Did Russell "let" Wilt Score?

[LAZERUSS]

Interesting box score...

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/196202090BOS.html

Incidently, BOTH men played all 48 minutes...

Kind of makes you wonder about these supposed takes on the topic...

oh, and BTW, I have never read anything by Russell, himself, claiming that he "let" Wilt score...

[rhowen4]

It SEEMS like that could have BEEN the case, but we don't POSITIVELY know for sure. In fact, I would lean towards that NOT being the case, as Wilt ROUTINELY gave it to Russell, OUTSCORING and OUTREBOUNDING him in practically EVERY head-to-head matchup.

[LAZERUSS]

BTW, the two teams met again the very next night...

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/196202100PHW.html

TWO straight 4th quarter comebacks, and with Wilt pounding Russell in both games...

[Kblaze8855]

"Let" isnt the right word.....but its obvious he didnt care what anyone did individually if his team won. Im sure he would...if given the choice...let wilt drop 80 on him every night if it allowed his team to win. He didnt care about the statistical individual matchup.

[SexSymbol]

Do you just randomly sit on bballreference all day searching through game logs from wayyy back?

[LAZERUSS]

"Let" isnt the right word.....but its obvious he didnt care what anyone did individually if his team won. Im sure he would...if given the choice...let wilt drop 80 on him every night if it allowed his team to win. But he didnt care about the statistical individual matchup.

Not aguing much of this, but the reality was, Russell's teams beat Wilt's in about 60% of their H2H's...many of them close games. It was not as if Russell suddenly stopped Wilt at the key moments of every game. In fact, in at least two of their four game seven's, Chamberlain torched Russell down the stretch, and in two and one point losses. If Russell were indeed "letting" Wilt "get his", then he was certainly cutting it close...

[LAZERUSS]

Do you just randomly sit on bballreference all day searching through game logs from wayyy back?

I have memorized the game logs from every NBA game...

[fpliii]

Not really, but Russell couldn't stop Wilt one on one. That being said, his goal was to try and force Wilt to do so. Until he went to the Sixers, Wilt didn't have a team of shooters (which is a necessity for a successful isolation-heavy low post offense), so if you stop Wilt, and Russ is in the paint anyway to guard Wilt (meaning he can turn around and shut down the layup/dunk from his teammates), you're gonna win most of the time.

It might be interesting to look at their head-to-head matchups in 64-65 after the trade, and 65-66 (afterwards, aside from 69-70 pre-injury he wasn't asked to score).

[Deuce Bigalow]

Russell beat Wilt every time except once. Sorry brah. We all know who the greater player was.

[Budadiiii]

Bill Russell is a winner.

[LAZERUSS]

Russell beat Wilt every time except once. Sorry brah. We all know who the greater player was.

I didn't know they played One-on-One back then? When did the game go to FIVE players?

[L.Kizzle]

Yes, Russell has said it before. Let them get certain parts of their games going, than when need be, turn up the intensity.

I know Wilt used to do it to opposing centers.
He 'let" Walt Bellamy score in the second half after he shut him out the first half.

[LAZERUSS]

Yes, Russell has said it before. Let them get certain parts of their games going, than when need be, turn up the intensity.

I know Wilt used to do it to opposing centers.
He 'let" Walt Bellamy score in the second half after he shut him out the first half.

Do you have any quotes from Russell directly relating to Wilt?

[Dr.J4ever]

I'm curious. Have any of you actually seen these Wilt-Russell battles in real time?

[LAZERUSS]

I'm curious. Have any of you actually seen these Wilt-Russell battles in real time?

Many times...

And I never ever saw even one game, in which I honestly felt Russell had outplayed Wilt. Now, granted, I did come away thinking just how poorly Wilt's teammates performed in the majority of them, so perhaps Russell deserves some of the credit for that (as well as his teammates, like Sam and Hondo, who were among the most "clutch" players of all-time)...

[fpliii]

I'm curious. Have any of you actually seen these Wilt-Russell battles in real time?
I think LAZ, la frescobaldi, JMT (might have his username wrong) and a couple of others have.

[Deuce Bigalow]

Many times...

And I never ever saw even one game, in which I honestly felt Russell had outplayed Wilt. Now, granted, I did come away thinking just how poorly Wilt's teammates performed in the majority of them, so perhaps Russell deserves some of the credit for that (as well as his teammates, like Sam and Hondo, who were among the most "clutch" players of all-time)...
Well the world did, that's why Russell was named GOAT on the 35th team.

Russell was able to improve the play of his teammates and make them better. Wilt couldn't do that, he simply wasn't as good of a basketball player as Russell was.

[Dr.J4ever]

I think LAZ, la frescobaldi, JMT (might have his username wrong) and a couple of others have.
Yes, because, to me, unless you've seen the games, you can't answer the question of which player had the greater impact in a game. Did the person who led his team to a win have a greater impact, or the losing player, who dominated with individual stats?

[LAZERUSS]

Well the world did, that's why Russell was named GOAT on the 35th team.

Russell was able to improve the play of his teammates and make them better. Wilt couldn't do that, he simply wasn't as good of a basketball player as Russell was.

Why do you constantly bring up this NONSENSE. Russell was voted GOAT by SPORTWRITERS in 1980. Evidently NONE of them ever saw a MINUTE of them play, since it was SPORTSWRITERS who voted Wilt ahead of Russell 7-2 in first team all-NBA's in their 10 seasons in the league together.

And just for the record, and in 1999...

https://espn.go.com/sportscentury/athletes.html

[IGOTGAME]

Yes, Russell has said it before. Let them get certain parts of their games going, than when need be, turn up the intensity.

I know Wilt used to do it to opposing centers.
He 'let" Walt Bellamy score in the second half after he shut him out the first half.

is it really "letting" someone do something when you can't stop it if you tried 100%?

[LAZERUSS]

Yes, because, to me, unless you've seen the games, you can't answer the question of which player had the greater impact in a game. Did the person who led his team to a win have a greater impact, or the losing player, who dominated with individual stats?

I can tell you this much...the player who had the better teammates, and the teammates that constantly outplayed the other's, won the most games (but again, only 60% of them...)

[Dr.J4ever]

Many times...

And I never ever saw even one game, in which I honestly felt Russell had outplayed Wilt. Now, granted, I did come away thinking just how poorly Wilt's teammates performed in the majority of them, so perhaps Russell deserves some of the credit for that (as well as his teammates, like Sam and Hondo, who were among the most "clutch" players of all-time)...
I respect your opinion then. But you know what is said, the players that perform best when the chips are down end up making his team win. Many have opined who saw these greats play that Russel outplayed Wilt in key situations. True or false?

[LAZERUSS]

I respect your opinion then. But you know what is said, the players that perform best when the chips are down end up making his team win. Many have opined who saw these greats play that Russel outplayed Wilt in key situations. True or false?

Russell outplaying Wilt in key situations? Almost never.

Wilt outplaying Russell in key situations? Quite often.

Russell's TEAMMATES outplaying Wilt's TEAMMATES in key situations? Quite often.

[Deuce Bigalow]

Why do you constantly bring up this NONSENSE. Russell was voted GOAT by SPORTWRITERS in 1980. Evidently NONE of them ever saw a MINUTE of them play, since it was SPORTSWRITERS who voted Wilt ahead of Russell 7-2 in first team all-NBA's in their 10 seasons in the league together.

And just for the record, and in 1999...

https://espn.go.com/sportscentury/athletes.html
Why do you bring up the nonsense that they haven't seen them play? It was in 1980 and unless those voters were somehow 18 years old then they probably didn't watch them play at a old enough age, BUT who would let the NBA be represented by 18 year old voters who didn't see them play? Christ!

[LAZERUSS]

One of the best examples that I can give...

In game five of the '66 EDF's, and with Chamberlain's team down 3-1, and facing elimination (and in a series in which his teammates collectively shot .352 from the floor), Wilt exploded with a 46-34 game..albeit, in a loss.

Now, the very next season, it was now RUSSELL whose Celtics were down 3-1, and facing elimination going into game five. Did Russell ELEVATE his game, and put up a 40-30 game against Wilt, when it was obvious that Wilt's teammates had neutralized his own? Hell no, he took them quietly like a lamb being led to slaughter (which is exactly what happened), in a game in which he scored FOUR points, on 2-5 shooting. Oh, and how did Wilt "the Choker" do in that game? He scored 29 points, 22 of which came in the first half, and when the game was still in doubt, on 10-16 shooting, all while blocking seven shots, outrebounding Russell 36-21, and outassisting Russell, 13-7...in a blowout win.

If Russell were really the better player, where were his 40-30 "must win" games against Chamberlain?

[ThePhantomCreep]

6 rings aside, can you imagine if Drexler consistently crushed Jordan statistically, against the league and h2h? That's Wilt vs Russell in a nutshell.

You're kidding yourself if Jordan would still be considered the greater player.

[Marlo_Stanfield]

6 rings aside, can you imagine if Drexler consistently crushed Jordan statistically, against the league and h2h? That's Wilt vs Russell in a nutshell.

You're kidding yourself if Jordan would still be considered the greater player.
:applause: :applause:

[Helix]

I can tell you this much...the player who had the better teammates, and the teammates that constantly outplayed the other's, won the most games (but again, only 60% of them...)


And no one I've seen has ever broken it down like this.............

As a Warrior Wilt was 22-52 against Russell. As a Sixer/Laker Wilt went 35-33 against Russell.

Russell himself has said he couldn't stop Wilt from scoring.....all he could really do was make it a little bit more difficult for Wilt to score. And it IS a fact that he had a good bit of help from his teammates trying to stop Chamberlain.

I'm one of only a handful of posters on this forum who actually saw those televised Chamberlain/Russell "battles" back in the 60's. I saw every one of them from 1963 through 1969. Back then and right up to today I've never argued against Russell's greatness or his impact on those Celtic teams, but he was never the player Chamberlain was.

[WillC]

Despite being a huge Bill Russell fan, I personally don't believe that he would ever intentionally let a player score on him. To me, it seems like this story has been exaggerated over the years - it seems easy to say in retrospect, as if to justify why Wilt dominated Russell statistically.

Bill Russell likes to cast himself as a psychological mastermind. It's true to an extent - he genuinely intimidated his opponents, as their personal accounts testify.

But no, I don't believe he let Wilt score on him.

[Trollsmasher]

He probably did. The more Wilt scored, the less his team won. He was the original blackhole.

Russell's IQ:bowdown:

[jstern]

And no one I've seen has ever broken it down like this.............

As a Warrior Wilt was 22-52 against Russell. As a Sixer/Laker Wilt went 35-33 against Russell.

Russell himself has said he couldn't stop Wilt from scoring.....all he could really do was make it a little bit more difficult for Wilt to score. And it IS a fact that he had a good bit of help from his teammates trying to stop Chamberlain.

I'm one of only a handful of posters on this forum who actually saw those televised Chamberlain/Russell "battles" back in the 60's. I saw every one of them from 1963 through 1969. Back then and right up to today I've never argued Russell's greatness or his impact on those Celtic teams, but he was never the player Chamberlain was.

How old are you?

[LAZERUSS]

He probably did. The more Wilt scored, the less his team won. He was the original blackhole.

Russell's IQ:bowdown:

When Wilt averaged 44.8 ppg, he handed out 3.4 apg, to a collection of bums, none of whom could shoot. In his last great scoring season, he averaged 33.5 ppg, and handed out 5.2 apg.

Yep...a black hole...

Oh, and in his ROOKIE season, he took a LAST PLACE team to a 49-26 record...all while scoring 37.6 ppg.

In his 65-66 season, when he led the league in scoring, rebounding, FG%, and just about everything else, he also led his team to the BEST RECORD in the league.

[LAZERUSS]

And no one I've seen has ever broken it down like this.............

As a Warrior Wilt was 22-52 against Russell. As a Sixer/Laker Wilt went 35-33 against Russell.

Russell himself has said he couldn't stop Wilt from scoring.....all he could really do was make it a little bit more difficult for Wilt to score. And it IS a fact that he had a good bit of help from his teammates trying to stop Chamberlain.

I'm one of only a handful of posters on this forum who actually saw those televised Chamberlain/Russell "battles" back in the 60's. I saw every one of them from 1963 through 1969. Back then and right up to today I've never argued Russell's greatness or his impact on those Celtic teams, but he was never the player Chamberlain was.

If only Chamberlain, and half of his roster had not been injured in the '68 EDF's, ...

[Railgun]

Damn :lol
More evidence of a weak era. Letting players score LMAO.

[LAZERUSS]

In Wilt's first six seasons in the league, Russell had FAR superior supporting casts. Swap rosters and who knows, maybe Wilt have been winning rings with undefeated teams.

What we do know, though, is that Wilt took the core of the same last place roster he inherited in his rookie season, to a game seven, two point loss in the '62 EDF's, in a post-season in which his teammates collectively shot .354.

Then, after Wilt was traded to a bottom-feeding Sixer team at mid-season in 64-65, he then took that 40-40 team thru the first round of the playoffs with a 3-1 romp over Oscar's 48-32 Royals, and then to a game seven, one point loss against the 62-18 Celtics, and did so with a monumenntal 30-31 .555 series.

In their last four years in the league together, Russell had a better cast in '66, even though Wilt somehow took his team to a better record. Just look at the games missed by the Celtic starters that season. And, while Wilt dominated Russell just as thoroughly as he had in their regular season matchups, when Philly held a 6-3 record over Boston...his teammates puked all over the floor in the EDF's (shooting a collective .352)...and the result was another Celtic banner.

In '67, and with an equal supporting cast, albeit, not as deep (which would prove to be their demise a year later), Wilt led the Sixers to a 68-13 record, and then they shelled the 60-21 Celtics in the EDF's (and only a poor game four, in a four point loss in Boston, prevented a sweep.) THIS series exemplified what their overall ring count would have looked like had these two players had these rosters in their ten seasons together.

In '68, the Sixers again ran roughshod over the entire NBA, and were well on their way to another title. Hell, even with a Wilt hobbled by injuries, and without HOFer Billy Cunningham (for the entire series), the Sixers still forged a 3-1 series lead. How bad was it in Boston after game four? Even Red Auerbach gave up. "It's too bad, because people will forget just how great he (Russell) was." Then two more starters went down in game five, and that was the series. For the Sixers to a lose a game seven by four points, and after collectively shooting 35% in that game, and with all of the injuries they had sustained, it was a truly remarkable effort. A healthy Sixer squad would easily have repeated.

Chamberlain was "traded" to the Lakers before the 68-69 season, but had he known what kind of a coach he would join, I am absolutely positive that he would never have gone. Still, even with an incompetent coach, who preferred losing a title, than to let Wilt be Wilt, the Lakers were ONE PLAY away from winning the '69 in a 4-1 series romp. ONE DAMNED PLAY. The Lakers were leading the series,. 2-1, and leading late in game four, 88-87, and with the ball, and only a few seconds remaining. Of the many blunders that VBK made in that series, this was THE biggest one. Instead of letting Mr. Clutch handle the ball in that last sequence, he put the ball into the hands of journeyman Johnny Egan (who had "replaced both Archie Clark and Gail Goodrich after the Wilt trade)...and the result was predictable. Egan was stripped, and the super-clutch Sam Jones, while falling down, hit the game-winner at the buzzer. Given the fact that LA buried Boston back in LA in game five, that ONE PLAY cost them the title.

"Boiled Down", and Chamberlain, was an eyelash away from winning FOUR more rings. FOUR game seven losses to the eventual champion Celtics, and by a combined margin of NINE points (2, 1, 4, and 2 points.) Where would Chamberlain rank on these all-time lists had he won SIX rings?

[SHABBA]

Damn :lol
More evidence of a weak era. Letting players score LMAO.
:lol

[LAZERUSS]

Damn :lol
More evidence of a weak era. Letting players score LMAO.

Now EVERYONE does it. Just look at the league-wide eFG%'s.

[Helix]

How old are you?


Three score and a little bit more.

[Andrei89]

Wilt forever a choker...

[LAZERUSS]

Russell's biggest black eye...

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/196704110PHI.html

[LAZERUSS]

Yet another example of Russell "letting" Wilt score a little too much and allowing his Sixers to mount a huge 4th quarter rally...

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/196601140PHI.html

[LAZERUSS]

And Russell was REALLY cutting this one close...

a game seven, to boot...

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/196504150BOS.html

BTW, Chamberlain scored six of Philly's last eight points, and cut the margin from 110-101 to 110-109. Oh, and after slamming a dunk on Russell to bring them to within that one point, and with 5 secs left, the "clutch" Russell then hit a guide-wire on the his inbounds pass, giving the ball back to the Sixers.

But, Russell must have known that ... "Havlicek stole the ball!" would occur.

That was a huge, as well. Can you imagine the hit that that series would have taken on Russell's resume had he allowed a 40-40 team to beat his 62-18 Celtics in a game seven, and in a series in which he allowed Wilt to averaged 30 ppg, 31 rpg, and shoot .555 from the field???

[dunksby]

Letting Wilt get his just means they couldn't stop him, shit who could stop that man-beast? Wilt did his thing against Russell as best as he could but at the end of the day teams win or lose. Wilt might not have had this intangible people call "making his teammates better", still can't say he failed with a straight face.

[iamgine]

From '63-'66, Boston held Wilt to 27 ppg in the regular season and 29 ppg in the playoff, quite below his average.

[LAZERUSS]

From '63-'66, Boston held Wilt to 27 ppg in the regular season and 29 ppg in the playoff, quite below his average.

Obviously then, Russell NEVER "let" Wilt score then, did he?

Oh, and you hit the nail on the head...it was NEVER Russell holding Wilt down, it was BOSTON holding Chamberlain down.

[iamgine]

Obviously then, Russell NEVER "let" Wilt score then, did he?

Oh, and you hit the nail on the head...it was NEVER Russell holding Wilt down, it was BOSTON holding Chamberlain down.
Well of course. Basketball is not a one on one game.

[LAZERUSS]

From '63-'66, Boston held Wilt to 27 ppg in the regular season and 29 ppg in the playoff, quite below his average.


BTW, here are some interesting numbers...

'64: 8 regular season H2H's with Russell: 29.1 ppg, 26.9 rpg, .530 FG%
'64 Finals: 5 games, 29.2 ppg, 27.8 rpg, .517 FG%

'65: 11 regular season H2H's with Russell: 25.4 ppg, 26.7 rpg, .473 FG%
'65 EDF's: 7 games, 30.1 ppg, 31.4 rpg, .555 FG%

'66: 9 regular season H2H's with Russell: 28.3 ppg, 30.7 rpg, .525 FG%
'66 EDF's: 5 games, 28.0 ppg, 30.2 rpg, .509 FG%

'67: 9 regular season H2H's with Russell, 20.3 ppg, 26.7 rpg, .549 FG%
'67 EDF's: 5 games, 21.6 ppg, 32.0 rpg, .556 FG%

Hmmm...Chamberlain ELEVATED his play in those post-seasons against Russell...

[dunksby]

BTW, here are some interesting numbers...

'64: 8 regular season H2H's with Russell: 29.1 ppg, 26.9 rpg, .530 FG%
'64 Finals: 5 games, 29.2 ppg, 27.8 rpg, .517 FG%

'65: 11 regular season H2H's with Russell: 25.4 ppg, 26.7 rpg, .473 FG%
'65 EDF's: 7 games, 30.1 ppg, 31.4 rpg, .555 FG%

'66: 9 regular season H2H's with Russell: 28.3 ppg, 30.7 rpg, .525 FG%
'66 EDF's: 5 games, 28.0 ppg, 30.2 rpg, .509 FG%

'67: 9 regular season H2H's with Russell, 20.3 ppg, 26.7 rpg, .549 FG%
'67 EDF's: 5 games, 21.6 ppg, 32.0 rpg, .556 FG%

Hmmm...Chamberlain ELEVATED his play in those post-seasons against Russell...
Deuce posted a thread... GOGOGOGO!

[Pointguard]

As a great defender nothing comes easy for an opponent. KG and Ben Wallace had the mentality that you got to earn all that you get here. Also Wilt had a much better chance of scoring than his teammates so it would be the equivalent of making sure that Wilt's team got the best chance to score. And it is more psychologically advantageous to have a presence defensively every time. It wouldn't surprise me if Wilt out played Russell late in games as well, the majority of the time despite the current ground swell.

He couldn't do anything with Wilt.

[LAZERUSS]

As a great defender nothing comes easy for an opponent. KG and Ben Wallace had the mentality that you got to earn all that you get here. Also Wilt had a much better chance of scoring than his teammates so it would be the equivalent of making sure that Wilt's team got the best chance to score. And it is more psychologically advantageous to have a presence defensively every time. It wouldn't surprise me if Wilt out played Russell late in games as well, the majority of the time despite the current ground swell.

He couldn't do anything with Wilt.

http://www.nba.com/history/players/chamberlain_bio.html


In Chamberlain's first year, and for several years afterward, opposing teams simply didn't know how to handle him. Tom Heinsohn, the great Celtics forward who later became a coach and broadcaster, said Boston was one of the first clubs to apply a team-defense concept to stop Chamberlain. "We went for his weakness," Heinsohn told the Philadelphia Daily News in 1991, "tried to send him to the foul line, and in doing that he took the most brutal pounding of any player ever.. I hear people today talk about hard fouls. Half the fouls against him were hard fouls."

http://samcelt.forumotion.net/t2803-wilt-meets-bill-and-tommy-4000-words


K.C. Jones, arguably the savviest team player in the history of the game, was also a rookie that year and had a front row seat for Bill and Wilt's encounters. "Bill didn't do it all. We just used TEAM.


Years later, Wilt proved that he never quite understood what K.C. was saying. "What people don't realize," he opined, "is that it was never Wilt versus Russell. I never got, or needed, any help guarding Russell. But for Russ, it was always one or two other guys helping him. He never guarded me straight up."

[dankok8]

BTW, here are some interesting numbers...

'64: 8 regular season H2H's with Russell: 29.1 ppg, 26.9 rpg, .530 FG%
'64 Finals: 5 games, 29.2 ppg, 27.8 rpg, .517 FG%

'65: 11 regular season H2H's with Russell: 25.4 ppg, 26.7 rpg, .473 FG%
'65 EDF's: 7 games, 30.1 ppg, 31.4 rpg, .555 FG%

'66: 9 regular season H2H's with Russell: 28.3 ppg, 30.7 rpg, .525 FG%
'66 EDF's: 5 games, 28.0 ppg, 30.2 rpg, .509 FG%

'67: 9 regular season H2H's with Russell, 20.3 ppg, 26.7 rpg, .549 FG%
'67 EDF's: 5 games, 21.6 ppg, 32.0 rpg, .556 FG%

Hmmm...Chamberlain ELEVATED his play in those post-seasons against Russell...

So we're supposed to give Wilt credit for also STRUGGLING against Russell in the regular season? :roll: And no even by your strange logic he still didn't elevate his game. Also post the FT% numbers please.

[Asukal]

So much dominance wow! But only 2.... :rolleyes:

[CavaliersFTW]

No, I have an interview where Russell is asked that very question. He didn't want Wilt scoring a ton of points on him. He wanted to win first and foremost, but there was no such strategy as 'letting' Wilt get anything then allegedly shutting him down at key points, as it was literally not possible to shut Wilt down 1 on 1 no matter how hard Russell would have liked for it to have been that easy. The whole idea is a media fabrication.

[Deuce Bigalow]

No, I have an interview where Russell is asked that very question. He didn't want Wilt scoring a ton of points on him. He wanted to win first and foremost, but there was no such strategy as 'letting' Wilt get anything then allegedly shutting him down at key points, as it was literally not possible to shut Wilt down 1 on 1 no matter how hard Russell would have liked for it to have been that easy. The whole idea is a media fabrication.
Playoff pressure shut him down.

18.6 career finals ppg. 11.7 ppg in the '69 finals. Good job pressure :applause:

[LAZERUSS]

So we're supposed to give Wilt credit for also STRUGGLING against Russell in the regular season? :roll: And no even by your strange logic he still didn't elevate his game. Also post the FT% numbers please.

STRUGGLING????

Seasons of 38 ppg, 38 ppg, 40 ppg, and all on FG%'s WAY ABOVE the league average. Same with the vast majority of his PLAYOFF H2H's against Russell. To claim that Wilt "struggled" with a 30 ppg .500 series, in a post-season that averaged 109.1 ppg on .402 shooting is a bit of a reach, isn't it. Or 29 ppg on a .517 FG%, in a post-season that averaged 105.8 ppg on a .420 FG%? Or a 30 ppg, .555 seven game series in a post-season that averaged 113.7 ppg on a .429 FG%.

I think what you REALLY mean was this...Chamberlain was UNFATHOMABLE against everyone else, and against Russell, he was only extraordinary.

[CavaliersFTW]

STRUGGLING????

Seasons of 38 ppg, 38 ppg, 40 ppg, and all on FG%'s WAY ABOVE the league average. Same with the vast majority of his PLAYOFF H2H's against Russell. To claim that Wilt "struggled" with a 30 ppg .500 series, in a post-season that averaged 109.1 ppg on .402 shooting is a bit of a reach, isn't it. Or 29 ppg on a .517 FG%, in a post-season that averaged 105.8 ppg on a .420 FG%? Or a 30 ppg, .555 seven game series in a post-season that averaged 113.7 ppg on a .429 FG%.

I think what you REALLY mean was this...Chamberlain was UNFATHOMABLE against everyone else, and against Russell, he was only extraordinary.
ISH... where 38ppg is "struggling" :roll: