The year before Russell entered the league, a 6'8" 210lb White center lead the league in scoring and rebounds, averaging 22 and 13 and led the NBA with 46% shooting. That's right, shooting 46% as a center even with no one playing defense still led the league in FG%.
However, the Finals MVP that year would have been Paul Arazin, a 6'4" 200lb forward with sinus problems that made him wheeze when he played and a jump shot that looked like a convulsion, but was considered the best in the NBA. He averaged 28 and 8 on 43% shooting in the Finals.
The year before Wilt Chamberlain joined the Philadelphia Warriors, their starting center was 6’7”, 220lbs. He was named an All-Star that year, averaging 15 and 12 while shooting 36% from the field. Their backup center was a 6’8”, 210lbs White guy who shot 33% from the field. Until that season that White guy had made the all-star game six straight years, including four straight years of being the 1st-team All-NBA selection at center, 3-time NBA scoring leader, 3-time NBA FG% leader, . He was inducted into the Hall of Fame with a career FG% of 44%.
I just can't take stats and dominance from that era seriously. You're telling me that back in the day and age when the talent pool was tiny as hell, the game was still in its infancy and you could count the number of tall Black men in the league on your fingers, that just by magic, the two greatest ballers to ever play the game just happened to be there? Or did they just happen to look that good? You see a 6'6" kid absolutely dominating in some league of private Christian homeschoolers, you don't assume that he's the GOAT just because he puts up 40 and 20 and they win every game.
Hell, when Russell/Wilt were coming into the league, if you were a Black man over 6'9", there was a 50-50 chance you'd end up in the Hall of Fame.