Comparison Of Bill Russell And Wilt Chamberlain

Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain were the two man wrecking crew of the NBA during the 1960’s. Many pundits over the years have said that this is the greatest rivalry in the history of basketball over the likes of Kobe and Shaq, Jordan and Isiah, even Magic and Bird. Both men have created a long lasting impact on the game, and will always be remembered as the first great players. Which of these NBA Hall of Famer is the greatest of all time? Whoever of the two you choose will have vastly different arguments as to why they are the greatest, for they dominated the league in widely different ways. After looking at all of the facts, it is my opinion that Bill Russell is the greater player of the two. Even though Wilt put up absurd numbers, Russell

If I had to compare these guys to modern day players I would say that Bill Russell reminds me more of a Tim Duncan type of player, while Chamberlain has a similar playing style to Shaquille O’Neal. Duncan was the type of player who dominated the league on both ends of the court like Russell, but was a special talent on the defensive end. They are most similar in the cerebral way they played the game, and being unselfish in a way that would lead to more wins but less impressive numbers at the end of the game. Shaq and Wilt on the other hand were both physically dominant, and punished everyone they came into contact with. Virtually nobody could play one on one with these guys and hold their ground. They both put up gaudy numbers on per game, season, and career formats. At times, their dominance would become selfish and get in the way of winning. This wasn’t always the case, they are both NBA champions, and MVP’s. When comparing their contributions on a team and media perception levels, the cerebral players came out on top over the physically dominant. Duncan had 5 championships to Shaq’s 4, 2 MVP’s to O’Neal’s 1, 15 All Defensive teams to Shaquille’s 3. This all goes to show that the way Russell played basketball has been transcendent throughout the years, and is a proven way to make your team better as a whole. It may sacrifice some numbers, but will not sacrifice your award count. Red Auerbach, the Celtics Head Coach during Russell’s career had this to say about the Russell-Chamberlain rivalry, “That`s why Bill Russell was better. Russell played with his head. He was better motivated. And most of all, he had the bigger heart.” Auerbach may be biased, but he is right on point as to why Russell is the better player, it’s not about the points or the physical dominance, it is all about how he played the game, and the success that came with