Wilt and Russell faced each other 142 times during the 10 seasons in which they competed head-to-head. That's 14x per season. Then there was Nate Thurmond, who both Russell and Wilt said was their hardest defender outside of each other. Then Willis Reed. Then Walt Bellamy. Then Wes Unseld. Then Elvin Hayes. Then Jerry Lucas. All HOFers. Wilt and Kareem faced each other 27x in only 3 full seasons of playing against each other (their careers overlapped by 4 seasons, but Wilt did not play against Kareem in 1970, when Wilt missed most of the season after tearing up his knee). Most centers were playing most of the game in that era too.

Dwight didn't play 27 games against a HOF center over any 5 year period of his career. The average height might be greater now, but the quality of centers is extremely low these days.