Why the mutiple choices? There are only 2 real possibilities, and it's Russell vs Wilt and Magic vs Bird.
Disregarding the hype, i must have to say Russ and Wilt faced eachother every game at the same position. Larry and Buck not.
So there it is.
__________________ (...) we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender (...)
Just as a side note: another great rivalry . . . David Thompson v. George Gervin . . . came to it's peak on the last day of the season where Ice had a slim edge on the Skywalker for the NBA scoring title so Thompson plays first and lights up the board for 73 points . . . Ice comes back and gets his 50 or so that he needs for the title (by around the 3rd quarter!). Not exactly Russell/Chamberlain for the title, but a hell of a fun one.
__________________
If you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk
For head-to-head, on-the-court rivalry, it's Wilt and Russell, and it's not even close. I'd probably put Wilt and Kareem second.
Jordan vs. Dumars doesn't belong on the list, since Dumars (while a good player and model citizen) isn't in the same league as MJ. A better (and much more anticipated) matchup was Jordan vs. Drexler, although if you poke past all the hype, Payton really was the guy who played Jordan straight up better than anyone else.
I wonder if Lebron vs. Carmelo is a matchup that has a chance to join the list of all-time great collisions eventually.
__________________ BadBaronRudigor's All-Time League Draft:
C - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar/Nate Thurmond
PF - Charles Barkley/Bob McAdoo
SF - Julius Erving/Larry Nance/Billy Cunningham
SG - Alvin Robertson/Ray Allen/Pete Maravich
PG - Jason Kidd/Isiah Thomas
I wonder if Lebron vs. Carmelo is a matchup that has a chance to join the list of all-time great collisions eventually.
I think Lebron/Wade has more of a chance of being a great rivalry, even though they don't play the same position. Almost impossible to have a good rivalry if you never meet in the playoffs, and chances of that for Lebron/Carmelo are slim. Wade and Lebron, on the other hand, have a pretty decent chance of meeting in the playoffs at least a couple of times over the next decade.
Chamberlain vs Russell and Magic vs Bird were the only real 1 0n 1 rivalry you listed here.
But again, Magic and Bird didn't cover each other (except maybe on the occasional switchup). I consider them to have been part of a tremendous team rivalry, but in my mind it's only an individual rivalry if they're going mano a mano.
So, Bird and Dominique was more a pure one-on-one rivalry, and they had some great shootouts in the late '80s and early '90s.
__________________ BadBaronRudigor's All-Time League Draft:
C - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar/Nate Thurmond
PF - Charles Barkley/Bob McAdoo
SF - Julius Erving/Larry Nance/Billy Cunningham
SG - Alvin Robertson/Ray Allen/Pete Maravich
PG - Jason Kidd/Isiah Thomas
Greatest 1 on 1 rivalry in nba history
