The NBA in the 50s was not as popular as it is today. In fact, it was at the bottom of the American Sports leagues. And two stars who made it big were Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell. Their rivalry was so intense that Russell Actually demanded $1 more after Wilt secured a $100,000 contract.

Wilt and Russell were the star attractions of the NBA back then. Wilt was the most dominant offensive player and Russell was the most dominant defensive player. Their matchup was hailed as the clash of titans and it attracted fans from all around the country.

The duo met 8 times in the playoffs during their career and Russell had won all but one series against Wilt. Wilt dominated against Russell in the regular season, but Russell used to shut down Wilt in the most critical moments.

Bill Russell showed his rings to get a higher salary than Wilt Chamberlain

In 1965, Wilt had just negotiated a new contract with Philadelphia Sixers. Wilt had 6 scoring titles and 4 rebounding titles, and an MVP to his name. But on the championship front, he had zero titles. This pissed Russell, who had 7 titles in 8 years and had won 6 in a row.

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So the day after it was announced Wilt became the highest-paid player in NBA history, Russell went to the Celtics and demanded a dollar more than Wilt. He even threatened to retire if not given a higher salary. The Celtics did not want to lose their superstar and granted Russell his request.

That was how intense the rivalry was. They met two times in the NBA Finals, with Russell prevailing in both of them. The duo had immense respect for each other, but that was sullied after Russell’s comments after their second matchup in the Finals. They reconciled later after 20 years and became friends after that.

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This was arguably the first great rivalry in the NBA. And it was the start of rising off the NBA as one of the biggest leagues in the world. Sure, there were other stars who made the league as big as it is today, but Russell and Wilt were the pioneers at the start.