How are you gonna even put Cowens in the same class as Bird and Russell, he was good player and has a pretty good shooting camp, but its no contest. Russell is a no brainer because he built the foundation of what the Boston Celtics are and represent, id even say he is the foundation. He was the best player of his time, not because he scored the most points but fought for rebounds and blocked shots on defense. Why do you think the best players in the league, especially big men, go to him for advice and to just take in his knowledge of the game. Russell was the main componant in winning all those championships in the early days, youve seen the picture where hes holding all his rings, he brought greatness to Boston. For the same reasons Larry is the greatest, the man through his body on the line almost every game time in and time out, its horrible what the organization did to him. He was a great shooter, but what stands out to me was his passing ability for a person his size.
Should add M.L. Carr, Dino Radja, Dee Brown, Walton(because hes the man), and D.J.