Wilt and Russell

One of the things I was looking forward to in reading the Bill Simmons basketball book was his chapter on the Wilt/Russell debate.  First, Simmons was a Celtic fan and they revere the "Celtic way".  Given that, he puts together a broad and passionate case that Russell was not only a better player, but that it wasn't close.

Before we get into that, let's state that in 142 games that they played against each other, Wilt averaged 29 pts and 29 boards, while Russell avg'd 15 and 24.  That's the backdrop of the chapter.

Simmons builds his case on a few cornerstones:

1. In those head to head match-ups, Russell won 84 times and Wilt 58.  He furthers goes into much detail to show that the supporting casts on Wilt's teams were every bit as good as Russell's.  He cites number of all-stars and hall-of-famers on each player's roster during those match-ups.  Basically during the time we're talking about, with only 8 teams in the league, everyone had great players.
2. Russell won 11 championships and Wilt 2.  It's sort of the Bradshaw vs. Marino thing, but Simmons goes to great lengths to show that the Celtics won those 11 because of Russell, while the Warriors, Sixers, and Lakers lost in crunch time because Wilt was a choker and couldn't shoot free throws.
3. During the heighth of his fame, Wilt was traded by 2 different teams, both getting less than face value for him.  If you look at the players involved in the trades, you would conclude that the teams were trying to dump Wilt at any cost.  When the Warriors were shopping him in '65, the Lakers owner polled his players to see if they wanted him to pursue Wilt.  The players voted overwhelmingly 'no'.
4. In playoff games, Russell 'held' Wilt to 22 pts/gm and scored 16 himself.  Simmons asserts that Russell played head games with Wilt during the regular season, allowing him the stats, while knowing he could clamp down in the playoffs.
5. The most damning evidence comes through contemporary player quotes.  Many former players including both teammates and opponents slammed Wilt as selfish, clueless, immature, a choker, etc.  I'm talking players such as Bill Bradley, Jerry Lucas, Jerry West, Rick Barry, John Havlicek and coaches as well.  They paint a picture of a player obsessed with stats, who avoided the ball late in games so he wouldn't be embarrassed, and who threw his teammates under the bus.

I'll say this; anytime an intelligent person does his homework to make a case, it's going to look pretty good.  You may believe that someone else could make an equally impressive case on Wilt's behalf.  I don't have the inclination to do so.  But, after reading this chapter and the research that went into it, it looks ugly for the Stilt.  I'm not going to get that worked up over it, but I would encourage fans to read it and make their own conclusion.

S