By Michael Wilbon
Washington Post Columnists
Wednesday, October 30 1996; Page C1

Very appropriately, they were introduced last and together. Wilt and Russell, Russell and Wilt, as inexorably linked as two competitors in any team sport. Without them, who knows if the NBA would be the global phenomenon it is now, or even if the league would be so happily celebrating its 50th anniversary.

The danger in being the sporting passion of the young and the hip is that there's so much emphasis on now, that what made now possible goes regretfully unappreciated. But by going to great lengths to celebrate its 50th birthday, including coming up with the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, the league has embarked on a better-late-than-never educational crash course that might actually convince somebody under 30 that Michael Jordan didn't invent the dunk.

Because the NBA has done so little over time to commemorate its own history – relative to its sporting brethren – bringing George Mikan, Oscar Robertson, Julius Erving, Wilt and Russell together in Manhattan Tuesday for what amounted to a fireside chat was spellbinding in a way not even a Game 7 can be. Not to be indelicate, but how many people even know that Mikan, the game's first giant, is alive and well at 72? Some young punk reporter, asking a question, addressed Mikan as Mr. Meekan, obviously never having heard of the first great Lakers center. Russell spoke up and said, "That's Mi-kan. He was my idol." Mikan talked about playing 40 exhibitions a year at high school gyms anywhere and everywhere to raise money to keep the league alive in the late '40s, and that was in addition to the regular schedule. Oscar talked about not even knowing the meaning of the term "triple-double" until years after he'd averaged one for an entire season.

But above all, there were Wilt and Russell, telling stories, giving each other the business. It should have been held in a barber shop. They walked to the lectern together, Chamberlain in a jacket two sizes too small over a black T-shirt and gold chains, Russell with the salt-and-pepper hair and goatee making him look like a basketball professor. Even now, with Chamberlain at 60 and Russell two years older, they walk into a room and instantly consume it.

"This was the best chance," Russell said, "for me to get Wilt's autograph.

"For free."

Someone asked of Russell, "Bill, your feelings on being named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history?" Russell looked at the young man and said, "Oh, I knew that was the case."

Wilt said playing in Boston Garden was like "going to one of the old Roman amphitheaters where they threw the Christians to the lions."

And though he was wearing very dark shades, and though he is, well, Wilt, Chamberlain appeared to get choked up. Things change. He and Russell get along now – fabulously, in fact. "Yes, there was a time when things were strained between us," Russell said, "But we've been fine for a while now. It was all political." Given Wilt's leanings, Russell seemed to have meant that literally.

"I had Thanksgiving dinner six years in a row with him and his family in Philadelphia," Russell said, shocking most of us who assumed they only growled at each other for 15 years. "The competition between us was very, very difficult. He'd feed me and then he'd go out and beat the hell out of me."

When the subject of their respective roles came up, Russell told the story of his college coach, Phil Woolpert, having the grand total of one offensive play to run for him.

"Are you trying to say that otherwise you would have scored, say, 50 a game?" Wilt asked, scowling.

"No," Russell said. "Twenty-two."

There was Russell talking about the eight consecutive championships with the Celtics, and Wilt, faking being pitiful, saying, "We won eight straight once – games."

The inevitable question arose: What did Russell, the best rebounder in history, think of Dennis Rodman, the best modern-day rebounder? "Well, he's certainly an entertainer," Russell said. Uh, Bill, how about as a rebounder? "He's adequate. . . . To compare him with Wilt and me is, well, in error."

Wilt talked of having to remake his game and come up with new moves every season, sometimes even during the season, because Russell's Celtics and Wilt's Warriors/76ers would meet sometimes a dozen times a season in a league that then had fewer than 10 teams.

"Wilt and I, the games we played on Sunday afternoons really introduced the NBA to the television public," Russell said. "You have to have your protagonists, your good versus evil. Ninety percent of the comments I hear when people come up to me are, `I remember those battles you had with Wilt Chamberlain.' Hell, we played each other 11 to 13 times a year. It wasn't like, `I wonder what Wilt's doing?' "

Wilt talked about that Game 7 in Madison Square Garden 26 years ago when Willis Reed limped out onto the floor – with precise details of specific plays as if the game had been played a week ago. It's a shame every player in the NBA couldn't have been sitting and listening. The one thing they all have in common is an obvious love for the game. They watch. Critically.

"The ability to think on the court, I don't think is there," Robertson said. "It's a game now of one-on-one, or two-on-two, or at best three-on-three. It's never five-on-five anymore. I don't see the double-screens, the reverses, the weak-side plays. Even on Chicago, Rodman won't shoot, neither will the center."

The tone wasn't bitter, just matter-of-fact. You don't play the game at the highest level it's ever been played, then just lose your competitive urges. Over in another corner, Russell was saying of today's game: "They play, but they're not players. This is what they do as their profession, which is different than seeing the reflection of a person's life. When I was living in the Bay Area, we'd drive to Los Angeles, 12 hours, looking for a game because we heard some guys could really, really play. You wanted to get a sense of your game, what your failings were, what you were good at. Who are the players now instead of guys who just play? The first one who comes to my mind is Hakeem Olajuwon. And of course, Jordan is the ultimate player. He never just shows up, he shows up and kicks ass."

There was that point where the discussion rolled around to "The Greatest Player Ever." Wilt said, "Muhammad Ali."

Russell said, "I don't think there is one. I gave it a little thought – not a lot. You have what I call the ties. There's nobody who's ever gonna play basketball better than Oscar did in his prime. You can tie him, but not be better than him. Same thing for Julius, for Magic, Bird and Michael in their primes. You can tie them, but nobody's going to be better."