Quote:
Originally Posted by albionmoonlight
Bill Russell, RIP.
The Bill Simmons book does a great job of pointing out just how good he was. Well, that and the 11 freaking titles he won.
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For a sports culture that loves rings, I always felt he was underrated as a player. I was happy to see he began to get some of the respect he deserved later in life. That does not even begin to touch on everything he did and was off the court.
My favorite stat.
Bill Russell was 22-0 in winner-take-all-games.
At USF, his '55 team was 5-0 in the tourney on the way to the title.
At USF, his '56 team was 4-0 in the tourney on the way to the title.
In the '56 Olympics, the US squad was 2-0 when it came to the winner-take-all final 4 for gold after the group stage.
In the NBA, the Celtics were famously 10-0 in Games 7's throughout his career. He also won Game 5 of the 1966 East semifinals best of 5 series against Oscar Robertson's Cincinnati Royals.