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 The NBA Legend touches on a number of basketball subjects. Jennifer Pottheiser/NBAE/Getty Images |
In an exclusive interview conducted during the Miami Heat-New Jersey Nets Game 5 second-round playoff contest, Aldridge visited Russell’s home in Seattle where they discussed a variety of subjects. Russell’s frank discussion with Aldridge will be featured in two half-hour shows, which include his insights on:
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade:
I call them, The Two Kids. I think they are going to go down as two of the best players who have ever played. They are very effective,
but everything is in the framework of the team.
Shaquille O'Neal and possibly playing the Miami Heat star center:
First of all, how would Shaq defend me? There are two ends of the court. I would never let him just have to worry about the offense. I love him.
I really do. He is one of my favorite people.
The Current Generation of NBA Players:
Last September, I spoke to the rookies. I do that every year. I love those young kids. I really do because they’re the caretakers. I told them,
“You’re the caretakers and I want you to conduct yourself in a fashion that 40 years from now there will be an NBA for the young guys to go to.”
One of His Most Enduring NBA Moments:
One of the biggest thrills playing all the years with the Celtics was the next season after we won the championship. Weldon Hare
was our announcer. Well, when we would come on the court out of the locker room, he would say, “Here comes the World Champions –
the Boston Celtics.” Everytime he said it, never once did it diminish the thrill. We could come out of the locker room, go out on the floor
and he would say, “The World Champion, Boston Celtics.” I would just say, “All right!”
The Thrill of Victory
I hope that everyone of you (NBA players) will have at least one time to play on a championship team, because you don’t have an idea how
thrilling it is.
NBA Talent:
I hear guys say, “Well, he did that because he is taller or he has longer arms.” That’s irrelevant. I remember Julius going to the basket and
Kareem is there and he goes underneath (Julius Erving’s classic baseline scoop move against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 4 of the 1980
NBA Finals). One guy said, “Well, he did it because he has big hands.” I say, “Well, I’ve got big hands but I can’t do that.”
