Bill Russell vs Wilt Chamberlain

[1987_Lakers]

It's been a while since we had a Wilt vs Russell thread, I think it's time to re-visit. I myself am starting to change my views on this topic, have your views changed?

[G.O.A.T]

Oh no, I can't take another one...please the ignorance on Russell has reached critical mass.

[BDiesel324]

If Basketball were a 1 on 1 Sport, the answer is clearly Wilt Chamberlain. However, Basketball is not a 1 on 1 Sport, it is a 5 on 5 Sport. I can't think of any players better at that 5 on 5 game than Bill Russell was. If you couldn't understand what I just said there, I said that Wilt was the better individual player, but Russell was the better overall player because team has a large part to do with it.

I am more than positive if you gave both of these guys four random players for a 5 on 5 game against each other. Bill Russell would come up on Top, 99% of the time.

[ThaRegul8r]

Oh no, I can't take another one...please the ignorance on Russell has reached critical mass.

In over three decades now of talking about Russell (and others), the people have changed, but the overall ignorance remains the same. No matter how much I put out there that people previously had no clue about (because of course, they don't actually KNOW anything about him), people are set in their ways and would rather cling to their misinformed preconceptions. Sometimes I wonder what the point is, and think maybe the ignorant should be left to themselves, since no amount of information and truth can break through.

[Al Thornton]

none of us except a few saw these guys play, and yet there are still so many threads. its ridiculous.

[G.O.A.T]

none of us except a few saw these guys play, and yet there are still so many threads. its ridiculous.

I think it's far more ridiculous to use the internet to seek out people to discuss a game that just happened and everyone seen. That's what friends and associates are for.

To understand what you have not seen you need to discuss it.

[ShaqAttack3234]

Looking at the recaps of those playoff series and seeing how Russell raised his game and Wilt's play usually tailed off, I have to go with Russell. The fact that Russell was voted MVP over Wilt in his 50 ppg shows how deceptive the stats were.

In the 1962 Eastern Division Final, Russell basically matched Wilt's offensive output in Boston's wins which shows how much he raised his game and limited Wilt's. And according to the recaps, Russell's numbers came during more crucial moments. And if you look at '66, '68 and '69 it seems that even when Wilt's teams were comparable, Russell would find away to come out on top and Wilt's play would drop.

[Round Mound]

If Basketball were a 1 on 1 Sport, the answer is clearly Wilt Chamberlain. However, Basketball is not a 1 on 1 Sport, it is a 5 on 5 Sport. I can't think of any players better at that 5 on 5 game than Bill Russell was. If you couldn't understand what I just said there, I said that Wilt was the better individual player, but Russell was the better overall player because team has a large part to do with it.

I am more than positive if you gave both of these guys four random players for a 5 on 5 game against each other. Bill Russell would come up on Top, 99% of the time.

Then Bird was better than Jordan and Magic right there too. They where better team players.

The difference is Wilt was also a better passer than Russell when needed too.

[Sarcastic]

Russell was better than Wilt at all the intangibles.

But you know what is better than intangibles? Tangibles!

Better scorer: Wilt
Better rebounder: Wilt
Better passer: Wilt
Better blocker: Wilt

[1987_Lakers]

Russell was better than Wilt at all the intangibles.

But you know what is better than intangibles? Tangibles!

Better scorer: Wilt
Better rebounder: Wilt
Better passer: Wilt
Better blocker: Wilt

Russell was a better passer than Wilt. Wilt probably blocked more shots, but Russell was the better defender overall.

[Sarcastic]

Russell was a better passer than Wilt. Wilt probably blocked more shots, but Russell was the better defender overall.

Wilt is the only center to ever lead the league in assists. You are probably gonna say: "assists don't = good passer". They do mean something though. You don't lead the league in them from the center position, if you don't have a good awareness of the court.

Russell was probably a better overall defender, but not as much as Wilt was better than Russell from an offensive point of view. If Russell is +1 over Wilt on defense, then Wilt is +10 over Russell on offense.

[1987_Lakers]

And there is no excuse for Wilt for losing in '68 & '69. Everyone here got on LeBron for what he did this year in the playoffs, but imagine if ISH existed in '68 & '69, Wilt would get ALOT more bashing & rightfully so. Wilt's own TEAMMATE Jerry West said after the '69 Finals that he would rather have Bill Russell on his team than Wilt. What does that tell you?

[Sarcastic]

And there is no excuse for Wilt for losing in '68 & '69. Everyone here got on LeBron for what he did this year in the playoffs, but imagine if ISH existed in '68 & '69, Wilt would get ALOT more bashing & rightfully so. Wilt's own TEAMMATE Jerry West said after the '69 Finals that he would rather have Bill Russell on his team than Wilt. What does that tell you?

I hate to say it, but winning is overrated when you consider individual players in team sports.

How can you compare Dan Marino to other QBs like Terry Bradshaw and Joe Namath. Marino is light years ahead of them as a QB and has 0 Super Bowls, and those 2 bums have 5 between them. They won because they had great teammates.

[triangleoffense]

Wilt is the only center to ever lead the league in assists. You are probably gonna say: "assists don't = good passer". They do mean something though. You don't lead the league in them from the center position, if you don't have a good awareness of the court.

Russell was probably a better overall defender, but not as much as Wilt was better than Russell from an offensive point of view. If Russell is +1 over Wilt on defense, then Wilt is +10 over Russell on offense.

[1987_Lakers]

Wilt is the only center to ever lead the league in assists. You are probably gonna say: "assists don't = good passer". They do mean something though. You don't lead the league in them from the center position, if you don't have a good awareness of the court.

The reason he led the league in assist that year was because he became OBSESSED to do so. He was so obsessed with his assist numbers & FG% with the sixers that he became too unselfish, taking only 2 shots in the 2nd half in game 7 vs Boston in '68 is one example. Or when he didn't attempt a single shot vs Thurmond in one regular season game in '67 because he didn't want his FG% to go down, bottom line is Wilt cared more about his stats than he did winning & I can't stand players like that.