improved with more rings then 2 maybe he wins 7 to 9 titles without Russell standing in his way And he would also have one more MVP in 1962 and with him also being the greatest individual player in Nba history with his stats and records he holds over 100 to himself:lol he would be the goat.

[Bronbron23]

Replace rookie Bill Russell with rookie Dwight Howard. How many finals do you think the 1956-1969 Celtics win with Dwight taking Russell's place on those Celtic teams from that era.

This is might be disrespectful but it is a genuine question i have. How many finals do the 1956-1969 Celtics win with Dwight instead of Russell? Obviously Russell is one of the greatest players/leaders in nba history. but would Dwight's athleticism be OP in that era as Wilt's was.

Howard, I think would win at least 5 to 7 titles with the Celtics from that era as they were a legendary team and a great supporting cast for him as the Magic were through I do think Wilt would steal some titles away from Howard if he replaced Russell so i say 6 to 7 titles for Dwight if he replaces Russell as I don't know how he would handle Wilt.

Bruh 70% of sports is between the ears. Bill Russell was one of the smartest players ever and Howard is one of the dumbest. This is a horrible comparison but to answer your question 0.

[Shogon]

Bill Russell ran plays from all 5 positions, developed into a player/coach, and was genuinely beloved by his teammates. It’s hard to say Dwight matches that chemistry building. He could be another Walt Bellamy doing 30/20 and barely remembered. Plus his back went out at 26 with modern medicine. Drop his ass into 1961 with that same back problem. He might never have recovered.

Agree with all of this besides the back problem piece...

Dwight probably wouldn't have the back problems because he probably would have never gotten nearly as jacked as he did.

Anyways this thread is stupid and I'm not reading it nor am I reading the OP.

Bill Russell is arguably the most intelligent in game player that ever played the game. He kept your offense flowing and he bailed everyone out on defense.

Dwight Howard has been an elite rebounder and defender but let's not pretend he was on Russell's level. Dwight bailed people out on defense but he was a MAJOR disrupter of his team's own offense. He pouted and whined when he didn't get the ball enough... which impacts your team.

Russell is probably the GOAT teammate.

[RRR3]

That Boston team would have won a ton of championships with pre-injury Dwight & even post-injury Howard was still a great player from 2013-18. As great as Russell was, no one's matching Celtics' overall talent in the 50s, even if you replace him with a lesser player.
Lol I guarantee you no one thought Dwight was great on the Hawks or the Hornets. He only had one star year on the Rockets too iirc.

[RRR3]

Dwight isn’t a particularly dumb player why are people acting like dude is JR Smith ITT? No ones saying he’s a basketball genius like Russell was but dude isn’t an idiot.

[Bronbron23]

Dwight isn’t a particularly dumb player why are people acting like dude is JR Smith ITT? No ones saying he’s a basketball genius like Russell was but dude isn’t an idiot.

What are you watching? Offensively his shot selection is terrible. In his prime he was a good defender and rebounder but he commits some of the dumbest fouls ive ever seen which often puts him in foul trouble which often hurts his team

[HBK_Kliq_2]

What are you watching? Offensively his shot selection is terrible. In his prime he was a good defender and rebounder but he commits some of the dumbest fouls ive ever seen which often puts him in foul trouble which often hurts his team

Anybody who anchors multiple elite defensive teams is a smart player. Shot selection? He shoots like 10 shots a game and a lot of them are on lobs and stuff.

[getting_old]

Dwight's vanishing killer instinct and lack of seriousness in the clutch is the closest we have to what Wilt was like in the big games.

[Bronbron23]

Anybody who anchors multiple elite defensive teams is a smart player. Shot selection? He shoots like 10 shots a game and a lot of them are on lobs and stuff.

It dosnt matter if he took 5 shots a game bad shots are bad shots. Dude would constantly clog the lane asking for the ball. Its no surprise he teammates often ignored him.

And yeah he was a good defender when he was on the floor but again he was often in foul trouble which would either take him out of the game or prevent him from being as aggressive as he should be.

That said ill take back saying he was dumb but anyone saying he was a smart player is blind aa hell

[ImKobe]

Lol I guarantee you no one thought Dwight was great on the Hawks or the Hornets. He only had one star year on the Rockets too iirc.

He played on bad teams post-2016 but still had the athletic ability & he's still a valuable player on a contending Lakers squad.


Bill Russell at 34 years old was playing 48 minutes a game in the 1969 finals vs Wilt. Dwight couldn't even do that at 27 years old when he was declined and with Lakers. There's a huge difference between their longevity I would say.

All the stars played heavy minutes in that era, It's hard to tell if Dwight could play 48 minutes in that era but my point was that the Celtics had so much talent that they still would have won a lot of rings with Dwight in place of Russell, that obviously doesn't mean that he's on par with Bill but I don't see how the Celtics wouldn't win a ton of rings with the overall talent they had. I'm not a huge Dwight fan but the guy's an athletic freak and is one of the GOAT defensive players.

[iamgine]

Replace rookie Bill Russell with rookie Dwight Howard. How many finals do you think the 1956-1969 Celtics win with Dwight taking Russell's place on those Celtic teams from that era.

This is might be disrespectful but it is a genuine question i have. How many finals do the 1956-1969 Celtics win with Dwight instead of Russell? Obviously Russell is one of the greatest players/leaders in nba history. but would Dwight's athleticism be OP in that era as Wilt's was.

Howard, I think would win at least 5 to 7 titles with the Celtics from that era as they were a legendary team and a great supporting cast for him as the Magic were through I do think Wilt would steal some titles away from Howard if he replaced Russell so i say 6 to 7 titles for Dwight if he replaces Russell as I don't know how he would handle Wilt.

Are we assuming he live in the 60s as well? Because he'd be a different player/person if that's the case. Little strength training means he'd be weaker. He'd be a lot poorer and faced real racism means his personality is likely to be different. He'd also be drafted at 22 instead of 19.

[insidious301]

Dwight has been very good this year. Rookie Dwight and Bill Russell in the same sentence however, lets not go there. I like the point about stronger centers from past eras. The footage encapsulates that as well.

[Carbine]

The way people talk about the Celtics is if they were some 2017 Warriors where they just run the league and never get challenged. They didn't even see past a game 5 in the playoffs.

I don't care enough at this point to go back and figure it out, but I believe the Celtics faced double digit game 7s during their run and won every single time, mostly by the skin on their back. A lot of 1pt, 2pt, 3pt, OT wins.

That is not indicative of "so much talent."

That's indicative of extreme competition, down to the wire.

[86Celtics]

The way people talk about the Celtics is if they were some 2017 Warriors where they just run the league and never get challenged. They didn't even see past a game 5 in the playoffs.

I don't care enough at this point to go back and figure it out, but I believe the Celtics faced double digit game 7s during their run and won every single time, mostly by the skin on their back. A lot of 1pt, 2pt, 3pt, OT wins.

That is not indicative of "so much talent."

That's indicative of extreme competition, down to the wire.

People like to act as if those Celtics teams had no one challenging them but they had plenty of close calls. Also, they may have had the likes of Sam Jones, John Havlicek, Bob Cousy and Tommy Heinsohn but Russell was the most important player on those teams.

[Bronbron23]

Not to mention the fact that we dont even know if hed be a good fit in the locker room. Hes had issues almost everywhere he went.

[Overdrive]

Seriously if Russell his legendary kryptonite comes along 20 years later in 1976 Wilt ends up being viewed as the undisputed goat with his team achievements being improved with more rings then 2 maybe he wins 7 to 9 titles without Russell standing in his way And he would also have one more MVP in 1962 and with him also being the greatest individual player in Nba history with his stats and records he holds over 100 to himself:lol he would be the goat.

So you're saying if there wasn't a better player than Wilt he would've been better?

[insidehoops]

It will always be a challenge figuring out how to compare players from vastly different eras in a manner that is respectful of history yet also realistic about how the game has changed and how super athletic the players are today.