The 30 best NBA seasons from players over 35 years old — 6. Bill Russell, 1968-69 (35)
It is difficult to properly compare players across different eras of basketball, and the lack of footage, statistics, and even many major awards during the span of Bill Russell’s career turn difficult to nearly impossible. Yet the one number that shines through, screaming from the rooftops, is ultimately the one that matters the most. Over a 13-year career, Bill Russell won 11 titles. No other player in NBA past or future can reasonably expect to match that accomplishment.
Russell’s final season, during which he turned 35, was arguably one of the most impressive. Despite averaging 42.3 minutes per game over the course of his career, along with an average of 45.4 minutes and 13 postseason games every year, Russell played in 77 games and averaged another 42.7 minutes per game as the Celtics’ rebounding defensive anchor in 1968-69.
Russell averaged the fewest rebounds of his career, a ho-hum-for-him 19.3 rebounds per game. That was good for third in the NBA, behind Wilt Chamberlain and Nate Thurmond. Russell led the league in that statistic five times in his career, and his career average was 22.5 rebounds per game. Even in the wild pace of the 1960s, those numbers are insane.
Getting back to 1968-69, Russell was not simply a rebounding specialist. He finished a dominant first in defensive win shares with 9.9, as far ahead of the second-place Wes Unseld (7.0) as Unseld was above 16th. Russell did this all while coaching the team, serving as player-coach for the final three seasons of his career.
This was clearly the swan song for Russell and the Celtics, as they finished a mediocre 48-34 (for their standards), just fourth in the Eastern Conference. Then Russell stepped up for one last dominant postseason run, averaging 46.1 minutes per game as the Celtics upset three teams in a row. They took down Billy Cunningham and the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round, Willis Reed, Walt “Clyde” Frazier and the New York Knicks in the Conference Finals, and then their old rivals the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, overcoming a herculean effort from Jerry West and Chamberlain.
Russell played all 48 minutes in the clinching Game 7 over the Lakers, a two-point win in Los Angeles. He not only brought in 21 rebounds but he led the Celtics with six assists, the glue on both ends of the court (not to mention the coaching box as well). He held Wilt Chamberlain to 18 points and just eight field goal attempts. After that game, Russell retired, the last triumphant stand for one of the best competitors this sport has ever seen.