Biggest GOAT in their sport??
- Thread starter theUforlife
- Start date
As a player, 11 NBA titles including 8 in a row and another as a coach make Bill Russell the only GOAT
Russell was not the Goat. He played when everyone was 5'7 ....lol. PLease. Great player though but he didn't have the same grind.
I would go with Tom Brady because of the consistency of just being the best and winning for multiple franchises. I would go with him.
MJ is the goat in basketball but I am of the belief yes LeBron could catch him. People don't realize LeBron still plays at an elite level.
Golf is tougher. I love what Tiger has done for the sport overall. He elevated the sport enormously by himself. This one is much more debateable to me.
I will go with Serena Williams in womens tennis which I do follow.
I would go with Tom Brady because of the consistency of just being the best and winning for multiple franchises. I would go with him.
MJ is the goat in basketball but I am of the belief yes LeBron could catch him. People don't realize LeBron still plays at an elite level.
Golf is tougher. I love what Tiger has done for the sport overall. He elevated the sport enormously by himself. This one is much more debateable to me.
I will go with Serena Williams in womens tennis which I do follow.
CD, you don't know your basketball. Every team back then had a dominant center, typified by Wilt and Walt Bellamy. You should check it out before making such erroneous statements. Yes guards were smaller but Jerry West was 6'5" and the best player I have ever seen, Oscar Robertson was 6'5" also. They would qualify for GOAT consideration in today's game. No one, however, has the championship record od Russell, the only GOAT
In Motocross, Ricky Carmichael. In 10 years he won 10 championships and out of 127 races, he won 102 of them. He also recorded the first perfect season in MX history. A motocross race consists of 2 motos and a perfect season in MX involves winning both motos at every race on the schedule, which he did in 2002 when he led 352 of 365 laps and then did it again in 2004 when he led 372 out of 384 laps. Then of course there's Edwin Moses. Winning 107 consecutive finals in the 400m hurdles is a streak that will not be broken anytime soon.
To be fair, Russell's teams also were stacked with future Hall of Famers including John Havlicek, Bob Cousy, Sam Jones, Tom Heinsohn, K.C. Jones and Bill Sharman. The Celtic teams had far superior talent overall than any other team during his era.
How many of those guys would have been Hall of Famers without Russell and how many titles did they win before he joined the team? Give Russell the credit he's due as the greatest winner in the history of team sports.
Without his surrounding cast of stars, Russell's 15.1 career scoring average wouldn't have won any titles. He was a great team player and rebounder but on offense he was really no threat and needed those scorers to win all those titles.
Russell was the ultimate team player and yes, his unselfish approach to the game made a lot of players great. However, 11 rings including 8 in a row is something that will never be repeated.
It will never be repeated because we are in a different era but LeBron James is the GOAT! James has averaged at least 25 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in 15 different seasons. The next most such seasons is 8 by Oscar Robertson.
Last edited:
Russell was no threat on offense only because he was a team player and did whatever it took to give his team a chance at victory. You act like he had no offensive game at all. Again, how many of his teammates would have been in the Hall of Fame had Russell not joined the team and how many titles did all those big time stars win before Bill got there? Apparently, it was Bill that was needed to put that team on top, not those scorers that you mention.
You're right about the era but Lebron is the goat for a decade, no further.
Threr were only two before Russell got there, Cousy and Sharman, both guards.
So, 2 Hall of Famers and 0 titles before Russell arrived? Not sure why you can't give credit to the greatest winner in team sports history? BTW, in addition to Cousy and Sharman, Boston had Hall of Famer Frank Ramsay at F. They also traded away 6 time All Star C Ed Macauley just to get Russell so let's not pretend that they had no talent before he arrived. That makes 3 Hall of Famers and a 6 time All Star that had those 0 titles before Bill was drafted.
The title of the thread was, "Biggest GOAT in their Sport??" Russell may have played on more winning team but there is no way he was a better all-around player than LeBron James, Magic Johnson. Michael Jordan or Larry Bird. Not even close!
Players like Russell and Wilt would be dominant in any era. Wilt very well might have been the best athlete that ever played in the NBA. As far as GOAT status goes, the idea of sports is to win titles. By that regards, Russell is it no matter how many excuses you come up with to try to diminish what he accomplished. 0 titles before he arrived and then 11 out of 13 with different casts of teammates along the way, once he became a Celtic.
The name of the game is winning. You can't be all that great if you never won a championship, just ask Dan Marino
You're equating winning titles to GOAT status. Russell played on great teams with a great coach that won more titles but he was nowhere near the Goat you're making him out to be. Magic Johnson was 6'9' and played guard. He stepped in for his injured center and scored 42 pts. winning an NBA title. He was much more athletic than Russell and much more a complete player. Your GOAT claim is total BS!
LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Larry B ird all won championships!
Wayne Gretzky !! You could have no idea about the sport and still see he was clearly two steps ahead of everyone else . The guy was so great, he made goons a valuable commodity … You know you’re special when they’re paying a limited player good money to protect their superstar… He made everything look so effortless .
You keep saying that Russell played on great teams with a great coach but ignore the fact that they won nothing before he got there. TBH, I consider Wilt the GOAT but there is no denying that Russell was the greatest winner in the history of team sports and his teams won nothing before he got there.
I hate everything Boston sports, Gretzky couldn't carry Bobby Orr's skates. Orr changed the game with half a career and on one leg.
Im old enough to remember Bobby Orr , but to say Gretzky couldn’t carry anyones skates Is flat out absurd and I’m putting it mildly ! His scoring numbers speak for themselves ..
They won nothing before he got there because the vast majority of their great players came after he was there. Paul Silas, JoJo White, Dennis Johnson, Heinsohn, Cedric Maxwell, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Ro ert Parrish, Kevin McHale, Havlicek, Larry Bird etc. If Russell was the main reason they won, how did they keep winning titles after he was gone? As for Wilt, I couldn't stand him. He scored most of his points on dunks and was a 51% free-throw shooter. I could top that shooting left-handed! Why no mention of Abdul-Jabbar? He is the NBA's all-time leading scorer, won a league-record six MVP awards and six championship rings.
Last edited:
Often unfortunately overlooked is the great players Gretzky played with in Edmonton, Kurri, Coffey, Messier, and a goon to protect him, Orr was the team and the goon in Boston
Last edited:
I already showed that you were wrong about not having talent before he got there, 3 Hall of Famers and a 6 time All Star that they traded to get Russell were on the team the year before Russell arrived. What the heck does winning titles after he retired have to do with the reason that his teams won? FTR, it took 5 years before Boston won another title after Bill retired.
Don't forget that Orr did play on a team that had Phil Esposito, a superstar in his own right.
I could agree on your selections with the exception of Football. I would think Brady falls into that slot.
I especially like the Mantle selection, the greatest switch hitter of all time and still holds some World Series records. I think most people would say Ruth and it would be tough to dispute it.
Russell's teams won because they were stacked with future Hall of Famers and All-Stars including John Havilcek, Bob Cousy, Sam Jones, Tom Heinsohn, K.C. Jones and Bill Sharman. The Celtics teams had far superior talent overall than any other team during his era. He may be the greatest winner in NBA history, but Bill Russell is also one of the league's most overrated players. The best players dominate both ends of the court. Russell's offensive stats were mediocre scoring 15.1 ppg while making 44% of field goals and 56% of his free-throws. When Wilt entered the NBA in 1960, there were only four players in the league taller than 6-8 (including Wilt at 7-i and Russell at 6-9). With his height advantage, he should have been able to score more dominantly. Granted, He may be the biggest winner as a team player but he is not even close to being the GOAT individually.
Kelly slater surfing.
youngest to ever win it
Oldest to ever win it
Won it more than anyone ever by a lot
joey chesnut eating
Need I say more
Great american hero
MJ basketball
No matter where your city is, it stopped when he came to town. The only athlete in my life time that had opponent's during the olympics asking for his autograph. When this guy would get the ball in space, the entire arena would stand and give an ovation regardless of it being the opponent. Mj made the entire country bulls fans. He made basket ball cards rival baseball cards. He put nike on the map. He made documentaries cool when they weren’t cool. We all knew this was our babe ruth.
youngest to ever win it
Oldest to ever win it
Won it more than anyone ever by a lot
joey chesnut eating
Need I say more
Great american hero
MJ basketball
No matter where your city is, it stopped when he came to town. The only athlete in my life time that had opponent's during the olympics asking for his autograph. When this guy would get the ball in space, the entire arena would stand and give an ovation regardless of it being the opponent. Mj made the entire country bulls fans. He made basket ball cards rival baseball cards. He put nike on the map. He made documentaries cool when they weren’t cool. We all knew this was our babe ruth.
Last edited:
Shaq would have made him cry if they crossed paths in the paint if the nba didn’t have lebrons back. Patrick ewing too. Dennis rodman too. Honestly a lot of players in the 90’s. The nba manufactured lebron. The guy get’s 13 points a game from the free throw line alone. Who get’s that present? Not just the points but the message that it sends to anyone that tries to rebound over him or d up against him. It’s a joke. And he still still can’t hold candle to mj even with the league trying desperately to surround him with the best players money can buy, moving him from team to team.
Kelly Slater is 100 the GOAT............30 years of dominating his sport..........local boy too, Sebastian..............and on a sidenote, Darrin Shapiro and Scott Byerly are the GOAT's for wakeboarding.........Those 2 formed the sport for what it is today.............
That's ridiculous. Tom Brady is the football goat for one reason, he won 7 super bowls and like Russell, he made everyone around him a star
Broken record. How many titles did all those hall of famers win before Bill was drafted and how many would have been in the Hall had they not had the fortune to play with Russell? Best players dominate both ends of the court? How about best players win titles which is what Bill did. Bill deferring on the offensive end is what made the Celtics winners and that unselfishness is what made him and Boston so great.
Latest posts
-
-
-
-
Transfer Portal Tracker: Players planning to depart from Miami in winter window
- Latest: BenjaminRivals
-