Lebron James referred to himself as the Greatest Of All-Time because he opined that leading the Cleveland Cavaliers against the 79-win Golden State Warriors from a 1-3 deficit to give the franchise its first title in 52 years of NBA participation in 2016.
I thought while that was definitely one heck of an accomplishment, it has to take more than that to claim the GOAT title and cited some cases of other players’ accomplishments that are equally special while using the caveat that I approach this comparison by analyzing how a player impacted his franchise upon arrival because not everybody is handed a situation of ending a 52-year title drought.
It would not be fair to put premium on the failures of others in the past to raise one’s glory today. The failures the Cavaliers before James should not have anything to do on how great he is, in the same way that the accomplishments of the 1960’s Celtics should affect Larry Bird’s.
Here are some more player impacts on a franchise that I found to be as special as James’:
Bill Russell
If doing something super special for a franchise is the criteria, then there is no question this man should be awarded the GOAT title.
It’s because the Boston Celtics will not be probably the winners we know today if not for him.
The Celtics could not get out of the Eastern Division playoffs during the first 10 years of the franchise. They lost in the in the division finals and semifinals thrice each because they are a high-scoring team who couldn’t close games due to the lack of defensive presence.
So what does Russell do for the Celtics who are seeking their first title?
Although arriving with fellow future Hall-of-Famer Tom Heinsohn and playing along with three other HOFers Frank Ramsey, Bill Sharman and Bob Cousy, Russell was a major contributor for the team with his ability to play tenacious defense and rebounding prowess.
Russell’s first game for Celtics game came on December, 1956 because he had to finish Olympic commitments and the impact he made since then was very evident as it laid the foundation of the famous Celtics dynasty.
The culture has suddenly change for this franchise as the Celtics are now utilizing a strong defensive approach, forcing opposing teams to commit turnovers which led to many easy fast break point in defeating opponents.
Russell’s defensive antics allowed the Celtics to play the so-called “Hey, Bill” defense, a play where a Celtic would just shout those words if they need additional defensive help. Russell would run over for a quick double team and make it back in time if the opponents tried to find the open man.
That lead the Cs to a 44-28 season, their second best so far at that point in time, reach the NBA finals for the first time, and won the NBA Championship in just its first crack at it.
This system that he anchored would run unchecked for the next 13 years, the entire duration of Russell’s career, and resulted to 13 division finals appearances, 12 NBA finals appearances, and 11 NBA titles, including eight in a row.
Adding luster to Russell’s on-court accomplishments was the fact that he was their playing coach for the years 1966-1969 and that he would have to deal with an era where black men couldn’t simply exist with white men and Boston, Massachusetts was one of the places in America where the divide was as wide as their Arizona Grand Canyons at that time because African-Americans were a small minority in its population overwhelmingly composed of whites.
Supporting cast Co-stars: This is the only knock on Russell’s claim on the GOAT title. He played with a very good number of Celtics Hall of Famers when they dominated the league. Heinsohn, Ramsey, Sharman, Cousy, John Havlicek, KC Jones, Sam Jones, Tom Sanders, John Thompson, Bailey Howell, Wayne Embry.
The Celtics then was the epitome of becoming winners by working as a team. To label them his supporting cast could taken as an insult to his contemporaries considering what they have individually contributed to the Celtics cause.
Russell, however, was the missing piece to make the Celtics team a well-oiled machine and the centerpiece and undeniable leader of his co-stars.
Kareem Abdul Jabbar
The Milwaukee Bucks were an expansion team, together with the Phoenix Suns, at the start of the 1968-69 season. As it is with expansion teams, they struggled right from the start, winning just 25 games during the 82-game season.
As a result, they ended up drafting, Abdul Jabbar, then known as Lew Alcindor.
What does he do for the franchise?
Like Bird, he made his presence felt right from the gate.
He led the Bucks to a 56-26 record that season. If you’re still not counting, that is a 29-game improvement from the year before, the best turnaround season until Bird broke it for the Celtics.
He would then led the Bucks to the championship in 1970-71 season, his second year with the franchise. That would be the only NBA title of the Bucks to date.
That established the record for the fastest new franchise to win an NBA championship, just on the third year of existence.
The Bucks made the playoffs five times in the six seasons Jabbar was with them. They reached the NBA finals in another instance and lost in the conference finals in another.
The Bucks never reached the NBA finals and have reached the conference finals only four times since he left for the Lakers, a span of 44 years to date.
His main supporting cast: Oscar Robertson.
He would later validate this impactful presence in another team, although he may have to yield the top spot to:
Magic Johnson
The Lakers were already a five-time NBA champion prior to relocating in Los Angeles from Minneapolis at the start of the 1960-61 season. They, however, did not fare as good upon relocating despite having two of greatest players in league history, Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West.
The bridesmaid of that decade reached the finals seven times in the 1960s but fell each time to the Celtics. They finally got one during the 1971-72 season but couldn’t duplicate it, leaving their record with just a single championship in 19 years at LA prior to Earvin Johnson’s arrival.
So what does Magic do?
He was another guy who immediately made his presence felt. While the Lakers were already an above .500 team in the preceding three years before he came and already have Kareem Abdul Jabbar for four years, the Lakers’ becoming legitimate contenders for the NBA title was only achieved when he arrived.
From a 47-35 record in the 1978-79 season, Johnson would lead them to a 60-22 record, the equivalent of a 13-game improvement.
They would proceed to wallop the Phoenix Suns and the Seattle Supersonics, both 4-1, in the Western Conference Semifinals and Finals, respectively to set a date with the Philadelphia 76ers for the NBA title.
The Lakers won Game 5 of a see-saw series to take a 3–2 lead but Abdul-Jabbar sprained his ankle during the Game 5 and could not play in Game 6. Coach Paul Westhead decided to start Johnson at center in the game and he responded with a 42 point, 15 rebound, 7 assist, and 3 steal performance to lead the Lakers to a series wrapping 123 – 107 victory while playing guard, forward, and center at different times during the game.
Johnson became the only rookie to win the NBA Finals MVP award and his title-clenching performance, delivering the 2nd championship of the Lakers since moving to LA, is still regarded as one of the finest single game performance in NBA finals history.
Johnson would proceed establish a run and gun style of play called showtime, using fastbreaks as a main component, a weapon they would use to earn four more championships for LA before being forced to retire after acquiring HIV during the 1991-92.
Co-star and supporting cast: Abdul Jabbar, Byron Scott, Bob McAdoo, Michael Cooper
Among the others whose presence I consider to have created a favorable impact to the franchise they played for and resulted to multiple championships: Tim Duncan with the Spurs, Kobe Bryant with the Lakers, Shaquille O’neal with the Lakers, Wilt Chamberlain with the Warriors and Lakers, Dwayne Wade with the Heat, Julius Irving with the Sixers and Nets (ABA), and Hakeem Olajuwon with the Rockets.
By: ARMANDO M. BOLISLIS
