But the thing is, there are other "Langways" in Russell's era or near it. Let's take Nate Thurmond. He is quite possibly the greatest low post defensive center ever and later became famous for how well he defended Kareem in a playoff upset, and while not known for shotblocking like a Russell, he was still pretty respectable I think, he was already starting to be cooked at age 32 the first year the NBA tracked them but he put up 2.9 per game that year. In terms of offense he put up some 20 points a game seasons but on weak efficiency and shooting, and was a decent passer - Not great, but the offensive production looks a little better than players like Ben Wallace and Mutombo at least.
So Bill Russell and Nate Thurmond are both ELITE defensive centers, but one won 5 MVPs and Thurmond was not considered in that class, in terms of MVP finish it's roughly like comparing Jason Kidd (has an outlier 2nd place year) to Michael Jordan (5x winner). Why did they like Russell so much more? They gave Russell more regular season MVPs than WILT, the guy who's entire MO is blowing the statistical door down in the regular season. They gave him 5 while West and Oscar, both putting up flashier offensive numbers, had 1 combined. For whatever reason, they saw WAY more in Russell than just another great defensive center like Thurmond.
There were other guys fitting the Langway type defensive ace description as well. While he played more of the Draymond type position, Dave DeBusschere on the Knicks was considered was the catalyst after he got traded there that made them lights out and a 2 time champion in the 1970s. Yet nobody would ever confuse DeBusschere for an MVP caliber star, because it's understood the offense isn't there. Later on in the 70s and early 80s Bobby Jones would also go on an elite defensive run.
For whatever reason in his time period Russell was rated not just an MVP level player compared to these other defensive first guys, but a 5x MVP, GOAT level player. Perhaps it was weird at the time too that someone could dominate so much on defense. Before Russell the dominant players were - Mikan: Great on defense but also the best player in the league on offense for the first half of his prime, then settling into more like Hakeem/Duncan level on offense as below a few players but still good, Pettit - Elite level scoring PF like Dirk/Malone, Schayes - elite level shooting PF, Cousy - elite level PG playmaker/slasher, and then players like West, Baylor, Oscar and WIlt. Nobody had really relied on defense as much as Russell.
This is before considering from a team results perspective it's nearly impossible for the Celtics to win that much unless Russell was one of the greatest impact players of all time. They 8-peated! Nobody does that, in any sport. The problem of course, is that you gradually lose players to age and decline, and this is exactly what should have taken down the Celtics halfway through their run. Cousy - gone, Heinsohn - gone, Frank Ramsey - gone, etc. In a normal world this leads to transition period, but they kept winning in the post Cousy years, the most likely reason being cause they had a SUPERstar. To win that much you NEED to have the biggest dog in the yard or damn close to it. It can't just be Sam Jones, John Havlicek and a center roughly as good as Sam Jones and John Havlicek. Those teams might succeed in the regular season but if you you go against these squads with stars like Wilt, West and Oscar more often than not the individual brilliance is going to beat you somewhere along the way. Your best case scenario is 1-2 cute runs like late 80s or 00s Pistons or maybe 70s Knicks, but you can't win 11 titles in 13 years. In the post title years those teams eventually got run over by superstar teams like 91 Bulls beating the Pistons and 00s Pistons losing to players like Duncan, Wade, Lebron and big 3 Celtics. In the late 60s when Wilt left the Sixers they did pretty good with players like Billy Cunningham Hal Greer Chet Walker, they went 55-27. Kind of like the Bulls in Jordan first retirement year, or the Raptors the year Lowry left. But the 69 Sixers lose in 5 games in the first round, because ultimately, that's just what happens to most teams with 3 2nd tier stars instead of an MVP guy. This most likely is the destiny of the Celtics if Russell was only as good as players like Jones and Havlicek, maybe they sneak out one title, but most years end in frustration when the other team has Wilt or West.
I will admit there's a lot I don't understand about how Russell is that good but the supporting evidence all points one way.
