NBA 75 Spotlight: Looking at the legacy of Wilt Chamberlain, aka the Big Dipper
Wilt Chamberlain, who made his NBA debut on October 25, 1959, is arguably the best player to play in the NBA.
The only man to score 100 points in a game or average 50 points in a season, Chamberlain was a four-time NBA MVP and a two-time NBA champion. The Hall of Famer is a Philadelphia fixture, and his basketball exploits in and around the city are legendary.
Wilt Chamberlain is often misunderstood, mischaracterized, dismissed and ridiculed only because he was doing things no one had ever done in the NBA. Sixty-two years have passed since Chamberlain stepped onto the NBA arena floor. So let's delve into what he did for the sport and also the NBA in general.
The legend
Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in Hershey, PA, against the New York Knicks in 1962. There is no footage of that, so of course, legendary tales of Chamberlain will persist.
In fact, any footage of Chamberlain is difficult to find. While multiple short clips exist on YouTube, the big games of Chamberlain's career are lost for good. This is a major reason why Chamberlain isn't given his proper due.
Recently, footage was found and colorized that showed Chamberlain shooting an array of fadeaways, finger rolls, hook shots and bank shots. That went against the narrative that Chamberlain did all of his damage strictly down low.
Michael Jordan pay's his respects to Wilt Chamberlain and all the guy's who played before him. Claim's what they were able to accomplish in their career's was of greater value. https://t.co/afZoVwY7je
Wilt Chamberlain, the record setter
Wilt Chamberlain owns 72 NBA records - 68 individually. Among them are the much talked about and aforementioned 100-point game in March 1962 where Wilt didn't sleep the night before.
NBA owners limited the number of black players to two per team, so the math was against the Big Dipper, yet he still became a record breaker. Chamberlain set six records that day in the 169-147 win over the New York Knicks: most points scored in a game, most field goals made and attempted (36-63), free throws made (28-32), points in a quarter (31) and points in a half (59).
Other than the 100-point game, Chamberlain scored 65 or more points in an NBA game on a record 15 occasions. Averaging a record 22.9 boards for his career, Chamberlain won a record 11 rebounding titles in 14 years, and led the league in scoring in his first seven years in the NBA.
He averaged over 48 minutes a game in 1961-62. Chamberlain never fouled out, despite playing 1,045 games. He averaged 30.1 points in his career (Michael Jordan averaged 30.2). Chamberlain is the only center to lead the NBA in dimes (8.6). As Phil Jackson says below, Chamberlain played in the triangle offense that year under Alex Hannum - Tex Winter's teammate at USC.
Another spectacular Wilt Chamberlain night was on March 18th 1968, when the Big Dipper went otherwordly: 53 points, 32 rebounds, 14 assists, 24 blocks and 11 steals. Yes, that's a quintuple-double. Blocks and steals weren't officially kept until 1972, so officially, Chamberlain was credited with a monster triple-double.
The pace in the NBA was faster in Chamberlain's era. NBA teams attempted 110 shots a game. By comparison, the Milwaukee Bucks led the NBA last season in shot attempts with 91.8.
Teams back then shot with 5% less accuracy as well, so that's as many more boads for Chamberlain to rip off the glass. Nevertheless, Chamberlain led the NBA in field goal percentage in nine of 14 years. Here are more of his incredible exploits and accompaning interviews with Dirk Nowitzki and Harvey Super Stat Pollack - who worked the 100-point game in Hershey.
Dallas Mavericks' big men Brandan Wright and Brendan Haywood were shocked that Wilt Chamberlain didn't win the MVP award in 1961-62. They both looked like preteens in their open-mouthed reactions when I told them Chamberlain didn't win despite averaging a 50 spot. I
t was also shocking that no one in the locker room knew that Chamberlain didn't win that year. It was almost like they knew about Bill Russell's 11 rings, yet they didn't know the full history.
Bill Russell
Bill Russell, regarded as the best defensive player ever to play in the NBA, won 11 rings with the Boston Celtics. In 94 regular-season games against Russell, Wilt Chamberlain averaged 30.0 points, 28.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists.
In the playoffs, Chamberlain's numbers were similar - 25.7 points, 28 rebounds and four assists. Bill Russell's Boston Celtics teams had a record of 57-37 against Chamberlain's during the year, and 29-20 in the playoffs.
NBA fans can debate whatever they choose to when it comes to Chamberlain and Russell. But this narrative that Russell was the greatest defender must be critiqued with a fine pen. Why isn't Wilt Chamberlain mentioned as a great defender?
Perception isn't reality.
As we see today with MVP voting all over the place, often the top contender doesn't win because another player had either a better team record or some popular storyline buoyed them to the award.
Think about it: In 1961-62, Wilt Chamberlain averaged 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds. Russell went for 18.9 and 23.6 rebounds. You do the math. Oscar Robertson was outstanding in that triple-double year: 30.8 points,12.5 rebounds and 11.4 dimes.
Elgin Baylor was just as incredible: 38.3 points, 18.6 boards and 4.6 assists. Rookie Walt Bellamy had one of the best rookie seasons ever: 31.6 points, 19 rebounds and a league-best 51.9 field-goal percentage. Crazily, Bellamy didn't finish in the top 8 of voting.
The Boston Celtics defeated the Philadephia Warriors in seven Eastern Divison games that year before beating the LA Lakers in seven games as well; so Bill Russell was validated of sorts.
Russell also owned an 11-0 record against Chamberlain in Game 7s. There were a few years - namely 1966-69 - that Wilt Chamberlain had better teams than Bill Russell's. Yet, most of the years, beginning with Chamberlain's rookie year of 1960 up to 1964, Russell had a better support cast. The 1965 year has been debated, and some feel the year was a tie in terms of talent.
Talking to Boston Globe writing legend Bob Ryan in a radio interview, he spoke of how there is no comparison with Bill Russell. His combination of quickness to the ball, lateral mobility, strength, skill, competitiveness and intelligence in a 6' 9" frame was simply incomparable.
He credited Russell's ability to block shots, grab rebounds and make steals with the aforementioned quickness to the ball. Ryan explained that we'll never know how many blocks Russell had, and it doesn't matter how many he had, but more about when and where he got them.
Ryan says that most of the time Bill Russell couldn't do anything at all with Wilt Chamberlain, yet in others, he could bother the latter. That he bothered Chamberlain mentally as well as physically and surrounded by great players and players he made better too.
Ryan also says Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell is the best rivalry ever in the NBA , even more than Magic Johnson and Larry Bird because the latter didn't guard each other. Ryan expresses almost a sadness that the NBA doesn't seem to want centers, and that with the game being played outside in, we may never see another comparable big-man matchup.
Bob Ryan says Wilt Chamberlain had three careers: the scoring behemoth early before he got himself traded to the 76ers in 1965. For the next two or three years, he transformed himself into the greatest all-round center the game has ever known - averaging 24 points, 24 rebounds and eight assists. He finally got it done and won an NBA championship in 1966-67.
Those three years are the greatest of any player ever in the NBA. For the last part of his career, he wouldn't shoot. It was all tips, dunks and finger rolls. He led the league with over 70% shooting because all he wanted to do was dunk, and got another championship averaging 13-14 points a game in Los Angeles.
If Chamberlain would have had the single-minded competitiveness of Bill Russell, he would have accomplished more. He was a willing passer to teammates, and would get mad if they didn't shoot. People are people, and you can't control their human nature. He manufactured little challenges for himself, but Russell didn't have to.
It just came naturally. It was all psychological with Chamberlain. He was too nice a guy. He had other thoughts on his mind than basketball, and sometimes he paid the price for it. In the end, he was a happy person. He spent his money and invested well. He lived the way he wanted to live and died way too soon at 63. People loved him. He and Russell were close friends."
Bob Ryan is my go-to. His knowledge and memory of the game is unmatched, and that's what I aspire to be. The difference maker, in my opinion, was Red Auerbach. The legendary coach and team president knew just how to get it done before the season began, and his Hall of Fame laden rosters were proof.
Whatever Red wanted regarding winning, he very rarely was rejected - even as time passed. The deaths of Reggie Lewis and Len Bias had to have been sore spots for Auerbach, so the victory cigar he was synonymous with was stashed at least twice.
Wilt Chamberlain the Ultimate Athlete in HD https://t.co/yXQH8ULpBX
Michael Jordan
As the 90s hit and the internet age took over the world and every facet of it, Michael Jordan's legendary star rose.
Winning six championships in a decade has a way of showing fans who is the best at what they do. As I've said, Michael Jordan is the fourth Evolution (Elgin Baylor, Connie Hawkins, Julius Erving, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant). His time in the NBA will be spoken more than most even as time shows us that more extraordinary talent is on the horizon.
Jordan had a flare, a classic signature shoe that still sells, is the owner of the Charlotte Hornets, beat every Hall of Famer in his path, and has endeared himself to a new generation of fans with The Last Dance documentary. He was a different player than Chamberlain at 2 guard, was dominant at both ends further from the basket than Chamberlain, and footage of all his games exists, unlike Wilt's.
Perception is not reality
The perception that Wilt Chamberlain dominated short white dudes is so dismissive.
Do the research. You'll find that Wilt Chamberlain often faced Hall of Fame centers every night -- whether it was Bill Russell, Willis Reed, Walt Bellamy, Nate Thurmond, a young Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, etc. The average height of centers was 6' 10", and there were no soft fouls. Chamberlain had his front teeth knocked into the roof of his mouth by Clyde Lovellette, and battling Tommy Heinsohn over the years was nothing easy either.
Another thing, why wasn't anyone else putting up the numbers Wilt Chamberlain did if it all was so easy? Imagine 80 years into the future at the turn of the century. Do you know how many Michael Jordans, Wilt Chamberlains and LeBron James will exist?
That's a lot of time, and there will be billions of humans born in that span. So much talent will be developed as training and travel technology advances. NBA expansion will span the globe. The superstar names of this era might not be mentioned because of bigger, faster, stronger athletes documented by sports journalism will win championships, MVP trophies and every other accolade coming their way.
In 50 years, we've seen Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who has a bigger case for GOAT than Mike), Julius Erving, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and more.
It's all about what you see out of your eyes. The past says the same. Sonny Hill (Wilt Chamberlain's childhood friend) told me that Oscar exclaimed "The record book does not lie" regarding Wilt Chamberlain, so his era will defend him as the GOAT.
This era will defend LeBron James as the GOAT even as the Michael Jordan faithful scream his name until their sun sets. So, when you fire up that debate of Wilt Chamberlain vs.Kareem, Wilt Chamberlain vs Mike, Kareem vs Mike, Kobe Bryant vs LeBron James, Kareem vs LeBron, LeBron vs Mike, Wilt vs Russell, Kobe vs Mike, Oscar Robertson vs Magic, Kobe vs Magic, when your head stops spinning, pour yourself a drink.
Debating hypotheticals, you will never have the answer to. It'd simply pull you farther away from the game and the love of the game itself. The actual game. Do yourself a favor, and stop the debates. There is no debate.
"Everybody pulls for David, nobody roots for Goliath", - Wilt Chamberlain. Sounds like the GOAT to me.