BILL Russell is to the National Basketball Association (NBA) what the late Carlos Loyzaga is to Philippine basketball: GOAT.
My choice of Russell as the American professional league’s greatest of all time may elicit violent reactions as many would put Michael Jordan ahead of 1960s star Russell in GOAT conversations.
But Jordan was a beneficiary of mind-conditioning video technology during the mid-1980s and 1990s also was the product of media hype that puts too much weight on jaw-breaking one-on-one highlights or mind-boggling slam dunks and other acrobatic acts that the ESPN publicity machinery has institutionalized since it entered the national conscience instead of focusing on the fundamental brilliance of the league’s prominent players.
If the number of NBA championships won does not really matter in the GOAT debate, why then did the NBA name the Finals Most Valuable Player trophy as the Bill Russell Trophy?
It could well have been the Michael Jordan Trophy if he were truly the greatest of all time. But the NBA named the Finals MVP hardware as the Bill Russell Trophy.
Who then is the real GOAT?
And just how great Loyzaga was during his prime?
During my spare time last night, I reread the book “Carlos Loyzaga The Big Difference” produced by the San Beda College Alumni Association in 2013.
An excerpt from the book quoted Jake Cuerva, Caloy’s brother-in-law, as saying: “What convinced me of King Caloy’s greatness is a laminated photo where all five opposing players on the basketball court were swarming all over him. One holding his arm, another grabbing his jersey, others just desperately trying to stop ‘The Big Difference.’
Nowadays, a good player is double-teamed upon instructions from the coach, perhaps even accidentally triple-teamed.
But how do you call all five opposing players throwing their bodies to desperately stop one player? It’s basketball greatness. This powerful picture shows us how great King Caloy was on the basketball court.”
Loyzaga never lost in any Asian competition and was a member of the Philippine team that copped the bronze medal during the 1954 World Basketball Championship (now known as the FIBA World Cup) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Loyzaga was not only great on local soil – San Beda College (now University) and Yco Redshirts – but also in the international scene. No amount of MVP trophies won in local competitions, says five MVP awards, can any other local cager surpass Caloy’s greatness especially if he is a dud in international play.