archived as http://www.stealthskater.com/Documents/Basketball_07.doc (also …Basketball_07.pdf) => doc pdf URL-doc URL-pdf more sports-related articles are on the /Sports.htm page at doc pdf URL Why Wilt Chamberlain Was the Greatest NBA Player by Steve Smith / February 26, 2009 One of the most common types of articles on this site is a comparison between players and teams. Which can certainly be a fun way to pass some time. There have been numerous articles (generating thousands-upon-thousands of comments) contemplating who is the better player. Kobe Bryant or LeBron James. There have been an even greater number of articles wondering whether Kobe deserves to be ranked with Jordan which at times sparks so much controversy that it makes you wonder whether those commenting on it all are even out of grade school. Most of the questions on the “Short List” are comparisons just such as this (one of them asking “Jordan or Russell?”) And there are even some articles questioning who is the greatest player of all time with Michael Jordan being the de facto answer of a majority of those that I see. Other players are always mentioned when a list of the greatest players in NBA history are worked up including Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon, and more recent players such as Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson, Paul Pierce, and Tim Duncan. While there are valid arguments to be made that all of these players should be considered among the best players in NBA history, their accomplishments one-and-all pale in comparison to Wilt Chamberlain’s who is (hile mentioned among them) relegated far too often to second-string. Even I myself have been guilty of not always giving The Big Dipper (and don’t call him "Wilt-The- Stilt”; he hated that nickname) his due. But I’ve begun to revisit some of the history of the game and have found I can no longer condone such galling inaccuracy. Wilt Chamberlain was the greatest player in NBA history bar none (with no offense meant to Michael Jordan). 1 Many Reasons Why Wilt Is Never Given His Due There is a constant stream of idiocy concerning Wilt Chamberlain and the era in which he played found on message boards and blogs throughout the Internet, in articles and columns both online and in print, and through the television sports news media. Myth One: Wilt Was Shut Down by Bill Russell One misconception among some is that Bill Russell shut Wilt down. I think this myth can only be explained by the fact that Bill Russell’s Celtics were so often successful against Chamberlain’s teams. However, many of Wilt’s teammates during that era were anything but Hall-of-Famers whereas Bill Russell shared the court with seven of them. Certainly the Celtics won the battles against Wilt’s early Philadelphia-San Francisco Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, and Los Angeles Lakers teams. But those battles were ferocious and hard fought with four of the six series going the full 7 games and one of the others going to 6 games. Wilt, without a great supporting cast, nearly defeated some of the greatest “teams” in NBA history merely on the strength of his own ability. And how did Wilt fare against his great nemesis Bill Russell throughout his career in head-to-head matchups? Was he shut down as some claim? Hardly. According to Philadelphia 76ers stat man Harvey Pollack, Chamberlain and Russell played head-to- head a total of 142 times. In those matchups, Wilt averaged 28.7 PPG and 28.7 RPG. Russell, on the other hand, averaged 23.7 PPG, and 14.5 RPG. What’s of note is that Chamberlain’s career rebounding average (against all teams) was 22.9 RPG while Russell’s was 22.5 RPG. It appears that Wilt destroyed Bill on the boards any time he faced him. Also of note is the fact Wilt scored 62 points in a game against Russell on January 14, 1962 in Boston and scored more than 50 points against him in 6 other games. The most points that Russell ever scored against Wilt was 37. Also, Russell only scored more than 30 against Wilt 2 other times. Of further note is the fact Wilt set an NBA record grabbing 55 rebounds against Russell in a game on November 24, 1960 and grabbed more than 40 rebounds against Bill in 6 other games. His dominance of Russell was simply a fact and was profound. If it wasn’t for the fact Russell had Hall of Famers surrounding him his entire career, Wilt’s teams would have certainly won at least two or three of those titles Bill and the Celts have. Myth Two: Wilt Played Against Midgets One of the most common is the idea that Wilt Chamberlain’s incredible statistical dominance during his playing days was due to the “fact” he was a “giant among Lilliputians” who played against centers who were typically 6'6" or 6'7". But nothing could be further from the truth. Wilt Chamberlain ended his playing career at nearly 300 lbs. and played a good portion of his latter career at around 275 lbs. He entered as a rookie at only 250 lbs. and remained at that weight or thereabouts (260 lbs.) for at least his first 7-or-8 seasons. 2 And while some who are ignorant have listed him as 7'2" in height in articles or blogs or comments they’ve written on the subject, Wilt was never over 7'1" in his life and was actually closer to 7'0" when he first entered the NBA (despite being listed at 7'1"). Besides Bill Russell (who was 6'10" and 220 lbs.) and the few other centers who are constantly mentioned in order to back up this erroneous myth, such as Dave Cowens (who was 6'9" and 230 lbs.), Willis Reed (who was 6'9" and 240 lbs.), and Wes Unseld (who was 6'7" and 245 lbs.), there were numerous other centers throughout Wilt’s career who he played against who were anything but Lilliputian. Following is a list of some of them: Walter Dukes (7'0", 220 lbs.) Swede Halbrook (7'3, 235 lbs.) Tom Boerwinkle (7'0", 265 lbs.) Bob Lanier (6'11", 265 lbs.) Darrall Imhoff (6'10", 220 lbs.) Otto Moore (6'11", 210 lbs.) Sam Lacey (6'10", 235 lbs.) George Johnson (6'11", 245 lbs.) Paul Ruffner (6'10", 230 lbs.) Dick Cunningham (6'10", 245 lbs.) Walt Bellamy (6'11", 225 lbs.) Leroy Ellis (6'10", 210 lbs.) Nate Thurmond (6'11", 235 lbs.) Mel Counts (7'0", 235 lbs.) Nate Bowman (6'10", 230 lbs.) Clyde Lee (6'10", 210 lbs.) Walt Wesley (6'11", 230 lbs.) Henry Akin (6'10", 225 lbs.) Hank Finkel (7'0", 240 lbs.) Lew Alcindor aka Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (7'2", 225 lbs.) Neal Walk (6'10", 220 lbs.) Elmore Smith (7'0", 250 lbs.) Jim McDaniels (6'11", 230 lbs.) LaRue Martin (6'11", 215 lbs.) Tom Riker (6'10", 225 lbs.) Conrad Dierking (6'9", 225 lbs.) Johnny “Red” Kerr (6'9", 230 lbs.) Bob Pettit (6'9", 220 lbs.) Spencer Haywood (6'9", 230 lbs.) Rick Roberson (6'9", 230 lbs.) Luke Jackson (6'9", 240 lbs.) Duke Hogue (6'9," 240 lbs.) Zelmo Beaty (6'9", 230 lbs.) Len Chappell (6'9", 240 lbs.) Elvin Hayes (6'9", 235 lbs.) Hub Reed (6'9", 220 lbs.) 3 So why is it then if there were all these very big guys playing in the NBA during Wilt’s illustrious career that Chamberlain was able to dominate the game so completely? For instance, why didn’t the much taller Swede Halbrook dominate Wilt rather than ride the bench behind Johnny “Red” Kerr? The answer is very simple. Height doesn’t equate to dominance. There is far more to a player than his height. This is why Nate Robinson is able to dominate games at times despite being a player who would look more comfortable playing in a midget basketball league than running around among the 'Redwood Trees' that are typical NBA players. It’s why the Miami Heat’s All-Star guard, Dwyane Wade at 6'4" is able to dominate most shooting guards in the NBA despite the fact many of them are 1, 2, or even 3 inches taller than he is. It’s why “giants” of the game such as George Muresan (7'7"), Shawn Bradley (7'5"), Manute Bol (7'6"), Chuck Nevitt (7'5"), Randy Breuer (7'3"), and even Mark Eaton (7'3") were never dominating scorers. In fact, they weren’t even good scorers (Mark Eaton is slightly forgiven for this due to his defensive dominance; 5-time first-team and second-team All-Defensive Team and 2-time Defensive Player of the Year) which is something that doesn’t seem possible considering some of them could dunk the ball without even jumping. The simple fact is Wilt Chamberlain was great because he was great. He was an incredible specimen of height, strength, agility, and leaping ability. He could leap higher than many can imagine today and was stronger than most would ever believe. Myth Three: Wilt Couldn’t Dominate Today Like many of the ignorant things that are said about Wilt Chamberlain by fans of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, etc. center around the idea that he wouldn’t have dominated in the '80s, '90s, or even today.