5 biggest rivalries in NBA history
3. Bill Russell vs. Wilt Chamberlain
For the majority of NBA history, teams had built their teams around centers. This started back in 1948 when the Minneapolis Lakers got George Mikan and many of the league's early greats were big men.
The biggest big-man rivalry ever is Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. Both players were among the most physically gifted players in the NBA because no one was as big, quick, or athletic as those two.
They faced off against each other eight times in the playoffs and it began in Wilt's rookie season. In this season he won the MVP, averaging 37.6 points and 27 rebounds per game. On the other side, Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics were looking to win their second straight championship. The Celtics beat the Philadelphia Warriors 4-2.
They faced off again in 1962 when Bill Russell won his third MVP despite Wilt Chamberlain averaging 50.4 points per game that season. The Celtics won this series 4-3 with a two-point win in Game 7, once again sending Wilt home.
Then from 1964 to 1969, Wilt and Russell would face off in the playoffs every single year. In 1964 the Celtics beat the San Francisco Warriors in the NBA Finals, 4-1. Then midway through the 1965 season, Wilt was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers where they played the Celtics again in the playoffs and lost, 4-3. They played again in 1966 when Russell once again got the best of Wilt beating the 76ers in the playoffs, 4-1.
Then in 1967, something changed for Wilt Chamberlain. For the previous seven seasons, he was the NBA scoring leader and averaged almost 40 points per game during that stretch. He wasn't winning any games, so in 1967 he decided to become more of a playmaker and he averaged 7.8 assists per game. This resulted in the 76ers finishing with a 68-13 record, the best in NBA history at the time, and faced off against the Celtics once again in the playoffs. This time, Wilt got the best of Russell with his new style of play and won the series, 4-1, en route to his first-ever championship.
They then faced again in the 1968 playoffs when the Celtics would win, 4-3, with a four-point win in Game 7. In that offseason, Wilt was traded to the Lakers and in 1969, they faced off again in the Finals for the last time and the Celtics won again, 4-3.
In their eight playoff matchups, Russell got the better of Wilt seven times and in the Finals, Russell was 2-0 against Wilt. In those matchups, Wilt averaged 25.7 points, 28 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game, and Russell averaged 14.9 points, 24.7 rebounds, and 4.9 assists.
This matchup was between the individual and physical dominance of Wilt Chamberlain vs. the team dominance of Bill Russell. Surprisingly, both parts of this rivalry are remembered equally — Wilt produced more but Russell was the heart of the better team.
Their rivalry was one of the first player rivalries in NBA history, but it is not ranked higher because it was so one-sided.