Written by: Ray Lamar Inspired by: Artist Bill Rembert

In sports there are many ways to measure a team’s greatness or an individual’s success. Some forms of measurement could be growth, strength, teamwork, camaraderie, sportsmanship, leadership, and attendance rate. And then you have those people that just don’t care about all those things, the only thing they use as a measuring tool is wins. This philosophy is completely different from that of Coach John Wooden, who believed that coaches shouldn’t talk about wins and losses.  Wooden said “You can lose when you outscore somebody in a game. And you can win when you’re outscored.” This philosophy led him to his first championship after 15 years of coaching. He would go on to set a record for the most championships won in a row at 7 which still stands today.

Bill Russell started his college basketball career with humble beginnings as a walk on at the University of San Francisco. Through hard play and proving his worth, Russell would earn a scholarship as well during his years of attendance. During this time period Bill Russell would show his defensive dominance and phenomenal rebounding ability. In 1955 and 1956 he averaged 20.7 points per game and pulled down 20.3 rebounds per game. He would finish his college career off by leading the United States men’s Basketball team to the gold medal at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

Bill Russel left his mark on the sports world as a player that was able to win. But interesting enough Bill’s philosophy and coach Wooden’s philosophy had similar ideologies. Bill Russell Had been quoted as saying “The most important measure of how good a game I played was how much better I’d made my teammates play.” Russell knew that if he played hard enough and made people around him better winning would be inevitable. Bill Russell the basketball Hall of Famer has been regarded as the greatest winner in sports. During his college days he led The University of San Francisco to two Consecutive titles in 1955 and 1956. Russell continued his success as a professional with the Boston Celtics where he would win 11 championships in 13 seasons. Bill Russell’s cracked the code to winning as a player realizing that mindset, defense, and being a team player is the formula to leaving an Unrivaled legacy in Sports.     

Editor’s Note: This article first published on February 19, 2020