Who had the better supporting cast?

Question

Bill Russell's celtics of the 50's

MJ's Bulls of the 90's

Breakdown position by position

Answer 1

McHale, DJ, Bird and Parrish were just toddlers when Russell was playing.

To debunk the myth that Bill Russell only won championships because of his talented teammates . . . . .

The Celtics NEVER went to the NBA Finals before Russell even with Hall Of Famers like Coach Auerbach and players like Macauley, Cousy, Sharman, and Ramsey.

Back in the '62 season, Russell took himself out for 4 games and the Celtics lost 4 straight games even with Red Auerbach, Cousy, Sharman, the Joneses, Ramsey and other HoF's.

Back in '69, Russell took himself out for 5 games because of an injury and the Celtics lost 5 straight even with HoF's Sam Jones, Havlicek, Satch Sanders, and Bailey Howell.

The instances that i mentioned are the two worst losing streaks of the Russell-era Celtics. The latter is the worst losing streak of the Celtics since Red Auerbach took over the helm.

When Russell retired after the '69 season, the Celtics went down from 48 wins to 34 and they MISSED the Playoffs even with HoF's such as Havlicek, Sanders, Jo Jo White and Howell. A huge 14 game drop.

And the modest 48 wins that the Celtics garnered during the '69 season is the lowest number of wins that the Celts have during the Russell -era and occured only because Russell spent a lot of time in the injured list and/or recovering.

Theoretically speaking, the Celtics with an "Allstar" cast like that should be able to shrug off Russell's departure and continue the Celtic dynasty, in reality, they couldnt.

The Celtic dynasty started and ended, at least the first part pre-Cowens, Silas etc., with Bill Russell.

Russell has 5 rings w/o Cousy. He also has 5 rings without Havlicek. He also has 2 rings without Red Auerbach as coach. How many rings does Jordan have without Pippen and Phil Jackson?

Theoretically speaking, the Bulls should have dropped 15 games and be knocked off Playoff contention w/o its "leader" and "franchise player" , the supposed GOAT, Michael Jordan in the lineup, according to coach Phil Jackson himself. In reality, it DIDNT HAPPEN. Reality check basketball fans!

How come that when Jordan "retired" in '94 the Bulls went "down" from 57 wins to 55? A pitiful 2 game drop. How come that the Bulls played Game 7 with the Knicks on the Second Round of the Playoffs ? Scottie, Phil jackson, and Myers, a defensive specialist from the CBA and Jordan's replacement would have lead the Bulls to the ECF if it wasnt for a bad call from ref Hue Hollins in the closing seconds of Game 6 shifted the momentum to the Knicks. The Bulls know its futile to try and win because the refs would just cheat them again in game 7, in order to preserve the illusion of Jordan's importance to the team.

Going back to Russell, he doesnt win only because he has talented teammates. He also lead a bunch of local boys, "a playground pick up team" from USF, a school with no gymnasium of its own, to back to back NCAA championships and a 55 game winning streak.

How come Jordan COULD NOT lead a school with a rich winning tradition like UNC, into the Final Four during his junior (UNC was ranked #1 in '83) and senior (#2 in '84) years even though he have great teammates (like Sam Perkins and Brad Daugherty) and a great coach (Dean Smith)?

Jordan won an NCAA championship during his sophomore year as a Robert Horry-role player, riding on the coattails of the team's real star James Worthy, the '82 MOP. While Jordan's shot with 16 sec. left (not exactly a game winner) gave them the lead over Ewing's Hoyas, it was Worthy's crucial steal in the dying seconds that sealed the win.

Russell has a better supporting cast than Jordan except for his last two seasons as playercoach. Mind you most teams in the 60's have multiple Hall of famers in their roster.

Russell wins with plenty or little help, regardless of the situation. Jordan needs plenty of help to win, and its not even guaranteed (check his college record).

Answer 2

kobe's 2004 lakers had the best supporting cast... malone, payton, shaq, kobe... oh wait, they lost that year in the final... kobe is truly over rated...

Answer 3

Bill Russell for sure. He had Bird, McHale, D. Johnson and others.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

i think michael did but u cant forget he helped build his team

they werent always better than the celtics of the 50's