What if Wilt had been a Celtic?

Don't buy the miserable guy bit.

Good question about swapped unis. Wilt was obdurate. Russ was the consummate winner. I could imagine both winning championships, but ultimately Wilt wearing out his welcome.

 

The Celtics organization shaped more players than they simply 'found'

Wilt would have been in line and winning with defense, or he would have been gone.

Put Russell on a selfish team, and I don't know if he gets a ring.

Evan

 

Russell didn't have numbers, but he was the heart and
soul of the Celtics. He won 5 MVPs.

His many "HOF" teammates had comparable numbers to Wilt's
teammates. The rings made them "HOF".

 

Snowmt01, you might want to review Russell's numbers. If 15.1 points, 22.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists aren't " " I don't know what is.

 

IIRC Wilt (Don't call me Stilt) C had a # ... 1. One championship. What other #s matter in this discussion?

 

I think he had 2

 

He won one with Philly and one with Lakes. I believe you're right.

 

They played before my time, but the numbers certainly don't bear that out, at least points-wise. Russell never averaged 19+ ppg; Wilt averaged 20+ the first 12 years of his career, including the 50 ppg year, and ended up averaging over 30 for his career.

 

if russell would have been on a selfish team of scrubs he still would've won many championships.

basketball being a team sport means that the team who plays together the best has the best shot a winning, no matter who plays. bill would've led by example. i doubt anyone can be selfish for long playing with russell.


wilt on the other hand might have made those players selfish...after all, he was.

 

Easy to win all those championships surrounded by great talent. Russell won with a million hall of fame teammates. He shot poorly from the field and the line, and his rebounding was made easier by not shouldering much of an offensive load. He was basically a cross between Dikembe Mutombo and Dennis Rodman, if those guys had played with Hall of Famers like Cousy and Havilcek and Sharman and Heinsonn and Ramsey and Sam Jones and KC Jones.

 

50 ppg average !!!!

100 points in a single game !!!!

No other player could even dream of doing that.

 

The 100-pt games was among the greatest of all individual performances. However...

I saw a tape of the game highlights a while ago. Not much double team if any. Defense was horrible - this 6-10, 220 guy was guarding Wilt
Darrall Imhoff -
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/i/imhofda01.html

The game score was 169-147.
http://www.hoophall.com/exhibits/chamberlain_boxscore.htm

Wilt's teammates were clearly doing all they could to assist him.

 

Wilts second championship team was a bunch of rag tags. But they won it all. His first team had been trying hard for years to dethrone the celts. They finally beat 'em. I think one year they had it won but Havlicek stole the ball! Of course I didn't know any of this, until last week, watching the nba channel, I learned a lot.