As the bigger winner in NBA history, Bill Russell has the right to fire back at everybody who tries to bring him down. The Boston Celtics legend collected several awards during his honored career, but the one that stands out the most is his 11 championships with the Greens.
This record looks impossible to match, let alone surpass, but some people actually aimed at that. Michael Jordan, for example, once told Russell he was going after his records. Back in the 90s, while he dominated the NBA, His Airness told Bill he and his Chicago Bulls were trying to emulate his Celtics.
In an old interview, Russell was asked if he ever talked with MJ, revealing an interesting conversation he had with No. 23.
“I think he’s a great player. …We’re at the golf course, and he says, ‘hey, we just won a championship.’ He says, ‘we’re gonna come after your record.’ I said, ‘which one? You know, we won 11. But, we won 8 straight. I don’t think you live long enough to get one of those.'”
In the end, Jordan won ‘just’ six championships with his Bulls. He split the titles into two three-peats until the team’s front office forced their core to go separate ways in 1998. MJ finished his career exactly five championships away from the 11 Russell won in total and the 8 straight he won during that span.
Bill always takes pride in all his accolades, even trolling Tom Brady and Jordan on the ultimate GOAT debate, telling the NFL and NBA legend his position is safe.
Unsurprisingly, these two are always part of the GOAT debate, and sometimes, Russell’s titles convince people to pick him over His Airness.
