My point is that there was very little skill involved in what Wilt did, he was simply bigger and more athletic than anyone at the time. That's very much like the guy with the club or rock. It doesn't take much skill or talent if you are the only person with a club. In the more developed NBA, Wilt's size and athleticism wouldn't have been the advantage that it was in the 60's.
In the dream match-up, prime Wilt would have had his career ended via a severely broken arm and dislocated shoulder the first time he tried to block a prime Shaq dunk...if he could get up high enough to try. I say again, Wilt = Theo Ratliff 1.0
Or if in a time machine matchup of prime Wilt vs prime Olajuwon, the Dream would block him about 30 or 40 times and Wilt would be faked completely out of his shoes on the simplest of Olajuwon post moves. Again, it's just not fair to compare the much better big men of the developed NBA to guys like Wilt who relied 100% on their size and athleticism advantage over the entire league.
So Lebron of today should be discredited because it's unfair he has the gift of the size advantage for a perimeter players of today? I really don't get you're argument. The average height in the 60's were around 6 foot 9 inches...it's not like he was 8 foot or something. He was just athetically gifted being 7'1", 275 lb, that's the size of Howard albeit a bit taller. He could jump as high as jordan at 48 inches vertically and could bench press more than Shaq at 500lbs. Is it his fault that he had these gifts in his era?
I think you mean, he didn't need to develop his skills compared to everyone else to be dominant in his time? I think you need to have the skills to be able to do what he did to the other center's at his time. I mean, he dominated Russell (individually) in there match up's...Russell was only slightly shorter than him.
He doesn't have a size advantage over the entire league.... Also, Dwight Howard is around 6'10. It's not Wilt's fault that he had those gifts, but he is what he is. Someone who relied 100% on being bigger than everyone, there was little to no skill to his game whatsoever which is the reason he can't be compared to the skilled players of later generations.
Only slightly shorter? That's the equivalent of having Jordan Hamilton or Francisco Garcia guarding Dwight Howard.
LOL Then why did he only use half of that (at most) in games? Was he just that nice a guy? I think it's awesome that he kept all this legendary strength and athleticism hidden when the cameras were on.
That my friend is your opinion. You can say he relied on his gifts rather than skills relative to his era...but that doesn't take out the fact that he dominated his league. I can easily point out that he was highly skilled for a center at his time but it won't really change your opinion.
I agree that he dominated his league, just like the Neanderthal with the club, but you can't compare that to a proper soldier.
I don't think you get my point. So let me make it clearer for you. Over the hill Wilt: 2 rebounds > than Prime Kareem (same year) Prime Moses: 2 rebounds > than Prime Kareem (same era) Over the hill Wilt ~= Prime Malone in rebounding In other words, the Over the hill Wilt was at least compatible to the best centers of the late '70's. I am using Kareem because he played across Wilt's era and the late 70's in his prime. I am using rebounding to show physical dominance because the main argument against Wilt is that his peer was physically much inferior to later generations. If Wilt's competition was such garbage, why was the prime Kareem getting fewer rebounds than the over the hill Wilt in the same year? And Kareem was no garbage in that department.
Okay, maybe 48 inch was an exaggeration..but there has been stories of him touching the top of the backboard. Also I'm not talking about during the game. I mean how high can he jump by himself. Unfortunately due to limited video coverage in that era, we will never know. Here is a best video of him and his vertical jumping abilities i can find... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EpVZS26BUs#t=76
Thanks so much for the collection of film. You may have solved a life long mystery. I "recall" seeing Wilt score the 100 point game. It is a vivid memory, but supposedly there is no film of that game. I must have seen the 92 point game instead. Anyway, I will always believe that he was the best basketball player of all time.
Wilt does have a size advantage over the entire league, by a long shot... he wasn't 275 for more than 3 seasons... rookie, sophomore, and junior NBA season.... after that he was anywhere from 290-320lbs By comparison Dwight is 270lbs right now and it's basically the heaviest he's ever been and likely the heaviest he ever will be, he was a 240lb rookie. Wilt was also over 7-1 without shoes on with really high shoulders and a short neck, which put his actual arm height up more along the lines of a guy like Yao Ming which is why he hardly jumped to dunk. He also had a 7-8 inch armspan. Nobody in the league compares to him physically, just from size alone, and nobody who even comes close like the league's 6-11 or 7-0 290lb guys like Brook Lopez or Roy Hibbert are even close to Wilt athletically and this on top of still not having Wilt's 7-8 inch armspan or his really high shoulders and reach.
Some of the critics in here are absurd. I have no attachment to Wilt Chamberlain, but just annoyed by the nonsense that's being thrown around as valid arguments. 1) POSITION: The C position was well above average in his era. His nemesis was the greatest defensive C ever. The only possible argument is that it wasn't exactly the best ever batch of C's in the history of the league. Big whoop - he wiped the floor with everyone anyway. 2) WEAK LEAGUE: League was unathletic and weak, he was strong and athletic. So what? Do we discount MJ's athleticism? What about our very own Olajuwon, who had an athletic advantage over every big man in the league thanks to his speed, quickness and agility? OH THOSE ARE DIFFERENT RIGHT. Right. He averaged 48 minutes per game, is that all natural too? lol 3) ERA: players sucked, either because of a lack of talent or athleticism. I bet if that kind of guy with that kind of drive was competing with more talented and athletic people in high school and college and on the playground, he probably would have developed better. How many big men have been drafted based on their dominance of minions and weak leagues, only to turn into busts in the NBA? How many of the C's of today's game would be useless stiffs if they didn't face competition in school/college? Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul Jabbar considered him unstoppable. We're going to sit here and talk about how he had it easy? Let's ask Roy Hibbert and Dwight Howard and Joakim Noah if they want to face a 7'1 270 guy who is stronger than he looks, can run for 48 minutes, back anyone down, and hit a fadeaway off the glass. The guy's biggest curse is that he didn't get to compete in a more visible league, at a more visible time for basketball so that we can make a more accurate assessment of his prowess. He had his weaknesses - which C didn't? But to hear people throw out these silly arguments when there are real weaknesses to be highlighted, just irritating. For some, it's super obvious they haven't seen the videos, and for others it's clear they're just regurgitating arguments they concocted in the past. Carry on.
I agree with all of this. Everything he did offensively then would transfer over to today's NBA, no defender in the league is going to stop a 7'1 turnaround fade off the glass. We clearly see that he had a leaping ability comparable if not better than the most athletic centers in the league today. With how much more advanced coaching has become I don't doubt a coach today would be able to get him the ball in area's where he is most likely to succeed. A player of his size and athleticism would also be deadly on the pick and roll in today's game.
This whole dumb thing started when you posted that LeBron had it easy because he didn't have to go against 80's defenses - which were inferior to present day ones by any and every metric. Hand checking is laughably impotent compared to legal zone defense and as if it would help against a wing of Lebrons size and speed anyway. Basically you're saying that in terms of your analogy - Seal Team Six never had to face Alexanders horse archers. I'm pretty sure they'd manage.
