The Mount Rushmore argument

Expect LeBron James to start a discussion, or an argument. His whole off the top of the head comment about his “Mount Rushmore” of basketball set off another brushfire of public opinion. Naturally, people asked the venerable Bill Russell what he thought about being left off the list in the opinion of the current dominant individual player in the game. We all know his retort, and it hit home, particularly with the purists of the game.

There is, however, a tragic flaw with creating a squad of four players. Mount Rushmore immortalizes four American presidents who changed the course of history of the United States. There is very little room for argument as everything can be substantiated. And needless to say, there is a much smaller pool to choose from the entire list of NBA players. On top of that the list of presidents only grows by one each term, unlike the NBA which brings in dozens of players every draft.

In my opinion, the criteria are unclear. If you’re considering the ultimate team players, I would pick Bill Russell, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Oscar Robertson or Jerry West. That’s already a tough call right there.  If it’s individual dominance we’re discussing, then it would be Wilt Chamberlain, Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal. If it’s championship rings (usually the bottomline), then it’s Russell, Jordan, Magic, Shaq, Kobe. But overall, it would be Russell, Magic, Jordan, Jabbar, and either Bird or Wilt or Tim Duncan.

There, we’ve started another argument, one that begins with “How could you leave out _____? He did _____!” 

That’s the beauty of having an opinion. You can have one, too. There are normally two schools of thought. The first one goes with who has won the most championships, pure and simple. No explanations, no excuses. But think about how many Game 7 losses someone like Wilt Chamberlain endured, and you realize it would be a disrespect to his achievements to not include him. And what about the players who were surrounded with poor talent? The bottomline is that they don’t qualify based on who has won more. Sounds cruel, but that’s the way it is.

The other school of thought revolves around who has done most for his team, particularly in terms of towing them to championships, the playoffs, and so on. This one also considers individual brilliance. The two schools of thought are like the two halves of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls career. The first six years were fruitless, though he was the league’s leading scorer. After that, each time the Bulls made the NBA Finals, they won a championship. Jordan had enough experience to know not to always attack the basketball, and when to give up the ball. In other words, he learned how to make it easy on himself. 

On the other side of the coin, the name that popped up most frequently was, indeed, Bill Russell. Technically, he shouldn’t have been so successful. He was, after all, a skinny 6’9” center, smaller even than some forwards on other teams. He was never the league’s leading scorer. In fact, in the first few years he was blocking shots, the league didn’t even keep stats on them. One referee had never seen one before, and blew his whistle because he just felt that he had to call something.

But how do you measure the sophistication of his comprehension of the game? He blocked shots not to swat them into the fourth row, but to ignite the Boston Celtics’ fastbreak. He did not feel a need to score, although he was great at it, as well. He united his teams, and even stood alone when he became a playing coach, because he felt it was the best way to serve his squad. He stood on equal footing with Chamberlain, who was four inches taller and about 50 pounds heavier. How do you measure that?

There are so many areas that aren’t covered in a stat sheet. Many Celtics players could have been starters on other teams, but chose to subjugate themselves to a system wherein they could win championships. And they did. None of them have any regrets looking back. That, too, cannot be quantified.

There is some consensus on a few names like Russell, Magic, Bird and Jordan. But consider that Bird had the misfortune of being Johnson’s rival, and he could have won more than three championships had he played in another era, similar to Wilt and all the players who played against Michael Jordan in the playoffs. History will also color the argument, as players being discussed didn’t really test each other.

But that’s the beauty of the sport. Armchair opinion sowing is endless.