Wilt would kill the competition at his position in today's league, in my opinion. I got to watch him on TV back in the day, and I don't doubt for a second that his skills and All World athleticism would translate very well in 2013. The biggest weakness in his game is the same thing Howard struggles with. Wilt was a lousy free throw shooter. Oh, and he'd lay waste to Dwight inside. All due respect to Howard, currently the best center in the league, but he ain't no Wilt Chamberlain. Dwight's just better than everyone else at his position in today's center challenged NBA.
Chamberlain was just an athletic freak. I don't think we have ever seen another 7 footer with Wilt's combination of strength, quickness, and leaping ability. A player like him only comes along once in a century or so.
I don't know how anybody can come to any conclusions based on video. He was so much better/bigger/more athletic than his competition it's laughable. We can look to stats all we want - traditional (PPG, RPG, etc.), measurements (height, wingspan, speed)... and it still doesn't matter. Athletics is as much about mental strength has anything else. The other measurements DEFINITELY help. But there is absolutely NO WAY to measure what the impact would have been on Wilt's development and career had he come up with a bunch of other players who, even if not quite as remarkable in every statistical/measurable area as he seemed to be, were at least good enough to consistently challenge him and perhaps even regularly dominate him. Cause without question someone like Shaq would have dominated Wilt. Perhaps Wilt would be able to give as good as he gets.... not sure... but put Wilt in the late 70's through mid/late 90's era of big men, and is he still a top 5 center? I don't know? For all I know Wilt turns into a DRob type player - which is still freaking great. An MVP, a 71 point performance, a couple of titles. But nobodies arguing whether or not DRob is a top 5 center, but less player. Of course, there always the scenario which has Wilt being even scarier. His measurables with today's advanced equipment, training, coaching, etc. and he might just clearly be that all time best player for all I know. Just my thoughts. There is no correct answer. But given my age, I tend to lean heavier towards the he would have come back to the pack A LOT line of thinking.
He'd be the best center in the NBA right now easily. He's faster, more athletic, longer, a better passer and a better shooter than Dwight Howard. Also his feel for the game is impeccable.
put this guy in today's nba, he would destroy every elite center including shaq, duncan, Yao ,Hakeem, Kareem, this guy is super quick, long arms, good hands, soft touch, runs the floor good, shoots middle range shots good, has post game, what a nightmare....
also this guy already know, as a center, you keep the ball high, whenever you get a rebound or pass, never lower the ball, this guy is so amazing....
No ****. Competed with Kareem as an old man. Kareem competed with Dream as an old man. Dream competed with Shaq as an old man. Shaq competed with Yao as an old man. Yao destroyed Howard as an old man. :grin: Wilt could compete with all of them, easily...
Btw, this is in converse... CONVERSE... Give the man a pair of Jordans and see that 50 inch vertical.
Give the man a pair of modern NBA shoes and his 9-6 max reach bumps up to 9-7, which is the same as Yao Mings. His wingspan was 3 inches more than Yao's too (7-8 vs 7-5)... so in a nutshell u've got a player that standing on his flat feet covers at least the area of Yao Ming but also has the athleticism of an upscaled MJ.... there's a reason he's snatching floaters out of the air 4 out of 5 of those games yet hardly any other player in NBA history has done that 4 times in their entire career let alone a 5 game stretch.
You crazy. Chamberlain would have destroyed anybody in the league right now he was an animal. He would destroy Olajuwon as well (don't care if people bash me for this). Wilt was amazing.
Can't believe anyone would watch those videos and not think he would be the best center in the NBA today. Forget his opposition, just look at his athleticism. Look at the way he moves around the court. Not only was he big, he was athletic. Throw in modern training and he would be scary in today's NBA. The shocking video was him shaking hands with a younger Shaq. He was huge! He would have dominated today's NBA.
Wilt led the league in fg % and rebounding his last 2 years in the league. Wilt last played 10 years before hakeem came in the league Its been 10 years since hakeem last played - are we seeing any big men even close to that now? Andre Drummond is the best up and comer? No wonder greg oden is still gonna sign wth someone. As much as the game renders big obsolete, or they play the 4 like kevin garnett, it does show that skill level and physical ability does matter. Take kareem. He played with hakeem, robinson, ewing. People say hakeem "owned" kareem but that wasnt always the case. Kareem even 40 years old was still top 5-10 in fg %, still very efficient. No reason to think a player the caliber of wilt couldnt play at a very high level in todays nba. Even in his grave his hands are better than omer asiks. His probable modern floor rate is at least very least tyson chandler at minimum. And his ceiling his more likely still hall of fame best this generation
I have to say this much about Wilt's game, he didn't rely on brute strength and pure athleticism as much as one thinks... He averaged more assists per game in over 5 seasons than almost any other center. Everyone who talks about him, must be exaggerating, even though they've played, coached, or practiced against him. No other players close to his size has really shown the same kind of dominance through skill, strength, and versatility, except Shaq and David Robinson. He had decent range in his shot, while he was very intelligent basketball player (that has to count for alot, because I hate to say this, but most centers now lack tremendous amount of basketball IQ)...
He's like a foot taller than anyone else on the court. He's really damn fast though, definitely skilled, and some great quickness. He's definitely be an MVP caliber player today but he's not scoring 100 or averaging anything like what he did back then, no way.
I believe this...I've seen Dwight struggle against Marc Gasol, Yao Ming, Roy Hibbert, Rasheed Wallace, Kendrick Perkins, and both Bynum/Gasol...he'd be overmatched or outclassed against most all-time great centers in their youth or peaks. I mentioned all of those players, because they aren't necessarily up to par with him in regards to athleticism, though they can match him in brute strength and best him in on-the court skills. That's where the gap furthers between a modern superstar center, like Dwight versus a classical superstar center, such as Wilt... Dwight could barely keep up with Yao Ming or Tim Duncan, it's silly to think he'd stand a chance against Wilt who is stronger than both players and was pretty skilled and a high BBIQ player.
