Jokic's title run when compared to other all time greats

[Duffy Pratt]

Ditto.

Bill Russell is frequently subjected to undue criticism, undervaluation, or outright neglect in discussions about basketball greats. Although he retired over half a century ago, which predates the birth of a majority of NBA enthusiasts, it is essential to recognize the wealth of information available about him, including video footage, statistics, and testimonials from teammates and adversaries.

Far from being just an outstanding rebounder and defender, Russell was a double-digit scorer and an elite passer. Over the course of 20 years in organized basketball, encompassing high school, college, the Olympics, and the NBA, his teams consistently emerged as champions.

In high school, he led McClymonds to two California State basketball titles. At the University of San Francisco, he was instrumental in a 55-game winning streak, which included two NCAA championships. He didn’t stop there. He went on to captain the USA basketball team to a glorious victory, clinching the gold medal at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia.

Upon joining the NBA, Russell's impact was immediately felt as he steered the Boston Celtics to their first title in 1957 during his rookie season. Furthermore, he broke new ground by becoming the NBA's first player-coach, a role in which he added two more championships to his name. When he retired, he had amassed an awe-inspiring collection of 11 championship rings in just 13 years, an achievement that remains unparalleled in North American team sports.

Bill Russell's shot-blocking prowess is another aspect that warrants attention. While blocked shots were not officially recorded during his era, Harvey Pollack and other statisticians made informal tallies. There is compelling evidence to suggest that both Russell and Wilt Chamberlain routinely blocked between 8 to 10 shots per game, which is a staggering number.

His indelible impact on winning, his leadership, and his all-around skills make a powerful case for Bill Russell as one of, if not the greatest basketball player of all time. It is imperative that current and future generations of basketball fans acknowledge and appreciate the enormity of his contributions to the sport.

Agree with all this, except one minor point. Dave Debusschere was player coach for the Pistons from 64-67, before Russell. Russell was not the first, but the only one ever to lead his team to a championship as both player and coach.

[kawhileonard2]

^ That said, Lebron did carry his teams.

He’s the exception.

Wade won finals mvp, Shaq won 3 finals mvp, Westbrook won league mvp, Ben Wallace won 4 DPOY, Dwight Howard won 3 DPOY and beat Lebron without HCA, Melo won a scoring title. Tim Duncan won 5 titles, 2 league mvp's, 3 finals mvp's, Iverson won league mvp and despite that Lebron won bronze medals and lost with HCA and only has 4 titles while Curry only played with Durant 3 years, Klay, Draymond.

[RRR3]

Wilt is a stat padding loser. Dude is the all time great with the smallest win % defferential of when he plays vs when he doesn't. Also has some of the biggest stat drop offs RS > PS.

Where did you get this info? Just curious.

[Stephonit]

Where did you get this info? Just curious.

Maybe here:

https://youtu.be/4zxq70PjnC8?t=577

[Mask the Embiid]

As Jokic just won this incredible championship, it made me think about most impressive runs in NBA history and his place among big men. I'd place this run second overall to Hakeem Olajuwon in terms of a hard carry peak level ring. People tend to overrate career and underrate peak level when comparing all time greats so I'm going to throw out some unpopular opinions here.

1. Bill Russell is the most overrated player of all time. I do not credit his 11 rings in an 8 team league when he was NEVER ONCE the best player in the league (Career 44% FG, 56% FT.) Not to mention he was one of like 5 Black dudes in a league where people needed to have second jobs to survive. Switch Wilt with Russell on the stacked 7 HOF'er Celtics with the greatest coach ever in Red Auerbach and he'd have won a ring every year he played. I respect what he's done for the game, but as a basketball purist... Get outta here, you can't tell me he's better than Wilt. Just look at their H2H stats, I've watched almost all their match ups (many late nights watching old 1960's ball) and Wilt is straight up better.

2. Hakeem Olajuwon is the most underrated player of all time. Robert Horry played with prime TD, Shaq, Kobe, and said Hakeem is miles better than all of them. The only Center in top 10 in steals, #1 in Blocks, and could guard all 5 positions. Michael Jordan said the only player he ever feared was "The big African". Oh, and one more important non-stat: the '93-'94 championship is the only one in NBA HISTORY without a second player who has ever been an NBA all-star. Hakeem carried scrubs to a championship. Peak level > career IMO, and Hakeem's peak level is greater than anyone not named Michael Jordan (and could be argued as even higher due to being the best defender ever.) Hakeem should be #2 in NBA History behind only MJ.

3. What Jokic has done this year, basically playing point guard and orchestrating the offense by himself is nothing short of amazing. His second best player Jamal Murray is a good scorer but an absolutely awful decision maker / Point Guard. But Jokic distributes the ball on time and on target to everyone on the team, making each player play their best ball with high confidence. He's basically Magic Johnson in a big fat white guy's body. Other than Hakeem, I've never seen anyone more vital to their team's success. Even Michael Jordan's Bulls went 55-27 without him in '94, does anyone think the Nuggets sans Jokic would win 55 games? This run is the second greatest run of all time behind Hakeem's' 93-94 ring, and if Jokic sustains this greatness we're going to be talking about him forever. He could end his career top 10 all time, or possibly even higher based on how good his level is. He just destroyed Towns / Gobert / Edwards, Durant / Booker, LeBron / AD all in a row without losing more than two games in a series. That is an all-time great run.

ant was only 21 back then. he needed to be 6 years outside of his prime not 7 for it to be fair.

[SouBeachTalents]

Embiid’s title run was better imo.

[1987_Lakers]

You really think Gronk was on another level than Kelce? I honestly think he's at worst as good as Gronk, and was putting up big numbers before Mahomes even got there.

What separated peak Gronk from Kelce was his ability to block. Gronk was pretty much another offensive lineman when asked to block, probably the GOAT blocking TE. Kelce wasn't known for his blocking, both were monsters as receivers.

BTW I felt pretty bad for Gronk at the Tom Brady roast, he got so many "Gronk is dumb" jokes thrown his way.