Why do 60s star players able to play so many minutes and still be so durable?

[iamgine]

Considering they had much worse shoes, much worse medical tech, much worse nutritional knowledge, much worse transportation, etc.

It's not just Wilt and Russell.

It's also Walt Bellamy, Oscar Robertson, Richie Guerin, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Lenny Wilkens, Bob Pettit, etc.

[Real Men Wear Green]

They didn't have modern medical knowledge to understand the damage being done to their bodies playing hurt and they needed the money more not having already been paid tens of millions with tens of millions more to come.