The only thing you really need to know about Bill Russell when it comes to his contribution to the Boston Celtics and place in NBA history is he has more championship rings than fingers and i’m not even including his two NCAA championship rings. As for skills on the court, you know him as the rebound and defensive king that could pull down 50 boards, get 20 blocks (unofficially since the stat was officially recorded throughout his career) but what many don’t know is he had the skills and athleticism to be a force on the offensive end if he wanted to.
Don’t believe me. Check out the video above and look how athletic and scary Russell looked on this play where he does a lipton layup from almost the free throw line.
As a bonus, I was researching big men battles of yesterday and came across this head-2-head stat lines of Russell and Wilt Chamberlain during the 7 game 1965 EDF series (Havlicek stole the ball!). So how do you like them apples?
Game 1 – 04.04.1965 – Boston win
Chamberlain 48 min 33 points (13-22 FG and 7/12 FT) 31 rebs, 3 assists
Russell 48 min 11 points (5-13 FG and 1/5 FT) 32 rebounds, 6 assists
Game 2 – 06.04.1965 – Phila win
Chamberlain 48 min 30 points (12-19 FG and 6/9 FT) 39 rebs, 8 assists, 8 blocks
Russell 48 min 12 points (5-12 FG and 2/3 FT) 16 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 blocks
Game 3 – 08.04.1965 – Boston win
Chamberlain 48 min 24 points (7-21 FG and 10/15 FT) 37 rebs, 1 assist, 1 steal
Russell 48 min 19 points (9-17 FG and 1/4 FT) 26 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals
Game 4 – 09.04.1965 – Phila win
Chamberlain 53 min 34 points (11-24 FG and 12/20 FT) 34 rebs, 3 assists
Russell 52 min 18 points (8-19 FG and 2/7 FT) 25 rebounds
Game 5 – 11.04.1965 – Boston win
Chamberlain 30 points (13-23 FG and 4/8 FT) 21 rebs, 2 assists, 2 blocks
Russell 12 points (4-7 FG and 4/5 FT) 28 rebounds, 7 assists, 12 blocks, 3 steals
Game 6 – 13.04.1965 – Phila win
Chamberlain 48 min 30 points (13-22 FG and 4/8 FT) 26 rebs, 4 assists, 6 blocks *at least
Russell 22 points (8-19 FG and 6/10 FT) 21 rebounds, 5 assists
Game 7 – 15.04.1965 – Boston win
Chamberlain 48 min 30 points (12-15 FG and 6/13 FT) 32 rebs, 2 assists, 1 block
Russell 15 points (7-16 FG and 1/2 FT) 29 rebounds, 8 assists, 6 blocks
The series averages:
W. Chamberlain – 30.1 ppg, 31.4 rpg, 3.3 apg 55.48 FG % and 58.33 FT%
B. Russell – 15.6 ppg, 25.3 rpg, 6.5* apg 44.67 FG % and 47.22 FT %
Thanks to Julizaver for the h2h stats
