 During most of his NBA career , Chamberlain was good friends with Bill Russell . Chamberlain often invited Russell over to Thanksgiving , and at Russell 's place , conversation mostly concerned Russell 's electric trains . But as the championship count became increasingly lopsided , the relationship got strained , and turned hostile after Russell accused Chamberlain of " copping out " in the notorious Game 7 of the 1969 NBA Finals . The two men did not talk to each other for over 20 years , until Russell apologized privately , then publicly in a 1997 joint interview with Bob Costas : " There was a thing almost 30 years ago ... I was wrong . " Still , Chamberlain maintained a level of bitterness , regretted that he should have been " more physical " with Russell in their games and privately continued accusing his rival for " intellectualizing " basketball in a negative way . 
