Wilt Chamberlain Felt Like He Was “Thrown to the Lions” Every Time He Faced Bill Russell at Boston: “We Lost by 20 but Atleast I Got 40”

Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell are two of the greatest players to have ever played the sport and formed the 1st great rivalry in the NBA.

Bill Russell was a player who made his team win wherever he went. Winning the NBA championship 11 times in his 13-year-long basketball career, he is also one of the few players who’s won NCAA titles consecutively. They also named the Finals MVP trophy- the ‘Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award’ to celebrate the legend. The only player after Wilt to get 50 rebounds in the game, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it even scared any player to score in front of him. All the words, but none can aptly describe how good Bill was. So, hear this story from Wilt himself.

Wilt Chamberlain was so tall and fast for his opponents that in just 14 seasons of his career, he had scored 31,419 with a crazy average of 30.1 PPG. He is the only player to average 40 and 50 points in a season. Just imagine, 50 PPG through the season, sheesh! He has also set the record for most points in a single game by scoring 100 points. What if we told you Wilt was scared of one team? He was of the Bill Russell’s Celtics.

Thrown to the lions

When asked how it would feel about going against Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain said playing against Bill’s team was the toughest. He says it felt like he was going against the best team in the world.

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He said, “They were so good, he(Bill) was so good that you want to be able to do good enough to at least you can come and say, well, at least I got 40, we only lost by 20.” Wilt Chamberlain saying that should make you understand how tough it was for players to score in front of him. Playing at The Boston gardens was like being thrown to the lions. He says that because of the loud crowd and how it built the atmosphere in the amphitheater.

Never did anyone even think that Wilt- the player who scored 100 points in a game could have difficulty scoring. But in front of Bill, anyone would. With the passing away of the legend, these stories remind us of his greatness as a player and the loss suffered by the basketball community.

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