Bill Russell is the GOAT (Part 3: Style)

Okay, here is the meat & bones of the discussion. Bill Russell isn't the scorer that MJ was. He couldn't shoot fadeways and pull-up jumpers. However, Bill changed the game defensively. The saying "defense wins championships" is not a farce. Russell could shut-down the painted area. That meant that opposing teams had to get most of their points outside of the paint. If you can force a team to try and beat you with jump shots, it will be very difficult for them to win. Basically, the debate boils down to a stylistic difference. Do you want a go-to scorer, or would you rather have a lock-down defensive game-changer? I would take the latter. Sure, MJ was also a great defender. But an awesome wing defender is very different from a shut-down paint presence.

Shots in the paint are always much higher percentage shots. If you can force a team to take lower percentage shots, you will have a great chance of winning. While MJ could score and guard opposing perimeter scorers, he couldn't patrol the paint the way Russell does. MJ may take away a team's perimeter scorer, but Russell can take away the WHOLE team. He will negate all shots at the rim. Additionally, he boards incredibly well and also tapped out rebounds to his teammates to initiate fast breaks. Lastly, Russell's scoring average isn't bad at all. If you consider the fact that Red Auerbach's Celtics always emphasized ball movement instead of having one player score all of the points, it's easy to see that Russell could have easily scored much more points if he played on a different team. At the end of the day, basketball is about winning. Russell doesn't disturb a team's offensive movement, and on defense, he fits in perfectly. He can affect a game from an all-around standpoint. Instead of hoping for jump-shot heroics (a-la MJ), your team can depend on a consistent flurry of blocked shots. Russell's defensive presence, efficiency, and impact, especially considering he went against some very talented centers, shows that he can affect the game in a greater manner than MJ. For that reason, I believe Bill Russell is the GOAT.

P.S. I could have included other aspects in the debate. However, I'm writing this during my lunch break. Read some of these articles to get an even better picture:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/325822-bill-russell-is-better-than-michael-jordan

http://nba.si.com/2013/05/23/phil-jackson-michael-jordan-bill-russell-comparison-bulls-celtics-lakers-first-pick-start-franchise/