 Russell and Chamberlain were friends in private life . Russell never considered Chamberlain his rival and disliked the term , instead pointing out that they rarely talked about basketball when they were alone . When Chamberlain died in 1999 , Chamberlain 's nephew stated that Russell was the second person he was ordered to break the news to . The two did not speak for two decades after Russell criticized Chamberlain after Game 7 of the 1969 Finals . Russell apologized privately to Chamberlain and later publicly . 
