Jordan, Duncan and Russel Vs Bryant, Garnett and Chamberlain

[hermes]

most likely team 1

[kooldude]

He won 3 of his last 4 years in the game with a much superior Celtic team than the earlier Cousy/Heinsohn/Sharman (all three badly overrated) squad. On his latter squad he had Havlicek (a great player), plus Sam Jones and Bailey Howell (marginal all-stars). (KC Jones was a limited role player and not a difference maker) Wilt had Hal Greer and Chet Walker (both consistent all-stars) plus Billy Cunningham (a marginal all-star at that point) and Luke Jackson who was a lot better than KC Jones) . . . and yet Russell won 2 out of 3. Then Wilt in LA had Jerry West (better than Havlicek) plus Happy Hairston (close to Howell) and solid players like Jim McMillan and Russell won again.

The point is . . . even with roughly equal talent. Russell beat Wilt when it mattered, in the playoffs, because Russell had more of the intanglible stuff (will to win? clutchness? luck?). The only comparable player with that kind of stuff in the history of the NBA since the 30 second clock was MJ and it's an open question for me which was the bigger winner. (Russell did it from day one; MJ had to mature from a Wilt like focus on "what can I do to win" to "how do we win" but then ran off 6 titles in a much tougher playoff format).

For a no talent team, there is no one close to Wilt. For a talented team, yes, Russell > Wilt (and MJ>Kobe and Duncan>Garnett)

I specifically remember Point Forward posting some information about the circumstances that was involved the Wilt-Russell series, including the 3 you just mentioned. I know one of them were bad coaching decisions, which Wilt has no control over; maybe Point Forward can post them again here.

Also, regardless the equal talent of the teams, chemistry plays a large part in winning, which Russell again, had the advantage even though Wilt did willingly leave Philly. You can't just use the talent argument against individual players when chemistry is a team focus. Based on talent, the Nuggets should be a top 3 team; it doesn't mean they should be the Spurs.

In this thread, if Wilt and Russell had equal opportunities to gel with their teammates, I believe Wilt will win. Didn't Wilt have the statistical edge over Russell in almost every one of their meetings? So that would at least indicate that Wilt's teammates weren't doing their part. If we use the Wilt when he adapted Russell's style of play after realizing how well it works, he was basically Russell with equal or better rebounding, equal or better defense, better passing, and much better scoring efficiency, which he won 2 rings. I'm assuming we're not comparing careers, just their primes which Wilt is clearly superior.