Finally, Peter May makes sense...

[Mike Dynon <mdynon@ix.netcom.com>]

NBA NOTES
Working through this pick 

Not even Jordan should come before Russell when it comes to greatness

By Peter May, Globe Staff, 1/2/2000 

Am I the only one who has trouble with Michael Jordan being ESPN's
Athlete of the Century, or the only one wondering whether he should even
have been the top basketball player?

That designation should go, inarguably, to Bill Russell. And I'm not the
only one.

"What is the game all about? Is it for a team to win? Or a guy to score
a lot of points," said former Celtics great Tom Heinsohn. "Nobody won
more than Russell did."

He's absolutely correct. That Russell ranked behind Jordan, Magic
Johnson, and Wilt Chamberlain on ESPN's list is a travesty. Not only did
he win 11 NBA titles in 13 years, he revolutionized the game at both
ends. He also never lost a so-called "winner-take-all" game, whether at
San Francisco, the Olympics, or in the NBA.

"He was worth 60 points a night to us," Heinsohn said. "He made teams
change their offensive game plans and he made them change their
defensive game plans. Did Michael Jordan ever do that? The answer is
nobody did, except Russell."

Heinsohn has several Russell stories, but one of his favorites is the
time he, Russell, and some other NBA All-Stars were touring overseas and
scheduled to play against the Yugoslav National Team.

"They had this redheaded kid who they said was the world's greatest
scorer," Heinsohn said. "Well, they got us mad when they wouldn't play
our anthem or put up our flag. Then Red [Auerbach] went to Russell and
said, 'See that kid? They say he's the world's greatest scorer. I don't
want him to score.'

"Russell blocked every single shot that kid took and he finally was
ejected for throwing the ball at Russ after he blocked another of his
shots."

My friend and colleague, Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune, once tried to
convince me that if David Robinson had joined the Celtics in 1956, and
if Russell had joined the Spurs in 1990, there would be no difference in
the number of rings. I passed that along to Heinsohn.

"What has David Robinson ever done? He's not even as good as Walt
Bellamy," Heinsohn sniffed.