Wilt Chamberlain & Bill Russell

[Old Sweater]

This rebound dominance is crazy!

Rk	Player	TRB	Date	Age	Team		Opp	Result
1	Wilt Chamberlain	55	1960-11-24	24-095	PHW		BOS	L 129-132
2	Bill Russell	51	1960-02-05	25-358	BOS		SYR	W 124-100
3	Bill Russell	49	1957-11-16	23-277	BOS		PHW	W 111-89
4	Bill Russell	49	1965-03-11	31-027	BOS	N	DET	W 112-100
5	Wilt Chamberlain	45	1960-02-06	23-169	PHW		SYR	W 129-126
6	Wilt Chamberlain	45	1961-01-21	24-153	PHW		LAL	W 136-111
7	Wilt Chamberlain	43	1959-11-10	23-081	PHW		NYK	W 126-125
8	Wilt Chamberlain	43	1961-12-08	25-109	PHW		LAL	L 147-151 (3OT)
9	Wilt Chamberlain	43	1965-03-06	28-197	PHI		BOS	W 103-98
10	Bill Russell	43	1963-01-20	28-342	BOS		LAL	W 133-121
11	Wilt Chamberlain	42	1960-01-15	23-147	PHW		BOS	L 112-124
12	Wilt Chamberlain	42	1960-01-25	23-157	PHW	N	DET	W 127-117
13	Wilt Chamberlain	42	1966-01-14	29-146	PHI		BOS	W 112-100
14	Wilt Chamberlain	42	1969-03-07	32-198	LAL		BOS	W 105-99 (OT)
15	Nate Thurmond	42	1965-11-09	24-107	SFW		DET	W 107-102
16	Wilt Chamberlain	41	1962-10-26	26-066	SFW		DET	W 132-131 (OT)
17	Bill Russell	41	1958-02-12	24-000	BOS		SYR	W 119-101
18	Bill Russell	41	1965-03-14	31-030	BOS		SFW	W 106-98
19	Wilt Chamberlain	40	1959-11-04	23-075	PHW		SYR	W 124-113
20	Wilt Chamberlain	40	1964-11-22	28-093	SFW		DET	L 97-99
21	Wilt Chamberlain	40	1965-12-28	29-129	PHI		BOS	W 102-93
22	Jerry Lucas	40	1964-02-29	23-336	CIN		PHI	W 117-114
23	Bill Russell	40	1958-12-12	24-303	BOS		CIN	W 125-115 (OT)
24	Bill Russell	40	1961-02-12	27-000	BOS		PHW	W 136-125

[thead] [/thead]

Provided by Stathead.com: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.
Generated 4/27/2025.

 

[tlance]

This rebound dominance is crazy!

Rk	Player	TRB	Date	Age	Team		Opp	Result
1	Wilt Chamberlain	55	1960-11-24	24-095	PHW		BOS	L 129-132
2	Bill Russell	51	1960-02-05	25-358	BOS		SYR	W 124-100
3	Bill Russell	49	1957-11-16	23-277	BOS		PHW	W 111-89
4	Bill Russell	49	1965-03-11	31-027	BOS	N	DET	W 112-100
5	Wilt Chamberlain	45	1960-02-06	23-169	PHW		SYR	W 129-126
6	Wilt Chamberlain	45	1961-01-21	24-153	PHW		LAL	W 136-111
7	Wilt Chamberlain	43	1959-11-10	23-081	PHW		NYK	W 126-125
8	Wilt Chamberlain	43	1961-12-08	25-109	PHW		LAL	L 147-151 (3OT)
9	Wilt Chamberlain	43	1965-03-06	28-197	PHI		BOS	W 103-98
10	Bill Russell	43	1963-01-20	28-342	BOS		LAL	W 133-121
11	Wilt Chamberlain	42	1960-01-15	23-147	PHW		BOS	L 112-124
12	Wilt Chamberlain	42	1960-01-25	23-157	PHW	N	DET	W 127-117
13	Wilt Chamberlain	42	1966-01-14	29-146	PHI		BOS	W 112-100
14	Wilt Chamberlain	42	1969-03-07	32-198	LAL		BOS	W 105-99 (OT)
15	Nate Thurmond	42	1965-11-09	24-107	SFW		DET	W 107-102
16	Wilt Chamberlain	41	1962-10-26	26-066	SFW		DET	W 132-131 (OT)
17	Bill Russell	41	1958-02-12	24-000	BOS		SYR	W 119-101
18	Bill Russell	41	1965-03-14	31-030	BOS		SFW	W 106-98
19	Wilt Chamberlain	40	1959-11-04	23-075	PHW		SYR	W 124-113
20	Wilt Chamberlain	40	1964-11-22	28-093	SFW		DET	L 97-99
21	Wilt Chamberlain	40	1965-12-28	29-129	PHI		BOS	W 102-93
22	Jerry Lucas	40	1964-02-29	23-336	CIN		PHI	W 117-114
23	Bill Russell	40	1958-12-12	24-303	BOS		CIN	W 125-115 (OT)
24	Bill Russell	40	1961-02-12	27-000	BOS		PHW	W 136-125

[thead] [/thead]

Provided by Stathead.com: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.
Generated 4/27/2025.

There is a reason all these games are from the same era.

Teams jacked up quick shots at a very low make percentage compared to today’s game.

On top of that, these top centers didn’t have many peers.

 

[BigFin]

Bill Russell wasn’t good enough on the offensive end to be included in the Top 5 centers of all time.

 

[Old Sweater]

Bill Russell wasn’t good enough on the offensive end to be included in the Top 5 centers of all time.

For combined seasons, in the NBA/BAA, played C, qualified for Points Per Game Leaderboard, in the regular season, requiring Games >= 700, sorted by descending Win Shares Per 48 Minutes.

Rk	Player	WS/48
1	Nikola Jokic	.260
2	David Robinson	.250
3	Wilt Chamberlain	.248
4	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	.228
5	Rudy Gobert	.219
6	Shaquille ONeal	.208
7	Tim Duncan	.193
8	Bill Russell	.193
9	Dwight Howard	.179
10	Moses Malone	.178
11	Clyde Lovellette	.178
12	Dan Issel	.177
13	Hakeem Olajuwon	.177
14	Bob Lanier	.175
15	Artis Gilmore	.174
16	Jonas Valanciunas	.172
17	DeAndre Jordan	.170
18	Alonzo Mourning	.168
19	Larry Foust	.164
20	Walt Bellamy	.160

[thead] [/thead]

Provided by Stathead.com: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.
Generated 4/27/2025.

 

[msgkings322]

For combined seasons, in the NBA/BAA, played C, qualified for Points Per Game Leaderboard, in the regular season, requiring Games >= 700, sorted by descending Win Shares Per 48 Minutes.

Rk	Player	WS/48
1	Nikola Jokic	.260
2	David Robinson	.250
3	Wilt Chamberlain	.248
4	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	.228
5	Rudy Gobert	.219
6	Shaquille ONeal	.208
7	Tim Duncan	.193
8	Bill Russell	.193
9	Dwight Howard	.179
10	Moses Malone	.178
11	Clyde Lovellette	.178
12	Dan Issel	.177
13	Hakeem Olajuwon	.177
14	Bob Lanier	.175
15	Artis Gilmore	.174
16	Jonas Valanciunas	.172
17	DeAndre Jordan	.170
18	Alonzo Mourning	.168
19	Larry Foust	.164
20	Walt Bellamy	.160

[thead] [/thead]


Provided by Stathead.com: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.
Generated 4/27/2025.

Any list of centers that has Gobert and Issel ranked above Olajuwon is not worth the pixels used. Also was Duncan really a center?

 

[BigFin]

For combined seasons, in the NBA/BAA, played C, qualified for Points Per Game Leaderboard, in the regular season, requiring Games >= 700, sorted by descending Win Shares Per 48 Minutes.

Rk	Player	WS/48
1	Nikola Jokic	.260
2	David Robinson	.250
3	Wilt Chamberlain	.248
4	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	.228
5	Rudy Gobert	.219
6	Shaquille ONeal	.208
7	Tim Duncan	.193
8	Bill Russell	.193
9	Dwight Howard	.179
10	Moses Malone	.178
11	Clyde Lovellette	.178
12	Dan Issel	.177
13	Hakeem Olajuwon	.177
14	Bob Lanier	.175
15	Artis Gilmore	.174
16	Jonas Valanciunas	.172
17	DeAndre Jordan	.170
18	Alonzo Mourning	.168
19	Larry Foust	.164
20	Walt Bellamy	.160

[thead] [/thead]


Provided by Stathead.com: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.
Generated 4/27/2025.

Russell never averaged even 19 ppg in any season. He only had 2 seasons averaging over 18 ppg.

 

[Mr. Friscus]

Russell never averaged even 19 ppg in any season. He only had 2 seasons averaging over 18 ppg.

He had 5 MVP’s…

I think points is an overrated stat on its own. Magic averaged like 19 and is one of the GOATs… Iverson and Carmelo Anthony averaged a lot of points but we’re horrible for their teams overall

 

[Old Sweater]

The players name is no different than a file number when using metrics. Same math is used on every player with no hate or favoritism involved.

 

[Wamu]

Bill Russell wasn’t good enough on the offensive end to be included in the Top 5 centers of all time.

Don't think anyone would have Russell in the top 5 centers all time.

Russell gets knocked because too many people only focus on his subpar offensive scoring numbers.

But he was the most important player on the greatest NBA dynasty of all time.

He was the backbone of the defense. And defense wins championships. It's too bad blocks weren't an official stat when he played. Because he was a shot blocking machine.

 

[msgkings322]

The players name is no different than a file number when using metrics. Same math is used on every player with no hate or favoritism involved.

Again, whatever math is used is flawed if it ranks Olajuwon so far below Gobert, and equal to Dan Issel and the immortal Clyde Lovellette. Whatever this stat is trying to communicate, who you want playing center for your team is not that.

Now to be fair, the other names above Hakeem are all defensible, although I'd put him much higher. Also Duncan was a PF not a C...Robinson is on the list too, they weren't both playing center as teammates.