1. Wilt... the best individual talent that has ever played in the NBA 2. Russel...the best team player ever 3. Hakeem...my personal all time favorite player
Watching Wilt and Dream play each other in their primes would be awesome. It's hard to go against Wilt. The guy was a freak with freaky numbers. Still, Dream is in the conversation and I fully support the notion that he is the best two-way center in the history of the game.
Who is Rick Smith? I have heard of a basketball player whose name is Rik Smits before. Do you honestly believe Wilt would have the same numbers playing in Hakeem's era? For comparison purpose, I'd divide Wilt's numbers of half. That said, I could understand why some basketball fans would pick Wilt. I think Hakeem is the greatest basketball player ever and Wilt is a close 2nd. No offense, but I just think saying that "it really isn't even that close" is kind of offending.
Have you ever watched the games in the 60's? You can find some on youtube. They were like playing in slow motion compared with the speed of the games in the 90's. Hakeem would have even more crazy numbers than Wilt playing in the 60's.
I don't try to pick the best in hypothetical situations but I think everyone is discounting Mr. Jabbar and Mr. Russell. Mr Jabbar leads in points all time and Mr. Russell leads in rings.
Hakeem and its not even close. Wilt played in a antiquated, undeveloped, era in the nba. Basically the infancy of the league. Wilt had ZERO POST MOVES OTHER THAN LAY UPS AND DUNKS VS OVER MATCHED SKINNY WHITE GUYS in an era devoid of athletic big men. Just look at the film. Wilt had a ***** free throw % and lacked real big men offensive skills. His greatness does not translate over to different eras unlike say kareem who had the sky hook which translated over to different eras. Its a quantifiable skill. Wilt and Bill Russell are the most overrated players in the history of the nba and they played in the weakest era of the nba athletically and skill wise. When the nba started getting more and more colored players and when the nba hit its first evolution (the 70s) wilt's numbers drastically dropped. Wilt averaging 50 points per game is not indicative of his greatness but a referendum on how inferior the nba was in talent and size wise in the early 60s. Magically transport early 1960s 50 pts per game 20 plus boards per game wilt and everything he knows about the game of basketball and put him him in the 80s and 90s and he becomes Javale Mcgee. STOP PUTTING OLD INFERIOR ATHLETES OF THE 60S AND MYTHOLOGIZING THEM TO UNGODLY PEDESTALS IN ORDER TO PRESERVE HISTORY. ITS WRONG AND UTTERLY DISHONEST.
1960s were basically the beginning of the nba. You dont crown the greatest during the beginning of your sport. its just stupid. the 1960s were a weak era athletically. That is a fact and most of the crazy statistics in the nba were put up in the 1960s because the few great players that did exists had really horrible competition. Its indicative of a weak competition and a weak nba the 1960s. The same year that wilt averaged 50 per game, 1962, is the same year oscar robertson averaged a triple double, russell averaged 23 boards per game, and walt bellamy averaged 32 and 19. Even the ridiculous rebounding game totals; the 50, 40 rebound games all happened inthe 60s. Take any record or statistic accomplished in the 60s with a huge grain of salt.
Couldn't agree more about the soft era. You can see in the video below how Wilt was defended. However, Wilt would have adjusted to how the game was called. They changed the rules for Wilt and he still dominated. Russell is the best center to ever play the game, in my opinion. He had a way of controlling both the offense and the defense. He was a mastermind and would do whatever made your team weakest. That almost seems like a joke, but he really was special. His NBA numbers aren't that impressive, but his highlights are. It is obviously close, that's why we're having this discussion. Wilt is clearly the most athletic big man Hakeem could have faced. Wilt had amazing vision, touch, knack for finding the ball and could rise up completely balanced to shoot from all kinds of angles. He was nearly impossible to block. Heck.. his finger-roll has never been replicated (see 2:00-3:30ish below). Hakeem was quicker on his feet. I can't imagine what Wilt could do to defend some of those twisting fade-aways. The dream shake wasn't something you could defend. There were far too many options for Hakeem to cycle thru for someone of Wilt's ability to defend. Wilt's fade away was super quick and came from an elevation I can't comprehend, but Hakeem might have been able to get near the ball every time if they played head-to-head under Olajuwon's rule set. It would be amazing to watch. On that, we can all agree. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rCWrGWuU2Ak" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> I'll try to find some video of Russell and Wilt's defense.
look at all the players guarding wilt in that video. buncha non athletic white guys 5 inches shorter than him, out weighed by about 30-40lbs, and cant match up with wilt athletically. none of those things happen if wilt played during the 80s and 90s. wilt is only great in his time period. his greatness really does not translate over to different eras.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6BDd7jM4zYs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Not great video evidence, but some great quotes about the players: <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/B2iR470UVh4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Stuff Hakeem couldn't touch even when his guys were shooting lights out: Wilt remains the only non-guard ever to lead the NBA in assists. And his 21 assists in a single game remain the record for a center. Of the 24 forty-rebound games in NBA history, Wilt had 14. Hakeem had 25 rebounds 4 times. The Rockets were putting up 82 shots per game in 1992. In 1962, the Sixers were putting up 100 shots per game. Wilt averaged 24 rbs and Hakeem 13. __________ ....in the five game eastern conference final, Wilt averaged 22 points, 32 rebounds and 10 assists per game... in the final game, he threw up 29 points, 36 rebounds and 13 assists... Ever see a triple double like that one? _____ Wilt and Russell played against each other 142 times in 10 years. Russell won 88, Wilt won 74. Wilt averaged 28.7 points and 28.7 rebounds vs. Russell. Russell averaged 14.5 and 23.7 vs. Wilt. ____ For people who say Wilt and Russell's rebound numbers were inflated because more shots were taken then, I'd point out that, if that was the only reason, then EVERYONE'S rebounding numbers would be ridiculous... However: Most Rebounds, 1960s: 1) Wilt - 19,112 2) Russell - 17,501 3) Baylor - 9,786 4) Bellamy - 9,716 5) Lucas - 8,831 Russell and Wilt were the best because they wanted the ball. ___ Some footage of Wilt vs Kareem: <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uRkcqiuqKxQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> The head to head stats don't really tell you much because Wilt started to play like a defensive guru later in his career. I didn't do the math, but Wilt owned Kareem in the rebounding department, but Kareem out-scored him during the few years they played each other.
Find me a center with a 40-42 inch vertical that Hakeem played against. Wilt could reach 10" higher than Hakeem. If you watch the first video I posted, which I think you did, watch how quickly Wilt made his move when he catches the ball. That part of his game was Hakeem-esque. Very difficult to defend. That's for sure. Hakeem's greatest tools against Wilt would be his quickness and strength. Just to be clear, I'm not picking between the two. They were both amazing athletes. I believe all the stats and opponents, etc should be brought up for the discussion. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0EpVZS26BUs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Not many highlights with both players guarding one another, but Hakeem blocks Jabbar @5:10. I wish Hakeem could have played some straight up against Jabbar. Wilt struggled with Jabbar and I can imagine Jabbar struggling with Hakeem. Seeing a straight up comparison would give me some ideas of how to compare all these greats. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tOCMH_6NMBI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
This thread is crazy, I can't believe all of the people choosing Wilt. It's plain and simple a different era, Wilt doesn't compare to Dream, Jordan or Lebron.
The Dream was a great great athlete. Wilt was just from another planet. A force of nature. And if you look closely at the video (a great video I might add - thanks) how many HOF players can you spot? There were only 6 teams in the league, so you did not have the dilution of talent evident in today's 30 team league. There are many many stories by great NBA players of Wilts unbelievable accomplishments. Placing a quarter on the top of the backboard without a running start? Yep. Training with the Arnold and bench pressing 500 pounds? Yep. If Wilt were in the league today he would be by far the most dominant player. Ahead of LBJ by a lot. Oh, and everything in that video that was in color? That was Wilt on the downside of his career.
If it's a question of Wilt vs Hakeem then there is no question, the better player is Hakeem. Wilt played in the era of 6'9 centers and VERY little talent, Hakeem played in the golden era of centers. Put Wilt in his prime in the 90's he'd look very average at best. Head to head Hakeem would put clown shoes on Wilt, just like he did every center he faced during his prime. IMO Wilt was great for his era, but he couldn't hang if he was playing against the big boys.
