The 21 greatest NBA players who never scored 50 points in a game

2) Bill Russell

Bill Russell is generally considered to be a top-10 player all-time, but that is primarily due to his defensive ability and rebounding prowess. Russell was considered below-average as an offensive player, even in an era where players often struggled to put the ball in the basket.

Over his Hall of Fame 13-year career, Russell shot just 44% from the field, despite being an athletic center and playing on a fast team that featured one of the first great point guards, Bob Cousy. As a result, it's no wonder that Russell never approached the 50-point milestone in any of his 963 games, all with the Boston Celtics. Instead, his career high was just 37 points, not bad for a player who averaged just 15.1 points per game over his career.

Still, his career-high is among the lowest of any player on this list, but that doesn't take away from Russell's greatness considering that he won 11 championships in 13 seasons. And while blocks and steals weren't recorded during his career, he is generally considered to be one of the NBA's greatest shot blockers and rebounders, proving that he didn't need to be a scorer to make a big impact.