Bill Russell has more NBA titles as a player than anyone else in history winning 11 during his 13 years with the Celtics. He was also an undefeated 10-for-10 in game 7's including 5 game 7 wins in the NBA Finals.

Now he's passing that advice on to the Heat and Spurs for their matchup tonight. 

Bill Russell was so dominant during his career as the center for the Red Auerbach-coached Celtics who won 11 titles in 13 years, that the NBA Finals MVP trophy is named after him. 

Not only that, but Russell won 10 game 7's over the course of his career. 10! And that includes 5 during the NBA Finals, which is where the Heat and Spurs find themselves tonight. 

Russell never lost a game 7 throughout his Hall-of-Fame career, and he and his teammates are some of the only people in NBA history who can say that. 

With all those bonafides, Russell is in a unique position to offer both the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat advice on tonight's game 7 matchup, the first since 2010 and just the sixth since the NBA adopted the 2-3-2 format for the Finals in 1985.

The notoriously publicity-shy Russell, who rarely gives interview requests, sat down with USA Today's Sam Amick to discuss game 7's and how his coach, Red Auerbach prepared for them:

"(Celtics coach) Red (Auerbach) used to have a phrase he used: 'I don't give a damn what they're going to do; This is what we're going to do.' " 

"The difference, especially in a seventh game, is 'Can I take my team and do what we do best?' And I'm going to respect the other team. The more I respect them - without fear, but respect - the better my chances are."

So the key seems to be, respect them, but don't fear them. But can LeBron James do just that?

Russell also defended the play of LeBron James, who will be under the most pressure tonight. 

"If I remember correctly, Jerry never won a championship until I retired (in 1969)," Russell said of West, who won his lone title in 1972. "But everybody nowadays says he was a great, great player. 

"LeBron is (28) years old, and so far he's doing wonderful. The comparisons that are being made are being made by people who really don't know what they're doing."

Russell continued, "He's been to the Finals now ... four times. Think about the Finals. When you're on a team, and you're playing in the last game your league has each year, you had a great year, OK? The Finals are not invitation-only. You get there by winning."

There you have it, the winningest player in NBA history has spoken. You best listen, but we'll see if it's the Spurs or the Heat who come out on top tonight.