One Final Game: The last great performance for NBA legends

One Final Game: Bill Russell

Date: May 5th, 1969

For most of the NBA legends on this list, their final performance will come in the midst of a tough landing. Every NBA player, no matter how good, cannot conquer Father Time, and we often watch that struggle happen on the court in the final seasons of a player’s career. While that was certainly true with Bill Russell, the very last games of his career showed how much he was still impacting the game even at the end.

Russell went out on top, winning his 11th NBA title and his second as a player-coach. His last title run saw him face a familiar foe, the Los Angeles Lakers. That iteration of the Lakers had three elite offensive players in Elgin Baylor, Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain. After falling behind 2-0 and 3-2 in the series, the Celtics evened the series 3-3 and then flew to Los Angeles for Game 7.

As always, Russell could not be denied in a Game 7. That’s not to say he was scoring at a high rate; in fact he took just seven shots and scored only six points. Yet he still dominated the game, pulling in 21 rebounds and dishing six assists to set up his teammates. Russell played all 48 minutes of that Game 7. His counterpart on the Lakers, Chamberlain, was held to only eight field goals himself, and it was only when Chamberlain was off the court receiving treatment for a knee injury that the Lakers went on a run to pull it close.

Russell owned Chamberlain throughout their careers, the ultimate success vs. stats argument for fans at the time. He would do so one final time, beating the Lakers, Wilt and Father Time to exert his will. He would retire after the game, the ultimate example of going out on top.