Wilt Chamberlain once revealed that he grew more in defeat than Bill Russell did in victories in his autobiography.
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The battles between Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell almost feel mythic in a way given just how long ago they happened coupled with the sheer Herculean feats that they enacted. While Russell got the better of Wilt on many more occasions, boasting an 84-58 record against him throughout their careers, Chamberlain’s dominance was unheard of.
The amount of records Wilt Chamberlain holds to his name after having been retired for half of a century is absurd. However, at the end of the day, championships are what count in the eyes of the majority of NBA fans and his two pale in comparison to Russell’s 11 in 13 years.
The reasons behind ‘The Big Dipper’ being able to muster merely 2 chips in his career are plentiful but the most prominent one is that he simply did not crave victory as much as Bill Russell.
According to Wilt, his Celtics counterpart would throw up in the locker room before games because of how seriously he took the game. This was not the case for Chamberlain n the slightest.
Wilt Chamberlain compared himself to Bill Russell.
In his autobiography aptly titled ‘Wilt’, he would go on to describe the major differences between himself and Bill Russell. “There are too many beautiful things in life- food, cars, girls, friends, the beach, freedom- to get that emotionally wrapped up in basketball,” said Chamberlain.
In another impactful passage from this book, Wilt Chamberlain would say, “I wish I had won all those championships. But I really think I grew more as a man in defeat than Russell did in victory.”
Contrary to popular belief, both Wilt and Bill Russell were quite close friends with one another. Russell took him under his wings in a way upon the former’s arrival to the NBA, showing him the ropes and ins and outs of the league.
Wilt would even stay over at Russell’s house on several occasions when his team would come to Boston for games. Of course, the camaraderie would subside the second they stepped foot on NBA hardwood as their innate competitiveness would take over almost immediately.
