"So one day, Wilt is playing James Worthy, Magic Johnson, Byron Scott, Bernard King & Norm Nixon. Full court. Wilt is 45. The game is like 10-10. Magic goes in, lays it in and Wilt blocks it. Magic counts it, game over. Wilt said, "That wasn't goaltending." Magic yelled over to me and he said, "Coach, was that goaltending?" I am in bad trouble right now because I don't want Magic to be mad at me, but I don't want Wilt either, but I said, "Magic, that was a clean block." And Magic said, "Well, what?" and started screaming. Wilt said, "Look, let's do this. Let's play another game." He turned to me and he said, "Larry, they'll be no more layups made in this basket." And he proceeded to block every shot they took for about 10 minutes. Then Magic grabbed his ball and left." - Larry Brown, 1999
GAME WAS AT 1985 AFTER LAKERS JUST WON RING WILT CAME IN GYM AC GREEN WAS SUB FOR JABBAR, KAREEM GOT BEEF WITH WILT AT THAT TIME. HE DIDNT WANT TO PLAY. AC GREEN WAS ONLY NONE STARTER IN LAKERS CHAMPION TEAM. MAGIC SAID TO WILT : WELL WE PUT ROOKIE ON YOU AND WILT SAID : U HAVE 4 CHAMPIONS MAGIC, I HAVE 4 COLLEGE NOT EVEN ROOKIES.
Who can forget about the time Michael Jordan was arguing with Wilt Chamberlain about who was the GOAT at the time. Wilt Chamberlain,,,, who usually gets the last word walked up to Jordan and told him. "When you play,,, they changed the rules to make it EASIER for you to play,,, when I played they changed the rules to make it more difficult. Jordan was speechless.
This is a false narrative there where no rule changes in jordans time. You can Google all the rule changes in nba n what yrs they happened. To act as if chamberlain took what Jordan did from the pistons is a joke...they starting calling flagrant fouls which is exactly what detriot was doing. Jordan averaged 34.9 against detriot before your so called rule changes. Wilt played against 3 black guys sorry but if Jordan played against plumbers what did wilt play against teams that could only have 0 to 2 blacks. Level of competition was not the same. It's why wilt was so jealous of every great player. He knows his only measuring stick was Russell who he barely beat so always throws himself over any body who is great at the present. He is the epitome of a bitter old man. Magic Shaq kobe Dr j Jordan all people wilt had hate on. Great player but prolly a jerkoff in real life just like Jordan
They changed rules because when Michael played, it wasn't the game but Michael was physically attacked. Why?? because, he was resilient around the block Sir Wilt did. And that's a fact. The fade away, and mid air fake ..... Michael just changed everything, so did he change the rules ...... Michael was physically attacked as if the game was football..... Think about it ..... More so Michael is physically smaller than Wilt, but Michael is a killer. Even shorter than Bird, lesser weight and height than Lebron, but Michael took it to the next level time after the last..... So, assess that 😊
@@josephkia6157 thats part of Wilt's greatest asset, he maximed his physical ability and potential, he didn't need the rules to make it easier for him.
@@milosobrenovic1241 so !!??..... But you weren't attacked .... Michael played with grace that he was attacked ...... Did anyone ask of your trade .....rest ...... It ain't about you so sit back ....... Michael rocked the game ...... He would have been resilient around Wilt ..... It had been witnessed
@@peterkelnerxd7009 Yep, Wilt and Bill Russell would easily be # 1 and 2 in blocks. Wilt at 1 and Russell at 2. Had the NBA counted blocks and steals, Wilt would've actually had at least 1 quintuple double. Harvey Pollack (very respected stats guy) was the guy keeping the stats that game and he liked to record blocks and steals, although they weren't official yet. Harvey Pollack recorded Wilts stats that game to be 53 points, 32 rebounds, 14 assists, 24 blocks, and 11 steals. Absolutely insane stuff.
@@AcousticOllilook at the numbers he posted and the records he still has. Problem is that Russell was surrounded by hall of famers. Remember it takes a whole team to win a ring.
At about 12 years old, I attended a number of Laker games at the Forum during that record, 1971-1972 season. I got to meet Jerry West, Gail Goodrich and a lesser known role player on the team named Pat Riley. I remember the 33 game winning streak, that first championship in Los Angeles and some amazing players along with Wilt Chamberlain. Happy Hairston comes to mind. I also saw games in the Magic/Kareem years, and the Kobe/Shaq years. But there is no doubt in my mind that Wilt Chamberlain was the most amazing player in NBA history. Different criteria will lead to different answers on who is the "GOAT," but if you are just talking about the player, his impact on the game and his performance and absolute statistical dominance, there is no other than Wilt.
Wilt was awesome. However, I think that I have to give Kareem a very slight edge over Wilt for the GOAT of NBA centers. Up until 1984, I would have given Wilt the advantage. But the fact that Kareem played 20 years at a very high level, and was able to win 3 NBA titles in his last 5 years as a player, for me, that puts Kareem over Wilt, albeit very slightly.
@@frederickrapp5396 what you basically said is you put Kareem slightly ahead of Wilt because Kareem was lucky enough to be paired and somewhat carried to his extra last couple rings by an amazing Laker team around him.
People don't include Wilt in GOAT conversations because he was so far beyond everyone else, it's ludicrous to compare him to anyone else. Wilt played in the era before free agency. He didn't have the luxury of inviting the best players in the league to join him wherever he was. He played with whomever management drafted. Watching Wilt match up against Bill Russell was a thing of beauty. Glad I got to see that on my family's black and white TV.
They don't include them cuz they never saw him play. With Michael you can go back and watch RUclips videos if you didn't grow up during his era and didn't witness his greatness. No doubt Wilt was a dominant player and should be included in the conversations but hardly anyone has seen him play or seen him play against good players. Same kind of thing goes on with the younger generation comparing Michael to LeBron or Steph Curry today. They never saw Michael play so they don't consider him their goat. Every generation has their own goat. 🐐
@@pgrabar I know the Celtics were stacked. And I’m not saying Wilt isn’t amazing. But 2 titles and 4 mvps ain’t gonna cut it because he’s instantly surpassed by Kareem and you could argue Russell too. Shaq won 4. Duncan 5. Jordan 6.
@@micahclawrence MVP’s were player voted back then. Wilt should have ten MVP’s if we’re being honest. The fact he didn’t win MVP averaging over 50 & 25 for a season is a total joke. Throughout his entire prime, Hal Greer was his single great teammate. No shit he didn’t win more, he had no chance. That’d be like pairing LeBron with Jimmy Butler today and expecting him to win more than 2 rings against Curry, Harden, Durant, Giannis, & Jokic. Not gonna happen.
Wilt Chamberlain, was probably the greatest player ever played the game of basketball. Beyond any reasonable doubts he's worthy of respect, admiration and appreciation after what he'd done for NBA.
I agree.... peeps STILL do noit realize how dominant he really was. Kicking professionals ass's as a 16 year old...(Avg'ing 70+ ppg too!!!) pfft! ... If Wilt isn't the greatest...... ooo , lemme put it THIS way. If MJ & Wilt switched the times they played in & Wilt had MJ's carrer in the 60's & along came MJ now , & putting up all the #'s that Wilt did.....1st of all...can you imagine? lmao! AND... if MJ put up Wilt's #'s , no doubt in my mind , He woood be considered the best of all time......MORE SO , than he is now. I think peeps just wanna be able to say..."I saw the best". I
I love Wilt, since I was a runner, I appreciated seeing wilt at a Cross Country Championship in the 70's. To see the runners pass at different areas fans would run from one spot to the next. Wilt was right there leading the way and cheering ! He truly loved all sports and all people!
as a kid i was at the beach, Wilt was on the volleyball court , countless times i would toss back a ball that was spiked that HAD left the court , when i passed it back to Wilt he stopped and a big smile and "Thanks young man " first and last TIME , just a people person
When I was in the 4th or 5th grade I saw Wilt Chamberlin play at San Francisco Civic Center. It was my first ever Pro game. My father used to enjoy recounting how I said "Dad look how little the ball is". I treasure that memory to this day. I am 70.
My first game was the Philadelphia Warriors vs the Celtics at Boston Garden. The fans were absolutely brutal. Wilt dropped 47 on them and the Warriors won. Wilt relentlessly made 17 foot fadeaway bankshot after bankshot. I became a Chamberlain fan that night.
@harrywensel8456 very cool! I love Wilt Chamberlain stories. My dad always called him "The Big Dipper" My dad remembers watching him play at Kansas in College when my dad was 9 or so (he was born in 1948). He also remembers listening to the Wilt led 1957 KU team fall to UNC 57-56 in triple overtime in the NCAA title on the radio. Wilt didn't come back to Kansas untill 1998 to get his jersey retired because he was so distraught about the loss and thought KU fans hated him for it. I was at that 1998 game as an 11 year old kid with my dad. And in 2022, when KU came all the way back down from 15 at half to beat UNC and win the title, my dad said "there goes Wilt's ghost." Wilt's defeat had been avenged! I have heard the stories, but I feel so lucky to watch Wilt speak at Allen Fieldhouse and see his jersey go into the rafters. "Rock Chalk Jayhawk."
@@edhorton2766 I can only imagine how he would have looked playing. I have seen some great reels of his long jump and high jump (it's unreal a man with that long of a body could get over that crossbar). Also, at Kansas, they have really good restored reels of Wilt dribbling the ball down the court, he could run like a DEER! He was seriously faster than all of the guards out there! He pre-dates the actual NBA. He did so many remarkable things. The 1957 NCAA title game is still unavailable to watch.
@@twoquickii1330 Wilt was winning Big 8 high jumps back when they used the western roll technique. Who knows how high he could have gone using the Fosbury Flop? He was a freak of nature and as strong as a moose.
Giannis, and I love Giannis, is a 2x MVP, playoff MVP, and the best player in the NBA today. He averaged 30 points and 11.6 rebounds last season. Wilt Chamberlain was taller, bigger, faster, stronger, a higher leaper, and had more basketball game than Giannis. I don't know what Wilt would avg today but he'd easily exceed what Giannis is doing. And by the way, you can't touch him either in today's game.
Truth. WILT is Paul Bunyan. WILT is bigger faster stronger than anyone ever. Combined. SHAQ was fatter. Who's faster than WILT at Any position. AND WHO WAS EVER STRONGER!!! WILT would ball up Shaq newbies and stuff him through the bucket. Shaq was scared shitless of WILT until he died in 1999. He knew better. WILT would fuck him up and Shaq knew it.
@@andrzejzborowski4920 He wouldn’t need to be. He’d be almost unstoppable under the basket. He could average 40 without shooting the 3. That’s no exaggeration.
Wilt is the true GOAT of basketball. Teams were actively trying to recruit him when he was 50 years old! I really wish he would have signed up for a season with the Lakers in the 80's, he could have shown the world how dominate he was against more modern competition, and it would have been really fun to watch a guy school people that were half his age.
He wasn't dominating in the mid 70s when he was actually still playing, but would get magically better 10 years later? Lmao...cmon man, use SOME common sense!
@@manuginobilisbaldspot424 he retired due to injuries and rehabbed during the 70s. By 1980 he was once again a force on the court. He wouldnt be dropping 50, but he could have been an excellent backup center and probably would have led all backups in rebounds.
@@manuginobilisbaldspot424 He didn’t play in the mid 70s. He retired in 1972 due to injuries after leading the Lakers to the NBA Championship in his last season and was the Finals MVP that year. I’d say he was still getting it done right to the end of his career…….
I remember meeting Wilt when he was playing volley ball with the Big Dippers. Other teams would play with 6 players while the Big Dippers would play with 4 players. The Dippers would always win. Wilt would spike the ball so hard that you could not believe it didn't explode and deflate. He was a monster of a man and an unbelievable athlete even at his older age. Shaking his hand was like shaking a catcher's mitt.
Yes, had wicked velocity on his "spikes" but he never really jumped up to hit the ball. Always looked to me like he was still standing in the sand at State Beach in LA.
I used to shoot the shit with Wilt when I worked in Boca Raton in the late 1980s. Immediately, I got on his good side because I always got him to talk about himself and what he could do athletically. He was a very easy going guy who lived his best life even in his mid-50s when I met him. I remember him saying the only reason why he couldn't do the decathlon was because his height would kill him in the pole vault and 110-meter hurdles. He said he was nearly world class in five of the remaining events (shot, discus, javelin, 400 meters, and high jump) and competitive in the 100 meters, 1500 meters and long jump. That said, I have what many would say are large hands. I have a 5 5/8 inch span for my bowling balls, which very few bowlers I know of or knew of had as long or longer. But Wilt's hands were a (top) knuckle longer than mine. His was easily a 6 3/8" to 6 1/2" span -- he could palm a bowling ball and chuck it down the lane instead of rolling it.
I remember a Sports Illustrated story: Wilt refused to play volleyball against women because, he said, he didn't want anybody hurt. One day two All-America volleyball players insisted he play them, because he was just being a sexist jerk. He finally said okay. Then he spiked a ball, it split the defender's two blocking hands, hit her face, broke her nose, and put her in the hospital. Wilt went to the hospital, paid the bill for his friend's medical care and never played a real game against women again..
The disrespect is unreal Wilt is the original the most unstoppable force the NBA has ever seen. Just watch the videos that's him scoring 60 70 80 points with no problem. I hate the slander that he played against 6 footers knock it off he played against giants of the sport.
Some criticize some of wilts achievements not because the milkmen argument (Don’t get me wrong, you hear it a lot but it’s just simply said because of ignorance and it’s just false) but because that era was very inflated with its pace of play with scoring and rebounding, leading to some extremely busted stats not just exclusive to Wilt. Not that Wilt wouldn’t be Great into todays game. He’d easily be one of the best players now. Wilt was a freak of nature and Easily one of the best to ever Play. But to people who just see stats and Say he’d average over 60PPG in todays game simply are stat munchers don’t know what there talking about. Wilt playing in a exclusively inflated Era is a curse and gift at the same Time. But wilt was notorious for being able to adapt with play styles so he’d easily be a top center in todays Game.
Bruh wilt was an underperformer in finals unlike shaq! Wilt overrated bro in the finals was like 2011 Lebron all the time . Lmao he was a front runner Wilt Chamberlain averaged, 18.6 points and 3.8 assists in 35 games in the NBA Finals in his career.
I’ve spent a few decades trying to understand why he doesn’t get the credit he deserves: because to me, he is the all time, no question GOAT center. As far as I can see it is a combination of a few things (none of which I agree). 1)Wilt didn’t win like Russell did , so Wilt gets inevitably lost in the conversation while Russell gets more respect . I wouldn’t take anything away from Bill Russell, but he played with 8 hall of famers and arguably the best coach of all time Red Auerbach. Once Wilt had Jerry West he won , he was like Michael Jordan before Scottie pippen and Phil Jackson . 2) Wilt player against plumbers . Well that’s serious hyperbole. Bill Russell, Baylor , Kareem. So many others. That’s really unintelligent or just ignorant to say . I do agree the entire league now is very physically incredible but there were many incredible athletes back then too. 3) Wilt had a certain arrogance about him like with his book when he talked about how many women he slept with he got a lot of flack for that. Personally I don’t care it’s his business. I think In the end Wilt is cursed by lack of champship caliber team mates and coaches . Red Auerbach knew how to win games but he was also blessed with the best players. Wilt didn’t have that until Jerrt West.
@@Chevy-hw6lw some of it did have to do with Russell’s Teams having over 16 HOF. But *Prime warriors* wilt was usually a very parasitic player. Some of his teams had losing records because he was willing to sacrifice Winning for Stats. When he went to philly he became more of a team player and got it done. But, Wilt definitely got Robbed of a few MVPs and titles Because of Boston and Bill Russell.
@@Chevy-hw6lw Wilt has a case for GOAT center but since theirs Jabbar, Olajuwon, SHAQ, and Malone as competition for that spot. (Russell too but besides 1969 he’s never had to carry teams like the other 5 have) It’s kind of hard to defend.
@@ishmaelwilson6702 People don't realize that he hit his free throws early in his career either. Can't remember, but I think he hit like 32 free throws the game he scored 100. Might have been a bit less but it was a ton. He was a beast!
Wilt Chamberlain were the greatest Athlete of all time.I am talking about a man that played for the Globetrotter,Triple Jump,High Jump, Volleyball,Track and Field and shot pute.His highest scoring average 50.4, average 40 PGG in a season and Wilt The Stilt had more 50pts in one season (45) and still have 65 NBA records that no one broken to this day.Wilt is the real GOAT.
Wilt Chamberlain is the most dominant player of all time. It's like taking Giannis and then adding 3 inches, 70 lbs, 5 inches of wingspan, a couple more inches of vertical, and a Dirk Nowitzki level mid range game. The most you could do is bait Wilt into taking dumber shots, but even then he was regularly gonna shoot them over your head. He has skyhooks, finger rolls, up and unders, anything he wanted to do in the paint he did, even with Kareem there. You could not stop him, in today's game I'm dead serious when I say he would probably dribble like Giannis and shoot 3s too. He was the inventive type, I wouldn't be surprised if he took more stepback 3s than normal ones cause he was so strong. His 3pter would probably look pretty similar to Lebron's.
Love this story. Everyone pretends Wilt never played against anyone but plumbers and bus drivers. The span of his career allowed him to play against many HOF'ERS and he still dominated
The people that are saying these things about Wilt or other old players don’t understand basketball. They probably never saw Wilt play in Real Time, NOT RUclips!!! They don’t understand that era’s overlap. I saw an Old Wilt Chamberlain bbq a Prime Lew Alcindor (Kareem). Out of the nearly 27 games they played against each other Wilt Chamberlain’s team beat Kareem’s team 14 times.
And they don't understand the only reason they drove a bus in the off season was to pay the bills. The league salaries were a pittance of what they are today.
Wilt saw a Bellamy, Reed, Thurmond, Russell, Hayes or Kareem every time he stepped on the court lol. Its like Hakeem having to play Shaq, Robinson and Ewing 50x a year instead of 4 each at most.
@andrewcook1246 the amont of times a yr is never brought up in that way. They always try to say the league being smaller as a minus but if you expand the league ppl playing against expansion teams also had an advantage. Also smaller league meant you played against tougher comp more often.
He was extraordinary but definitely a human, being that he is expired. Possibly some other dna in there but none of us will know that until the end times.
"Dear God, I know I’m a sinner, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son. I believe that He died for my sin and that you raised Him to life. I want to trust Him as my Savior and follow Him as Lord, from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do your will. I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen." Did you pray this prayer?
I was with some great, retired, older coaches a few months back. I asked where does Wilt Chamberlain fit in as the greatest player to play the game. Their response.... It's Wilt and then everybody else, no contest. Most at the table agreed. Wow, now there is a statement. The coach that made the statement was a legendary high school coach in Los Angeles and then assisted Tark with a few of the great UNLV teams.
Love Foobas focus on Wilt. In response to those questioning why Wilt retired "early" and stopped scoring so much later in his career... 35 was not young in Wilt's era. No arthoscopic surgery, no modern training or rehab, & poor sneakers (the converse chuck taylors hipsters wear now) meant many serious knee injuries with full year recoveries & permanent loss of quickness/vertical. No modern nutrition either... heck, many players smoked cigarettes at halftime. Wilt had a severe knee injury late in his career. Pete Maravich was Steph Curry with more moves & way better passing, and David Thompson was Michael Jordan 1.0 but early knee injuries left them hobbled. Wilt rehabbed on the beach, running in the sand and playing volleyball. It was a new challenge and he loved it. After a salary dispute he went to the ABA as player-coach for a huge payday (NBA didn't pay well then - in 1971 Wilt was the highest paid player at only $100k), and then he began playing pro volleyball. Of course, Wilt is also in the volleyball Hall of Fame. And the switch to volleyball was for the same reason he stopped scoring so much. He got bored because no one could stop him. He led the league in assists one season just to prove he could (only center to ever do it). With the Lakers, he was surrounded by top talent for the first time in his career, so he focused on rebounding, defense, and passing. With Jerry West, Gail Goodrich, Elgin Baylor, and others... Wilt didn't need to score 30 a game. And he was tired of the constant fouls and dirty shots when he was scoring a lot. But every now and then he'd go for 50 just to show he still could. And that team was probably the most dominant single season team in NBA history. How do I know all this? Wilt told me. I realize that sounds like BS, but as a very young man I was fortunate to spend hours with Wilt when he was 50, back in Philly for the Legends of Philly Basketball fundraiser for the NAACP. It was at the hotel I worked at, and Wilt spent hours late at night talking basketball and life with me one on one. I was a teenager, playing ball and finding my way, and Wilt saw that and took the time to provide guidance. He was extremely intelligent, supremely confident but not cocky, and kind. I thought back to history class; he was like a modern Charlemagne. A level above everyone else in everything he did. He kept spending time with me over the weekend, even bringing me to the legends shootaround at the Penn gym before they scrimmaged. I was going to 76ers games then and definitely, Wilt at 50 could've been an All-Star if not the best player in the league. If a time machine brought 23 year old Wilt Chamberlain to the present, he would immediately dominate the NBA. No doubt. None of the current star Euro "centers" would get off a shot and Wilt would foul them out. Giannis? Wilt would dominate him physically. And yes, he would've dominated Shaq - stronger (yes, he was), faster, quicker, much higher vertical.
Yea definitely. I think w lebron we can see how far someone can actually play in todays game. He was the best facilities probably in nba history just cause of his wealth.
@@erichvonmanstein6876 You missed the point. Back then, very few guys even played til 30. Modern nutrition, training, surgical techniques, and rehab have extended the average career length of top players.
I was watching a playoff game in 1995, and my dad told me; See all those guys there? Wilt Chamberlain scored more points than Jordan, grabbed more rebounds than Rodman, was more athletic than Pippen and stronger than Shaquille O'Neal.
Oh yea i honestly believed his best ability was scoring but defense wasnt far behind, ( career high 20+ blocks nba) in high school, he was so good, he averaged 70+ points in a 5 game span, broo was built different
If blocked shots were an NBA official stat when Wilt played, Wilt would have yet another record that will never be broken. He blocked an unbelievable number of shots. Russell also was a fabulous shot blocker but Wilt was a volume shot blocker.
Skill wise not the best? He led the NBA in assists for an entire season, ran the floor like a small forward, and had a completely unstoppable mid range game. He’s arguably the most skilled center of all time.
Wilt's era - Celtics 6 HOFers & Lakers 2 of 20 greatest ever. Wilt played with Thurmond, Greer, & Arizin in diff years. Thurmond 1 year as rookie & only 7ppg. Arizin was old in Wilt's 1st 2 seasons. Only Greer in his prime - that team was one of greatest in NBA history. I've done more research than you can imagine & had long discussions with Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer, & other top players about this. Have you? Every player from that era says Wilt was on a different planet & stats back it up.
@@dantemccain not untrue but Ruth had seasons where he hit .378 and .393 with 40+ homers, 120+ RBI, 140+walks and 140+ runs scored...nobody does that. Bonds is the closest...but you know...
I believe that wilt chamberlain would be the undisputed most dominant center ever if he was in our era. His physical gifts are absoloutely astounding. A giant bench, He broke someones shoulder when he blocked them. He was running insanely fast for his size in chuck taylors. A 40-41 inch max vert biggest in 7 footer history. And the rules today would really help him on offense. Back in his day he couldnt post up and start pushing them because it would be an offensive foul. But the defense had way more freedom. Thats why he was such an inefficient big man. If he could play like shaq did he would be incredibly dominant. Because hes much stronger in the top of his body more than his legs. Which make him more swift. He could play like a better giannis, shaq. Anything really.
It was Gus Johnson, 6-6, 230 lb Hall of Fame power forward of the Baltimore Bullets. Chamberlain cleanly blocked the shot, grabbing the ball while Johnson was in midair. Basically body slammed Johnson to the hardwood.
Wilt blows up the guys from the old generation could not compete now. Could you imagine him with todays training and nutrition. Would of been crazy to of seen.
In a total of 142 matchups, Wilt averaged 28.7 PPG and 28.7 RPG. Bill averaged 14.5 points and 23.7 rebounds. Enough said. Wilt did this against one of the best all time defenders.
That's a great story. Wilt was a monumental force and a physical specimen unlike anyone I've seen, though Bo Jackson ranks up there with him as an absolute freak of nature and athletic wonder.
Two of the all time Lakers great players Wilt Chamberlain and Magic Johnson going head to head in a basketball 🏀 game. I would have love to have been there to watch that game 🏀💛💜👍😊
Wilt was the Secretariat of horse racing. No one could compete. No one even talks about him because he was not only the best at just basketball. Best athlete to ever breathe air.Jordan knew it as he looked up at him.
I loved watching Wilt on TV playing hoops. Looked forward to every game and watched as many as I could. He was my basketball idol when I was growing up. Both Wilt & Jabbar going at it were my favorites! One pretty cool thing about Magic was that a family friend was his roommate at Michigan State while he was in college. Lucky dude!
To do such a feat (against Magic Johnson, Bernard King etc.) could only be done by the greatest basketball player of all time 🐐. That’s all I have to say about that.
Wilt is the ONLY player to set hundreds of NBA records that will never be broken. Kareem, MJ, Shaq, Kobe, etc. have set no records that will never be broken (Bron is setting some though). If we are discussing individual players and you leave your opinion out of it, the facts indicate that Wilt Chamberlain is by far the greatest individual player. He is the only player ever to lead the NBA in points, rebounds and assists. Winning the Finals depends on who else is on your team and who is coaching the team.
Great point...regardless of how great or dominant a player is winning has alot to do with coaching and your supporting cast, with that being said wilt played on two of the greatest teams ever!!!
These are those type of legendary stories I absolutely can never get enough of. Stories where the reporters are the people who where part of the moment just like the pouring of amazing stories about Kobe from his peers after his untimely passing. It's still hasn't completely settled with me that he's gone. RIPower Mamba
Gosh that photo of Magic looking at Wilt got me to like this at first blush. Wilt was and is a hero of immense proportions, not just his ball play. A great man. Glad Magic got to share that.^^^
@@kelvinkloud also, of MJ‘s 6 championship, the one that means the most to him was his first! Not just because it was his first, but he had more respect for Magic than any other Finals opponent! As well as defeating the Lakers at The Forum… A venue that was that was so rich with NBA history and success! He also knew that it was quite possibly (at the time) the passing of the torch. And because of Magic’s (early/forced) retirement, it ended up being just that!
and yet, when he did lose, it ate at him badly. The summer of 1984 he went into a deep depression and Isiah Thomas talked about how he just cried all night at the hotel rooms while he layed on the floor.
@@edhorton2766 Why not the Big Dipper himself? How about a hologram of Wilt blocking a dozen or so of James and Magic's best shots and sending them up into the cheap seats? I know I'd pay to see that movie. Wouldn't you?
@@brian7333 on court leader for the harlem globetrotters for 22 years. i'm sure google or your fav. search engine can provide more info if you are interested.
I am old enough to say that I saw Wilt play as a Warrior, 76er, and Laker! The greatest basketball player ever. Scorer, rebounder, assists handed out, shot blocker: he owned the paint! No one like him since nor will,there ever be!
Great video! The music takes you back to the feel of that era. Also I love that those guys could do an interview just using normal language without cussing.
This is why it drives me out of my mind when they say top five greatest and they never mention Wilt. What’s even more annoying is that sometimes Magic makes the list and Wilt doesn’t. Wilt knew he was the greatest and he still is. Wilt is the GOAT. I guarantee you MJ knows it but he isn’t going to promote that. He knows it and everyone that knew him felt his presence.
Ive done some fantasy drafts and these dumb kids always grab LeBron, Shaq, and Steph. Jordan is usually first but after that it's easy to grab Wilt, magic, and Bird. I just laugh because they don't realize that Wilt is Shaq if he were faster, stronger, more stamina, and actually had skill. Wilt would've shut Shaq down hard.
@ericroberts7485 Yeah that's 100% incorrect haha, maybe you don't know Michael's persona? The athlete with the most psychotic competitive streak in sports history, who is also the GOAT, knows Wilt was better? what?
@@lorenzo3213well the only person who knows for sure is MJ. Things that I’ve read about the them is that Wilt is a more imposing figure than people think. He got I MJ’s head. When all of the superstars are in the room and it involves Wilt. Wilt is the alpha in the room. MJ isn’t going to tell you that. That’s my opinion from stuff I’ve watched involving them.
@@lorenzo3213Bird is also a bigger figure than people realize. I guarantee you MJ respects Bird. MJ is better than Bird but he Bird is bigger than the public gives him credit for. Birds better than Majic though. This is coming from a guy who thought Magic walked on water when I was a kid. I never paid attention to Bird. Now that I’m older and understand the game better, it’s obvious that Bird is better than Magic. Magic has always had a better supporting cast.
Man It’s crazy that Wilt is not talked about enough. I am only 39 and I remember my dad telling me stories of Wilt even though I’ve seen Jordan and Kobe and Larry and Magic and Kareem and Bill Russell and Dr J, I still believe Wilt is the true Goat then MJ and Kobe and the rest. Wilt was very skilled and his Basketball Iq was very Sharp.
0:01 "I'll tell you a great magic story." To be fair, I bet you Magic Johnson himself would class this as one of his great stories. The time he was able to go up against a 43 year old, almost a decade in retirement, Wilt Chamberlain.
Much Wilt love Foobas :) Magic learned the hard way that Wilt was usually holding back his game so that he wasn't hated. Pissing Wilt off might be the dumbest idea ever in NBA history...not only could he humiliate u, he could also hurt u real bad.
Oh man, I used to watch those Men's Gym pickup games back in the 1980s. They were amazing - a bunch of Lakers, a bunch of Clippers, the top UCLA and other local college guys, and a bunch of NBA players who lived in LA in the offseason. The best free basketball seats in the world back in those days. Never saw Wilt though - that would have absolutely made my year. Also, Larry is right about Magic stacking his team, and making a bunch of ticky-tac calls - he took those games surprisingly seriously.
Me too. I still remember one day being on the court for the last game before the pros took over, and when I turned around it was Magic walking right towards me! Magic! I never saw Wilt there though either. That would have been special! I did see players like Coop, Kiki, Reggie Miller, Pooh Richardson, James Wilkes (starter on 1980 UCLA team), Jack Haley, and a bunch of others. One thing about the "facts" as they were presented here though--something is off, because in 1980 when this pickup game apparently took place and Wilt was 43, Byron Scott, James Worthy, and AC Green were not on the Lakers yet, and realistically only Scott might have been part of the game since he was a local LA product. So Coach Brown probably did not remember correctly who Magic's teammates were in that game. Speaking of Coach Brown, in 1980 he came to my HS to recruit Ralph Jackson, then the star of the number one HS team in the country, the Inglewood Sentinels, when they came to play us. The gym was jam packed, and as I was standing near the doorway, I turned to look behind me and it was none other than Larry Brown!
I think magic speaking about wilt in the same breath as Michael speaks volumes, if you’ve noticed anything about magic he doesn’t talk about people he hasn’t played against or doesn’t respect so that pick up game must’ve really got on his nerves 😂. Also if you know anything about magic he doesn’t take it easy on pick up games either, just look at his team USA pick up games against Jordan.
The compilations of Wilt bringing the ball up the court on his own on the fast break and compilations of Wilt throwing full court inbound passes with ease are two other things that put him way over anyone else at his size. Russell was also capable of bringing the ball up court extremely quickly on his own and finishing fast breaks or dishing passes. Chamberlain's touch on the hook shot was absurd as well. He didn't have enormous shooting percentages because he was taking every shot from 3 feet away. He shot a lot from 15 feet away and had beautiful touch off the glass. Not only was his size unbelievable but he was just as talented. Also should never go forgotten that Wilt only sat for 8 minutes of an 82 game regular season in 1961-62, and all 8 minutes he missed were from the same game, where he was ejected for a double technical foul. Other than one ejection, Wilt did not sit for a single play the entire season.
I used to listen to (US military overseas radio station) AFRTS from 🇪🇹 in the late sixties as a teenager, and always eagerly awaited to listen to Wilt's games. It seemed as if every other word in the broadcast was "Wilt this, Wilt that, Oh my God, Unbelievable," etc. To me, Wilt was some kind of mythical figure in that era. I finally got to the US in 1970 for education. But education was the last thing on my mind. To see Wilt on TV was my sole aim. What a treat! Wilt lived up to all those mythical exclamations made about him by the AFRTS presenters 10,000 kilometers away. I'm fortunate to have seen him (Lakers) play on TV before he retired. On the basketball court, Wilt was a force of nature. As an athlete, he was nature's masterpiece.
Wilt was the greatest and most dominating player of all time hands down. I’m a 50 year old white dude and have seen the best if the best and Wilt stands alone and unchallenged. MJ was super special but wouldn’t have stood a chance against Wilt.
I am huge Wilt Chamberlain fan and think that he is hella underrated, but when it comes to stories like this, I want to hear it, the confirmation, from Magic Johnson himself.
I'll say this about Wilt - to see him walking the earth in person seemed absolutely unreal. I saw him several times during my L.A. days in the mid to late 1990s. The man had a fast gait and covered a lot of ground with each step. It's as if I was watching living mythical god.
I have been watching g basketball for 40 years and have never heard that story. Wow!!! Love it. I know wilt was great. And I think he is the only guy that Shaq would. Not have been able to.push around
i think if he played in 80s or 90s he would have worse stats than shaq(if he would play the same way how he was playing in 60s,without almost any physical contact)
Quote from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar about Wilt Chamberlain! "Sometimes he’d go up with three players hanging on to him. But they might as well have been fluffy scarves for all the trouble they caused. Watching him, I learned the advantage of sheer willpower in winning a game. It was a lesson that stayed with me my entire basketball career."
@@morrisparrish76 finally contributing, Wilt respected Kareem, mentored him and considered Kareem didn't play to the standard he could have defensively? Wilt in his career probably made 10,000 unrecorded blocks, Bill Russell probably did as many and Kareem didn't do half as many on a much longer career? That's what Wilt Chamberlain was disappointed with in Kareem's game, Wilt understood that Kareem was much better than that?
One of the great thrills of my life was shaking hands with Wilt (New York City in 1987). He declined my request for an autograph, so I asked him for a handshake, one Jayhawk to another. He looked a little surprised at first, then smiled and extended his hand. Thanks and RIP, Wilt. RCJHKU
My dad said Wilt was the best player ever to play basketball in any era and he cried like he lost a brother when he died in October of 99, my dad died in June of 2k. R. I. P. Gentleman
Wilt was the greatest by far, he always had 2 or3 guys hanging on him as he went up to the basket, and they'd let them get away with it because it was all players could do to stop him. My whole life in sports I have always wanted # 13 on my jersey. He was THE BEAST. But such a gentle giant. He could touch the TOP of the backboard!
I remember I lived and worked in waikiki beach in 1987 and i was in my 79 Datsun station wagon and saw Wilt on the street in waikiki talking to someone due to him living there....if i had a do over i would have parked and tried to say hello....i do not care for autographs....just would have said hi and told him i was a fan and tried for a handshake .....looking back now it was like looking at almost unreal super human being....
The biggest knock on Wilt is his playoff scoring. His career high ppg in the postseason is 37.0 out of three games in 1961. Way down compared to his 50.4 ppg in the 1962 regular season. He's currently 43rd all-time in career playoff ppg (22.5) while Jerry West is in the top five (29.1).
This is the truth. All these historic regular seasons when the stakes weren't as high and couldn't play at that level in the playoffs. So how valuable are these high scoring seasons in reality? And even outside of facing Russell (r.i.p.) he had series where he declined offensively. He should've easily been on winning teams in both 68 and 69 if he didn't perform so lousy. Hes just like David Robinson.....his great regular seasons didn't translate in the playoffs and he couldn't get it done as a go to high volume scoring C.
Wilt played different roles on different teams. He only played 34 of 160 playoff games as a volume scorer. I could post like 10 things, but I'm going to post his stats by team. Then, his elimination game stats, his finals trb% and then his Playoff Win Shares vs other top 10 players. Just a few asides before I do that. Wilt has the 3 best elimination game scores(EG) and the best Finals EG score. He has 3 of the top 6 finals trb%. Remember, there have only been 43 50 point playoff games in history. Jordan has 8, Wilt 4 and Iverson 3. Three of Wilts were in EG's. None of Jordan's were. So, the odds of averaging 50 in the playoffs is astronomical. Warriors(36 games) PO: 34.6/25.6/2.8/49.9% EG: 37.9/26.6/2.0/49.6% FEG: 30.0/27.0/2.0/42.9% Sixers(44 games) PO: 24.9/27.5/6.4/54.2% EG: 30.0/31.5/5.0/60.0% FEG: none Lakers(80 games) PO: 15.8/22.3/3.6/53.1% EG: 25.4/22.5/5.0/60.2% FEG: 26.8/24.8/3.3/68.7% Career(160 games) PO: 22.5/24.5/4.2/52.2% EG: 31.1/25.7/3.5/54.6% FEG: 27.4/25.2/3.0/61.1% PO = playoffs EG = elimination games FEG = finals EG
These are the top 10 career Playoff Win Shares. Notice, most of them are considered top 10 of all time. Despite playing 62 of his 180 playoff games post ruptured patella, the only ones with a better Win Share percentage are Lebron and Jordan. Top 10 Career Playoff Win Shares win Shares/Games(%) WS per 48 Lebron 55.68/266(20.9%) .2422 Jordan 39.76/179(22.2%) .2553 Duncan 37.84/251(15.1%) .1939 Kareem 35.56/237(15.0%) .1929 Magic 32.63/190(17.2%) .2078 Wilt 31.46/160(19.7%) .1998 Shaq 31.08/216(14.4%) .1842 Kobe 28.26'220(12.8%) .1570 Russell 27.76/165(16.8%) .1778 Dr J 26.89/190(14.2%) .1756 Bird is 13th 24.83/164(15.1%) .1731 WS/Game Jordan Lebron Wilt Magic Russell Duncan Kareem Shaq DR J Kobe WS per 48 Jordan Lebron Magic Wilt Duncan Kareem Shaq Russell Dr J Kobe
There's more but we'll end it with Wilt's playoff trb% and the 10 best finals trb%'s. Wilt isn't considered for TRB% career wise because you need 400 games to qualify. Based upon Wilt's last 3 season's, here is the list for career playoff TRB% leaders. D. Howard 21.74 Wilt 21.08 Rodman 20.50 D. Jordan 20.38 Best Finals TRB%(at least 36 mpg) Walton(77): 37.7 mpg/19.0 rpg/24.7 trb% Wilt(70): 47.6 mpg/24.1 rpg/24.5 trb% M.Malone(83): 39.3 mpg/18.0 rpg/24.3 trb% Rodman(96): 37.5 mpg/14.7 rpg/24.1 trb% Wilt(64): 45.8 mpg/27.6 rpg/23.5 trb% Wilt(72): 47.2 mpg/23.2 rpg/23.4 trb% Russell(64): 42.3 mpg/25.2 rpg/23.1 trb% Russell(62): 48.3 mpg/27.0 rpg/22.3 trb% D.Howard(09): 42.6 mpg/15.2 rpg/22.6 trb% Russell(65): 44.2 mpg/25.0 rpg/22.4 trb% Anybody who thinks that Wilt wouldn't be the best rebounder in any era is smokin something. Not only are his trb% higher, he does it in more minutes.
More important was that back then, there were no rest between games and you had to ride on a bus from city to city sometimes. One night in LA, the next who knows, on a bus! Sometimes the A/C would go out on the bus. Players slept in a seat toward their next game that night. Wilt played nearly every minute of every game for years and had those averages. WOW! Other factors like the Boston Garden had no A/C in the arena. People just don't realize what players had to go through back in the day.
There's a story about Russell when he was coaching the Sonics. DJ, Slick and Brisker are dissing the coach as "old'. He's wearing street shoes and n-o-o-n-e scored. The Greats!
Thats why recency bias has got to be put to bed. Greats would DOMINATE in any era. Russel is the greatest defensive big in NBA history. No one played better defense than Russ.
@@feynmanschwingere_mc2270 I'm sure Wilt is up there too but they didn't count blocks and steals back then. Also, Wilt grabbed 55 rebounds against Russell so just shows how dominant Wilt was.
Yeah, that story went around. Bob Blackburn (play-by-play guy for Seattle) tried to say it didn't happen but as an employee of the club, it just made it more likely that it was true.
Спорт
"So one day, Wilt is playing James Worthy, Magic Johnson, Byron Scott, Bernard King & Norm Nixon. Full court. Wilt is 45. The game is like 10-10. Magic goes in, lays it in and Wilt blocks it. Magic counts it, game over. Wilt said, "That wasn't goaltending." Magic yelled over to me and he said, "Coach, was that goaltending?" I am in bad trouble right now because I don't want Magic to be mad at me, but I don't want Wilt either, but I said, "Magic, that was a clean block." And Magic said, "Well, what?" and started screaming. Wilt said, "Look, let's do this. Let's play another game." He turned to me and he said, "Larry, they'll be no more layups made in this basket." And he proceeded to block every shot they took for about 10 minutes. Then Magic grabbed his ball and left."
- Larry Brown, 1999
GOD WILT RIP
Wilt is the real GOAT. I dont care bout media narratives to sell more shoes . This dude is best athlete and sport player in history.
GAME WAS AT 1985 AFTER LAKERS JUST WON RING WILT CAME IN GYM AC GREEN WAS SUB FOR JABBAR, KAREEM GOT BEEF WITH WILT AT THAT TIME. HE DIDNT WANT TO PLAY. AC GREEN WAS ONLY NONE STARTER IN LAKERS CHAMPION TEAM. MAGIC SAID TO WILT : WELL WE PUT ROOKIE ON YOU AND WILT SAID : U HAVE 4 CHAMPIONS MAGIC, I HAVE 4 COLLEGE NOT EVEN ROOKIES.
probably one of the only few times wilt played mad players are lucky that he was a gentle giant
No more baskets not layups.
I like how Larry Brown says "I've got a great Magic story..." and then proceeds to tell a great Wilt Chamberlain story
Best coach ever, for players, and stories.
Lol...exactly! I've got a great story about Magic being humiliated by Wilt. :)
Larry Brown was Wilt's personal friend. In fact, I think it was him who made an offer in 1987 to Wilt to join the New Jersey Nets.
Lol
Mamma that is a bad man.... Wilt is the greatest basketball player of all-time, period.
"There will be no more shots made at this basket" LOL Wilt was a Beast..
Which means the previous game Wilt allowed them to make shots.
Came back just for this quote! 😂
When he said no more shots, he must've meant layups, dunks & 2 footers...
Reminds me of freshman Patrick Ewing goaltending every shot to start the NCAA Championship game vs North Carolina.
Before Gandalf there was Wilt...
Who can forget about the time Michael Jordan was arguing with Wilt Chamberlain about who was the GOAT at the time. Wilt Chamberlain,,,, who usually gets the last word walked up to Jordan and told him. "When you play,,, they changed the rules to make it EASIER for you to play,,, when I played they changed the rules to make it more difficult. Jordan was speechless.
This is a false narrative there where no rule changes in jordans time. You can Google all the rule changes in nba n what yrs they happened. To act as if chamberlain took what Jordan did from the pistons is a joke...they starting calling flagrant fouls which is exactly what detriot was doing. Jordan averaged 34.9 against detriot before your so called rule changes. Wilt played against 3 black guys sorry but if Jordan played against plumbers what did wilt play against teams that could only have 0 to 2 blacks. Level of competition was not the same. It's why wilt was so jealous of every great player. He knows his only measuring stick was Russell who he barely beat so always throws himself over any body who is great at the present. He is the epitome of a bitter old man. Magic Shaq kobe Dr j Jordan all people wilt had hate on. Great player but prolly a jerkoff in real life just like Jordan
They changed rules because when Michael played, it wasn't the game but Michael was physically attacked. Why?? because, he was resilient around the block Sir Wilt did. And that's a fact. The fade away, and mid air fake ..... Michael just changed everything, so did he change the rules ...... Michael was physically attacked as if the game was football..... Think about it ..... More so Michael is physically smaller than Wilt, but Michael is a killer. Even shorter than Bird, lesser weight and height than Lebron, but Michael took it to the next level time after the last..... So, assess that 😊
@@josephkia6157 thats part of Wilt's greatest asset, he maximed his physical ability and potential, he didn't need the rules to make it easier for him.
@@josephkia6157 I am also a killer. If they change the rules in NBA, I could play man
@@milosobrenovic1241 so !!??..... But you weren't attacked .... Michael played with grace that he was attacked ...... Did anyone ask of your trade .....rest ...... It ain't about you so sit back ....... Michael rocked the game ...... He would have been resilient around Wilt ..... It had been witnessed
Wilt Chamberlain was so absolutely dominant his stats seem almost mythical.
He retired 50 years ago and he still holds over 60 individual NBA records.
Over 70 records. 68 of them by himself.
@@wymple09 WOW!
If they had counted blocks back them he would have averaged a triple double nearly across his entire career since he had 10-15 bpg almost every season
72 actually
@@peterkelnerxd7009 Yep, Wilt and Bill Russell would easily be # 1 and 2 in blocks. Wilt at 1 and Russell at 2.
Had the NBA counted blocks and steals, Wilt would've actually had at least 1 quintuple double. Harvey Pollack (very respected stats guy) was the guy keeping the stats that game and he liked to record blocks and steals, although they weren't official yet. Harvey Pollack recorded Wilts stats that game to be 53 points, 32 rebounds, 14 assists, 24 blocks, and 11 steals. Absolutely insane stuff.
The MOST physically gifted NBA player ever and it’s not even close.
He was as close to a Demi God as it gets.
NBA 2K type demi god lmaoooo
a half demi-god who only won 2 rings? xD and he needed multiple all-stars and (future) hall of famers for it.
@@AcousticOllilook at the numbers he posted and the records he still has. Problem is that Russell was surrounded by hall of famers. Remember it takes a whole team to win a ring.
At about 12 years old, I attended a number of Laker games at the Forum during that record, 1971-1972 season. I got to meet Jerry West, Gail Goodrich and a lesser known role player on the team named Pat Riley. I remember the 33 game winning streak, that first championship in Los Angeles and some amazing players along with Wilt Chamberlain. Happy Hairston comes to mind. I also saw games in the Magic/Kareem years, and the Kobe/Shaq years. But there is no doubt in my mind that Wilt Chamberlain was the most amazing player in NBA history. Different criteria will lead to different answers on who is the "GOAT," but if you are just talking about the player, his impact on the game and his performance and absolute statistical dominance, there is no other than Wilt.
One of my high school teachers described Wilt as, "Imagine Kareem, but built like a linebacker"
@@NameCallingIsWeak Yep, that's a good description.
Thank you 🙏🏼
Nice to see Wilt getting some well-desearve love. The GOAT in my mind.
Wilt was awesome. However, I think that I have to give Kareem a very slight edge over Wilt for the GOAT of NBA centers. Up until 1984, I would have given Wilt the advantage. But the fact that Kareem played 20 years at a very high level, and was able to win 3 NBA titles in his last 5 years as a player, for me, that puts Kareem over Wilt, albeit very slightly.
I still think MJ is better.....but Wilt is #2 in my eyes.
my top 10 is
Wilt
Kareem
Jordan
Lebron
Kobe
Magic
Shaq
Bird
Duncan
Curry
@@frederickrapp5396 what you basically said is you put Kareem slightly ahead of Wilt because Kareem was lucky enough to be paired and somewhat carried to his extra last couple rings by an amazing Laker team around him.
@Aaron9 because you dont agree
People don't include Wilt in GOAT conversations because he was so far beyond everyone else, it's ludicrous to compare him to anyone else. Wilt played in the era before free agency. He didn't have the luxury of inviting the best players in the league to join him wherever he was. He played with whomever management drafted. Watching Wilt match up against Bill Russell was a thing of beauty. Glad I got to see that on my family's black and white TV.
Should’ve won more
@@micahclawrence If he had played with Cousy, Sharman, Sam Jones, Heinsohn, etc. he would have.
They don't include them cuz they never saw him play. With Michael you can go back and watch RUclips videos if you didn't grow up during his era and didn't witness his greatness. No doubt Wilt was a dominant player and should be included in the conversations but hardly anyone has seen him play or seen him play against good players. Same kind of thing goes on with the younger generation comparing Michael to LeBron or Steph Curry today. They never saw Michael play so they don't consider him their goat. Every generation has their own goat. 🐐
@@pgrabar I know the Celtics were stacked. And I’m not saying Wilt isn’t amazing. But 2 titles and 4 mvps ain’t gonna cut it because he’s instantly surpassed by Kareem and you could argue Russell too. Shaq won 4. Duncan 5. Jordan 6.
@@micahclawrence MVP’s were player voted back then. Wilt should have ten MVP’s if we’re being honest. The fact he didn’t win MVP averaging over 50 & 25 for a season is a total joke. Throughout his entire prime, Hal Greer was his single great teammate. No shit he didn’t win more, he had no chance. That’d be like pairing LeBron with Jimmy Butler today and expecting him to win more than 2 rings against Curry, Harden, Durant, Giannis, & Jokic. Not gonna happen.
Wilt Chamberlain
The most underrated superstar in NBA history
Was probably the greatest basketball player of all time
Today, you'd never know it
He's the GOAT
UNDERRATED?? WTF?? BY WHO???
@@davidziemann9653 By anyone new kid who says LeBron is The GOAT. Lets start there
@@InvestBetter. Those kids need better parents who tell them about history!!
False. I am. You've never heard of me, making me the most underrated player ever.
Wilt Chamberlain, was probably the greatest player ever played the game of basketball. Beyond any reasonable doubts he's worthy of respect, admiration and appreciation after what he'd done for NBA.
I agree.... peeps STILL do noit realize how dominant he really was. Kicking professionals ass's as a 16 year old...(Avg'ing 70+ ppg too!!!) pfft! ... If Wilt isn't the greatest...... ooo , lemme put it THIS way. If MJ & Wilt switched the times they played in & Wilt had MJ's carrer in the 60's & along came MJ now , & putting up all the #'s that Wilt did.....1st of all...can you imagine? lmao! AND... if MJ put up Wilt's #'s , no doubt in my mind , He woood be considered the best of all time......MORE SO , than he is now. I think peeps just wanna be able to say..."I saw the best". I
@@elvispresley5921 If Wilt had played in the last thirty years, he would be all everyone would talk about even today. Think MJ phenomena on steroids.
@@curly8029 Yeah , your right. With Wilt , no internet or ANY digital items... just a newspaper.
@@elvispresley5921 had he played in the last internet-connected 30 years I said
@@curly8029 Ahhh , i see , sry about that !
I love Wilt, since I was a runner, I appreciated seeing wilt at a Cross Country Championship in the 70's. To see the runners pass at different areas fans would run from one spot to the next. Wilt was right there leading the way and cheering ! He truly loved all sports and all people!
as a kid i was at the beach, Wilt was on the volleyball court , countless times i would toss back a ball that was spiked that HAD left the court , when i passed it back to Wilt he stopped and a big smile and "Thanks young man " first and last TIME , just a people person
When I was in the 4th or 5th grade I saw Wilt Chamberlin play at San Francisco Civic Center. It was my first ever Pro game. My father used to enjoy recounting how I said "Dad look how little the ball is". I treasure that memory to this day. I am 70.
My first game was the Philadelphia Warriors vs the Celtics at Boston Garden. The fans were absolutely brutal. Wilt dropped 47 on them and the Warriors won. Wilt relentlessly made 17 foot fadeaway bankshot after bankshot. I became a Chamberlain fan that night.
🍻
@harrywensel8456 very cool! I love Wilt Chamberlain stories. My dad always called him "The Big Dipper"
My dad remembers watching him play at Kansas in College when my dad was 9 or so (he was born in 1948). He also remembers listening to the Wilt led 1957 KU team fall to UNC 57-56 in triple overtime in the NCAA title on the radio. Wilt didn't come back to Kansas untill 1998 to get his jersey retired because he was so distraught about the loss and thought KU fans hated him for it. I was at that 1998 game as an 11 year old kid with my dad. And in 2022, when KU came all the way back down from 15 at half to beat UNC and win the title, my dad said "there goes Wilt's ghost." Wilt's defeat had been avenged! I have heard the stories, but I feel so lucky to watch Wilt speak at Allen Fieldhouse and see his jersey go into the rafters. "Rock Chalk Jayhawk."
@@edhorton2766 I can only imagine how he would have looked playing. I have seen some great reels of his long jump and high jump (it's unreal a man with that long of a body could get over that crossbar). Also, at Kansas, they have really good restored reels of Wilt dribbling the ball down the court, he could run like a DEER! He was seriously faster than all of the guards out there! He pre-dates the actual NBA. He did so many remarkable things. The 1957 NCAA title game is still unavailable to watch.
@@twoquickii1330 Wilt was winning Big 8 high jumps back when they used the western roll technique. Who knows how high he could have gone using the Fosbury Flop? He was a freak of nature and as strong as a moose.
Giannis, and I love Giannis, is a 2x MVP, playoff MVP, and the best player in the NBA today. He averaged 30 points and 11.6 rebounds last season. Wilt Chamberlain was taller, bigger, faster, stronger, a higher leaper, and had more basketball game than Giannis. I don't know what Wilt would avg today but he'd easily exceed what Giannis is doing. And by the way, you can't touch him either in today's game.
Truth. WILT is Paul Bunyan. WILT is bigger faster stronger than anyone ever. Combined. SHAQ was fatter. Who's faster than WILT at Any position. AND WHO WAS EVER STRONGER!!! WILT would ball up Shaq newbies and stuff him through the bucket. Shaq was scared shitless of WILT until he died in 1999. He knew better. WILT would fuck him up and Shaq knew it.
The game was completely different in the 1960s. Wilt would probably be a great 3-point shooter today 😉
A true legend indeed
@@andrzejzborowski4920 He wouldn’t need to be. He’d be almost unstoppable under the basket. He could average 40 without shooting the 3. That’s no exaggeration.
@@scottfeuerhammer3595 Who wouldn’t be afraid of Wilt? Especially Shaq who wasn’t used to seeing someone stronger than he was.
Wilt is the true GOAT of basketball. Teams were actively trying to recruit him when he was 50 years old! I really wish he would have signed up for a season with the Lakers in the 80's, he could have shown the world how dominate he was against more modern competition, and it would have been really fun to watch a guy school people that were half his age.
He wasn't dominating in the mid 70s when he was actually still playing, but would get magically better 10 years later? Lmao...cmon man, use SOME common sense!
@@manuginobilisbaldspot424 he retired due to injuries and rehabbed during the 70s. By 1980 he was once again a force on the court. He wouldnt be dropping 50, but he could have been an excellent backup center and probably would have led all backups in rebounds.
@@manuginobilisbaldspot424 in his last season he was fmvp
I MEAN, SERIOUSLY. HE SCORED 100 IN A GAME. KOBE ONLY SCORED 81, BUT HE WAS A WELL KNOWN RAPIST, SO HE REALLY ONLY SCORED 39 IN THAT GAME.
@@manuginobilisbaldspot424
He didn’t play in the mid 70s.
He retired in 1972 due to injuries after leading the Lakers to the NBA Championship in his last season and was the Finals MVP that year.
I’d say he was still getting it done right to the end of his career…….
It’s absolutely criminal that Wilt gets overlooked as the true goat. It’s a no contest. Wilt GOAT.
It's just because of how people forget over time. Look how people are forgetting how good Jordan and kobe were. Also TV tech has gotten better
Nah didn’t win enough championships to be considered the GOAT. Stats matter ofc but so do championships
rumor was Wilt gave Magic AIDS
Bill Russell has entered the chat
@shutupsimp934 bill Russell left the chat and this world 😂
I remember meeting Wilt when he was playing volley ball with the Big Dippers. Other teams would play with 6 players while the Big Dippers would play with 4 players. The Dippers would always win. Wilt would spike the ball so hard that you could not believe it didn't explode and deflate. He was a monster of a man and an unbelievable athlete even at his older age. Shaking his hand was like shaking a catcher's mitt.
Yes, had wicked velocity on his "spikes" but he never really jumped up to hit the ball. Always looked to me like he was still standing in the sand at State Beach in LA.
I used to shoot the shit with Wilt when I worked in Boca Raton in the late 1980s. Immediately, I got on his good side because I always got him to talk about himself and what he could do athletically. He was a very easy going guy who lived his best life even in his mid-50s when I met him.
I remember him saying the only reason why he couldn't do the decathlon was because his height would kill him in the pole vault and 110-meter hurdles. He said he was nearly world class in five of the remaining events (shot, discus, javelin, 400 meters, and high jump) and competitive in the 100 meters, 1500 meters and long jump.
That said, I have what many would say are large hands. I have a 5 5/8 inch span for my bowling balls, which very few bowlers I know of or knew of had as long or longer. But Wilt's hands were a (top) knuckle longer than mine. His was easily a 6 3/8" to 6 1/2" span -- he could palm a bowling ball and chuck it down the lane instead of rolling it.
Cool beans!
I remember a Sports Illustrated story: Wilt refused to play volleyball against women because, he said, he didn't want anybody hurt. One day two All-America volleyball players insisted he play them, because he was just being a sexist jerk. He finally said okay. Then he spiked a ball, it split the defender's two blocking hands, hit her face, broke her nose, and put her in the hospital.
Wilt went to the hospital, paid the bill for his friend's medical care and never played a real game against women again..
@@bobomaigret5430 Can you imagine that today???!!!
The disrespect is unreal Wilt is the original the most unstoppable force the NBA has ever seen. Just watch the videos that's him scoring 60 70 80 points with no problem. I hate the slander that he played against 6 footers knock it off he played against giants of the sport.
Some criticize some of wilts achievements not because the milkmen argument (Don’t get me wrong, you hear it a lot but it’s just simply said because of ignorance and it’s just false) but because that era was very inflated with its pace of play with scoring and rebounding, leading to some extremely busted stats not just exclusive to Wilt.
Not that Wilt wouldn’t be Great into todays game. He’d easily be one of the best players now. Wilt was a freak of nature and Easily one of the best to ever Play. But to people who just see stats and Say he’d average over 60PPG in todays game simply are stat munchers don’t know what there talking about.
Wilt playing in a exclusively inflated Era is a curse and gift at the same Time. But wilt was notorious for being able to adapt with play styles so he’d easily be a top center in todays Game.
Bruh wilt was an underperformer in finals unlike shaq! Wilt overrated bro in the finals was like 2011 Lebron all the time . Lmao he was a front runner Wilt Chamberlain averaged, 18.6 points and 3.8 assists in 35 games in the NBA Finals in his career.
I’ve spent a few decades trying to understand why he doesn’t get the credit he deserves: because to me, he is the all time, no question GOAT center. As far as I can see it is a combination of a few things (none of which I agree). 1)Wilt didn’t win like Russell did , so Wilt gets inevitably lost in the conversation while Russell gets more respect . I wouldn’t take anything away from Bill Russell, but he played with 8 hall of famers and arguably the best coach of all time Red Auerbach. Once Wilt had Jerry West he won , he was like Michael Jordan before Scottie pippen and Phil Jackson . 2) Wilt player against plumbers . Well that’s serious hyperbole. Bill Russell, Baylor , Kareem. So many others. That’s really unintelligent or just ignorant to say . I do agree the entire league now is very physically incredible but there were many incredible athletes back then too. 3) Wilt had a certain arrogance about him like with his book when he talked about how many women he slept with he got a lot of flack for that. Personally I don’t care it’s his business. I think In the end Wilt is cursed by lack of champship caliber team mates and coaches . Red Auerbach knew how to win games but he was also blessed with the best players. Wilt didn’t have that until Jerrt West.
@@Chevy-hw6lw some of it did have to do with Russell’s Teams having over 16 HOF. But *Prime warriors* wilt was usually a very parasitic player. Some of his teams had losing records because he was willing to sacrifice Winning for Stats. When he went to philly he became more of a team player and got it done.
But, Wilt definitely got Robbed of a few MVPs and titles Because of Boston and Bill Russell.
@@Chevy-hw6lw Wilt has a case for GOAT center but since theirs Jabbar, Olajuwon, SHAQ, and Malone as competition for that spot. (Russell too but besides 1969 he’s never had to carry teams like the other 5 have) It’s kind of hard to defend.
The year he scored 100 points in a game, he AVERAGED over 50 points and 30 rebounds a game. I don't care how tall you are - that's incredible.
Yao Ming was 7'6" and never came close to what Wilt did. Height has nothing to do with it. It's skill.
@@Pallehz Exactly right!
EXACTLY!!!!!! 😂😂😂WILT WAS THE FIRST, ONLY, & LAST!!!!!!
& played damn near every minute of each game he played
@@ishmaelwilson6702 People don't realize that he hit his free throws early in his career either. Can't remember, but I think he hit like 32 free throws the game he scored 100. Might have been a bit less but it was a ton. He was a beast!
Wilt Chamberlain were the greatest Athlete of all time.I am talking about a man that played for the Globetrotter,Triple Jump,High Jump, Volleyball,Track and Field and shot pute.His highest scoring average 50.4, average 40 PGG in a season and Wilt The Stilt had more 50pts in one season (45) and still have 65 NBA records that no one broken to this day.Wilt is the real GOAT.
50ppg with 50%fg lmao>great for center>not
@@ziginaigra Theres a tradeoff between VOLUME and Efficiency. Learn some statistical analysis please. Thanks.
THE GREATEST athlete in ANY sport, ever. Dude was a freak, freak of nature. Goliath in the flesh.
Definitely. Like he and Bo Jackson…in that order. Then there’s everyone else
The only argument against his GOAT status is that he only won 2 chips
Wilt Chamberlain is the most dominant player of all time. It's like taking Giannis and then adding 3 inches, 70 lbs, 5 inches of wingspan, a couple more inches of vertical, and a Dirk Nowitzki level mid range game. The most you could do is bait Wilt into taking dumber shots, but even then he was regularly gonna shoot them over your head. He has skyhooks, finger rolls, up and unders, anything he wanted to do in the paint he did, even with Kareem there. You could not stop him, in today's game I'm dead serious when I say he would probably dribble like Giannis and shoot 3s too. He was the inventive type, I wouldn't be surprised if he took more stepback 3s than normal ones cause he was so strong. His 3pter would probably look pretty similar to Lebron's.
Along with Kareem's sky hook, Wilt's 17 foot fadeaway bank shot were the 2 most unstoppable shots ever. High percentage and no defense.
Comparing Giannis to wilt is a joke.
Wilt is likely the greatest athlete that has ever lived. 1 in 100 billion genetics.
Wilt doesn’t get mentioned in the goat conversation because he is the GOD of basketball. There is no one to compete or compare.
Mike is the greatest, but Wilt was the best player! Scoring machine, rebounding monster, asists wonder, insane blocker!
nope@@mirospajic9929
Love this story. Everyone pretends Wilt never played against anyone but plumbers and bus drivers. The span of his career allowed him to play against many HOF'ERS and he still dominated
The people that are saying these things about Wilt or other old players don’t understand basketball. They probably never saw Wilt play in Real Time, NOT RUclips!!! They don’t understand that era’s overlap. I saw an Old Wilt Chamberlain bbq a Prime Lew Alcindor (Kareem). Out of the nearly 27 games they played against each other Wilt Chamberlain’s team beat Kareem’s team 14 times.
Haters gonna hate
And they don't understand the only reason they drove a bus in the off season was to pay the bills. The league salaries were a pittance of what they are today.
Wilt saw a Bellamy, Reed, Thurmond, Russell, Hayes or Kareem every time he stepped on the court lol. Its like Hakeem having to play Shaq, Robinson and Ewing 50x a year instead of 4 each at most.
@andrewcook1246 the amont of times a yr is never brought up in that way. They always try to say the league being smaller as a minus but if you expand the league ppl playing against expansion teams also had an advantage. Also smaller league meant you played against tougher comp more often.
Wilt was just not a human being.
The things he did were just out of this world.
Wherever he is right now, he's still dominating the court.
He was extraordinary but definitely a human, being that he is expired. Possibly some other dna in there but none of us will know that until the end times.
Basketball 🏀 in Heaven!
"Dear God, I know I’m a sinner, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son. I believe that He died for my sin and that you raised Him to life. I want to trust Him as my Savior and follow Him as Lord, from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do your will. I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen."
Did you pray this prayer?
He was regularly going 1 on 1 with Kobe until his good mate Bill rocked up to play this year.
Wherever he is I hope he’s resting at ease
I was with some great, retired, older coaches a few months back. I asked where does Wilt Chamberlain fit in as the greatest player to play the game. Their response.... It's Wilt and then everybody else, no contest. Most at the table agreed. Wow, now there is a statement. The coach that made the statement was a legendary high school coach in Los Angeles and then assisted Tark with a few of the great UNLV teams.
Love Foobas focus on Wilt. In response to those questioning why Wilt retired "early" and stopped scoring so much later in his career... 35 was not young in Wilt's era. No arthoscopic surgery, no modern training or rehab, & poor sneakers (the converse chuck taylors hipsters wear now) meant many serious knee injuries with full year recoveries & permanent loss of quickness/vertical. No modern nutrition either... heck, many players smoked cigarettes at halftime. Wilt had a severe knee injury late in his career. Pete Maravich was Steph Curry with more moves & way better passing, and David Thompson was Michael Jordan 1.0 but early knee injuries left them hobbled. Wilt rehabbed on the beach, running in the sand and playing volleyball. It was a new challenge and he loved it. After a salary dispute he went to the ABA as player-coach for a huge payday (NBA didn't pay well then - in 1971 Wilt was the highest paid player at only $100k), and then he began playing pro volleyball. Of course, Wilt is also in the volleyball Hall of Fame. And the switch to volleyball was for the same reason he stopped scoring so much. He got bored because no one could stop him. He led the league in assists one season just to prove he could (only center to ever do it). With the Lakers, he was surrounded by top talent for the first time in his career, so he focused on rebounding, defense, and passing. With Jerry West, Gail Goodrich, Elgin Baylor, and others... Wilt didn't need to score 30 a game. And he was tired of the constant fouls and dirty shots when he was scoring a lot. But every now and then he'd go for 50 just to show he still could. And that team was probably the most dominant single season team in NBA history. How do I know all this? Wilt told me. I realize that sounds like BS, but as a very young man I was fortunate to spend hours with Wilt when he was 50, back in Philly for the Legends of Philly Basketball fundraiser for the NAACP. It was at the hotel I worked at, and Wilt spent hours late at night talking basketball and life with me one on one. I was a teenager, playing ball and finding my way, and Wilt saw that and took the time to provide guidance. He was extremely intelligent, supremely confident but not cocky, and kind. I thought back to history class; he was like a modern Charlemagne. A level above everyone else in everything he did. He kept spending time with me over the weekend, even bringing me to the legends shootaround at the Penn gym before they scrimmaged. I was going to 76ers games then and definitely, Wilt at 50 could've been an All-Star if not the best player in the league. If a time machine brought 23 year old Wilt Chamberlain to the present, he would immediately dominate the NBA. No doubt. None of the current star Euro "centers" would get off a shot and Wilt would foul them out. Giannis? Wilt would dominate him physically. And yes, he would've dominated Shaq - stronger (yes, he was), faster, quicker, much higher vertical.
Yea definitely. I think w lebron we can see how far someone can actually play in todays game. He was the best facilities probably in nba history just cause of his wealth.
That’s so cool thanks for telling us, wish I could’ve met him
Great story. Thank you.
And phuk you mean? 35 is "old" today in the NBA🤷
@@erichvonmanstein6876 You missed the point. Back then, very few guys even played til 30. Modern nutrition, training, surgical techniques, and rehab have extended the average career length of top players.
I was watching a playoff game in 1995, and my dad told me; See all those guys there? Wilt Chamberlain scored more points than Jordan, grabbed more rebounds than Rodman, was more athletic than Pippen and stronger than Shaquille O'Neal.
prime shaq was somethin else
Your dad told you the straight truth.
And played in a very different era.
Your Dads not wrong. All facts.
Like I said Wilt's the best two way player to ever lace em up, he was blocking jumpers on the daily while scoring 40 with ease
50 with ease one year, as his avg/per game was 50.4pts!!!
And averaging 24 rebounds a game as well.
Oh yea i honestly believed his best ability was scoring but defense wasnt far behind, ( career high 20+ blocks nba) in high school, he was so good, he averaged 70+ points in a 5 game span, broo was built different
If blocked shots were an NBA official stat when Wilt played, Wilt would have yet another record that will never be broken. He blocked an unbelievable number of shots. Russell also was a fabulous shot blocker but Wilt was a volume shot blocker.
Wilt was a phenomenon. Absolutely unique. Skill-wise perhaps not the best but in terms of all sorts of stats and physicality way above everyone else.
One year Wilt averaged 48.5 minutes per game. Talk about a record that will never be broken!
@@edhorton2766 How many games did they play each year? Was it already 82 games or far fewer?
@@anwarsadat2334 80.
You don't get the kind of stats he had without some serious basketball skills.
Skill wise not the best? He led the NBA in assists for an entire season, ran the floor like a small forward, and had a completely unstoppable mid range game.
He’s arguably the most skilled center of all time.
Wilt's era - Celtics 6 HOFers & Lakers 2 of 20 greatest ever. Wilt played with Thurmond, Greer, & Arizin in diff years. Thurmond 1 year as rookie & only 7ppg. Arizin was old in Wilt's 1st 2 seasons. Only Greer in his prime - that team was one of greatest in NBA history. I've done more research than you can imagine & had long discussions with Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer, & other top players about this. Have you? Every player from that era says Wilt was on a different planet & stats back it up.
Haters be hearing what they want to hear
@@morrisparrish76 still making no contributions?
Wilt Chamberlain was the Babe Ruth of basketball
A very apt comparison...2 dudes that were doing things never seen before. Could maybe even add Gretzky in there.
no its the other way around because other players had BABE RUTH type seasons but no one has ever come close to having WILT CHAMBERLAIN type numbers
@@dantemccain not untrue but Ruth had seasons where he hit .378 and .393 with 40+ homers, 120+ RBI, 140+walks and 140+ runs scored...nobody does that. Bonds is the closest...but you know...
I believe that wilt chamberlain would be the undisputed most dominant center ever if he was in our era. His physical gifts are absoloutely astounding. A giant bench, He broke someones shoulder when he blocked them. He was running insanely fast for his size in chuck taylors. A 40-41 inch max vert biggest in 7 footer history. And the rules today would really help him on offense. Back in his day he couldnt post up and start pushing them because it would be an offensive foul. But the defense had way more freedom. Thats why he was such an inefficient big man. If he could play like shaq did he would be incredibly dominant. Because hes much stronger in the top of his body more than his legs. Which make him more swift. He could play like a better giannis, shaq. Anything really.
It was Gus Johnson, 6-6, 230 lb Hall of Fame power forward of the Baltimore Bullets. Chamberlain cleanly blocked the shot, grabbing the ball while Johnson was in midair. Basically body slammed Johnson to the hardwood.
i know@@josedopwell9645
but who would care on who it actually was except the diehard wilt chamberlain goat fans@@josedopwell9645
Wilt blows up the guys from the old generation could not compete now.
Could you imagine him with todays training and nutrition.
Would of been crazy to of seen.
In a total of 142 matchups, Wilt averaged 28.7 PPG and 28.7 RPG. Bill averaged 14.5 points and 23.7 rebounds. Enough said. Wilt did this against one of the best all time defenders.
he even got the record of 55 rebounds in one game vs Russell of all people
That man was stamina machine also he was fitness exercise junkie as well…
One true GOAT......Wilt Chamberlain. No one else is close
Wilt Chamberlain was simply the best of all time .
Wilt was literally the video game character with all offensive and defensive stats maxed 😂
Other than free throw shooting, and pretty much any jumpshooting stats XD but yeah, he was pretty great :)
That's a great story. Wilt was a monumental force and a physical specimen unlike anyone I've seen, though Bo Jackson ranks up there with him as an absolute freak of nature and athletic wonder.
Don't forget about Jim Brown! All-American in three college sports! Plus, a successful acting career!
Two of the all time Lakers great players Wilt Chamberlain and Magic Johnson going head to head in a basketball 🏀 game. I would have love to have been there to watch that game 🏀💛💜👍😊
Wilt was the Secretariat of horse racing. No one could compete. No one even talks about him because he was not only the best at just basketball. Best athlete to ever breathe air.Jordan knew it as he looked up at him.
What a beautiful man Wilt Chamberlain was!
Wilt REALLY doesn't get enough respect!!!!
How much? How much is enough? How much fucking respect is enough??
I loved watching Wilt on TV playing hoops. Looked forward to every game and watched as many as I could. He was my basketball idol when I was growing up. Both Wilt & Jabbar going at it were my favorites! One pretty cool thing about Magic was that a family friend was his roommate at Michigan State while he was in college. Lucky dude!
Wilt is that guy who sounds like he's bragging when he's being honest about how good he is/was/ever will be!
To do such a feat (against Magic Johnson, Bernard King etc.) could only be done by the greatest basketball player of all time 🐐.
That’s all I have to say about that.
Cringe
@@msytuser Wilt is head and shoulders above everyone else on the NBA top ten list.
@@msytuser There's plenty of MJ and Lebron fanboy porn sites for u to enjoy....jussayin.
@@gerardrbain1972
Ypu do realise that wilts teams were statistically better when wilt didn't play
😆😆😆😆🤣🤣🤣🤣
Wilt is the ONLY player to set hundreds of NBA records that will never be broken. Kareem, MJ, Shaq, Kobe, etc. have set no records that will never be broken (Bron is setting some though). If we are discussing individual players and you leave your opinion out of it, the facts indicate that Wilt Chamberlain is by far the greatest individual player. He is the only player ever to lead the NBA in points, rebounds and assists. Winning the Finals depends on who else is on your team and who is coaching the team.
🎯 🎯 🎯 🎯 🎯
AGREED...
Great point...regardless of how great or dominant a player is winning has alot to do with coaching and your supporting cast, with that being said wilt played on two of the greatest teams ever!!!
I’m glad you stressed the word ONLY; so now I guess I don’t have to
Thanks for mentioning how Wilt led the league in total assists one season. That's often overlooked.
These are those type of legendary stories I absolutely can never get enough of.
Stories where the reporters are the people who where part of the moment just like the pouring of amazing stories about Kobe from his peers after his untimely passing.
It's still hasn't completely settled with me that he's gone. RIPower Mamba
Just when I thought I’d heard all the Wilt stories, out comes another legend. Crazy stuff
I’ll say one thing about wilt chamberlain; he never ceased to amaze me!
Wilt the GOAT, and not even CLOSE.
Gosh that photo of Magic looking at Wilt got me to like this at first blush. Wilt was and is a hero of immense proportions, not just his ball play. A great man. Glad Magic got to share that.^^^
Magic didn’t feel that way about ANYONE else
For all of Magic accomplishments, and how great he was, I’ve never seen a player as good as him be so gracious in defeat… No matter who it was
agree... class act & he has due respect for those before who laid the rails down.
@@kelvinkloud also, of MJ‘s 6 championship, the one that means the most to him was his first! Not just because it was his first, but he had more respect for Magic than any other Finals opponent! As well as defeating the Lakers at The Forum… A venue that was that was so rich with NBA history and success! He also knew that it was quite possibly (at the time) the passing of the torch. And because of Magic’s (early/forced) retirement, it ended up being just that!
Due to his upbringing; a mom and dad at home does wonders for a child's development... lol
and yet, when he did lose, it ate at him badly. The summer of 1984 he went into a deep depression and Isiah Thomas talked about how he just cried all night at the hotel rooms while he layed on the floor.
I would love to see a movie about Wilt with a reenactment of that legendary game.
Yeah, but who is going to play Wilt?
@@edhorton2766
Why not the Big Dipper himself?
How about a hologram of Wilt blocking a dozen or so of James and Magic's best shots and sending them up into the cheap seats? I know I'd pay to see that movie. Wouldn't you?
@@edhorton2766 CGI
Why don’t Magic never tell this story, nobody could do like Wilt dominate both ends of the court, that’s Goat, 🐐 greatest rebounder ever!!
wilt chamberlain said meadowlark lemon is the goat.
Who's meadowlark lemon?
@@brian7333 on court leader for the harlem globetrotters for 22 years. i'm sure google or your fav. search engine can provide more info if you are interested.
@@brian7333 Whose Steph Curry?
Wilt is entitled to his opinion
I am old enough to say that I saw Wilt play as a Warrior, 76er, and Laker! The greatest basketball player ever. Scorer, rebounder, assists handed out, shot blocker: he owned the paint! No one like him since nor will,there ever be!
Great video! The music takes you back to the feel of that era. Also I love that those guys could do an interview just using normal language without cussing.
Thank you 👍
This is why it drives me out of my mind when they say top five greatest and they never mention Wilt. What’s even more annoying is that sometimes Magic makes the list and Wilt doesn’t. Wilt knew he was the greatest and he still is. Wilt is the GOAT. I guarantee you MJ knows it but he isn’t going to promote that. He knows it and everyone that knew him felt his presence.
Ive done some fantasy drafts and these dumb kids always grab LeBron, Shaq, and Steph. Jordan is usually first but after that it's easy to grab Wilt, magic, and Bird. I just laugh because they don't realize that Wilt is Shaq if he were faster, stronger, more stamina, and actually had skill. Wilt would've shut Shaq down hard.
@@grog3514 completely agree.
@ericroberts7485 Yeah that's 100% incorrect haha, maybe you don't know Michael's persona? The athlete with the most psychotic competitive streak in sports history, who is also the GOAT, knows Wilt was better? what?
@@lorenzo3213well the only person who knows for sure is MJ. Things that I’ve read about the them is that Wilt is a more imposing figure than people think. He got I MJ’s head. When all of the superstars are in the room and it involves Wilt. Wilt is the alpha in the room. MJ isn’t going to tell you that. That’s my opinion from stuff I’ve watched involving them.
@@lorenzo3213Bird is also a bigger figure than people realize. I guarantee you MJ respects Bird. MJ is better than Bird but he Bird is bigger than the public gives him credit for. Birds better than Majic though. This is coming from a guy who thought Magic walked on water when I was a kid. I never paid attention to Bird. Now that I’m older and understand the game better, it’s obvious that Bird is better than Magic. Magic has always had a better supporting cast.
These are the kind of stories that TNT's Inside the NBA needs to be sharing every once in a while.
Man It’s crazy that Wilt is not talked about enough. I am only 39 and I remember my dad telling me stories of Wilt even though I’ve seen Jordan and Kobe and Larry and Magic and Kareem and Bill Russell and Dr J, I still believe Wilt is the true Goat then MJ and Kobe and the rest. Wilt was very skilled and his Basketball Iq was very Sharp.
Wilt was the Goat. MJ is modern Goat. Followed by Kobe. Kareem is probably next. Then whoever.
Wilt, MJ, Bird, Kareem, Magic, West...second tier: Hakeem, Isiah, Oscar, Havlicek, Baylor/Russell
Samuel: other than Oscar you named my all time team
0:01 "I'll tell you a great magic story."
To be fair, I bet you Magic Johnson himself would class this as one of his great stories. The time he was able to go up against a 43 year old, almost a decade in retirement, Wilt Chamberlain.
The legend of wilt continues.
Much Wilt love Foobas :) Magic learned the hard way that Wilt was usually holding back his game so that he wasn't hated. Pissing Wilt off might be the dumbest idea ever in NBA history...not only could he humiliate u, he could also hurt u real bad.
Oh man, I used to watch those Men's Gym pickup games back in the 1980s. They were amazing - a bunch of Lakers, a bunch of Clippers, the top UCLA and other local college guys, and a bunch of NBA players who lived in LA in the offseason. The best free basketball seats in the world back in those days. Never saw Wilt though - that would have absolutely made my year. Also, Larry is right about Magic stacking his team, and making a bunch of ticky-tac calls - he took those games surprisingly seriously.
Me too. I still remember one day being on the court for the last game before the pros took over, and when I turned around it was Magic walking right towards me! Magic! I never saw Wilt there though either. That would have been special! I did see players like Coop, Kiki, Reggie Miller, Pooh Richardson, James Wilkes (starter on 1980 UCLA team), Jack Haley, and a bunch of others.
One thing about the "facts" as they were presented here though--something is off, because in 1980 when this pickup game apparently took place and Wilt was 43, Byron Scott, James Worthy, and AC Green were not on the Lakers yet, and realistically only Scott might have been part of the game since he was a local LA product. So Coach Brown probably did not remember correctly who Magic's teammates were in that game.
Speaking of Coach Brown, in 1980 he came to my HS to recruit Ralph Jackson, then the star of the number one HS team in the country, the Inglewood Sentinels, when they came to play us. The gym was jam packed, and as I was standing near the doorway, I turned to look behind me and it was none other than Larry Brown!
I think magic speaking about wilt in the same breath as Michael speaks volumes, if you’ve noticed anything about magic he doesn’t talk about people he hasn’t played against or doesn’t respect so that pick up game must’ve really got on his nerves 😂. Also if you know anything about magic he doesn’t take it easy on pick up games either, just look at his team USA pick up games against Jordan.
The difference: they beat on wilt nightly….they could not touch Mike
I think...this is the greatest proof of just how good Wilt was.
The compilations of Wilt bringing the ball up the court on his own on the fast break and compilations of Wilt throwing full court inbound passes with ease are two other things that put him way over anyone else at his size. Russell was also capable of bringing the ball up court extremely quickly on his own and finishing fast breaks or dishing passes. Chamberlain's touch on the hook shot was absurd as well. He didn't have enormous shooting percentages because he was taking every shot from 3 feet away. He shot a lot from 15 feet away and had beautiful touch off the glass. Not only was his size unbelievable but he was just as talented. Also should never go forgotten that Wilt only sat for 8 minutes of an 82 game regular season in 1961-62, and all 8 minutes he missed were from the same game, where he was ejected for a double technical foul. Other than one ejection, Wilt did not sit for a single play the entire season.
That’s like giving a billionaire another 10 dollars….it ain’t necessary
I used to listen to (US military overseas radio station) AFRTS from 🇪🇹 in the late sixties as a teenager, and always eagerly awaited to listen to Wilt's games. It seemed as if every other word in the broadcast was "Wilt this, Wilt that, Oh my God, Unbelievable," etc. To me, Wilt was some kind of mythical figure in that era. I finally got to the US in 1970 for education. But education was the last thing on my mind. To see Wilt on TV was my sole aim. What a treat! Wilt lived up to all those mythical exclamations made about him by the AFRTS presenters 10,000 kilometers away. I'm fortunate to have seen him (Lakers) play on TV before he retired. On the basketball court, Wilt was a force of nature. As an athlete, he was nature's masterpiece.
Wilt was the greatest and most dominating player of all time hands down. I’m a 50 year old white dude and have seen the best if the best and Wilt stands alone and unchallenged. MJ was super special but wouldn’t have stood a chance against Wilt.
I am huge Wilt Chamberlain fan and think that he is hella underrated, but when it comes to stories like this, I want to hear it, the confirmation, from Magic Johnson himself.
MAGIC IS LIAR
GUY CHEAT WIFE HE WILL NEVER CONFIRM THIS. WILT IS NOT LIAR. HE NEVER MARRY WOMAN CAUSE HE LOVED TO LOVE AND LIVE FREE.
Former head coach Larry Brown in this video already confirmed it happened, and he has alot of credibility and would take his word for it.
@@PIP...33 I agree. You cant trust a man with HIV. And media say how he is smart. If he was so smart why he got hiv LOL
well he was kinda asked about it in this video but didn’t say nothing about it
@@patek9789 truth speaks even in silence
I'll say this about Wilt - to see him walking the earth in person seemed absolutely unreal. I saw him several times during my L.A. days in the mid to late 1990s. The man had a fast gait and covered a lot of ground with each step. It's as if I was watching living mythical god.
Fu$king legend. That story ends all GOAT debates.
I have been watching g basketball for 40 years and have never heard that story. Wow!!! Love it. I know wilt was great. And I think he is the only guy that Shaq would. Not have been able to.push around
i think if he played in 80s or 90s he would have worse stats than shaq(if he would play the same way how he was playing in 60s,without almost any physical contact)
@@ziginaigra 🤣🤣🤣
That’s the power of Downplaying
Quote from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar about Wilt Chamberlain!
"Sometimes he’d go up with three players hanging on to him. But they might as well have been fluffy scarves for all the trouble they caused. Watching him, I learned the advantage of sheer willpower in winning a game. It was a lesson that stayed with me my entire basketball career."
Jabbar is also on my all time team
@@morrisparrish76 finally contributing, Wilt respected Kareem, mentored him and considered Kareem didn't play to the standard he could have defensively?
Wilt in his career probably made 10,000 unrecorded blocks, Bill Russell probably did as many and Kareem didn't do half as many on a much longer career? That's what Wilt Chamberlain was disappointed with in Kareem's game, Wilt understood that Kareem was much better than that?
Amen to that. Also RIP Bill Russell. He's playing Wilt again.
Russell gave his plans to stop wilt:
1. Stay on the court aganist him for 48 minutes
The music chosen for this video was amazing. Evoked the sense of the timeless greatness of these great players like Wilt Chamberlain.
I'm glad that Magic gave Wilt his props.
Great editing. Keep it up! The legend of Wilt has to be fed.
Thank you 👍
One of the great thrills of my life was shaking hands with Wilt (New York City in 1987). He declined my request for an autograph, so I asked him for a handshake, one Jayhawk to another. He looked a little surprised at first, then smiled and extended his hand. Thanks and RIP, Wilt. RCJHKU
My dad said Wilt was the best player ever to play basketball in any era and he cried like he lost a brother when he died in October of 99, my dad died in June of 2k. R. I. P. Gentleman
Amazing work man! Most educational gems on youtube! Keep bringing the greats to life 🙌🏀⚡️
Wilt leds NBA in Career minutes per game (46). Insane!
Paul Bunyan anyone
Wilt was the greatest by far, he always had 2 or3 guys hanging on him as he went up to the basket, and they'd let them get away with it because it was all players could do to stop him. My whole life in sports I have always wanted # 13 on my jersey. He was THE BEAST. But such a gentle giant. He could touch the TOP of the backboard!
Magic was smooth as pudding. Wilt was a beast !
I remember I lived and worked in waikiki beach in 1987 and i was in my 79 Datsun station wagon and saw Wilt on the street in waikiki talking to someone due to him living there....if i had a do over i would have parked and tried to say hello....i do not care for autographs....just would have said hi and told him i was a fan and tried for a handshake .....looking back now it was like looking at almost unreal super human being....
WILT CHAMBERLAIN DEFINITELY .. WITHOUT A DOUBT .. 🐐 STATUS ..
One of my favourite basketball stories
Wilt came before the media phase of basketball.
Love this story!
The biggest knock on Wilt is his playoff scoring. His career high ppg in the postseason is 37.0 out of three games in 1961. Way down compared to his 50.4 ppg in the 1962 regular season. He's currently 43rd all-time in career playoff ppg (22.5) while Jerry West is in the top five (29.1).
This is the truth. All these historic regular seasons when the stakes weren't as high and couldn't play at that level in the playoffs. So how valuable are these high scoring seasons in reality?
And even outside of facing Russell (r.i.p.) he had series where he declined offensively.
He should've easily been on winning teams in both 68 and 69 if he didn't perform so lousy.
Hes just like David Robinson.....his great regular seasons didn't translate in the playoffs and he couldn't get it done as a go to high volume scoring C.
Wilt played different roles on different teams. He only played 34 of 160 playoff games as a volume scorer. I could post like 10 things, but I'm going to post his stats by team. Then, his elimination game stats, his finals trb% and then his Playoff Win Shares vs other top 10 players. Just a few asides before I do that. Wilt has the 3 best elimination game scores(EG) and the best Finals EG score. He has 3 of the top 6 finals trb%. Remember, there have only been 43 50 point playoff games in history. Jordan has 8, Wilt 4 and Iverson 3. Three of Wilts were in EG's. None of Jordan's were. So, the odds of averaging 50 in the playoffs is astronomical.
Warriors(36 games)
PO: 34.6/25.6/2.8/49.9%
EG: 37.9/26.6/2.0/49.6%
FEG: 30.0/27.0/2.0/42.9%
Sixers(44 games)
PO: 24.9/27.5/6.4/54.2%
EG: 30.0/31.5/5.0/60.0%
FEG: none
Lakers(80 games)
PO: 15.8/22.3/3.6/53.1%
EG: 25.4/22.5/5.0/60.2%
FEG: 26.8/24.8/3.3/68.7%
Career(160 games)
PO: 22.5/24.5/4.2/52.2%
EG: 31.1/25.7/3.5/54.6%
FEG: 27.4/25.2/3.0/61.1%
PO = playoffs
EG = elimination games
FEG = finals EG
Wilt's EG stats are better than mmost top 10 players. In fact, 31.1/25.7 is probably the best EG statline of all.
Stats in Elimination Playoff Games Finals
pts/rbs/assists/ts%
Lebron(25) 33.5/10.7/7.5/57.8 (12) 31.8/10.4/8.4/56.5
Jordan(13) 31.3/ 7.9/7.0/53.7 (0)
Wilt(25) 31.1/25.7/3.5/56.2 (5) 27.4/25.2/3.0/55.4
Kareem(23) 25.3/12.2/3.8/55.2 (8) 21.5/ 7.0/3.5/53.6
Shaq(18) 25.3/10.9/2.0/57.4 (2) 22.5/10.0/2.0/52.9
Bird(24) 23.3/10.7/6.1/51.9 (4) 21.8/10.8/4.5/47.1
Kobe(19) 22.3/ 5.8/3.5/50.3 (5) 24.0/ 7.8/2.8/47.3
Duncan(21) 22.3/11.5/2.8/54.0 (2) 24.5/11.5/2.5/47.9
Magic(13) 20.6/ 8.0/12.3/56.2 (6) 20.2/ 6.3/15.2/56.5
Russell(19) 14.9/26.6/----/47.6 (8) 17.3/26.4/---/51.8
/
Around 60% of those EG's were against Russell, Reed and Kareem.
Wilt scored 50 points 3 times.
53/22, 50/35 and 56/35.
These are the top 10 career Playoff Win Shares. Notice, most of them are considered top 10 of all time. Despite playing 62 of his 180 playoff games post ruptured patella, the only ones with a better Win Share percentage are Lebron and Jordan.
Top 10 Career Playoff Win Shares
win Shares/Games(%) WS per 48
Lebron 55.68/266(20.9%) .2422
Jordan 39.76/179(22.2%) .2553
Duncan 37.84/251(15.1%) .1939
Kareem 35.56/237(15.0%) .1929
Magic 32.63/190(17.2%) .2078
Wilt 31.46/160(19.7%) .1998
Shaq 31.08/216(14.4%) .1842
Kobe 28.26'220(12.8%) .1570
Russell 27.76/165(16.8%) .1778
Dr J 26.89/190(14.2%) .1756
Bird is 13th 24.83/164(15.1%) .1731
WS/Game
Jordan
Lebron
Wilt
Magic
Russell
Duncan
Kareem
Shaq
DR J
Kobe
WS per 48
Jordan
Lebron
Magic
Wilt
Duncan
Kareem
Shaq
Russell
Dr J
Kobe
There's more but we'll end it with Wilt's playoff trb% and the 10 best finals trb%'s.
Wilt isn't considered for TRB% career wise because you need 400 games to qualify. Based upon Wilt's last 3 season's, here is the list for career playoff TRB% leaders.
D. Howard 21.74
Wilt 21.08
Rodman 20.50
D. Jordan 20.38
Best Finals TRB%(at least 36 mpg)
Walton(77): 37.7 mpg/19.0 rpg/24.7 trb%
Wilt(70): 47.6 mpg/24.1 rpg/24.5 trb%
M.Malone(83): 39.3 mpg/18.0 rpg/24.3 trb%
Rodman(96): 37.5 mpg/14.7 rpg/24.1 trb%
Wilt(64): 45.8 mpg/27.6 rpg/23.5 trb%
Wilt(72): 47.2 mpg/23.2 rpg/23.4 trb%
Russell(64): 42.3 mpg/25.2 rpg/23.1 trb%
Russell(62): 48.3 mpg/27.0 rpg/22.3 trb%
D.Howard(09): 42.6 mpg/15.2 rpg/22.6 trb%
Russell(65): 44.2 mpg/25.0 rpg/22.4 trb%
Anybody who thinks that Wilt wouldn't be the best rebounder in any era is smokin something.
Not only are his trb% higher, he does it in more minutes.
Hands down the GOAT. A genuine freak!
"This is now a no fly zone." - Wilt
Beautifully edited!
Thank you 👍
Played every minute of every game, and NEVER fouled out of a game. 'Nuff said.
More paul Bunyan
Wilt is the real GOAT 🐐
No: wilt is the ONLY goat
More important was that back then, there were no rest between games and you had to ride on a bus from city to city sometimes. One night in LA, the next who knows, on a bus! Sometimes the A/C would go out on the bus. Players slept in a seat toward their next game that night. Wilt played nearly every minute of every game for years and had those averages. WOW! Other factors like the Boston Garden had no A/C in the arena. People just don't realize what players had to go through back in the day.
The real GOAT
Omit the word real
There's a story about Russell when he was coaching the Sonics. DJ, Slick and Brisker are dissing the coach as "old'. He's wearing street shoes and n-o-o-n-e scored. The Greats!
I will definitely look into that story!
Thats why recency bias has got to be put to bed. Greats would DOMINATE in any era. Russel is the greatest defensive big in NBA history. No one played better defense than Russ.
@@feynmanschwingere_mc2270 No one controlled the game like he did.
@@feynmanschwingere_mc2270 I'm sure Wilt is up there too but they didn't count blocks and steals back then. Also, Wilt grabbed 55 rebounds against Russell so just shows how dominant Wilt was.
Yeah, that story went around. Bob Blackburn (play-by-play guy for Seattle) tried to say it didn't happen but as an employee of the club, it just made it more likely that it was true.
Nuttin but love for all those guys❤❤❤
Wilt was a great track athlete prior to professional basketball and phenomenal volleyball after basketball.
Wilt's the nice big guy, who takes it easy, otherwise he'll have no one to play with. Love this story, didnt know it was fr larry brown.