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The Rivalry: Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and the Golden Age of Basketball | 
 enlarge | Author: John Taylor
Publisher: Random House
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy Used: $2.80
You Save: $23.15 (89%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 559576
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.4
ISBN: 1400061148
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.323092
EAN: 9781400061143
ASIN: 1400061148
Publication Date: October 11, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A BRILLIANTLY WRITTEN ACCOUNT OF THE NBA’S GLORY DAYS, AND THE RIVALRY THAT DOMINATED THE ERA
In the mid-1950s, the NBA was a mere barnstorming circuit, with outposts in such cities as Rochester, New York, and Fort Wayne, Indiana. Most of the best players were white; the set shot and layup were the sport’s chief offensive weapons. But by the 1970s, the league ruled America’s biggest media markets; contests attracted capacity crowds and national prime-time television audiences. The game was played “above the rim”–and the most marketable of its high-flying stars were black. The credit for this remarkable transformation largely goes to two giants: Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain.
In The Rivalry, award-winning journalist John Taylor projects the stories of Russell, Chamberlain, and other stars from the NBA’s golden age onto a backdrop of racial tensions and cultural change. Taylor’s electrifying account of two complex men–as well as of a game and a country at a crossroads–is an epic narrative of sports in America during the 1960s.
It’s hard to imagine two characters better suited to leading roles in the NBA saga: Chamberlain was cast as the athletically gifted yet mercurial titan, while Russell played the role of the stalwart centerpiece of the Boston Celtics dynasty. Taylor delves beneath these stereotypes, detailing how the two opposed and complemented each other and how they revolutionized the way the game was played and perceived by fans.
Competing with and against such heroes as Jerry West, Tom Heinsohn, Bob Cousy, John Havlicek, and Elgin Baylor, and playing for the two greatest coaches of the era, Alex Hannum and the fiery Red Auerbach, Chamberlain and Russell propelled the NBA into the spotlight. But their off-court visibility and success–to say nothing of their candor–also inflamed passions along America’s racial and generational fault lines. In many ways, Russell and Chamberlain helped make the NBA and, to some extent, America what they are today.
Filled with dramatic conflicts and some of the great moments in sports history, and building to a thrilling climax–the 1969 final series, the last showdown between Russell and Chamberlain–The Rivalry has at its core a philosophical question: Can determination and a team ethos, embodied by the ultimate team player, Bill Russell, trump sheer talent, embodied by Wilt Chamberlain?
Gripping, insightful, and utterly compelling, the story of Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain is the stuff of sporting legend. Written with a reporter’s unerring command of events and a storyteller’s flair, The Rivalry will take its place as one of the classic works of sports history.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 A Surprising Glimpse at Early NBA July 15, 2008
As "old-school" fans cringe at the ever-increasing pyrotechnics of arena presentation and the changing style of gameplay in the NBA as unprofessional, Taylor uses the Chamberlain/Russell rivalry to tell the story of an early NBA that makes the recent theatrical release of "Semi-Pro" seem like a documentary and should set those "old-school" fans straight about the professionalism of the early NBA.
Taylor tells the story of a league that would make Slap Shot's Reggie Dunlop proud. The NBA of the 50's was - according to SI's Ray Cave - a "brawling, hustling, cigar-in-the-mouth and eye-on-the-till game." Mix in the Jim Crow south and league integration and kaleidoscopic changes in franchise names, cities and personnel, and you have a calamitous witch's brew.
From Red Auerbach sucker-punching an opposing owner on the court during warm-ups, to the incessant racism black players faced at games, in hotels, and restaurants across the league, "The Rivalry" seems early on to be the story of a failed pro basketball league that could not possibly have become today's NBA.
Then, marketing gold arrives in the form of two world-class athletes of titanic proportions who would go on to wage a bigger-than-life rivalry that would span almost two decades and eventually take on - literally - a Hollywood aura of bi-coastal bad blood that continues to this day. And, along the way, Taylor gives some really enjoyable insight on these two athletes, their teams and cities. Further, in some really wonderful asides, Taylor gives the reader a glimpse at the depth of thought and research he put into the subject (i.e., a great - if too brief - discussion of the rise of TV as a driver of NBA popularity, and the effect of commercial jet travel on the league's expansion).
 Russell and Chamberlain June 27, 2007
Silly for me to say this but on the paperback cover, there is a picture of Chamberlain shooting over Russell, and it looks like Wilt is smiling as he shoots. I think the difference between the two men was that Chamberlain was pursued when he was a boy whereas Russell was a walk-on at USF - that most likely made Russell work harder for everything he got and made him more determined to prove himself to the world - in a word, Chamberlain was coddled all his life. I have always wondered why Wilt's playoff stats "dipped" in comparison to his regular season stats; maybe this is the reason why. The Celtics always being victorious in the championships was of course due to the fact that Russell was always surrounded by better players - compare Havlicek to Chet Walker or Bob Cousy to Guy Rodgers - and I'm convinced Chamberlain would be filling Russell's shoes if he were surrounded by those same Celtics. A very good book by Taylor - it details the times, the social commentaries, and the state of the NBA.
The Rivalry June 27, 2007
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
David Letterman talked about this on his talk show and I placed it on "My Wish List". I just received it and I am sure it will be a very good read.
Excellent book on a legendary era January 12, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Having read many basketball books, I find this as one of the best. Well-written, thoroughly researched, it captures the era of the 50s and 60s from the perspective of two of the greatest players ever, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. Thankfully, Taylor does not go into play-by-play detail of games, instead captures the flavor of the era, everything from coaching, basketball styles, management, to racism. It is fascinating and truly an outstanding read. I highly recommend it.
* I usually stay away from blasting another review, but the one below that says it is poorly written and that the author does not know basketball is so off the mark, I would say it is a complete lie and fabrication. Ignore that review and get this book.
The Rivalry's Got Game May 12, 2006
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
No two players in NBA history better epitomize the dichotomy between individual excellence and a willingness to blend their talent for the collective success of the team than William Felton Russell and Norman Wilton Chamberlain.
While author John Taylor's latest work centers (pun intended) on two of the greatest bballers in NBA history, The Rivalry isn't your typical slam-jam basketball biography. On the contrary, his latest work is a finely crafted historical chronicle showcasing the fledgling days of the National Basketball Association, circa today's tattoo-flaunting, hip-hop happy hoopsters and multi-million dollar play palaces.
The author's unflagging narrative provides vivid eyewitness accounts of an NBA that played fourth fiddle to other sports, and where games were often played in front of vegetable throwing crowds that would make the Throwdown in Motown seem like a summer camp pillow fight.
Off the court, the two men the book is largely about were as different as the masterful way they played the game. Russell was reserved, introverted - some said surly. Chamberlain was flashy, outgoing and tried more coaches' patience than a roster full of Portland Trailblazers.
Taylor's riveting narrative style and thorough historical research make The Rivalry a classic sports work deserving of space alongside Plimpton, Feinstein and Halberstam.
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