Top Ten NBA Players from the Bill Russell Era

These are the best players from 1946 to 1969. The players from this list MUST be in the range of this era. So don't put Kobe or Jordan or LeBron or Magic.
The Top Ten
1 Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman "Wilt" Chamberlain was an American basketball player. He was born on August 21, 1936 in Philadelphia and died on October 12, 1999 in Los Angeles due to heart failure.

Wilt Chamberlain set the books by scoring the most points scored in a single game (100), most rebounds in a game (55), and most consecutive field goals (18).

He played for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, and the Los Angeles Lakers. His biggest rival was former Boston Celtics center Bill Russell, but they are also good friends. He won 2 NBA Titles, 1 with the 76ers and one with the Lakers. ...read more.

Wilt was so tired of being called selfish that one year he decided to lead the league in assists. That is just amazing.

In this era he scored 100. He was Bill Russell's rival and Russell often said he was jealous of Chamberlain.

Only player to ever record a "Double Quadruple", with 40 points and 40 rebounds- he did it 8 different times!

2 Oscar Robertson Oscar Palmer Robertson, nicknamed "The Big O", is an American retired National Basketball Association player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks.

He averaged a dang triple double. He had to be the best player in this era and has to be top 5 all time no doubt.

While I think that Oscar Robertson is truely an all time great I think Wilt Chamerberlin is still better

3 Bill Russell William Felton "Bill" Russell was an American retired professional basketball player. Russell played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association from 1956 to 1969.

The man people name this era after. The absolute best defensive player of all time. He was so dominant in the early NBA

4 Jerry West Jerry Alan West is an American retired basketball player who played his entire professional career for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association.

Take a look at his lifetime stats, then note that as a long-range shooter, he did it without the 3-point shot.
In the 3-point era, his buzzer-beating 64-footer to force overtime in the 1970 NBA Finals would have won him a championship.

West had to be one of the best players ever and efficient players ever. West lead his team and provided one of the only threats to the Celtics.

5 Bob Cousy

In my opinion Russell would be nothing without Cousy. He was known as the Houdini of the Hardwood for a reason. Like everybody on the list he revolutionized this game.

6 George Mikan George Lawrence Mikan Jr., nicknamed Mr. Basketball, was an American professional basketball player for the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League and the Minneapolis Lakers of the NBL, the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball Association.

The first NBA superstar. He was the ultimate pioneer and one of the greatest post players of all-time.

7 Nikola Jokic Nikola Jokić is a Serbian professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association.

what

Trash. Get it together

Since Mikan is listed as being in Russell's era, why not Jokic or LeBron? My favorite Mozart-era musicians are Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder, and my favorite Lincoln-era politicians are FDR & Obama. Moderator: feel free to delete my comment along with Jokic.

Why is jokic allowed on this list

8 John Havlicek John Joseph "Hondo" Havlicek is a retired American professional basketball player who competed for 16 seasons with the Boston Celtics, winning eight NBA championships, four of them coming in his first four seasons.

He was pretty much Larry Bird

9 Elgin Baylor

Really crafty star from this era and helped Jerry West.

10 Bob Pettit Robert Lee Pettit Jr. is an American retired professional basketball player. He played 11 seasons in the NBA.

He was one of the better players from this era.

The Contenders
11 Willis Reed

Maybe not the best, but he was pretty dang famous

12 Nate Thurmond Nathaniel Thurmond was an American basketball player who spent the majority of his 14-year career in the National Basketball Association with the Golden State Warriors. He played the center and power forward positions.
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