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?
Sadly most people don’t realise how good Wilt and Russell were. Wilt was possibly the most physically gifted athlete of all time across all sports. His raw body size and attributes are stuff of science fiction. The fact that Russell could consistently beat him (and everyone else) puts Bill Russell as the greatest winner of all time.
Russell definitely held back West, Baylor and Wilt (and everyone) from rings tho