In Honor Of Wilt Chamberlain's Birthday Let's Not Forget Bill Russell Used To Repeatedly Stuff Him In A Locker
Wilt Chamberlain would have turned 83 today so my timeline has been filled with tribute videos celebrating his dominance. It’s true, the man was an absolute force and one of the most unstoppable players the league has ever seen. Take a second and head to his Basketball Reference page and you’ll see numbers that don’t even make sense. For basically his entire career the mere mortals of the NBA didn’t stand a chance against him and when you combine his athletic achievements with his female body count, he truly lived an impressive life.
But don’t get it twisted. You know who made Wilt his bitch time and time again? Bill Russell.
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These two were the ultimate ying and yang. Wilt had all the eye popping individual stats, Russell had the mental and team success edge. Nobody made Wilt more ordinary than Russell, and when you compare the two it’s actually preppy eye opening.
Championships
Russell: 11
Wilt: 2
Season MVPs
Russell: 5
Wilt: 4
All NBA Teams
Russell: 11
Wilt: 10
Points per game
Russell: 15.1
Wilt: 30.1
Rebounds per game
Russell: 22.5
Wilt: 22.9
Assists per game
Russell: 4.3
Wilt: 4.4
The assists I found to pretty surprising considering Wilt was one of the best passing big men ever. Head to head Russell’s Celtics owned Wilt with a record of 84-58. In every big moment between these two it was Russell who flourished and Wilt who crumbled like a house of cards. For a guy who demolished everyone he faced, Wilt could never figure out Russell no matter what he tried. Now the one thing I can’t argue is how much more of a cocksman Wilt was. That’s some true legendary stuff and sadly there’s no way Russell will ever compete with him there.
But while the internet spends today celebrating how unstoppable Wilt was, let’s not forget the man that completely owned him in every facet of the word.