I think any dispassionate analyst could make a case for either Abdul-Jabbar or Russell as the greatest. As you say, they played different styles, and in different eras. Fortunately, I can afford to be passionate in my sports allegiances, if not in my presidential politics. I’m sticking with Bill.

Did your uncle ever get to go to Auberbach’s famous lunches he held weekly in Washington at some Chinese restaurant?

Did I say I was a Lakers fan? No. Did I say I was a Celtics fan? No. I did say those two guys were the best centers ever. But they played different styles on different teams. I was a Knicks fan and vividly remember the seventh game of the 1970 ply-off when Willis walked out on the court on 1 1/2 legs, made his shot from the top of the key, and the game was basically over. I dislike, but respect the Celtics. My uncle played with Red Auerbach in college during the depression, had a sporting goods store in Washington after the war (Red lived in D.C. during every off-season) and was a close friend of Red’s until his death several years before Red passed away.

For what it is worth, I can’t stand Abdul-Jabbar – but only because he’s a Laker, and I’m genetically unable to root for any of them, with the grudging exception of Magic Johnson, and that’s only because Larry Bird likes him. In contrast, my favorite basketball player of all time (and in my view the greatest of all time) is Bill Russell. I began following the Celtics during his last year as player-coach, in 1969, when he led an aging Celtics team to an improbable seven-game series win over the Lakers, who had Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor on their team.

If you want wonderful insight into what made Russell excel, and why he and Red Auberbach created the greatest sports dynasty of all time, read Russell’s memoir Red and Me: My Coach, My Lifetime Friend. After reading it, I think you’ll agree that, with all due respect to Kareem, he’s no Bill Russell.

Now comes the negative. By the time I returned to your blog, you had put on the anti-Jabbar post. Your criticism of Jabbar apparently is based on social factors decades ago. I have followed his career from the days that he played at Powers Memorial High School in New York. He and Bill Russell were the best centers to play the game. Russell was probably more prickly than Kareem. He became an NBA coach because one man, Red Auerbach, had faith in his ability. Not getting into the NBA coaches “club,” where too many coaches get recycled from one team to another, is irrelevant. No mention is made of what Alcindor has done –or not done– in recent years. So from one of your best posts you went completely the other way. Good grief!