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:
Every MVP but Bob McAdoo
Every nine-time All-Star but Dominique Wilkins
Every six-time All-NBA selection but Wilkins
Every three-time top-five MVP finisher but McAdoo and Wilkins
Every face of a championship team (post-BAA/NBL merger) but Bob Davies and Dennis Johnson
All but four Finals MVPs (Johnson, Jo Jo White, Cedric Maxwell, Joe Dumars)
All but four top-40 all-time scorers (Wilkins, Alex English, Adrian Dantley, Walt Bellamy)
Everyone with at least 100 win shares and 11 playoff win shares but Maurice Cheeks
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.