[https://youtu.be/46RutBTe-as?t=222](https://youtu.be/46RutBTe-as?t=222)
In response to that other thread, this is Wilt Chamberlain talking about his pick for the #1 Center of all-time, and he doesn’t rank himself as #1. He also goes into detail about why he thinks Bill Russell was the best, and why the Celtics would not have won as much if he was their center instead of Bill.
by EGarrett
13 Comments
Does anyone know where to find the full wilt interview I’d like to see more context
Team player would be Russell and his 11 rings. Individually would be Wilt and his 68 records that will never be broken
I love when the Wilt vs. Russell debate gets brought up. It’s probably the greatest rivalry in NBA history aside from maybe Bird & Magic
If bill Russell was on wilt’s teams bill would have less than 2 rings
Wilt may have been the original James Harden in a sense. Both amazing players with amazing stats (especially during the regular season) but they’d typically underperform a bit in the playoffs. It’s almost like you can’t rely on one guy too much if you want to win in a team sport.
If you look even the slightest bit beyond stats and 100 point games, its obvious Bill is the better player.
He’s a better teammate, coach, winner, and arguably the best defensive player of all time. He won 8 titles in a row because his team’s chemistry and defense was insanely consistent due to him. Wilt constantly had attitude issues shown by the fact that as the main superstar of the league, he was willingly traded twice in his prime. He was hard to build a team around and hard to win with, which factors into how good of a player you are. His stats were mind breaking due to the insane pace and lesser competition of his era.
What about Bill and Wilt together would that be plausible and who would be their adversaries that time?
Thank you for posting this. So many idiots in the other thread who thought Bill saying Wilt was better than him definitely proved that Wilt was better when Russell could have just been being humble. This shows that they both greatly respected the other and kind of removes that argument from the debate.
Russell was the better defensive player, Wilt the better offensive player. Russell had more team success, Wilt had more individual success. Which of them was greater is up for debate and for people to decide on their own, but I personally would take Russell. 11 rings in 13 seasons, plus 2 more college titles and an Olympic Gold medal, it’s a championship resume that not even Kareem, Magic, Jordan, and LeBron can contend with in terms of raw titles.
Wilt and Bill had a really tight friendship while they played if I remember correctly. In Basketball: A Love Story, Bill had an interview where he talked about how Wilt would sleep over at Bill’s house right before a game, eat all his food, carpool the next day, and then go to town on each other on the court.
Wilt’s rationale: “Sometimes less is more”
No one could give a backhanded compliment like Chamberlain.
I’ll post what I posted in there
Drays not a great offensive player by any stretch, but hes an absolute necessary part of GSs dynasty that would have never happened without him. There are some very special “glue-guy”, monster defenders throughout history that add a unique X factor to winning basketball – Then there’s Bill Russell, who’s the ultimate archetype of this player. The greatest pure “winner” of all time.
Even funnier, Wilt is never questioned if his legacy is fraudulent, at least not NEARLY as much as Bill, while Bill beat him constantly.
[Rick Barry.apologizes to Wilt and gives his opinion on Wilt vs Russell](https://youtu.be/MSTt_TxoFVo?si=JLG5OxBxLBlEB-o2)
Lol, he was just shitting on Kareem.