Bill Russell Went 22-0 in Winner-Take-All Games

[ConnorHenry]

This gem came up during discussion of amazing sports facts. The Celtics official X account posted it. Russell doesn’t get nearly the accolades he should. All he ever did was win.

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[31to6]

Team success is why Russell is my GOAT, Hondo is in my top 10, and Sam Jones my top 20.

Thank you for highlighting this amazing stat.

[return2glory]

Russell is so underrated. I can say that without ever seeing him play a game. His records speak for itself. He is the biggest winner in a team sports history. He won at ever level. College, Olympics and the NBA. He didn't just win in the NBA, his teams dominated. You watch the documentary on the Celtics in those days, they were pretty bad until Red got Russell. Same with Bird. Celtics were bad for a while until Bird arrived.

[Hal14]

Russell is so underrated. I can say that without ever seeing him play a game. His records speak for itself. He is the biggest winner in an team sports history. He won at ever level. College, Olympics and the NBA. He didn't just win in the NBA, his teams dominated. You watch the documentary on the Celtics in those days, they were pretty bad until Red got Russell. Same with Bird. Celtics were bad for a while until Bird arrived.

Yup..they both completely turned the franchise around. Both legends.

[Fencer reregistered]

Team success is why Russell is my GOAT, Hondo is in my top 10, and Sam Jones my top 20.

Thank you for highlighting this amazing stat.

Where do you have Tom Heinsohn? He NEVER missed the Finals in his 9 year NBA career.

[31to6]

Team success is why Russell is my GOAT, Hondo is in my top 10, and Sam Jones my top 20.

Thank you for highlighting this amazing stat.

Where do you have Tom Heinsohn? He NEVER missed the Finals in his 9 year NBA career.

I have Tommy as underrated as a player but don’t fight (very casually) for him the way I do for Sam Jones and Hondo. Maybe because he stayed so famous and those guys seemed to get more forgotten? Or maybe because I was kind of over Tommy as a broadcaster for most of his last 20 years?

Don’t know. But he obviously deserves more credit than he generally gets because what you said (9 for 9 finals appearances) is preposterous.

[Jammer]

Team success is why Russell is my GOAT, Hondo is in my top 10, and Sam Jones my top 20.

Thank you for highlighting this amazing stat.

Where do you have Tom Heinsohn? He NEVER missed the Finals in his 9 year NBA career.

I have Tommy as underrated as a player but don’t fight (very casually) for him the way I do for Sam Jones and Hondo. Maybe because he stayed so famous and those guys seemed to get more forgotten? Or maybe because I was kind of over Tommy as a broadcaster for most of his last 20 years?

Don’t know. But he obviously deserves more credit than he generally gets because what you said (9 for 9 finals appearances) is preposterous.

Tommy was 8 for 9 NBA Finals.
Tommy also arrived the same year as Bill Russell (11 for 12 NBA Finals (twisted his ankle in Game 2 in 1958, the only year they lost).
Sam Jones arrived one year later (10 for 11 NBA Finals).

[Fencer reregistered]

Where do you have Tom Heinsohn? He NEVER missed the Finals in his 9 year NBA career.

I have Tommy as underrated as a player but don’t fight (very casually) for him the way I do for Sam Jones and Hondo. Maybe because he stayed so famous and those guys seemed to get more forgotten? Or maybe because I was kind of over Tommy as a broadcaster for most of his last 20 years?

Don’t know. But he obviously deserves more credit than he generally gets because what you said (9 for 9 finals appearances) is preposterous.

Tommy was 8 for 9 NBA Finals.
Tommy also arrived the same year as Bill Russell (11 for 12 NBA Finals (twisted his ankle in Game 2 in 1958, the only year they lost).
Sam Jones arrived one year later (10 for 11 NBA Finals).

That's for how many they won.

Russell lost the 1958 FInals, as you said, and didn't make the Finals at all in 1967 (Wilt's Sixers did instead). So to have made the Finals EVERY year of a career, one needed to have joined the Celtics no earlier than 1956 (the Tommy/Russell rookie year), and left before the 1966-7 season.

Guys who meet those criteria are Tommy plus some minor bench players. (One of the latter was famed college coach John Thompson.) Cousy, Sharman and Ramsey joined too early for that, while Jones, Jones, and Russell left too late.

[ThePigeon]

THE GOAT
Best player ever
He also changed the NBA. Invented the fast break, master of team play and hard defense
AND a huge individual that help change society

[Green89]

I wonder what his records were in elimination games, as winner take all games mean game 7s but not games where his team had to win to stay alive.

[31to6]

I wonder what his records were in elimination games, as winner take all games mean game 7s but not games where his team had to win to stay alive.

Honest question: did the Celtics ever face a non-game-7 elimination game during Russell's 13 years?

9-0 in two NCAA tourneys, though, gets at what you're saying. His teams didn't get behind or miss out on opportunities.

[Fencer reregistered]

I wonder what his records were in elimination games, as winner take all games mean game 7s but not games where his team had to win to stay alive.

Honest question: did the Celtics ever face a non-game-7 elimination game during Russell's 13 years?

9-0 in two NCAA tourneys, though, gets at what you're saying. His teams didn't get behind or miss out on opportunities.

While Bill Russell was on the team, the Celtics lost two playoff series.

He was injured during one of them, but for the 1967 series he presumably was on the court when they were eliminated.

[Curmudgeon]

In game 7 of the finals in 1957-- which went to double overtime-- Heinsohn as a rookie had 37 points and 25 rebounds. Russell had 19 points and 32 rebounds. Pettit in a losing cause had 39 and 19. They needed the production since Cousy and Sharman shot a combined 5 for 40.

That's the famous game in which Alex Hannum, who was the Hawks' player coach, put himself into the game after Ed Macaulay fouled out to throw a last-second full court pass off the backboard. Pettit got the rebound but missed the tip in.

[ryan in Maine]

That's fun.