YouTube Gold: Amazing Bill Russell Video

When people ask Michael Jordan who the greatest player in the history of the game was, he always demurs. He might say that it’s not up to him or that you can’t compare players from different eras.

Something like that.

In the case of Bill Russell, he never did that.

At the beginning of this video, he is asked who the best center in the history of the game is and he names himself - and then he says he wouldn’t confine that to center, either.

And 11 rings gives him a powerful argument. And don’t forget two national championships, a 55-game win streak and Olympic gold.

Russell was hurt in his second season when Boston lost the championship and in 1967, the Celtics lost to Wilt Chamberlain and the Philadelphia 76ers. Other than that, Russell’s teams won the final game in, well, everything.

In this video, there is stunning video of Russell doing what can only be described as Russell things. The comments here are pretty amazing too, not least of all the idea that he would stomp his foot on the floor and guys were so intimidated that they’d just do the basketball equivalent of wet themselves.

Most of all though, look at how fast he is, how high he jumps and how smart he is. This guy retired in 1969 and other than perhaps Bill Walton at his healthy peak, no one has even come close to what he did.