It's a common misconception. People think he was a gifted scorer just because he averaged 50 ppg and scored 100+ at times when they should have been basing their judgement on stuff like the arc of his jumper.
I go here when I want a list of skilled scorers. NBA All-Time Points Leaders - National Basketball Association - ESPN
Idk if it's fair to call him one. Compared to the likes of Hakeem and Kareem. Who was he scoring against? Dwight Howard could've scored 100 in a game in his era, IMO.
Wilt Chamberlain: Did He Really Play In a Weak Era? | Bleacher Report A really good read... I really think you under rate Wilt, and WAY over rate Howard.... Dwight shrunk against the physical def of the Pistons for years... can you imagine how he'd react to the bad boy's defense let alone the man handling that everyteam would dish out in the 60's.
My first draft of my team.... so much back and forth in my head its not funny PG. Isiah Thomas if he was 4 inches taller he would be the best PG in the history of the game IMO. SG. Michael Jordon nuff said (still hate him) SF. James (the one spot I would love to change and may with time) PF. Duncan C. Wilt Bench Rodman, Magic, Bird, Russell, Hakeem, West, Kobe
I think my personal squad would beat that team. C: Hakeem, PF: LeBron, SF: Kobe, SG: Jordan, PG: Magic. Hakeem and Wilt would be a good matchup. Kobe and LeBron would be a good matchup. Jordan and Jordan would be a good matchup (lol). Buut... 1) My team could iso-post Magic on Zeke all day, sad to say. While Magic could do a decent job guarding Zeke. 2) Duncan wouldn't be able to keep up with LeBron. LeBron would abuse him on the fast-break and from the perimeter. While LeBron, roughly the same size as Karl Malone - with much more athleticism - could probably do a decent enough job against Duncan in the post.
The Tazmanian Devil is not a power forward. He must play small forward. Do you have an agenda against winning?
None obviously. But you see the size of players he was going up against and it makes you wonder what he would be able to do in the modern age..
The article that Round posted is a good read: Wilt Chamberlain: Did He Really Play In a Weak Era? | Bleacher Report
I'd avoided that article earlier bc bleacher report is usually so bush.. That was too kind of still, but I certainly learned a little bit from it I guess. Still, some issues. The average height, he claims, of centers back then was 6-10 (He calls Bill Russell 6-10 right after than, and I've read that he was more like 6-8, 6-9 at best...which makes me wonder if that statistic is bs in the first place). Okay. I'm guessing that the average height of point guards then and now is about the same. So, a great point guard from then should still be great now, right? Most likely, no. The average NBA player now - tall or not - is just so, so, so much better now than back then, at the birth of basketball's popularity. The average 6-10 big man now is so, so, so much better now than back then. Just as in all athletics. Sure, maybe Wilt really is the most athletic true big man of all time. But there's a lot more to basketball than being athletic, or bench pressing a lot, or most of the things that article pointed out. Kareem and Hakeem, who I think are the most talented interior scorers of all time..what would they do in Wilt's age? If they were shooting better than Wilt's 50% at the free-throw line - the way those games are described in the article - they may have gotten 150 points in a game. Idk man. It's a tough call. I'm at the point now where I believe that Wilt is the greatest true athlete big man of all-time. I think he's probably the best defensive big man of all-time, and I think he's probably the best rebounding big man of all-time. He probably could play more minutes than any true big man all-time. He could probably run on the fast break better than any true big man of all-time. That makes him quite a candidate to be the best big man of all time period, for sure. But the best scoring big man of all-time, I'm not ready to give him. Are Hakeem and Kareem so much worse than him in those areas above that their better offensive games - specifically, free-throw shooting - not make up for it...or more than make up for it. It's interesting..
I am skeptical of wilts claims and the folk lore surrounding him. The bench press claims are exaddurated beyond belief. The women, ditto. He was great, but I'll take russell, whose claims are probably understated.
The difference in heights is spot on from the article though.... folks were measured barefoot, and loved to fudge there heights down back in the day. Now its in your shoes and fudged upwards. Would wilt average 50 in todays game, of course not. But he'd average 30 18 and 6 plus assists a game with 3-4 blocks I'd bet. Wilt also played against a much deeper league since there were so few teams the few big men he did play against he saw allot more often. How often does Howard even play against his physical match in todays game? He doesn't eat alive the below average centers like he should.
That's a very interesting article. Larry Bird always wondered how Wilt couldn't be considered the most dominant ever.
Shaquille O'Neil = Bob Lanier Wilt would run Shaq out of the building. If Wilt's team played Shaq's team every game over an 82 game schedule, Shaq would be in a wheelchair. Wilt would be eating steak.
Pretty good sampling of all his scoring methods in the link below... most of them anyway. Starts with the unstoppable post move from the left side of the lane where he spins right, fades away, then banks it with his one handed shot. This move would still be as unstoppable as Kareem's sky hook would be. Then they show multiple examples of just about every other move that he had. The move from the right side of the paint was strange, but effective. He'd reach out toward the free throw line with the ball in his right hand (back to the hoop) and would then flick it backwards, sort of like an inside out hook shot.... clearly you have to see it to understand what I'm talking about. The over-the-top of the defender post finger roll was also pretty crazy. Also notice all of the pass fakes. I'm guessing these worked and his big hands made it so that he could really wave the ball around Dr J style. I have no doubt that he would dominate today's NBA with one pre-season to acclimate if he had a time machine. The criticism that he was playing against inferior athletes doesn't seem accurate to me. Notice him torching Kareem in the video. Also consider all of his clashes with Russell, who is clearly one of the top bigs of all time on perhaps the greatest team of all time (i.e. not easy to score against). I'd take Russell on the intangibles, but wouldn't feel great about it. 51% confidence level that it would be the right pick.
Final edition for me...I think C: W. Chamberlain, H. Olajuwon, S. O'Neal PF: B. Russell, K. Abdul-Jabbar, D. Nowitzki SF: L. James, L. Bird, K. Durant SG: M. Jordan, K. Bryant, J. WestPG: M. Johnson, O. Robertson, I. Thomas HC: C. Daly, G. Poppovich
