Bill Russell

And we, we, we based everything I- we did on the Boston Celtics.

Uh, Nellie played for, uh, Red Auerbach, played for Bill Russell there, played for Tom Heinsohn.

So won, won numerous championships.

And so he was, uh, really good for me as a young player.

And you look at his numbers, Reggie Harding, like his rookie year, I think he averaged 10 and 10.

He had a season he averaged 12 and 12.

Uh, he's, I looked at his matchups against Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell, 23 and 17 rebounds, 26 and 15 rebounds.

Wow.

And it's got some of the ones here, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, Candice Parker, and obviously Steph is in there.

You know what I always struggle with is if I didn't see a player, and I know that we're all kind of prisoners of the moment, but it's hard for me, like as great as the Celtics were for all those years, or as great as Bill Russell was, who was at USF and then just dominated defensively, or Wilt Chamberlain, like I always struggle with, because I didn't see him like wilt scored a hundred wilt average, you know, 28, 30 boards averaged 50 a game.

Like I, cause he's not as much in the goat conversation, but I'm thinking to myself, I get it.

There were rules and there weren't as many big guys and all that kind of stuff.

So, I mean, part of the reason this book starts with Magic and Bird, just because at some point you...

Like, you just got to have a realm of reality.

I didn't see Bill Russell.

So, like, I don't know if I'm the one to talk about that, right? I was raised on Magic and Bird, right? I remember hating those spots.

And it's got some of the ones here, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, Candice Parker, and obviously Steph is in there.

You know what I always struggle with is if I didn't see a player, and I know that we're all kind of prisoners of the moment, but it's hard for me, like as great as the Celtics were for all those years, or as great as Bill Russell was, who was at USF and then just dominated defensively, or Wilt Chamberlain, like I always struggle with, because I didn't see him like wilt scored a hundred wilt average, you know, 28, 30 boards averaged 50 a game.

Like I, cause he's not as much in the goat conversation, but I'm thinking to myself, I get it.

There were rules and there weren't as many big guys and all that kind of stuff.

So, I mean, part of the reason this book starts with Magic and Bird, just because at some point you...

Like, you just got to have a realm of reality.

I didn't see Bill Russell.

So, like, I don't know if I'm the one to talk about that, right? I was raised on Magic and Bird, right? I remember hating those spots.

I don't recall this at all.

Bill Russell.

Bill Russell hosting Saturday Night Live does not sound like a fit.

He doesn't seem – I mean, I think he was funny.

I'm old enough to remember him on TV doing the NBA Game of the Week on TBS with Rick Barry.

And the one line I remember, they were showing the Washington Bullets, as they were known then, and they had these big red, white, and blue jerseys.

And I recall Rick Barry saying, what do you think of these new jerseys, Bill? And immediately Bill Russell on air said, I think they stink.

And I love that line.

Must have a fantastic high school athletic program there.

They have turned out Beta Pinson, Frank Robinson, Bill Russell, Jesse Gonder, among some of the outstanding pro major league stars.

Pitch is outside, a changeup.

One ball, one strike to Curt Flood.

And it's got some of the ones here, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, Candice Parker, and obviously Steph is in there.

You know what I always struggle with is if I didn't see a player, and I know that we're all kind of prisoners of the moment, but it's hard for me, like as great as the Celtics were for all those years, or as great as Bill Russell was, who was at USF and then just dominated defensively, or Wilt Chamberlain, like I always struggle with, because I didn't see him like wilt scored a hundred wilt average, you know, 28, 30 boards averaged 50 a game.

Like I, cause he's not as much in the goat conversation, but I'm thinking to myself, I get it.

There were rules and there weren't as many big guys and all that kind of stuff.

So, I mean, part of the reason this book starts with Magic and Bird, just because at some point you...

Like, you just got to have a realm of reality.

I didn't see Bill Russell.

So, like, I don't know if I'm the one to talk about that, right? I was raised on Magic and Bird, right? I remember hating those spots.

And it's got some of the ones here, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, Candice Parker, and obviously Steph is in there.

You know what I always struggle with is if I didn't see a player, and I know that we're all kind of prisoners of the moment, but it's hard for me, like as great as the Celtics were for all those years, or as great as Bill Russell was, who was at USF and then just dominated defensively, or Wilt Chamberlain, like I always struggle with, because I didn't see him like wilt scored a hundred wilt average, you know, 28, 30 boards averaged 50 a game.

Like I, cause he's not as much in the goat conversation, but I'm thinking to myself, I get it.

There were rules and there weren't as many big guys and all that kind of stuff.

So, I mean, part of the reason this book starts with Magic and Bird, just because at some point you...

Like, you just got to have a realm of reality.

I didn't see Bill Russell.

So, like, I don't know if I'm the one to talk about that, right? I was raised on Magic and Bird, right? I remember hating those spots.

Math time.

Bill Russell's championships as a player minus Bill Belichick's Super Bowls as a head coach.

Three.

Incorrect.

Correct.

Math time.

Bill Russell's championships as a player minus Bill Belichick's Super Bowls as a head coach.

Oh, boy.

In today's episode, we're going back to one of the league's first stars, its most horrific injury, and the beginning of one of its most powerful forces, the Players Union.

Put it up on a poster! One season before Bill Russell entered the league and four seasons before Wilt Chamberlain, the NBA's first black superstar was drafted.

Maurice Stokes, as usual, grabs the rebound and heads up court.

With the second pick in the 1955 NBA draft, the Rochester Royals picked Maurice Stokes.

As the team owner said about Stokes, quote, he looked very weak.

He shot a few air balls, had no energy on the boards.

This was a guy who could jump over Bill Russell, and he wasn't leaving his feet.

The Royals lost by 17 points.