Who is the greatest winner, Bill Russell or Michael Jordan?

Question

What I mean by "greatest winner"....WINNING! basketball games period.People always say MJ's the greatest...Yet.. Bill Russell is a 2time NCAA champion...Olympic gold medlist...5time NBA mvp(should have been more but they didn't vote for him because he was black)...multiple player of the year, and was the leader of the Celtics who won 11 RINGS!........

Answer 1

It's ridiculous to say that no one ever won like "these two", implying that Jordan belongs in the same category as Russell when it comes to winning.

Russell won 11 rings in a 13 year career (including 8 in a row, an all time record for professional sports...next best run is 5 in a row).

Jordan won 6 rings in a 15 year career (three-peating twice).

This puts Russell in an entirely different category than Jordan
in terms of being a winner.

In the two years that Russell did not win the title, he lost in the finals once (in 1958, thanks to playing on a broken ankle...and everyone thinks Jordan was tough because he played with the FLU, remember that? LOL), and lost in the Eastern Conference finals the other time (1967).

Russell never played on a losing team. Jordan played on 5 losing teams.

Russell's teams won over 70% of his games during his career. His career winning percentage was never below .600.

It took Michael FIVE YEARS before his career W/L record reached .500. After five years, his career W/L record stood at 205-205, a .500 percentage. His final career W/L pct was around .645 or so (compared to .705 for Russell).

Finals MVPs were not given out during Russell's career, except for 1969, his last title.

Russell played the greatest game 7 in Finals History, tallying 30 points and pulling down 40 rebounds against the Lakers in 1962.

Russell led the most dominant team in Olympic history, the 1956 squad, which won their games by an average of 55 points/game.

He also won back to back NCAA championships in college, and averaged over 20 points and over 20 rebounds per game in his college career (less than ten guys have ever been career 20/20 players in college).

Russell was the first player to win an NCAA championship, an Olympic Gold Medal, and an NBA championship in succession.

Russell won with Cousy and without Cousy. He won with Havlicek and without Havlicek. He won with Sam Jones and without Sam Jones. He won with Tom Heinson and without Tom Heinson.

Jordan never played on a .500 team without Pippen. And he never made it out of the first round of the playoffs without Pippen.

Russell was 11-0 in deciding games of playoff series (he was 10-0 in game 7s and 1-0 in deciding game 5's).

Russell was by far the greatest winner in the history of not only the NBA, but of any team sport in the U.S.A. Jordan's 'winning' accomplishments are dwarfed by Russell's.
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The extent to which Jordan has been hyped by ESPN is evident in several of these answers.

The Question is: "Who was the greatest winner, Bill Russell or Michael Jordan?"


Here are some answers:

1) "MJ of course."

2) "Jordan - he dominated any game he wanted to dominate. He controlled the games he wanted to control.

He also transformed the game with fetes of pure athleticism.

M Jordan is arguably one of the greatest American athletes of all time."

(I guess Jordan just didn't "want" to dominate as much as Russell did, since he didn't win nearly as much).

3) "Michael Jordan. Hands down. Nobody made his team better than MJ. ... Even though Russell has more rings... Jordan was better because he willed himself to win and he also took his team from a loser to a winner!"

(Give me a break...EVERY ONE OF JORDAN'S TEAMS WITHOUT PIPPEN HAD A LOSING RECORD!!! The Bulls were a losing team the year before Jordan arrived, and they were STILL A LOSING TEAM FOR THE NEXT THREE CONSECUTIVE YEARS).


4) "could u tell me wat u mean my greatest winner. it could be wat mj has done or cause of russell team. both r great winning but just by the of ring i say bill was a greater win, at the same time a case could be made for mj that russell alway had a team around him that y he won 11 ring, but when mj got his team they won 6 win in 6 years so look at the fact i would say it a tose up. i say they both the greatest win"

(incoherent, but basically the guys says that Jordan won 6 in 6 years - even though he really didn't, but ignores the EIGHT IN A ROW that Russell won, probably because he has no clue about NBA history). But there you have it... 6 equals 11


5) "Michael Jordan is the best."

(obviously, the guy is desparate to pick up two points...let him have 'em).


I suppose the above posters could be excused, since I hadn't posted the FACTS yet.


But even after I destroyed any notion that Jordan is on the same level as Russell when it came to being a champion, here comes another:

"micheal jordan"..

(Pedro, can't you read?)


This is the Yahoo Answers equivalent of counting sheep...because that's what these people are. No matter what evidence is presented, their answer to any basketball question is "MJ's the greatest".

Something is destroying these people's minds. Is it ESPN? LOL

btw, I would also add that Russell didn't accomplish what he did by playing against a bunch of high school kids, as Jordan did.

Answer 2

Michael Jordan. Hands down. Nobody made his team better than MJ. Jordan was so good that he not only wanted to beat you, but he wanted to defeat you to the point that you were no longer a threat to compete with him ever again! Even though Russell has more rings (he won 11 of 13 because he just found himself in the right place at the right time, surrounded by the right players), Jordan was better because he willed himself to win and he also took his team from a loser to a winner!

Answer 3

Bill Russell played in an era when the Celtics were the Yankees of Basketball. They had the best starting five in the game. They played both ends of the floor solid. They had a good bench as well. So of course Russell will have the better stats. The only centers of his time that gave him problems were Reed and Wilt. In MJ's time there were plenty of players to bother him. So they were from different era's and both had outstanding careers. Russell has the rings while MJ gave us more highlights.

Answer 4

Bill Russell and his team dominated for what, 8 years in a row? Jordan did it for two sets of three years. Russell might have had a better team behind him, but Russell himself won against sometimes better competition just because he MADE himself win. You could argue that Jordan took a bunch of B teamers in each of the six years and did the same thing.

Conclusion? They're BOTH the greatest winners -- I'd like to know who in other sports would match up against these two?

Answer 5

Jordan is the better player but Russell the greater winner

Answer 6

Jordan

Answer 7

could u tell me wat u mean my greatest winner. it could be wat mj has done or cause of russell team. both r great winning but just by the of ring i say bill was a greater win, at the same time a case could be made for mj that russell alway had a team around him that y he won 11 ring, but when mj got his team they won 6 win in 6 years so look at the fact i would say it a tose up. i say they both the greatest win

Answer 8

Yeah Bill dominated.

MJ is overrated when it comes to kids answering these.

The man above me nailed everything on the head. Of course I myself wasnt living at the time, but I dont feel like telling you all that Bill did because the guy above me deserves the best answer.

Answer 9

Jordan - he dominated any game he wanted to dominate. He controlled the games he wanted to control.

He also transformed the game with fetes of pure athleticism.

M Jordan is arguably one of the greatest American athletes of all time.

Answer 10

MJ of course. Best NBA player ever