Basically, the title.
Which among crean of the crop superstars rivals held each other the most that prevent both of them in climbing on most of the respectable and honorable nba all time list?
MY LIST
1. MAGIC AND BIRD
They are #1 for me. If either one of them doesn’t exist, the other one left will be the by far best player in the 80s. And ofc, as an effect will win more rings. (Maybe 2 or 3 more rings)
2. Kobe and Duncan
All those countless western conference playoffs matches. They were lucky they were both in West. So, their finals record is not affected by them winning/losing against each other. But still, the existence of both of them prevented each other of winning more rings
I want to put Russell and Wilt #3. But Russell won 11 rings to Wilt’s 2. So, they didn’t held each other.
Who else?
Dr J against both Bird and Magic is worth mentioning. He went up against Bird four times and went 2-2, and Magic three times 1-2. Bird and Dr J were beating each other up in the east, and the winner then had to go up against Magic in the finals. Dr J could have been much higher on the all time list if one of Bird or Magic didn’t exist, but he ended up becoming victimized by both of them.