How Did Bill Russell's Impact On Basketball

Bill Russell is the best basketball player of all time. 23 rebounds per game. That stat has only been amassed twice in history. (Jaimet 2006) Once came when Wilt Chamberlain averaged 23 rebounds per game for half of a season. The other came when Bill Russell averaged 23 rebounds per game for all 13 years of his professional basketball career. If Bill had played in our generation, he would have easily surpassed Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant as the public’s favorite player. MJ and Kobe are nonetheless very good, and Hall of Fame players. Still, through it all, Bill Russell is the greatest basketball player of all time.

Bill Russell was one of the most dominant and physical players to play basketball. Today’s game has been dominated by deep-shooting

Per ESPN, Bill Russell had a career average of 15.1 points per game, 23 rebounds per game and 4.5 assists per game (Bill Russell N.p. n.d.). Bill was a force in the paint, and dished it

According to NBA.com, “Russell brought a new level of defensive artistry, intimidating opponents with blocked shots and proving that it didn't take a scorer to dominate a game.” (NBA 2017). NBA.com says that Bill was not the biggest man, and he definitely wasn’t the strongest or tallest center, but he was an efficient rebounder because of his positioning, as he would anticipate where the shot would come off of the rim and he would move quickly to the ball. NBA.com also says that Bill’s game was as much mental and analytical as it was tough and physical, proving to everybody that you will not get by in the league just as a good ballplayer, you have to put countless hours into studying the game. (NBA 2017). When talking about the legendary Celtics team that Bill led, you talk about the finals, “Russell set a Finals record with 29.5 rpg in the series, and he helped launch the greatest championship run in the history of professional sports. Bill was the missing piece to the celtic’s dynamic dynasty. Boston's 1959 title began an unprecedented and unequaled string of eight consecutive NBA Championships.” (NBA 2017). This quote from nba.com shows how influential Bill was to this game and the Celtics Franchise. Bill also changed the way that defense was viewed, now helping teammates guard their opponents on defense and switching on pick & rolls became very common. Bill’s teammates would often funnel their man