Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell's beef turned a beautiful friendship into 24 years of silence
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- čas přidán 21. 02. 2024
- For most of Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain’s illustrious, decorated careers, they were in direct competition with each other. They faced off in the playoffs 8 times in 10 years. And they got along well those 10 years. For this is a story of reverse beef- direct competition equaled friendship. Their playing days no longer overlapping, the end of direct competition, equaled... beef. Enjoy.
Written and produced by: Clara Morris
Directed and edited by: Charlotte Atkinson
Motion Graphics by: Phil Pasternak
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My favorite story between these two is how Russell used to stay at wills house on Christmas Eve the day before they would play. And when the Celtics would always win, wilts mother said “Now Wilt, I don’t think that we should feed Bill so good”
It's so damned wholesome that it doesn't even feel real.
They loved each other so much!
And got the classic Bill Russell laugh.
neither of these guys would even be starting in todays league.... they played a bunch of nobody 5 foot 10 white guys
@@BH-gh6qmI can all but guarantee you don’t have an athletic bone in your body , lame ahh dude
@@BH-gh6qm What a weak troll you are.
This is the most wholesome episode of Beef History
The NBA championship ring was the friends we made along the way
-Wilt probably
He won championships though. He just didn’t have 7 hall of fame teammates lol. You think the warriors with KD was bad?? Sheesh!
Very wholesome beef!
@@13LaRRiC2434 GAMES WITHOUT BILL RUSSEL SIR. Stop pushing lien narrative
they hate that 2 legends can’t co exist
Fans do this even more zealously though. Online MJ, Lebron & Kobe superfans *never* cease talking down on the others, despite all their mutual respect for each other, & especially the respect Bron & Jordan each shared for Kobe.
Magic and Bird still seem friendly
Can*
see: Embiid and Jokic media treatment
“They act like 2 legends can not co-exist” is the Cole line you were tryna say
Bill Russell heel turn is something I didn't expect 😳
yup i expected wilt to be petty and egocentric, with all his women stories and gym totals, yet he was the one who kept being professional. their souls may rest in peace.
@@tobznoobs well lets just say the slights against Wilt's playing career made by the media were mostly accurate. He was a quitter and a loser. That doesn't make him a terrible person, but I can understand how Bill finally realizing that the media was right about Wilt would hurt Bill's ego. I mean that was the guy he was beating all of those years and who he stood up for and for him to give up in the finals probably hurt Bill a lot. It's kind of like how Shaq hates on every new big guy that comes up in the league because he feels like his throne of most dominant is in jeopardy because he never put as much work into basketball as he should have. Wilt not being as great as everyone thought only hurts Bill's legacy.
Actually, as someone who has read up stuff and watched videos on Bill Russell, I'm not the least bit surprised.
@@xXSprMgaAwsmFxyHtXxcan you please objectively explain why Wilt is a quitter or why you consider him a loser? It’s possible to admire Bill Russell without denigrating Wilt. The guy was criminally underrated and bashed by the media for everything BESIDES basketball.
@@xXSprMgaAwsmFxyHtXxhow the hell is wiltba quitter😂😂
One of the best Beef episodes yet. Great job Clara.
What I like about these is that you'll look back on them in ten years and they'll be just as good, not some clickbait gossip nonsense
Absolutely fantastic !
Not even close. She needs to blow her dang nose 😂
Damn.... Haven't watched but not as excited knowing she is on it
@@arizonaFIREent thank God I'm not the only one
I loved that Reebok commercial. “Don’t fake the funk on a nasty dunk.” 🏀
Russell was like "You're early" to which Shaq replied "But Im ready"
Anyone who has fought with a good friend feels something extra when watching this video
Real
Somewhere in Los Angeles, in a quiet corner of his house, Bill Simmons sits in front of his computer as Clara's voice fades. He remains silent, seemingly lost in thought, and his face turns toward the window, bathed in bright sunlight.
After some time, he gets up, closes the computer and says:
"Russell was still better"
hahaha, Simmons is obsessed with Wilt. His book "The Book of Basketball" is awesome, apart from when it comes to Wilt.
Russell was better, so was Kareem
and also better than jordan or anyone else to touch a basketball. also bill simmons is clown.
@@AB-sw4kb Fr and it’s not even close
One of the saddest days for me as a sports fan was when Wilt died. I was only 12 and loved hearing him on NBC or talks shows. I do believe he never got the respect he deserved from the media, and this video shows how much they wanted him to be the villain to Russell. There won't ever be someone like him, just like there won't be another Shaq, MJ, LeBron.
My grandparents were the ultimate oldheads and lived through this era and followed it pretty closely (living in Delaware so they did actually see Wilt play a little bit). 50 years later they still said there hadn't been a rivalry as good as this one in part because it was so different then any other team sport rivalry that had happened before. They said it was like having MJ and Lebron go at each other every other week and that a lot of otherwise disinterested fans would still check the box scores when they would play to see who did better. Happy to see any coverage about the rivalry because I think a lot of fans really don't have any exposure to it.
Magic/Bird is still the best imo. That rivalry built the NBA in terms of notoriety.
What made their rivalry unique was how often they faced each other. They played around 16 games against each other every year and had great battles down to game 7’s in the playoffs(Bill is 10-0 in game 7’s so the winner was though a bit obvious). Imagine Kobe v Jordan 16 times a year for 10 years straight.
@@goldenstatewarriors9418 Magic and Bird resurrected the league, but they'd both tell you that they stand on the shoulders of giants and benefited from the strides Russell and the Big Dipper made.
@wvu05 the reason that the rivalry had extra weight was because of wilt and Bill the revived the old rivalry that they had set.
@@usernamenotwrittenoutoflaz9865exactly that is basically getting playoff basketball ALMOST CONSTANTLY. A which I say I wasn't around to see it but saw a few games and it's gotta be the biggest cause they literally played 100s of games against each other probably
So slimy the way the press tries to make a narrative. They're always doing stuff like this.
Okay, I swear I remembered this and did find it. Bill Didn't go to the Press and say this. Now this is according to him but he was talking to a bunch of Iowa college kids and mixed in was a reporter. He didn't know he was a reporter but the reporter said to him, "Well you wouldn't have won that last championship if Wilt wasn't hurt." Now this doesn't excuse him saying what he said, but I feel tis another point that it was the Basketball Media trying to stir stuff up that caused the falling out. You can see him talk about this in this interview, czcams.com/video/KJp9y1-schc/video.html The timecode is 2:51:38.
As a fan of Beef History, I love how each presenter puts their own unique spin on the scripts across Secret Base.
Clara nails dry wit and humorous insight, every once in a while I feel the pang to just hear Seth yell out BEEF!
She's my favorite 😊 (shh...don't tell Seth!)
@@elizabethgeorge168She's my favorite too...😂😂
I cannot stand her. Secret Base is stupid elitist garbage produced by pathetic losers that are so proud of themselves for going to college and of their slightly upper middleclass backgrounds. Sound like you? Dry wit? Are you still sitting down to watch Seinfeld reruns are you? And Seth. Loves Boris Diaw because his mother is a biology professor and his father is a lawyer............ And you have ever seen a bigger beta pansy in your life? The guy makes me want to vomit. Not as hard as this Clara though. Classist scumbags.
So Shaq existing saved this relationship lol
Shaq the unintentional peacemaker lol. Ironic since Shaq is always nose diving himself into beef.
@@jwyh4162Exactly he had so much Beef SB had a whole mini series of just ShaqBeef
@@jwyh4162yes, but Shaq is humble when he talks about the OG bigs. He says all he ever wanted for his career was to have his name brought up together with Wilt, Bill, Kareem, etc. Not above, not better, just to have his name there with them.
Bro Shaq is definitely not humble
@jakehighley8037 especially if someone brings up Bill Walton.
11:30 I love how Wilt speaks, there's something so whimsical and old timey about it.
"Friendship wins" 1 time for both of these legends
A rarity that a Beef History has a happy ending
That 1969 finals is probably the greatest series of all time. All the backstory of that game you know Bill was already pissed before that game.
Great video. Have to blame Wilt's coach Butch Van breda Kolff on this one though. According to Wilt, actually kept Wilt on the bench in those last five minutes. Wilt wanted to come back in, but the coach said to hell with the guy and they were playing better without him. Needless to say, the Lakers lost and Van Breda Kolff was dismissed afterwards.
Yep. They hated each other as well. I find it ironic Bill Sharman a Celtics legend came in afterwards and they finally won in 73. Sharman eventually moved from coaching to the FO where he remained for nearly a decade until Jerry West took the reigns from him.
Wilt stunk all series....biggest individual choke job ever!
"Every Hero needs a Villain." - Czarface / MF DOOM.
Seeing an MF Doom reference = immediate big smile
@@episodesglow it’s mf doom
@@senororlando2you’re both wrong it’s MF DOOM.. remember all caps when you spell the man’s name.
MF DOOM talk on a Russell/Chamberlain beef vid? This is as me-core as it gets, I love it.
@@brandenbyrd5239damn I was happy for a second until I remembered that DOOM, Russell, & Chamberlain are all gone now. Rest well legends, your talents & contributions will be remembered for many years to come
I was wondering if you guys were going to a Chamberlain-Russell beef. This is one of the best ones because it shows how this was not the usual beef and was instead a lot more complex.
I really loved this particular episode. Not only did you highlight that the media wanted this beef more than the guys did… but you also ended it on an upbeat and positive note.
Loved that.
No one you don't love in some manner can ever truly hurt your feelings. Excellent tribute to my childhood heroes, thanks as always.
rip to both of these legends. may their competition in the next life be as beautiful as it was in this one
Man, 4 of the greatest NBA Centers of all time all has been featured in Beef History
Edit: I forgot about Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Dwight Howard, and Bill Walton. Looks like NBA Centers (especially Shaq) just like beef
Actually 5, Hakeem, Kareem, Russell, Shaq and Wilt
Can we make it 6 with David Robinson?
@@BrandanTheBroker Absolutely! Him and Rodman would make for a great video
@@BrandanTheBroker if we're going off of "of the best", then it's not crazy to say that Alonzo Mourning, Dwight Howard, and Joel Embiid could all be included too since they are borderline top 10 centers all time
@@georgeprimoff3744 let Zo in, Embiid still has time to work his way in
Always excited for a new Clara Morris video. And this is a great one.
she’s the best at this no doubt
Man I really liked chamberlain I think he’s extremely underrated dude averaged more points in a whole season than most people ever score in a full game….
And led the league in assists one season. Almost every “Wow… look at this crazy scoring, rebounding, etc. record” ESPN shows has to have an asterisk that Wilt did it like 20 times and they’re hyping up someone who did it three times, lol.
Except that wasn’t the best way to play. It’s why Russell won 5x as many titles. It’s why with the super team Lakers in 69, Russell still won. And why the most successful teams Wilt played on, were the ones when he played like Russell
@@acgeewhizno he didn't. The most assists wilt ever averaged in a season was 8.6
The most assists anyone has ever averaged was 14.5 by John Stockton
@@ethanennis8 The coach of the Lakers at the time(Breda van Kolff) was a petty f*ck who benched Wilt the final minutes of game seven because he complained of knee pain and wasn't allowed back in when he said he was ready. Does it guarantee the Lakers win if Wilt plays? No but he would've played better defense than Mel Counts at the very least.
Wilt Chamberlain is the greatest player in my mind.
Wilt Chamberlain could play like Bill Russell
Bill Russell COULDNT play like Wilt Chamberlain
Beef history: John roseboro vs Juan marichal, a beef that ended in a lifelong friendship
Rewinder: the miracle of Istanbul
Collapse: how the Montreal Canadiens failed to reach sniffing distance of lord Stanley for 28 years
Rewinder: bob nystrom’s cup winning goal that kickstarted the Islanders dynasty of the 80s
Rewinder: Marc Andre fleury’s cup winning save
Untitled: Ted Williams
Untitled: Johan Cruyff in the World Cup
Untitled: Ronaldo Nazario in the champions league
Beef history: George Steinbrenner vs everyone that worked for him
Beef history: the old firm, rangers vs Celtics
Beef history: Red Sox vs Yankees
Beef history: el clasico, Real Madrid vs Barcelona
Rewinder: 2010 World Cup final
Rewinder: 1999 champions league final
Look guy, as much as I want more football/soccer material on SB, I wouldn’t hold my breath.. They’re a yank channel, and as such, footy stuff isn’t exactly gonna be a frequent occurrence!!
@@matthewlo7868 Yeah, they are from USA, but here is a free advice: soccer/football (that sport that a kicker is actualy loved) is popular in the billions outside of US. So if this channel wants to grow and make more money it's in the best interest that the Secret Base think less about US and more about us in regards to some of the videos.
@@mblaster3D I know, but some of SB’s fans aren’t exactly known for loving soccer/footy so… yeah.
@@matthewlo7868 I get it. That's why some of the videos could enhance their numbers. Not all, first test and then see the results. I would love to see the beef between Sampras and Agassi, because i'm a tennis guy, but some people in Brazil loved the beefs: Maradona x Pelé and Edmundo x Romário. Let's see if they want expand even further in the future.
Prism: Jose Mourinho (translator, bus parker, Special One)
Beef History: George Karl v his players
Untitled: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (UCL)
I almost never leave youtube commets but that ending was beautiful great vid. It makes me so happy to men come together and put peety stuff to the side.
This was your best work yet, Clara! The ending was perfect. 👏🏻
First off, as always, I loved this episode of Beef History. And great job once again by Clara Morris. But I wanna add a couple things about Game 7 of the 1969 NBA Finals.
1: When Wilt Chamberlain got hurt during the contest, he legitimately tore a muscle in his leg. But nobody knew Chamberlain was hurt that bad, especially Bill Russell.
2: The real villain of Game 7 was Butch van Breda Kolff, the Lakers head coach, for not letting Wilt back in the game. Russell didn’t know van Breda Kolff was keeping Wilt off the court - and keep in mind, Chamberlain DID want to play. But Chamberlain and van Breda Kolff hated each other’s guts. And THAT’S why Bill Russell’s Celtics won the title.
and the lakers finally won with bill sharman after this.
Yes, Breda Kolff wanted the Lakers to win with Wilt on the bench. It cost the Lakers a title and it cost him his job. What an idiot.
You know what’s interesting, @@tobznoobs? When the Lakers finally won their first title as a Los Angeles-based franchise (their first 5 titles, of course, were won in Minneapolis), the Lakers needed some “Celtic Pride” to win the championship. Bill Sharman won 4 championships as a player for the Celtics before becoming head coach of the Lakers. And one of Sharman’s assistant coaches was K.C. Jones, who won 8 championships as a player with - yep, you guessed it - the Celtics. So a little Celtic Pride goes a long way…even in Los Angeles.
@@whodidit99, here’s another funny part of this story: While Wilt was on the bench, Jack Kent Cooke, the Lakers owner, stormed his way down to the Lakers bench and yelled at Butch van Breda Kolff, ordering him to put Wilt in the game. Van Breda Kolff - I have to sanitize this next part - told Cooke “Get the f$&! outta here.”
I really enjoyed how this beef went full circle and had a genuine resolution in the end
Thank you for this video. I love stories and tales from the deep, rich history of the NBA. We live in an age when anyone pre-Bird and Magic (except for Kareem who was grandfathered in) was a "plumber" and completely dismissed and disregarded. All their titles, awards, and accomplished are dismissed, to the point where I've seen many on CZcams and twitter claim Wilt's 100-point game never actually happened, and Bill's 11 rings aren't seen as impressive in the slightest because "bruh, there were only like 8 teams then!"
This league has a wonderful tradition and history, stretching back over three quarters of a century, and it's all sadly so often completely tossed away by the media and fans today.
This was truly a great episode, thanks for putting this on as always!
Absolutely LOVED this one. Great job you guys
Another fantastic video.
Thank you Clara! and Secret Base!
Thank you Secret Base and Clara Morris for another great Beef episode!
you guys single handedly got me into basketball, i loved playing but never was interested in watching tbe NBA. these videos have such high production value its insane
OMG we need more of this. I love beef, but it's so limiting. You could tell so many more stores!
I think this is your best one, Clara. Thank you.
Beautiful story. Loved every second of it, and I can’t wait to share this with my sons when they are old enough to understand it. Bravo!
Love when you guys upload at the perfect time for me to have something to watch while I eat lunch
One of my favorite pieces y’all have done. I really enjoyed your commentary!
Keep it up secret base.
Also yay Clara
This might be one of my favorite, excellent!
So glad yall are pumping out content. Best channel on this place. Seriously love yall so much
Your narration is amazing. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾Clara
Beautiful, Clara. Thanks.
yay friendship! great vid once again Clara!
Great episode. Good job Clara & Co.
Thank you Clara! Amazing!
Bravo for getting this story right!
You’re story telling is amazing
That was my favourite BEEF episode. Wholesome in a way. Thanks, guys!!
I gotta admit your Beef series is def my favorite out of the collective!! But this one ranks if not my favorite it's definitely top 2 or 3!
Nowadays, I'll see a new SB vid pop up, and I'll click it -- and if the voice is Clara, I'll sit and watch it. If it's not Clara, only then will I look at what the subject is and decide whether to watch it.
Clara Morris the goat
Honestly probably the best one yet. Love when friendship ends
Incredible! These were two men who were great heroes of mine, both can lay claim to being the greatest at what they did. And they're also probably the two most important athletes that modern times has ever seen.
My favorite episode because of the ending. Superb like always 👏🏽
My fav episode...almost shed a tear
I just realized this isn’t a sequel to Wilt and Kareem. 😅 This is actually about Wilt and Bill Russell. Still, they kept my favorite narrator & That’s lit 🎉
what a beautiful video.
in the end, friendship wins
enjoy the rest of your day
Top notch as always Clara
It's cool that Wilt & Russell patched things up.......they were such great competitors and unique personalities. I saw a few interviews with them afterwards & you can tell their admiration and respect for each other.
3 MINUTES IN, love yalls hard work
As soon as I see u guys post a NBA video, it’s always an automatic like.. you guys NEVER miss 🐐 and great job as always Clara ❤️💪🏽
Great episode...Love always wins.
The two 🐐 😊 awesome. Thanks for the DOC.
Great episode!
I was having a pretty bad day. And then I watch this and it is exactly what I needed thank you
Thought u guys already did this one. Nice vid
Great video and good job Clara.
I really love your narration.
This reminds me of your guys' narrative of CP3 and Rondo where the two guys in question were secretly jealous of each other, one for team accolades and the other for individual accolades
Exactly what I needed today ❤
#BRAVO One of the best episodes. I'll re-watch many times over.
Wilt Chamberlain quietly being a better man than Bill Russell is the most laughable thing Ive ever heard
In what sense? That you don't believe it?
@@sanoban yes lol
Why was it unbelieveable? I'm not big into NBA. From this video it seems like the media just pitted WIlt as the bad guy vs Bill, the good guy
@@jlim003They really did to make a beef and have something to talk about. It's the same today where only want negativity from players and BEEF
You should hear more things.
great piece
the writing of this channel is so good
Great video
Damn Clara - love your stuff always. This is another all-timer. Even gave me a tear at the end.
GREAT JOB SB GETTING ONE VIDEO OUT A WEEK! 👍
So happy the rekindled their friendship before they passed!😢
Another masterpiece ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Best video, hands down.
It must be a shame for Wilt that he didn't have that many championship because he would always run into his main Kryptonite in Bill Russell's Boston Celtics and that's been a trend during the course of his career. Nonetheless these two were legends without question.
RIP to both Wilt and Bill. 🙏🙏🙏
Russell wasn't his kryptonite, the Celtics were. If Russell was the reason for them winning then I would agree but almost always Wilt outperformed Russell.
@@jasonnelson6624Wilt was his own kryptonite, biggest playoff choker until Karl Malone
@@reillyhopf6508 how was he a playoff choke? Because he didn't average more than 50 in the playoffs? He out preformed his opponent the opposite center.
@@jasonnelson6624 Chamberlain is notorious for underperforming in big games. Game 7 of the 1962 and 1965 EDF are the biggest examples of this as he took FAR less shots in those games compared the his regular season average.
Despite having better teams (which I can elaborate on if you'd like) from 1966 on, he only beat Russell once in that time frame. 1966 is a rare example where Wilt played almost as good as possible (apart from his 8/25 freethrow shooting which is awful, even for him) where his teammates failed him.
He beat Russell in 1967 on the back of averaging a triple double though five games.
1968 he led his team to a 3-1 lead before blowing it, the first in NBA history. This was just the second game 7 won on the road in playoff history and the first since the BAA and NBL merger.
In 1969, Wilt's Lakers were clear favorites for the title and went down 2-0 to the Warriors in the first round in games where Wilt could have played better. They then won for the first 2-0 comeback in a 7 game series. In the finals, they then blew a 2-0 lead with Chamberlain having some ugly showings, meaning this was the first blown 2-0 lead in finals history. This was also the first of just four game sevens in the finals won by the road team.
So he has some very bad individual games, the first blown 3-1 lead, and the first blown 2-0 finals lead on his resume, all while having usual drop offs in production. Chamberlain was the biggest playoff choker until Karl Malone.
@@reillyhopf6508The playoff choker that averaged 31.1 points 25.7 rebounds 3.5 assist on 59.1% in elimination games
Beautiful!
this was one of your best in a minute, always good but damn this is gonna be a rewatchable
Very different from the usual beefs! Good night and good game.
2 GOATS here, the greatest player and the greatest team mate.
Rest In Paradise to both!🙏🏽🤲🏽🕊️
That Reebok commercial saw Russell and Wilt pass the beef torch to Walton and Shaq.
why did this make me so emotional
2 of my favorite players. Mythical men. Loved their lives and how they lived them. Total opposites. May that never-ending pickup game in the sky last forever; because it sure will be a competitive one.
These two great Nupes definitely shared a deep bond 👌🏾♦️❗️
True friendship will always be…undefeated…🙌🏾✊🏾
Going to love this. Great vid
Excellent video 🔥🔥🫡
Yo the animations on this were super slick. Good job production 👏
@Clara or Seth or Will or anyone at @Sbnation who can see this. It may sound like a weird question, but where do you get the background music for your Beef History series?
I like it.
I'm so happy that this story ended on a positive note. Twist ending: the beef was resolved! Knowing that the Reebok ad is what led to the hatchet being buried probably vaults that commercial into Top 5 all time territory, right? Not just for shoes, but Top 5 television advertisement, period. Up there with Apple's 1984 ad and the Budweiser Clydsdales.