Michael Phelps 8 Golds vs. Bill Russell’s 8 straight NBA titles?
August 17, 2008 - Dr. Dime
What can you say about Michael Phelps and last night his clinching 8 gold medals in one Olympic Games? How about ‘wow’? Hell, that just doesn’t seem to cover it. There are no words that can do justice to his Olympic accomplishment. Some people are calling him Superman or Aquaman, or whatever other superhero comes to mind to try and describe what the world has just witnessed in Beijing. Coming into these Olympic games that started on (coincidentally) 08-08-08, Phelps and his team had talked about his goal of winning 8 gold medals in one Olympic games, this to break the previous standing record for any Olympian set by swimmer Mark Spitz who won 7.
Nah….that’s not possible in the modern era of sports and athletics….or is it? Well it looks like it’s in the books. Michael Phelps now has a total of 14 gold medals spanning two Olympic Games (new all-time record) and 8 golds in one shot (new all-time record) at these Beijing Games.
I watched the final medley race live (thanks NBC), then following the race I watched the post-race interviews intently like virtually everyone else in the world. I couldn’t help but giggle wildly when Phelps teammates spoke with NBC correspondents about seeing Lebron James and Kobe Bryant in the stands, and how they swam like hell because they didn’t want to let those USA basketball superstars down. All I could think was “hey shouldn’t you have been more concerned with letting your teammate Michael Phelps down, as he was trying to re-write the history books for your great sport?”
Ah well, I realize it was just all in good fun, but it did get me thinking about the link between this amazing athletic accomplishment in swimming and another history setting accomplishment in basketball (more about that in a sec). For the past several days I’ve heard nothing but “if Phelps can win 8 golds in one games, it will be the greatest Olympic accomplishment ever, and maybe even the greatest accomplishment ever in the history of any sport!” What Phelps has done at these games was undoubtedly the greatest Olympic performance of all time. But hold on there little Nellie….wait one second son. Greatest accomplishment in the history of sport? Hardly. I may be extremely biased given my passion for basketball and other team sports, but I can’t help but scoff at the thought of Phelps being considered some level above the great athletic accomplishments of a Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Bill Russell etc. etc.
And as these great sport heroes of mine went racing through my head as I listened to NBC repeatedly call Phelps accomplishment the greatest thing to ever happen in sports, I kept coming back to the last hero I mentioned. Bill Russell. Why? Because of the number 8.
Bill Russell has the NBA record for the most NBA championships with 11. He won those 11 NBA championships in only 13 years in the league, and in one of the years he didn’t get the title he was slowed by an injury. Essentially he was an unstoppable force on the hardwood. But Phelps accomplishment was all about a streak right? A streak of 8 gold medals in one Olympic games. Well in arguably the greatest NBA accomplishment of all-time, Bill Russell led his team to 8 straight NBA titles from 1959-1966. How about that for a streak? Eight straight NBA titles is so hard to fathom for anyone that follows the NBA with even the lightest of interest. Heck, the greatest NBA player of all-time, Michael Jordan, ever only had streaks of 3 (twice).
Bill Russell did just about everything imaginable on the basketball floor. And he did so without ever trying to attract the spotlight or fire up 100 points in a single game a-la-Wilt Chamberlain. Russell only cared about one thing, winning. The man averaged 22.5 rebounds per game over the length of his career. As a basketball player, when you think of the hard work, banging, and grind it takes to pull down that many boards in just one game, let alone average that over the length of a 13 year career, you can be nothing short of astounded. Russell had many league MVPs, All-star selections, and other individual achievements but I like to focus on his rebounding as it is the perfect example of the hard work and team first attitude that defined his career in the NBA. This one always throws me back a little: He once had 51 boards in a single game, 49 in two others, and a dozen consecutive seasons of 1,000 or more rebounds. How do you like them apples Dennis Rodman?
This is only one man’s opinion (and a fairly skewed one given my basketball junkie status), but who do you guys feel had the greater accomplishment in the history of sport, Michael Phelps 8 golds in a single Olympic Games, or Bill Russell’s 8 straight NBA titles?
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August 17th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
What Phelps did is unreal that being said it was over the time span of a week. Russell Did his accomplishment over 8 years. I think it is the much tougher thing to do. The fact in that time he could have been injured or anything over that long time span. Russell to me is the best player ever in the NBA hands done. You can say about Jordan or whoever else but what Russell did will NEVER be done again in my view. Not only that the way he to this day makes time for the current stars in the league is fantastic. He gives back to the game we see today. I see Bill as the grandfather of the NBA. It is not to down play what Phelps was able to do with was amazing as well. So was what the sprinter from Jamaica pulled off. Bolt going 9.69 was historic too. The fact he could have made in even lower if he had not hot dogged makes it even more impressive. All 3 events are over periods of time that are very different but all are impressive in their own way. Historic in their own way as well.
August 17th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Are you kidding? Phelps swimming through water cannot be compared to the greatness of Bill Russell. Russell is by far ten times the athlete and all time great as far as accomplishments than Phelps.
So he swam well for 4 years over two olympic games. Russell was great for 13 years. Not quite the same thing. Plus who cares about swimming anyways? Hoops is love.
August 17th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
@James Dino Blogger
I totally agree with you man. Russell had to play with different teammates and avoid injuries over the years. One of his greatest feats was also being the head coach and best player at the same time for the last two years. That’s unreal to coach and run subs at the same time as playing and still having the respect of your teammates. Not possible in today’s hoops cause of the ego’s probably.
As for Bolt, i’m so pissed he didn’t run hard right through. Why slow up? He’ll regret it some day if his record is broken cause he’ll always wonder if he could have been faster. He made a dumb move by showboating.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
@ Celtics4Mula: I agree. Russell’s continued dominance can’t be rivaled. Sure, he played with other all-time greats, but no one wins that consistently for that long.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
@Ryne or Celtics4Mula
do you think that if Jordan never went to play baseball, and then Krause didn’t break them up after the 6th he would have had more than 8 straight titles? I think they would have had 8 straight at least.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Ryne Nelson -
that’s so true he totally was dominant in every way.
Orangemen -
I doubt the bulls would have kept winning if jordan didn’t go play baseball, they needed that rodman deal so they could prevent the jazz from beating them eventually. Rodman was huge for them.
August 18th, 2008 at 2:44 am
As awesome as Phelps’ accomplishment was, I’m joining the line behind Russell. To sustain that excellence over 8 years is ridiculous. I don’t want to take anything away from Phelps… but Russell’s sustained excellence with all those variables is more impressive to me.
As for the Bulls… you can’t speculate what might have happened. You can say they would have won 8 straight… but there’s too much that can go wrong to just assume it. There’s a reason its only happened once.
August 18th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
I dont know this is tough….One one hand, a team sport is difficult to dominate in, especially for that stretch of time, but I think I have to go with phelps
Phelps, he had to win 8 different races, against dudes who specialize in that race, against a super competitive field that is basically swimming the fastest times ever recorded.
Compared against Russell, his era wasnt the most talented era of basketball so he wasnt competing against the best…while he was a great player/leader on some great teams, the advantage I think has to go to phelps simply because this is probably one of the most competitive eras of swimming ever
August 18th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Russell played in an era when the nba was little more than a rec league consisting of semi-athletic white guys
August 18th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Russell had to deal with more than basketball…Read about it!
August 18th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
No question, Phelps’ accomplishments are more impressive. Russell was a great player, but he played a team game. And seven of his teammates during his championship seasons were NBA Hall of Famers.
Not to mention the fact that there were only like 8 teams in the league.
Phelps is the greatest swimmer of all-time.
Contrary to popular opinion, Russell wasn’t the greatest player of his era — much less of all-time — those honors belong to Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan.
Cool blog idea.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Umm, sorry, but there are a heck of a lot more games in the playoffs and finals than Michael Phelps swam, right? All the training etc. might equal out, but how many actual basketball games did Russell have to win to get those 8 titles, compared to how many races Phelps’ swam in?
The number of years argument above also makes this comparison ludicrous.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Interesting thought, lil’ timmy. Does your rec league include Wilt Chamberlain too?
August 18th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
@timmy - you are an idiot man. if it was such a terrible league why didn’t any other team win 8 straight?
@brandon - i’m pretty sure some of phelps gold medals were team events. I guess he is lucky to have such good swimmers as teammates or he never would have even close to 8 golds. (see how flawed the logic is that you use?)
and phelps may be the greatest swimmer of all time, but he’s certainly nowhere near teh greatest athlete of all time. He was good for 4 or 5 years. Let’s see if he will be good two olympics from now. My guess is he won’t even qualify!
August 18th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
It is unfair to compare these two athletes. First off, swimming and basketball are two completely different sports. Both feats are absolutely phenomenal and stunning, but it is, once again, unfair to say one is better than the other. First off, this article is written as if Russel was a one-man team. Newsflash! Basketball requires five men on the floor and twelve for a complete roster. But the bias in this article is clearly towards Russel, which is unfair (again, I know). They are both extremely, ultra-talented individuals who dominated their sport in their era. End of discussion. You cannot compare two different sports feats in two different eras by two completely different athletes. It’s like saying beef is better than lamb chops- it’s an opinion, and the truth is, both opinions can be correct, in different contextualizations.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
@ Jigga_wha: Phelps owns 14 gold medals. Five of his eight gold medals in these Olympics were from individual events.
Phelps may not be the greatest athlete of all-time, but I can promise you that he’ll rank higher than Russell on the next 1-100 list that ESPN creates.
August 19th, 2008 at 12:02 am
@ Brian Carter: How many games did Russell have to play to win his 11 NBA titles?
Here you go:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/BOS/
Russell won his first championship in 1957-58.
The Celtics played won two playoff series to win that ring, and played a total of 10 games in the playoffs.
I’m not a swimming fan, but I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Phelps has swam more times in these Olympics.
August 19th, 2008 at 2:52 am
Bill Russell’s 8 is definitely bigger? After the Olympics the public will only recognize Micheal Phelps if he is beside a pool, in a Speedo, with wet hair wearing all his metals.
August 19th, 2008 at 7:12 am
Hooped up that is a very good point. It’s fresh now, but in a few weeks, the average person won’t even remember Phelps. It’s not like he won the 100m dash or anything.