Phil Jackson would take Bill Russell first to build a team

He's only saying that because then he doesn't have to be apart of this endless, non-sensical debate. But even Jackson knows at heart that MJ was the best.

 

as great as bill was, he was playing with multiple hofs.

personally if i was to start a team, i would choose shaq.

 

Not to mention the league had like 8 teams lol

 

I'm def ehh on starting with russel... I def wouldnt start with Shaq, he's not even the first center id take..

Really it's a no brainer you go with mj... Only few who can be held in conversation for first to build around is magic, wilt, Hakeem, Duncan, bird and possibly Lebron, Kobe, Shaq Russell...

In all honesty if we were to do a draft of all time greats and i had the first pick, id trade it and it's not even a difficult decision...

 

Phil Jackson's coming out with a book - so now he's sharing his controversial opinion on everything...

 

You take Lin to start a franchise and it really isn't even much of a question.

 

You know what, I might get lynched for this, but I'll take Lebron first, then Shaq.

 

This is probably sacrilege to say, but Russell would not be in my top five centers, in an all time draft.

I'd take Kareem, Wilt, Olajuwon, Shaq, and Malone over Russell. It would also be hard to turn down David Robinson and Patrick Ewing.

 

You didn't spot the self aggrandizing of 11 rings?

This is Phil Jackson we're talking about, it's always about him.

 

Here's how good Bill Russell was:

Bill Russell understood advanced statistics back in the late 50s and 60s before anybody even knew what they were. Bill understood how to play Wilt, how to water down his efficiency and make all those big point games Wilt had essentially meaningless because of all the turnovers and missed free throws he caused Wilt. Bill also understood he was not a great offensive player and did not chew up possessions like Wilt did trying to equal Wilt. He played to his strengths and to Wilt's weaknesses and his teams dominated Wilt's to the tune of 11 rings. Wilt, on the other hand, understood how to win. All he understood was how to dominate the ball and dominate and old-fashioned box score which was as meaningless in its relationship to winning as much then as Morey says it is today.

Bill Russell was 50 years ahead of the players he played against.

 

Bill Walton was a beastly fellow. He should be in the mix if we're talking hypotheticals. He had individual offensive skills, defensive skills, his team ran the offense around him, and he played great team defense.

 

This is just stuff people have tried to extrapolate from nonsense in their attempts to deify rings, none of that was actually true (heck according to Russell, Wilt used to complain to him when they had dinner that all his coach ever wanted him to do was score and rebound, when he could do so much more), and Wilt even stated it in an interview many years ago.

 

Yeah but who would Phil take first to build a taco stand??? We need to know, Phil!!!!!

 

Well, you could also take Yao, it really depends which position you want to build up first.

 

Bill Russel = Ben Wallace

 

Otis Thorpe would neutralize and score/rebound against Bill Russell. Hakeem would embarrass him

 

I would too.

 

Yes deify rings.

Rings over stats Aleron. Rings over stats.