The Best Winner Ever
Bill Russell is the consummate winner. He’s won on every level, high school, college, and in the professional league. Once he got to the pro’s Russell won eleven championships in thirteen years, but what is less known is that he also won two consecutive national championships at the University of San Francisco. Do the math, that’s thirteen championships in fifteen years.
Despite winning in high school, Russell wasn’t intimidating or even highly coordinated. In his earlier years, no one could have guessed that he’d become the best winner that sports has known. He grew a few inches, developed a little more agility, and garnered a scholarship to USF. In college, he developed his uncanny ability to block and alter shots. He became so adept at it that the NCAA changed rules so that he couldn’t touch shots that on their downward arc. Prior to him, shots could be blocked at anytime. The NCAA also stopped players from crossing the free-throw line before the ball hit the rim because of Russell. He regularly shot his free-throw, rebounded a miss, and dunked the rebound before the other team could get in the lane, before the rule was instituted. He and K.C. Jones another NBA Hall of Famer dominated college for two years and took their act to the NBA.
In the NBA, Bill Russell commenced a run that has never been duplicated. He won more than any player in major sports history. It warrants repeating, he won 11 rings in 13 years. That means he won 84.6% of the championships during his tenure in the NBA. He had more rings than he had fingers. His defensive prowess changed the way that professional basketball was played. Before Russell, centers were plodding, lane stuffers that seldom ventured out of the paint. Russell was the progenitor of bigs like Olajuwon, Robinson, and Ewing that affected defense all over the basketball court. He turned shot-blocking into an art form. He baited some shooters and over powered others. He could block shots on the ball or from the weakside and he altered more shots than he blocked. Russell won 5 NBA MVP’s, including three consecutively from 1961-63.