When you think of great individual rivalries in the NBA, two immediately come to mind – Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson in the 1980s (which was credited with reviving the league’s sagging popularity) and before that, the original great rivalry of Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell in the 1960s. As towering giants of the NBA’s early days (both literally and figuratively), Chamberlain and Russell dominated the game in extraordinary fashion, an ongoing head-to-head clash between the former’s individual brilliance and the latter’s championship greatness with the Boston Celtics. More than half a century after each player’s prime, the two legends continue to hold a revered place in the upper echelons of basketball immortality and the comparison remains timeless:
Who was better – Wilt Chamberlain or Bill Russell?
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