"His No. 1 nemesis was Bill Russell" - Stephen A. Smith explains why Wilt Chamberlain is not in the GOAT conversation
Stephen A. Smith was asked by a fan with a very interesting question regarding the GOAT debate and Wilt Chamberlain. The GOAT conversation usually revolves around Michael Jordan and LeBron James, but the fan was curious why people don't consider Chamberlain in the same.
On "The Stephen A. Smith Show," the ESPN analyst answered fan questions, and one of the things that popped up was about Chamberlain. The aforementioned fan is baffled why "Wilt The Stilt" is not in the GOAT debate despite owning some unbreakable records.
"Regardless of his dominance, at the end of the day his No. 1 nemesis was Bill Russell," Smith said.
"The great Bill Russell, 11 championships to Wilt's two. End of discussion. You can't have a nemesis and they out championship you by 11 to 2. That is why Wilt is left off (the GOAT convo)."
Stephen A. Smith has a point about why Chamberlain is not part of many GOAT conversations. Chamberlain is one of the greatest players ever, and his rivalry with Bill Russell helped shape the NBA, but Russell won nine more championships than Chamberlain.
Chamberlain did have more individual accomplishments than Russell, but people look at the overall resume. "The Big Dipper" might not get mentioned in the GOAT debate, but he's either No. 1 or No. 2 in the most dominant player in NBA history with Shaquille O'Neal.
Shaq even admitted that he and Chamberlain are two of the most dominant players ever. He did not pass Chamberlain because he failed to pass him on the all-time scoring list, but he has two more NBA championships than the latter.
"Now, most dominant, my category, is only one or two people," O'Neal told Joe Holder of GQ Magazine last year.
"I'm fine with that. It's either me or Wilt. I already passed Wilt in championships. When I signed a two-year deal with Boston, I was chasing that fifth ring to catch up with Kobe, but I was also chasing points to catch up with Wilt."
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Wilt Chamberlain's absurd NBA records
Wilt Chamberlain has at least 100 NBA records that remain unbroken up to this date, from scoring, rebounding, versatility, durability and accuracy records. Chamberlain also could have set unbreakable records in blocks if they were tallied in his time.
Some of Wilt Chamberlain's most absurd records include:
- Scored 100 points in a single game
- Averaged 50.4 points per game in a season
- Averaged 48.5 minutes per game in a season (FYI: an NBA game is 48 minutes long)
- Most points scored in a season with 4,029
- Most career 50-Point Games (118), 60-Point Games (32) and 70-Point Games (6)
- Grabbed 55 rebounds in a single game
- Played 1,045 consecutive games without fouling out
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