At the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony, Russell pointed to the five legendary centre-forwards (Abdul-Jabbar, Mutombo, David Robinson, Mourning and O'Neill) on stage, then used his left hand as a cover-up to say:
“I will kick your ass！”
Instantly detonated the whole audience, and the superstars on the stage were smiling, nodding respectfully, and did not say a word.
Russell, who dared to say this, had enough confidence, because he was a super center who had a decade of confrontation with another super center, Chamberlain, and in his confrontation with Chamberlain, although he lost in terms of statistics, he won in honor.
The best defensive center of all time
If Chamberlain is the sharpest spear in the center position, then Russell is the strongest shield in the center position.
When he first entered the NBA, Celtics coach Auerbach was very eager to get Russell, and he had never played a single NBA game, and Auerbach was willing to exchange all-Star center Edward McCauley.
However, in hindsight, Auerbach's decision proved to be incomparably wise.
In his first season, Russell showed his worth, becoming the league's rebounding champion with 19.6 rebounds per game.
In his second season, Russell won the rebounding championship and won his first regular season MVP.
In the decade that followed, Russell and Chamberlain almost completed the monopoly on the award, and they each won 4 MVPs.
The confrontation between Chamberlain and Russell on the pitch is the strongest collision of spear and shield.
Chamberlain was the most inexplicable presence on the offensive end, scoring 40 and 50 points per game was commonplace, but as long as he and Russell were up, scoring became less simple.
The mainstay of the Eight Crowns Dynasty
In his first season with the team, Russell helped the team win the championship, and that was just the beginning of his Lord of the Rings career.
Although he lost the championship in the second season, he soon led the Celtics to regain the championship the following year.
Since then, they have maintained this honor for 7 consecutive years and achieved eight consecutive championships.
Russell was able to lead the Celtics to eight consecutive championships, the main reason is that he can restrain Chamberlain in the divisional finals, otherwise once Chamberlain reaches the finals, then the championship is likely to change hands.
Of course, it is also unrealistic to give all the credit to Russell for the Celtics' eight consecutive championships, after all, he has many good teammates, such as Bob Kushi, Sam Jones, KC Jones, Tom Heinthorn, Bill Shaman, Havlicek and so on.
But these are all outside players, and in the interior position, Russell is a well-deserved mainstay of the team.
Part-time coaches won two more titles
After the Celtics achieved eight consecutive titles, meritorious coach Auerbach announced his retirement. As Auerbach's proudest disciple, Russell began working part-time as head coach.
In his first season as part-time head coach, Russell's Celtics were beaten by Chamberlain.
However, in the next two seasons, the Celtics found the feeling of winning again, and they achieved two consecutive championships.
After this, Russell announced his retirement, leaving behind a legend of 11 championships in 13 seasons.