Whose legacy was the most affected by Bill Russell?

[coastalmarker99]

Whose career suffered the most because of Russell's dominance in the late 1950s and 1960s?

Some names I think got hurt a lot are Baylor West Oscar and Pettit

Baylor would have at the very least two rings and one MVP in 1963 without Russell and would be boosted up a lot all time as a result.

Oscar as well would have two MVPs in 1964 and 1965 without Russell and maybe a ring with the Royals to go along with his two MVP's as well.

Pettit would have multiple rings with the Hawks to go along with one more Mvp in 1961 without Russell as the Celtics were the only team at the time that could stop the Hawks from winning the title.



And finally, without Russell, it's very possible that we would think of Jerry West as a top ten player of all time as the Lakers lost 6 times to Russell's Celtics throughout the 1960s sometimes in incredibly close game 7 sevens such as in 1962 1966 and 1969.

[light]

Oddly enough, the answer might be Bill Russell.

Because of the way he won he negatively affected his own legacy. Now nobody cares about his 11 rings. He may as well have only won once or twice.

There was never a lasting Bill Russell GOAT movement despite his winning.

[coastalmarker99]

Oddly enough, the answer might be Bill Russell.

Because of the way he won he negatively affected his own legacy. Now nobody cares about his 11 rings. He may as well have only won once or twice.

There was never a lasting Bill Russell GOAT movement despite his winning.


Indeed there was a never lasting Bill Russell GOAT movement despite his winning primarily because of the way he treated the media and fans during his 13-year playing career.



It is the same thing for Kareem and it is why Kareem was able to never get a head coaching job in the Nba despite the fact that he wanted one.

[Horatio33]

Obviously Wilt Chamberlain. Was shorter, weaker, less of an athlete, but was the leader on a team that tortured Chamberlain for half of his career. The answer is Wilt Chamberlain.

[coastalmarker99]

Obviously Wilt Chamberlain. Was shorter, weaker, less of an athlete, but was the leader on a team that tortured Chamberlain for half of his career. The answer is Wilt Chamberlain.

Wilt despite the fact that he only won two rings for his career up till his death was most often ranked up above Russell in most all-time rankings by the general public and the media.


So, therefore, I would say not Wilt but Baylor or West's legacies were the most affected by Russell as Baylor nowadays is the most underrated player and forgotten in Nba history basically due to Russell denying him from winning multiple titles alongside West.

[Horatio33]

Wilt despite the fact that he only won two rings for his career up till his death was most often ranked up above Russell in most all-time rankings by the general public and the media.


So, therefore, I would say not Wilt but Baylor or West's legacies were the most affected by Russell as Baylor nowadays is the most underrated player and forgotten in Nba history basically due to Russell denying him from winning multiple titles alongside West.

Wilt Chamberlain has been described by many, including yourself, as the STRONGEST, MOST ATHLETIC and DOMINANT scorer in NBA history, and he was neutralised by a weaker, less athletic and much less dominant scorer in Bill Russell. I would say that the player whose legacy is most affected by Bill Russell was Wilt Chamberlain.

[coastalmarker99]

Wilt Chamberlain has been described by many, including yourself, as the STRONGEST, MOST ATHLETIC and DOMINANT scorer in NBA history, and he was neutralised by a weaker, less athletic and much less dominant scorer in Bill Russell. I would say that the player whose legacy is most affected by Bill Russell was Wilt Chamberlain.


Once again Wilt was not neutralised by Russell as that is a complete myth



Wilt and Russell played against each other in 8 playoff years: 49 games. Those same years, Wilt played 46 playoff games against other teams/centers. The results Wilt's P/G vs. others in PO in 8 years was 26.5 Wilt's P/G vs. Russell in PO in 8 years was 25.7

So Russell held Wilt to 0.8 fewer P/G

Rebounds: 24.6 (vs. others) vs. 28.4 (vs. Russ) Wilt had 3.8 MORE rebounds vs. Russ than vs. others

TS%: . 52.9 vs. .51.8 Russell held him to 1% lower shooting

Russell vs. Others & vs. Wilt in PO in 8 years Russell P/G: 16.5 (vs. others) 14.9 (vs. Wilt) Wilt held Russell to 1.6 fewer P/G

Russell R/G: 23.8 (vs. Others) vs. 24.7 (vs. Wilt) Russell had 0.9 more rebounds

Russell TS%: .50.8 (vs. others) vs .456 Russell had 5% lower shooting efficiency vs. Wilt

Wilt also averaged more FTA/FGA against Russ than against other centers in the PO: .52 vs .60

Russell averaged fewer FTA/FGA against Wilt: .56 vs .37

Wilt averaged 2.5 fouls per game against Russ and 2.5 vs. others. Russell averaged 3.3 PF/G vs. others and 4.1 vs. Wilt.

Overall, Wilt vs. Russell as % of Wilt vs. others: P/G 97% Rb/G 114% A/G 84% FG% 94% FT% 114% TS% 98% FTA/FGA 115% PF/G 101%

Except for assists--which are dependent on teammates making their shots--Wilt's numbers were basically the same against Russ Russ vs. Wilt as % Russ vs. others P/G 90% Rb/G 104% A/G 98% FG% 90% FT% 99% FTA/FGA67% TS% 90% PF/G 124%

Except for rebounds, Russell's numbers were worse in every category

Thus we see through the data that Wilt held down Russell more than Russ held down Wilt in the PO in those 8 years.

[dankok8]

There was never a lasting Bill Russell GOAT movement despite his winning.

Actually Russell was considered the GOAT by a comfortable margin until the 90's. A few had Wilt or Kareem but not many.

[SouBeachTalents]

Lol why would you ask such an obvious question? There's one answer and it's the guy you always post about

[baudkarma]

Heinsohn, Sharman, KC Jones, and the other pretty good players who won multiple titles and are in the HOF only because they played alongside Russell.

[8Ball]

Jerry West. No doubt.
Then Wilt.

I don't think highly of Bill Russell as a basketball player.

Bad free throw shooter.
Zero offensive talent.

[Manny98]

Wilt would be in the top 10 if not for Russell destroying him head to head

[HBK_Kliq_2]

Jerry West for sure. He was Russell's son in like 9 finals. Never won until Russell retired.

[kawhileonard2]

Wilt as he would be a consensus top 3 without Russell around. West would be a consensus top 10 player.