The first thing you'll hear from a Chamberlain fan is Wilt is GOAT because he was an athletic freak who once scored 100 and averaged 50 in one season. They will tell you how the man could bench press. They will tell you how good he was in volleyball and track and field. They will tell you Wilt dunked on Bill Russell taking off from the freethrow line off of a crossover. They will tell you he can bring the ball down and go coast to coast, breaking ankles on his way to a windmill dunk. So was he really that great?

Let's start with the popular rankings. The highest Wilt is ranked in a decent list is third by CBS and Sports Illustrated. The lowest he is ranked is 8th by Slam Magazine and Fox Sports. Nobody considers him second best and surely nobody considers him the greatest. Let's talk about the 100 point game. One of the records that made Wilt a mythical figure but the reality is it is the most overrated record of all time. First, that game was played vs the Knicks who were the second worst team and Wilt was allowed to camp inside the paint, wait for the pass and slam it knowing he had at least 3-inch height advantage. What's bothering is his teammates deliberately passed up easy layups just so they can pass it to Wilt and so he can continue to score meaningless points. Crazy but his teammates blatantly fouled Knicks to gain more possessions so that Chamberlain could get to 100. Oh I almost forgot, Wilt took 63 shots. Still a great record but far from being the best individual accomplishment.

Another thing that had been well overhyped is that season Chamberlain averaged a whopping 50 points per game. Imagine that! Superstars score 40 and people go nuts. Superstars score 50 and it gets viewed millions of times on YouTube. Now average 50 per game? Crazy right? This is indeed an awesome record but not few talk about how many shots Wilt took to get that feat. In that season he averaged 40 shots a game! Don't tell me Shaq or MJ or Kobe wouldn't average 50 if they did the same. Shaq when he averaged 30 only took 21 FGA while MJ took 28 when he averaged 37. Shaq would have absolutely had an easy time against those guys. You know how many shots Wilt needed when he averaged 37.6? He had to shoot that ball 32 times a night. Again Mike only had to take 28 to average 37 against way better competition in the 80s. It's also important to note that MJ was a guard and Wilt was a center who would always enjoy huge height advantage. Let me tell you a story when I ran into a 75-year old one time and when I told him Wilt was going vs smaller guys when the league was developing, he acted like all the greatest players of all time were squeezed in Chamberain's era. He also thinks taking 40 shots a night is a thing of greatness. That is just plain ridiculous. If taking that many shots would win you many titles I'm fine with it but it's obvious that only Wilt benefited. The result? He won the least amount of championship among any player arguably considered top 5. The man also listed the tallest centers who played in that era. See below.


STARTING CENTERS FOR THE 1961-62 NBA SEASON.

Boston - Bill Russell 6’10”

Philadelphia - Chamberlain 7’1”

Syracuse - Swede Halbrook 7’3”

New York - Phil Jordan 6’10”

Los Angeles - Ray Felix 6’11”

Cincinnati - Wayne Embry 6’8”

Detroit - Walter Dukes 7’0”

St. Louis - Clyde Lovellette 6’9”

Chicago - Walt Bellamy 6’11”


Yup that's right! There were only 9 teams that year. The man's main argument was that Wilt had to go up against Hall of Famers more times compared to centers of the 80s and the 90s. Well of course, when you're in a developing sport, more players are regarded great compared to the newer era despite the obvious fact that the league has evolved. Many guys in the 50s and 60s declared Hall of Famers really would not fare as great today. Old school gets more love for sentimental reasons which is just fine as we should always pay respect to the ones who made it all happen. They are basically the foundation of the league. Now let's look at those names above and tell me how would those guys compete against the great big men of the 80s and 90s below then tell me how old school had better competition.

Moses Malone

Kareem Abdul Jabbar

Artis Gilmore

Hakeem Olajuwon

Robert Parish

Mark Eaton

Patrick Ewing

Bill Laimbeer

Alonzo Mourning

Tim Duncan

David Robinson

Shaquille O'Neal

Dikembe Mutombo

Charles Barkley

I absolutely missed a lot but it would be too much to imagine how those 60s guys would do vs the 80s and 90s. The greater the game has evolved, the tougher the competition is. Though it was nice that Wilt went up with hall of famers more than most centers would do, that's understandable cause he was playing vs 8 other teams. Going against 29 other centers with more polished games and with more advanced skill set is always better than facing the same hall of famers over and over having the same advantage.

Have you asked yourself why despite the monster numbers, he only managed to win 2 titles? I mean his average is 30 ppg and 23 rebounds! He should have been collecting titles here and there right? The problem really is that Wilt cared more about padding his stats. No matter how mindblowig his stats were, he just couldn't be as successful as his nemesis Bill Russell who compared to Chamberlain only averaged 15 ppg and 23 RPG. Yes you can say Russell had better teams but the main difference really is Russell played to win and not collect individual records. Look at the gap in how much titles both won. Russell won 11 while Chamberlain only managed two and Bill was no longer playing when Wilt won his second and last title.

Again Wilt was a monster when it comes to individual performance and stats. He is a 4-time MVP, Finals MVP once and 7-time All NBA first team. He was such a force in the regular season but a mere mortal in the playoffs averaging 22 points. Not bad. Just far from the numbers he racks up in the regular season. Most legends actually up their performance in the brightest stage. Michael Jordan for example averages 30 in the regular season but 33 in the playoffs, both all time records by the way. Lebron James also upped his performance from 27 to 29 a game. The other thing that affects Wilt's GOAT claim and all time status is the fact that he only won 2 rings while MJ had 6, Bill had 11, Kareem and Magic both got 5. Basketball has always been about winning but sadly, it wasn't something Wilt accomplished. He did set many individual records though. What happened when he stopped padding? His team won championships! In his first championship in 1967, he was a sidekick to Hal Greer when Greer averaged 28 and Wilt with 23. Same thing happened in 1972, his team won a championship when he was the 4th best scorer. The fact is his team couldn't win a title when he was being selfish. So is he great? Yes he is without a doubt a legend. Is he the greatest? Absolutely not.