If a young Bill Russell and Michael Jordan were time traveled to the same draft...

[CavaliersFTW]

...and you had the #1 pick, AND the gift of your current hindsight of how their historical careers panned out, who would you choose? The other player goes to another franchise. Do you risk passing up the mythical winning powers of Bill Russell to take Michael Jeffery Jordan simply because you saw him play and knew what he could do? Or do you go the Phil Jackson route and take Bill Russell anyways because you 'can't argue with 11 rings/2 NCAA/1 Gold/etc'?

[NumberSix]

Jordan. Not even close. If you time travelled Bill Russell to 2014, he'd be no better than Joakim Noah.

[KyrieTheFuture]

I think it would be incredibly easier to build around Bill from a talent and locker room point of view. Michael was a hard person to have on a team it seems, plus centers suck now and a lockdown rim protector is incredibly beneficial.

[Rubio2Gasol]

Jordan. He'd average 40 a game in this league, minimum.

[moe94]

Jordan.

[CavaliersFTW]

Jordan. He'd average 40 a game in this league, minimum.

how many championships would he average though, in comparison to Bill Russell who has now made his way to another franchise since you just passed him up?

[Budadiiii]

Russell.

greatest teammate of all time. His competitiveness was on par with MJ's... if not greater and he had more impact on the game... easier to build around.

[Pushxx]

I think it would be incredibly easier to build around Bill from a talent and locker room point of view. Michael was a hard person to have on a team it seems, plus centers suck now and a lockdown rim protector is incredibly beneficial.

Bill Russell gets the edge purely because of this.

[KyrieTheFuture]

You want asses in the seats you choose Jordan, you want banners in the rafters you choose Russell.

[JohnMax]

I take Lebron. He would team up with Wilt Chamberlain.

[CavaliersFTW]

You want asses in the seats you choose Jordan, you want banners in the rafters you choose Russell.

based on how their actual careers turned out this might be accurate

[RichieW]

I think any player from 1956 drafted in to this league would struggle. The game has moved on so much, Russell would be lacking so many fundamentals of the modern game.

Now take Russell being born in 1995, growing up and learning the modern game and still having the same attitude and ability? Now that's a much more difficult question.

[Railgun]

Bill Russel is slightly better than Kyle O'Quinn in this era. His ceiling is probably Dwight Howard with less offensive skills, so Jordan easily.

[Fazotronic]

bill would be luol deng today.

[Akrazotile]

Jordan. Not even close. If you time travelled Bill Russell to 2014, he'd be no better than Joakim Noah.

Trolling at its finest.

Noah is a legit MVP candidate in the modern era, Russell played in a nine team league against 5'9 used car salesmen, AT BEST he would be today's equivalent of Kosta Koufos.


lol, comparing Noah to bill russell....