“Bill Russell played in more NBA Finals than 12 NBA franchises. Combined.”: StatMuse comes up with another insane stat about the Celtics legend who led them to 12 Finals

Akash Murty | 02/08/2022
“Bill Russell played in more NBA Finals than 12 NBA franchises. Combined“: StatMuse comes up with another insane stat about the Celtics legend who led them to 12 Finals

The Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell was as competitive as anyone, his desire to make the game of basketball a top sport in the world made him the winningest athlete.

Bill Russell at 88 years of age, left the world recently, breaking every heart that loved the great man but left a legacy behind which everyone is celebrating to give tribute to one of the greatest athletes to ever walk the earth.

And when we say that, we do not just mean athletes that walked alongside Dr Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, or Muhammad Ali as some of the greatest civil rights activists of all time. We mean a 6ft 10′ giant who had the tenacity of world-class track stars.

Imagine a centre who could jump over another NBA player on a fast break could dunk the basketball after taking off from the free throw line. Reckless isn’t it? But whatever that man did, he did in his proper senses.

And that is why he was able to win 11 championships in a 13-year career dominating the game through and through. That dominance is and always will be untouched because not even NBA franchises can do what Russell’s Celtics did back in the day.

Also read: Michael Jordan releases statement on passing away of Celtics legend Bill Russell

 

Bill Russell played in more NBA Finals than 12 NBA franchises. Combined.

Yes, you read it right. Bill made 12 Finals appearances in his 13-year career. It’s been 20 years since the last new franchise came into the league, but to this day there are TWELVE franchises that have a combined total of less than 12 NBA Finals between them. Credits: StatMuse.

Some would say 6 of these 12 teams came into the league after 1988. But that’s still 34 years which could easily have yielded 12 Finals appearances. COMBINED.

Others would think there are 30 teams in the NBA now as compared to 8 during Bill’s time. That’s an answer in itself. The lesser the number of teams the more the competition with much better talents at a time on the court.

Also read: Skip Bayless cold-heartedly attacks LeBron James for not posting a social media post about Bill Russell’s passing

We all already have made up our minds about the league being too easy at the time Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and many other legends played the game. And that is never going to change, is it?

It’s just that the rules of the game allowed the players to do what they did and play how they played. Their numbers might vary a little bit but those players would anyways be legends of the game in whichever era they played in.

Post Edited By: Akash Murty
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About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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