The Rivalry: Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and the Golden Age of Basketball, Taylor - B+

                      On Nov. 7, 1959, the Boston Garden, seldom if ever sold out for Celtic games, packed in the maximum capacity of 13,909. The reason was that the Philadelphia Warriors and their young rookie, Wilt Chamberlain, were coming to town. He was 3-4 inches taller, and probably 40 pounds heavier than Bill Russell, winner of two college titles, an Olympic gold medal, and two NBA titles in the previous four years. Boston won because Wilt did not have a supporting cast that could match the Celts. 

                      The two men had reached the pinnacle of the basketball world by two very different paths. Chamberlain had been heralded as an extraordinary athlete his entire life. He was courted by every university in the country. He went to KU on a basketball and track scholarship. He toured the world with the Harlem Globetrotters before joining the Warriors. His approach to hoops was one of casual, effortless success. Russell's course was less assured. He didn't play ball until he was in high school. A scout for the University of San Francisco saw him play and spoke to the coach. Bill was working in a shipyard after high school when USF offered him a scholarship. He and his roommate, KC Jones, studied and analyzed the game constantly in an effort to improve themselves. His meteoric rise saw him meet President Eisenhower at the White House before he graduated. Ike asked him to not turn pro immediately so he could play in the fall for the 1956 Olympic team.

                    After their first meeting, Wilt went on to be Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player. "Wilt had taken more shots, scored more points, gotten more rebounds, taken more free throws, and played more minutes  than anyone else in the history of the league." The Warriors met the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. The contest was highly anticipated and became the talk of the nation. Because Chamberlain hurt his hand in an on court melee that was par for the course in that era, and because the other four Celtics were better than the other four Warriors, the Celts won in six.

                  Their next head to head series was the conference finals two years later. The 1961-62 season saw Wilt score 100 points against the Knicks in March. Wilt was the best athlete in the league, but Russel knew how to slow him down and kept him below his averages. It went seven, with Boston winning in the last seconds at home. The Warriors moved to San Francisco, and met Boston in the NBA finals in 1964. A new coach had brought down Wilt's scoring, and had melded him together with his teammates for the betterment of the club. One again though, it was the Celtics who prevailed.  

                  In the beginning of the 1964-65 season, Wilt spent a month in the hospital  suffering from pancreatitis, insulted the principal owner, and played with his usual indifference, focused on his stats. Mid-season, the occasionally petulant prima donna was traded to the 76ers. Wilt was rejuvenated and led his hometown club on a winning streak. "Instead of the limelight seeking ball hog some of the 76ers expected, Chamberlain proved to be a true team player." They met the Celtics in the conference finals after an article in SI, authored by Chamberlain, lambasted just about everyone including the Sixer coach. Nonetheless, it came down the last play of game seven when "Havlicek stole the ball" saved Boston's season. A year later, in Auerbach's finale as coach, the Celts breezed past Philadelphia and beat LA in the finals. The next three seasons would see Russell as the player-coach.

              The following year, Chamberlain became a passer and a rebounder scoring one third of his career average. With Wilt surrounded by talent, they won 68 games - the best in the history of the league. The Celtics had won 8 titles in a row, overcoming a Wilt led team six times. Nineteen sixty-seven would be different. Philadelphia won the first three in the conference finals and closed out the Celtics in Boston in game six. Their success was short lived and they lost in 1968 to Boston, who won their tenth title in twelve years.

              When Alex Hannum, one of the only two coaches Wilt ever listened to, left for the ABA, Wilt asked for the job and a raise. His owner told him he was released and could sign with anyone he wished. Chamberlain simply was not worth the aggravation. So in 1968, Wilt joined his third and final NBA team, the Lakers. He and his new coach Butch van Breda Kolff, battled all season. In Boston, Russell signed a new two year contract, but seemed almost indifferent. As the season wore on, the 35 year old Russell seemed exhausted. It showed in the standings, as Boston finished in fourth place in the East. The Lakers, newly cohesive at season's end, finished as the number one seed. The Lakers were favored when they met in the finals. Each team held serve and met in the Forum for game seven. Back and forth it went, with Boston up by one with a minute left. Boston won by two. A very thoughtful observer said that "Russell was always able to make his players an extension of himself, while Chamberlain, for all of his personal dominance, never truly became part of a team."

           Russell drove away from Boston that summer and did not return for 30 years. Boston was a racist city that he never felt comfortable in. His post playing career was not a success. He failed as a coach and as a general manager. The immensely proud and stubborn Bill Russell cried when he came back to Boston to have his number 6 retired. Wilt, who won again in 1972 and retired himself that year appeared at Russell's ceremony in the new Fleet Center. Wilt died six months later. At his funeral service, Russell said, "The fierceness of the competition bonded us for eternity."

           This fabulous book might better be subtitled a primer on the early years of the league. Most of the owners also owned successful hockey teams and bought the fledgling NBA franchises to fill up dead dates in their arenas. Most were tight-fisted nasty men who treated each other and their players with disdain.  There are spectacular chapters on Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, and Red Auerbach. The book was written a while ago, long before Russell died in 2022. The finals MVP trophy has been named for him for quite some time and every player in the league wore a commemorative number 6 for all of the 2022-23 season. Like Jackie Robinson's number 42, it will be permanently retired. Thanks again to my brother for a great recommendation.