While Russell's championships may cause him to be somewhat overrated, there is no doubt he made a tremendous impact that is possibly being overlooked on here.
The 1955-56 Celtics lose in the first round of the playoffs.
The next year is Russell's first, and in his 13 years, they win 11 of 13 NBA championships.
After he retires, they aren't even making the playoffs for a couple years, and it isn't like they were breaking up the Celtics like the Bulls did after Jordan retired.
I'm also not a big fan in believing that since there is only 8 - 10 teams in a league that it makes it easier to repeat as champion. If anything, more teams distributes talent and allows dominant players to dominate more. Certainly it was easier to retain talent before the current system of salary cap/free agency. It was just different.
But you could also say that every game, Russell was going against a top 8 center in the league, and/or 2 of the top 20 PF/C in the game.
On that list, the guys I think should be higher are George Mikan (#34), Bob Petit (#38), and Cousy (#41) who should be ranked top 15 - 30.
