Welcome to the fourth annual edition of The Bill Russell Scale, “an unbiased ranking of unassailable players,” where we assess everyone’s legacies based on how close their careers come to perfection.
What is The Bill Russell Scale?
Criteria for The Bill Russell Scale came from the idea that the NBA’s 50th anniversary team included:
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Every MVP but Bob McAdoo
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Every nine-time All-Star but Dominique Wilkins
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Every six-time All-NBA selection but Wilkins
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Every three-time top-five MVP finisher but McAdoo and Wilkins
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Every face of a championship team (post-BAA/NBL merger) but Bob Davies and Dennis Johnson
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All but four Finals MVPs (Johnson, Jo Jo White, Cedric Maxwell, Joe Dumars)
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All but four top-40 all-time scorers (Wilkins, Alex English, Adrian Dantley, Walt Bellamy)
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Everyone with at least 100 win shares and 11 playoff win shares but Maurice Cheeks
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All but five players with a qualified Player Efficiency Rating greater than 20 and a playoff PER greater than 19 (George Yardley, Bob Lanier, Marques Johnson, Kevin Johnson and Dan Issel)
The additions of McAdoo and Wilkins to the 75th anniversary team further solidified this as criteria for all-timers. At the start of the 2021-22 campaign, 74 players met two or more of these barriers to entry.
How is The Bill Russell Scale determined?
So I concocted The Bill Russell Scale, using that criteria and this scoring system:
19.1: Russell’s average PER and playoff PER. The max score.
16.4: Russell’s regular-season win shares divided by 10. The max score.
14.5: Russell’s career scoring total divided by 1,000. The max score.
12: Russell’s number of All-Star appearances. The max score.
11: Russell’s number of All-NBA appearances. The max score.
11: Russell’s number of top-five MVP finishes. The max score.
11: Russell’s combined championships and Finals MVP awards. The max score.*
5: Russell’s number of regular-season MVP awards. The max score.
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100: The Bill Russell Scale
*The NBA did not name a Finals MVP, the honor later named for Russell, until the 1968-69 season, when Jerry West won the award in a losing effort (to a retiring Russell). Since no one is likely to match Russell’s 11 championships, combining rings and Finals MVPs gives the field a shot to hit the mark or approach it.
Why is Bill Russell the scale’s standard-bearer?
We tried setting the scale to several different players, though none captured legacies so well, probably because Russell profiles as a winner in whatever form it takes to chase perfection. His statistics do not fit neatly into a box. He was not an all-time great scorer, and PER fails to capture his defensive impact.
You may consider Michael Jordan, LeBron James or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar the greatest player in NBA history, but there is no career you should want more than Russell’s. He played 13 seasons, never finished lower than seventh in MVP voting and won 11 championships. His only career playoff losses came against Bob Pettit and Wilt Chamberlain — two of the 11 players ever to meet all nine of the above criteria.
When did the Bill Russell Scale begin?
I created the Bill Russell Scale in 2021, when the league announced its 75th anniversary team. The scale’s history: 2021 • 2022 • 2023. We will expand it by one player each season to match the NBA’s anniversary.
Who scores highest on The Bill Russell Scale?
The 78 greatest careers in NBA history, according to the 100-point scale (active players in bold):
1. Bill Russell (100)
2. Michael Jordan (99)
3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (97)
4. LeBron James (96)
T5. Magic Johnson, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant (92)
T8. Wilt Chamberlain, Shaquille O’Neal (89)
10. Larry Bird (87.2)
T11. Kevin Durant, Bob Pettit, Oscar Robertson, Karl Malone (84)
15. Hakeem Olajuwon (83.9)
16. Jerry West (82.9)
17. Moses Malone (80)
18. John Havlicek (79.2)
19. Dirk Nowitzki (79)
20. Stephen Curry (75.4)
T21. Kevin Garnett, David Robinson, Chris Paul (78)
24. Charles Barkley (77)
25. Bob Cousy (76.3)
26. Dolph Schayes (74.8)
27. James Harden (73.4)
28. George Mikan (72.2)
29. Elgin Baylor (72)
30. Dwyane Wade (71.7)
31. John Stockton (71)
32. Giannis Antetokounmpo (70.5)
33. Patrick Ewing (70.2)
34. Julius Erving (69.2)
35. Dwight Howard (68.8)
36. Russell Westbrook (67.7)
37. Scottie Pippen (67.5)
38. Elvin Hayes (67)
39. Steve Nash (66.6)
40. Nikola Jokić (66.4)
41. Gary Payton (66.3)
T42. Paul Arizin, Allen Iverson (65.5)
T44. George Gervin, Clyde Drexler (65.2)
T46. Rick Barry, Jason Kidd (64.9)
48. Dominique Wilkins (64.4)
49. Paul Pierce (64)
50. Robert Parish (63.1)
51. Isiah Thomas (62.6)
52. Kawhi Leonard (61.9)
T53. Anthony Davis, Sam Jones (61.8)
55. Carmelo Anthony (61.3)
56. Walt Frazier (61)
57. Damian Lillard (60.7)
58. Ray Allen (60.5)
59. Pau Gasol (60)
60. Tracy McGrady (59.3)
61. Tony Parker (59.1)
62. Hal Greer (59)
63. Bill Sharman (58.7)
64. Chris Bosh (58.2)
65. Paul George (58.1)
T66. Willis Reed, Reggie Miller (57.9)
68. LaMarcus Aldridge (57.2)
T69. Dave Cowens, Kevin McHale (56.9)
71. Chauncey Billups (56.6)
72. Jimmy Butler (56.1)
73. Grant Hill (56.2)
74. Bob McAdoo (55.5)
75. Jerry Lucas (55.4)
T76. Bob Lanier, Vince Carter (55.3)
78. Adrian Dantley (55)
Keep in mind: Some interesting delineations have developed along round numbers on the scale. 80+ points gets you in the pantheon, starting with Moses Malone. Stars closest to 70 (Patrick Ewing), 60 (Pau Gasol), 50 (Joe Dumars), etc., also give you an idea of the kind of career necessary to climb each rung.
Following this year’s entries of Chauncey Billups, Vince Carter and Walter Davis into the Hall of Fame, only three eligible…
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