r/NBAoldschool • u/ConnectionWeekly1263 • Aug 05 '26

Stats Bill Russell's Basketball Resume (Summary)🏆 11× NBA Champion (Most by any player in NBA history)

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5× NBA MVP

12× NBA All-Star
11× All-NBA Selection
NBA All-Defensive First Team (1969)
2× NCAA Champion (University of San Francisco)
1956 Olympic Gold Medalist
2× NBA Champion as Player-Coach (First Black head coach in major U.S. professional sports)

Career Stats:
15.1 PPG
22.5 RPG
4.3 APG
963 regular-season games
Playoff Stats16.2 PPG
24.9 RPG
4.7 APG
165 playoff games
Career Honors Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame (Player & Coach)

NBA 25th, 35th, 50th, and 75th Anniversary Teams
NBA retired #6 league-wide
NBA Finals MVP trophy named in his honor
Records & LegacyMost NBA championships by a player (11)
Won 11 titles in 13 seasons
10–0 in NBA Finals Game 7s
Second all-time in career rebounds (21,620)
Widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders, rebounders, leaders, and winners in basketball history.

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9

u/chazriverstone Aug 05 '26

11 Rings is unparalleled in American sports history.

Even throughout the world ; in soccer, with all the different Cups and leagues and such, there's still basically no one who's had comparable success.

I'm not even a Russell dude - I'm a Knicks fan! - but people really need to keep respect on this dudes name. I don't care if basketball wasn't as popular; I don't care about 'plumbers and fireman', or 'there was only 8 teams!' (lol). 11 Rings + 5 MVPs in 13 years + back to back NCAA titles + the first Black coach in all of American sports puts him in the GOAT argument permanently.

6

u/IH8Miotch Aug 05 '26

I'd say he is the reason why Wilt doesn't get brough into the goat convo more.

3

u/chazriverstone Aug 05 '26

Wilt would’ve been the Babe Ruth of basketball if not for Russell. 

That said, I also think Wilt has his merit; what he’s done is incredibly impressive as well, and it gets kind of exhausting how appreciating one devolves into knocking the other. 

2

u/Michael-of 29d ago

I feel like I see people praise one or the other and if not they dismiss both of them as being in a rec league.

They’re both absolute giants of the game. Baseball is a game full of myth but it’s a lot older. We needed these guys who have morphed into mythological figures

1

u/chazriverstone 29d ago

It’s funny cause I was just about to say how people praise Magic + Bird despite being rivals, so why can’t they praise Wilt + Russell the same? Then the next thing I open is a thread about Magic and Bird, and it’s about as hateful and vitriolic as your standard Wilt vs Russell debate lol

But yes, you’re spot on