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The Bill Russell Scale: A quest for the perfect list of the NBA's 75 Greatest Players

There is no perfect way to craft a list of the NBA's 75 Greatest Players, but here we try.

In an attempt to discover a formula that might generate an unbiased ranking of unassailable players, I have combed through data again and again during the offseason. Here we are on the dawn of the NBA's three-day announcement of its top 75 players in the history of the sport, and I am no closer to crafting the perfect list than any media, current or former player, coach, general manager or executive on the official panel.

I did come up with a pair of data-driven lists that come awfully close.