PlayerComparisons
International Captain
Two top 10 basketball players
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Wilt Chamberlain vs Bill Russell
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OverratedSanity
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Man is spitting facts
Coronis
Hall of Fame Member
Unbelievably painful.
Patience and Accuracy+Gut
State Vice-Captain
Wilt is the best basketball player to ever walk this earth. Put anyone from any era as per the individual talent and I bet Wilt smashes everyone. Winning isn’t the best way to determine players ability otherwise Ponting is way better than Sachin easily.
NBA did everything to stop Wilt and they still couldn’t.
NBA did everything to stop Wilt and they still couldn’t.
PlayerComparisons
International Captain
Was Wilt the Bradman of basketball?
Patience and Accuracy+Gut
State Vice-Captain
You look at Wilt’s Points, Reb, Blocks and there is no one in basketball matching him regardless of how one puts it. His problem was Free throws and the rule regarding free throws was changed purely for him. Wilt used to dunk those and as far as I know no one has ever done that by taking just 2-3 steps.
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OverratedSanity
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Wilt is the ultimate empty counting stat padder. You can even ignore the winning if you want. Every advanced metric showed his team's offensive numbers negatively correlated with his individual stats. As he scored less abd less his teams performed better. Overrated af with inflated stats due to the pace of the era and not comparable to Bradman.
shortpitched713
Cricketer Of The Year
In a way, but not to the same extent.
Slifer
International Captain
For his first few seasons imo he was. And his 50 ppg season will never be matched just like the Don's 99.94 in 80 innings.
The Imran Khan of basketball might be more fitting
nightprowler10
Global Moderator
Only correct post in this thread.
Coronis
Hall of Fame Member
I'll say what most players feel, which is that Wilt is a loser ... He is terrible in big games. He knows he is going to lose and be blamed for the loss, so he dreads it, and you can see it in his eyes; and anyone who has ever played with him will agree with me, regardless of whether they would admit it publicly ... When it comes down to the closing minutes of a tough game, an important game, he doesn't want the ball, he doesn't want any part of the pressure. It is at these times that greatness is determined and Wilt doesn't have it. There is no way you can compare him to a pro like a Bill Russell or a Jerry West ... these are clutch competitors. - Rick Barry
Remember how Chamberlain did score his 100 points? He actually had an awesome night at the line that game - 28/32. He was shooting his free throws underhanded rather than normally - “Chamberlain later said he was too embarrassed by the underhand technique to continue using it, although it consistently gave him better results.”
You could also look at the 1968 Eastern Division finals, the 76ers fresh off a championship, the series tied at 3-3 and then this - taking one shot in the entire second half. What a joke.
Remember how Chamberlain did score his 100 points? He actually had an awesome night at the line that game - 28/32. He was shooting his free throws underhanded rather than normally - “Chamberlain later said he was too embarrassed by the underhand technique to continue using it, although it consistently gave him better results.”
You could also look at the 1968 Eastern Division finals, the 76ers fresh off a championship, the series tied at 3-3 and then this - taking one shot in the entire second half. What a joke.
Patience and Accuracy+Gut
State Vice-Captain
The same Rick Barry admits he was wrong,
MJ is the greatest 2 guard to ever play the game and one of the most exciting players to ever put a basketball uniform. But to say he is a greater player than Wilt chamberlain is ludicrous. There is no one, no one that has came close to do what Wilt chamberlain did in his career.
- Rick Barry
Some more from Rick Barry,
“ Wilt thought and rightfully so he was the greatest basketball player who ever lived.”
- Bill Russell
In 1968, Wilt focused primarily in defense and in his worse match he still out rebounded Russell 34-26 in the game 7. Russell won because he had teammates coming at clutch. Wilt outplayed him even at his absolute worse match every time.
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Patience and Accuracy+Gut
State Vice-Captain
Absolute nonsense, His team offense got better because Wilt got better teammates.
Wilt led the team in FG percentage for 10 out of 14 seasons. MJ’s best place was 10th. How can the best shooter in the league negatively affect his team’s offensive unless not having good teammates?
Slifer
International Captain
I only take issue with this. MJ is a shooting guard and Wilt a center. Centers tend to take many more higher percentage shots like dunks, layups, tip ins etc than guards who shoot from mid range much more. That's why a player like Shaq, has a significantly better fg% than a Mj or even a Curry. No way is Shaq a better shooter.
I mean I don't really see how you can say Wilt is superior to Russell, Russell actually played well enough to win championships over Wilt. Wilt despite his great numbers wasn't able to do so, and the gap in teammates wasn't so insurmountable for his impact to be negligible. Think a few more players are better than Wilt apart from Russell anyway simply because their numbers had far more impact on winning games and titles.
Coronis
Hall of Fame Member
Note how he doesn’t take back anything meaningful that he actually said re: his attitude in big games and pressure moments, just says he regrets calling him a loser and that his stats are great lol. I’m also curious as to exactly when that interview took place.. before or after Chamberlain died?The same Rick Barry admits he was wrong,
MJ is the greatest 2 guard to ever play the game and one of the most exciting players to ever put a basketball uniform. But to say he is a greater player than Wilt chamberlain is ludicrous. There is no one, no one that has came close to do what Wilt chamberlain did in his career.
- Rick Barry
Some more from Rick Barry,
“ Wilt thought and rightfully so he was the greatest basketball player who ever lived.”
- Bill Russell
In 1968, Wilt focused primarily in defense and in his worse match he still out rebounded Russell 34-26 in the game 7. Russell won because he had teammates coming at clutch. Wilt outplayed him even at his absolute worse match every time.
Either way it looks a decent amount of time after Barry’s book where the original statement was, and I have no doubt he copped some flak for that.
Lets also talk more about Wilt. Famously he never fouled out of a game. However this was often to the detriment of his team as other players noticed. Specifically Havlicek in his book mentions once he got his 4th foul, he generally stopped properly trying, so concerned was he about fouling out. Is that really a great mentality to have?
OverratedSanity
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Sarcasm? I seem to remember you were a Wilt> Russell guy or am I wrong
Patience and Accuracy+Gut
State Vice-Captain
Wilt died on 1999, Barry was born in 1944. Here is Rick Barry on Wilt in 1980,
In the past, I’ve said negative things about Wilt that I am sorry for today. As I’ve grown older, I’ve had a chance to better analyze this game, and the things that Wilt Chamberlain accomplished amaze me more and more each year.
Wilt Chamberlain might have been the most unique, singularly talented athlete of our time . I’ve seen films of him doing things on a basketball court that I would have said were impossible. He played 48 minutes a game, he got beat on and belted around, and yet, he kept right on doing it all. To average 50 points a game, regardless of what level of basketball you’re playing at, is astonishing. My God, it’s hard to score 50 in just one game, but to average 50 over season is unthinkable.
Patience and Accuracy+Gut
State Vice-Captain
Barry makes it clear that Wilt was the greatest basketball to ever walk this planet making it straight clear anyone calling MJ superior is ludicrous. That’s something saying from a guy who called Wilt a loser.