All Time Comparisons Ep.1 : Bill vs Wilt

Welcome to a new article series where I will do an in-depth analysis of two ATG Players. No better way to start the series than with the oldest GOAT Debate of all time between Bill Russell, The 11 ringed Defensive Anchor of the Boston Celtics from 1957-1969, And Wilt Chamberlain, The video game number producing megastar of the warriors, 76ers and Lakers from 1960-1973. To determine who was the Greater Player I will first lay down how i am comparing these players. I will be comparing how great each player was at various basketball aspects like scoring and rebounding then I will compare their PO Performance and Resilience along with their overall Peak and Longevity to see who i think the greater Player is while also letting you the reader make your own choice.

Scoring

The first part we will compare is their scoring ability and let's just say this is not close. I just finished up my Greatest Scorers Series Where Wilt was ranked the 9th Greatest Scorer of all time. Bill was not close to making that list. Scoring was his biggest weakness as a player by far and it holds him back on an all time scale especially for me. For a quick Comparison, Wilt averaged 33.7 IA PTS/100 on 62.8 IA TS% in his prime, where as Bill only averaged 16.6 IA PTS/100 on 56.4 IA TS%. Wilt also had much higher gravity (He had all time gravity where as BRs was almost non existent) and he had a better bag. BR rose in the PO while Wilt fell but that is not nearly enough to close the gap or make it remotely close. Wilt is clear.

Playmaking

Playmaking is much closer than Scoring. Wilt has far better gravity than bill Russell due to scoring. Passing wise I would lean Bill Russell as he wasn't as inconsistent as Wilt was from year-year and Wilt wasn't a good passer until around 1963. Bill was very passive and predictable as a passer which caused him to be turnover prone. he was great in DHOs and had good vision. neither were very active off ball but bill was a better screen setter. Wilt was more aggressive and had more gravity but sometimes would assist hunt. I think BR having better longevity than wilt gives him more longevity although wilt peaked higher.

Defense

This is not close at all. Wilt Chamberlain is an All Time defender (Top 5-7 defender ever) but Bill Russell is the GOAT defender and the gap between him and even number 2 is sizeable. Bill Russell is the best rim protector of all time even better than wilt. Wilt jumped a lot trying to get blocks and it resulted in him getting a lot goal tending calls and he would was quick to jump at anything to try and get blocks. Bill was much more patient and was still able to get similar block numbers, according to estimates, BR averaged 10.5 BLK/100 compared to Wilt's 10.2. Bill Was much better as a perimeter defender, He was more willing to guard the perimeter than wilt was and was more effective.

Rebounding

This matters the least but rebounding is also close. There isn’t much rebounding data especially in the 60s. Prime Wilt averaged 24.3 rpg to prime bills 23.3 and beat him h2h. i care least about this but I would say Wilt > Bill

Playoffs

In The PO Their Playstyles didn't change much outside of wilt being less aggressive as a scorer and Bill being more aggressive. Bill is one of the biggest PO Risers of all time, But just because someone rises and someone falls doesn't mean he's better necessarily. Wilt looked better statistically than Russell did when you compare their PO per game numbers (per 100 estimates cant be found pre 74 in the PO) Wilt averaged 26/4/26 on +4.1 rTS to Bills 18/5/26 on +1.1 rTS but remember Bill was a much better defender and this still applied in the PO. I think the PO Gap is close especially when factoring in Resilience but I think Wilt was better in the PO.

Peak

There are 2 ways to assess peak, Single year and Multi Year stretches. I like to use Multi year stretches but I'll compare both. For Single year I'll look at 1964 for both players (you can argue 1967 is wilt's single season peak). Wilt in 64 was a great scorer still but also a much more willing passer averaging 37/5/22 on +5.2 rTS. Statistically he looked crazy as always but He was still carrying most of the Load for the warriors in 64 which inflated his Box Metrics. Bill Russell’s single year peak is also 1964 where he averaged 15/5/25 on -2.4 rTS. On the surface This doesn’t look very good but rem basketball is more than points assists and rebounds. 1964 Bill Russell is by far the best Defensive season of all time and breaks any defensive metric That reaches back to that season. looking at multi year peaks Bill from 62-65 averaged 16/5/24 on -1.2 rTS while playing better defense than anyone else in NBA history Compared to 64-68 Wilt’s 31/6/24 on +6.4 rTS. Now going a Little more in-depth Bill was much better off ball as Wilt was almost like a statue once he got to the left block while bill moved around more and occasionally set screens. He was also better in transition which was where A Lot of bills Scoring came from. Bill was also amazing out of DHOs (hes the only center in the 60s I see constantly doing DHOs). Bill was also clear as a defender despite both being GOAT tier. Now wilt was still very very clear offensively as in his peak he’s able to combine his scoring and playmaking better than he ever Could and was great at both. In my opinion both players have strong arguments for top 10 peaks and I have wilt in the 7-8 range and Bill in the 9-11 range. Longevity

Longevity is pretty close between the two. It can go either way really. Wilt has 13 High Quality seasons but Bill does as well. They're pretty similar in career quality So this is VERY Tight. it’s essentially a tie between the two but i would argue bill‘s is better because he was more consistent although it goes either way

Conclusion

now that we have compared the Two’s careers let’s decided Who was better. In my opinion Wilt peaked higher was a better scorer playmaker and had much better two way ability. I think bill was better defensively had more consistency was more portable And had slightly better longevity. I think the PO and longevity were very close between the two. Overall I think wilts two way ability gives him the edge over Bill although I can see it either way.