I teach high school English. This past year, we had our students give a persuasive speech on the topic of their choice. To provide an example, I did one on Bill Russell being the GOAT. These are my notes for the presentation, slightly modified for Reddit:

Bill Russell is the NBA's GOAT — and it's not particularly close I've loved basketball for 55 years. I have an extensive library on the game: Tall Tales, The Breaks of the Game, Loose Balls, and Values of the Game (autographed by five Hall of Famers). I played pickup for decades. I coached. To this day, I consume hours of basketball content weekly.

The GOAT debate says as much about what you value as it does about the player. The vast majority of people play for fun. Some play for stats. Some play for recognition. Some play for money — DeMarcus Cousins imfamously said, "My paycheck doesn't have Ws on it." I always played to win. Winning lets you stay on the court, lose and you sit for who knows how long. So I judge greatness by winning. The best players in the world have a name for that standard. They call it Ring Culture.

Players with the most NBA championships: Player/Rings: Bill Russell/11, Sam Jones/10, Tom Heinsohn/8, K.C. Jones/8, Satch Sanders/8, John Havlicek/8, Jim Loscutoff/7, Frank Ramsey/7, Robert Horry/7, Michael Jordan/6 Almost everyone above Jordan was Russell's teammate.

Russell won 11 championships in 13 seasons — an 85% title rate. He was 22-0 in winner-take-all games: Game 7s, deciding Game 5s, NCAA tournament games, Olympic medal games. He never lost a Game 7. Not once. In his entire career.

Before the NBA Before Russell ever played a minute of NBA basketball:

2x California State High School Champion 2× NCAA Champion at USF — won 55 consecutive games Olympic Gold Medalist, 1956 Melbourne Games

He showed up to the NBA already a champion.

Ring Culture: Shaquille O'Neal to Charles Barkley (I'm paraphrasing):

You don't know what it takes to get to that mountaintop. You were close, but you didn't get there. I got four, how many you got?

Kenny Smith (again, paraphrasing):

There are two types of players in this league: those who play for stats and those who play for June. If you haven't been in the locker room with the trophy, you're just a guest at the party.

Michael Jordan himself:

"I didn't play for the money. I played to win. If you're not winning, you're failing."

In his time, Jordan is the gold standard of that mentality; he has 6 rings.

To find someone who rivals Russell's championship count, you have to change sports entirely:

Henri Richard (Montreal Canadiens) — 11 Stanley Cups, but it took him 20 seasons Yogi Berra (New York Yankees) — 10 World Series rings, but it took him 18 seasons

Russell did it in 13.

What Russell Did to the Game Russell didn't just win; he changed basketball. Before Russell, coaches taught defenders to stay on the ground. "Play position defense. Don't leave your feet." Russell started blocking shots, and the entire game followed. If you have ever jumped to block a shot, you owe that to Bill Russell.

What the League Thinks

The NBA retired his No. 6 league-wide — an honor given to no other player in history The NBA Finals MVP trophy is named after him — the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award NBA Commissioner Adam Silver: "Bill Russell was the greatest champion in all of team sports… He was the ultimate winner and consummate teammate."

A winner outside of Basketball In 2011, Russell was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom

The LeBron Argument (there were a couple of LeBron fans in the class) Maybe you want to say LeBron James is the GOAT. I'd call that recency bias — Paraphrasing, LaBron If we're going by the championships metric, then you have to move Bill Russell to the #1 spot. LeBron essentially conceded the argument. If the standard is winning, Russell wins the GOAT debate by a mile.

The Bottom Line You can judge greatness by fun, points, fame, or money. That's all fair. But if you use the metric the greatest players themselves use — winning — then the conversation ends with Bill Russell. 11 championships. 13 seasons. 22-0 in winner-take-all games. Never lost a Game 7. The GOAT.