Rumors

In the process of disagreeing with a recent Washington Post column arguing for Bill Russell as the best player in NBA history because of what he faced off the court, Kendrick Perkins took things a step further on the latest episode of Road Trippin’. Rather than simply argue that off-court challenges should not factor into a player’s greatness or that someone like Michael Jordan still accomplished enough on the court to supersede Russell’s historic racial advocacy, Perkins took Russell down a peg by comparing his strength in the face of racism to modern players dealing with haters on social media.

Awful Announcing

“I would never take what the guys, Bill Russells, and what they had to go through for us to be able to perform at a high level … or even be in the NBA, for the NBA to even exist. I wasn’t there,” Perkins said on his Road Trippin’ podcast. “But I will say everyone’s had their own form of adversity. Back then, it was racism and death threats. But having to battle through the adversity of f*cking social media as a player elevates right up into there, when you talk about mental toughness.”

Awful Announcing

One argument often used against LeBron James' GOAT case is that he didn't have the same playoff success as Michael Jordan (six titles in 15 seasons), or Bill Russell (11 in 13). But delve deeper and you can see that that argument may not be airtight. Only two NBA75 players in league history had more playoff wins than any team during their eras, one of them by a landslide and one narrowly. The former is James, and the latter is Scottie Pippen. During James’ time in the NBA, the team with the most playoff wins is the Boston Celtics with 144. James’ individual playoff wins during that same span of time? 184. Oh, and he’s tied with the dynastic Golden State Warriors for championships won with four apiece.

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Netflix: Shaq reveals his top 10 greatest NBA players of all time 👀 Watch one of the all-time greats make his next play on Power Moves with Shaquille O'Neal premieres June 4.

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Promoting a documentary series streaming on Netflix, Power Moves with Shaquille O’Neal, Shaquille O’Neal went into revealing his all-time Top 10 list. Sharing his opinion on the best-ever NBA players, 53-year-old Shaq initially listed himself in tenth place, but quickly moved on to present his ten favorites. The turned-basketball analyst reserved first place for Michael Jordan. In addition, he did not name his partner in the brand new Netflix series, Allen Iverson. Shaq’s all-time Top 10: 1. Michael Jordan 2. Kobe Bryant 3. LeBron James 4. Magic Johnson 5. Bill Russell 6. Wilt Chamberlain 7. Larry Bird 8. Hakeem Olajuwon 9. Tim Duncan 10. Julius Erving

EuroHoops.net

ESI: Where do you stand in the Michael Jordan vs. LeBron debate? Dominique Wilkins: “I don’t believe in the GOAT and all that stuff. How can you say a guy is the greatest of all-time when they haven’t played against some of the guys that were the greatest of their era? Like a Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell.  “But I will say this: Michael Jordan made six Finals and won six championships with the same team. And he won three championships after retiring to play another sport. Nothing like that has ever been done before. MJ did some things that no one will ever do. So if I’m going with the best player to ever play, that’s where my mindset sits. I’m going with Michael. That’s no disrespect to anybody, but I’m looking at what he accomplished in a short period of time.”

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Bill Cartwright: When I came to the league, uh, who are the guys that I admired? I'm playing against Wes Unseld. I'm playing against Dan Issel. Here's Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Here's Jack Sikma. My second game I played against Julius Erving. And by the way, I blocked his shot. I couldn't believe I blocked his shot. So when I came to the league, those guys were my heroes. So now I come to Chicago, it's like what… People are like, "What was it like to play against Mike?" And I'm like, “He was a good young player." So to me, my heroes are the guys that I played and saw when I was a kid. Rest of you guys are just young kids. You guys are young kids. I couldn't be enamored by you young kids. Because I saw John Havlicek play, right? Bob Cousy. I met Bill Russell when I was in high school. So I was supposed to be impressed by these young guys? Get out of here. My heroes are behind me. 

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Josh Lewenberg: Players to win MVP and an NBA championship in the same season: Steph, LeBron (x2), Duncan, Shaq, Jordan (x4), Hakeem, Magic, Bird (x2), Moses Malone, Kareem (x2), Willis Reed, Wilt, Bill Russell (x4), Bob Cousy Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is 4 wins away from joining that group.

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I ask about the recent losses inside his basketball family. Satch Sanders: “I don't answer calls when people start out with, 'Did you know? ... 'Did you know' is always gonna be followed up with, 'He died.'" He sighs twice. "Did any of the deaths really hit you differently?" I ask. "Chamberlain," he says quickly. "We always saw him as being so big and so strong." "What about Bill Russell?" Sanders shakes his head. "Russell was human," he says.

ESPN

Duane Rankin: "They can't guard anybody. They're going to have to find somebody to cover for LeBron and Luka. LeBron don't play defense anymore. Luka can't guard a chair. You're going to have to have Wilt, Kareem and Bill Russell back there blocking shots." Charles Barkley on Lakers needs. pic.x.com/CQjs9QaWeG

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Jorge Sierra: As of today, Stephen Curry has a better winning percentage in the playoffs than Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James. Now you know that.

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When pressed by Brian Scalabrine about whether playing in Boston led to some of that disrespect nationally, Pierce strongly agreed. “I do,” Pierce declared. “I think playing for the Boston Celtics and we can go back to Bill Russell winning 11 championships. At no point did they say he was the greatest ever. It was always Wilt and Kareem. It’ something about people hating the city of Boston but all we do is win.”

Booth Newspapers

Tracy Murray's top five players of all time: ‘Kareem is definitely one. He's the reason why I played. Cap, I love you man. He’s the reason why I went to UCLA, the reason why I picked up a basketball. When I was five years old I told my dad ‘I want to play basketball like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’. So Cap, salute man. Buck (Magic Johnson), (Larry) Bird, bad motherf*cker. You know me, I'm rolling purple and gold, bro, I mean I grew up a Laker fan, I grew up in Coop’s Camp. I'm automatically purple and gold, Lakers, hate the Celtics. There's no other way, but you have to respect the hell out of Larry Bird, man what he did on the court was unbelievable. MJ (Michael Jordan) definitely. MJ, no question about MJ. No question, he's everybody's number one pretty much. The fifth one is always hard, but I'm going to say Bill Russell. He's a winner, the ultimate winner.

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Quite the epic journey, we are immediately set on the odyssey that is the history of the Celtics, a tall order in terms of sports documentarianism if ever there was one. "I think from that perspective, it's going to be different," she continued. "But I think also with this story, we knew that there were so many layers to it that went beyond just these iconic names and iconic moments, but that there was a real genuine connection between the Boston Celtics, the city of Boston, and American history, and really the story too of Black empowerment in America that comes through from Bill Russell to Jaylen Brown and that lineage." As we alluded to above, there's a lot to chew on with the history of the Celtics, and it appears this production team has not shied away from the challenge.

Celtics Wire