Wilt Chamberlain
Every serious basketball fan has an opinion about Wilt Chamberlain. Either he is the greatest basketball player who ever lived, or he was vastly overrated and couldn't win when it mattered. The truth is somewhere between the two, and I'll explain why.
First of all, when it comes to regular season dominance, Wilt Chamberlain is the best player to ever set foot on a basketball court. Most people know about his 100-point game, but just one year earlier he also grabbed 55 rebounds in a game, which is still a record. But let's start back at the beginning.
When Wilt entered the NBA in 1959, he broke his first record before playing a game when he signed the richest contract in history, making $30,000 during his rookie season. That season turned out to be the most dominant rookie season ever in any sport, as he set new records for scoring and rebounding and won the All-Star MVP, regular season MVP, and Rookie of the Year awards. He also took a Warriors team that had missed the playoffs the previous year all the way to the Conference Finals, where they lost to the Boston Celtics, which would be a recurring theme throughout his career.
Two years later he had the most dominant season in history, even by today's standards. That year he averaged 50.4 points, 25.7 rebounds, and 2.4 assists while playing 48.5 minutes per game. That season represents two records which will never be broken, and his rebounding record (27.2 per game) from the previous season is just as unreachable today. The fact that games have only 48 minutes make his minutes record the most solid record in sports, and it was reached by playing all but a handful of minutes during the season and having several games go into overtime.
The scoring record is also pretty impressive. During that season he reached 50 points 45 times, which is more than any other player has done it in an entire career. Michael Jordan had 37 50-point outings for second on the all-time list, but he's far behind Wilt's 122. His 100-point game is also interesting, since he could have scored more, but the game ended immediately after he scored his final basket and the fans rushed the court. The game was such a blowout that the referees decided to call off the final minute.
Throughout the process of unveiling these rankings, I have made a point of mentioning that the pace of the game was much faster in the 1960's, which caused statistics to balloon out of proportion. In 1962 alone, Wilt averaged 50 points, Oscar Robertson averaged a triple-double, and Elgin Baylor had the highest scoring season ever by anyone not named Wilt. In order to bring these numbers into perspective, I've adjusted them to the pace of today's game, and in most cases it makes those seasons become just very good, but Wilt's 1962 season still stands the test of time. Here are what his averages look like adjusted for inflation:
Chamberlain (1962) adjusted - 40.3 pts, 15.2 reb, 2.1 ast
Even adjusted, Wilt's 1962 season stands alone as the greatest season ever in the NBA. Through the 1960's, he was the best player in every single season, even if he only won 4 MVP awards. So how can a player who was the best in the league for 10 seasons (a record, by the way) not be the best player of all time? The answer lies in the other argument I mentioned in the opening paragraph, that Wilt was not a winner.
While Wilt was the best regular season player of all time, he had the misfortune of running into the best playoff player of all time 8 times in one decade, that man being Bill Russell. In those 8 seasons, the Celtics beat Wilt's teams 7 times, each time in the Conference Finals or the Finals, with Wilt and the 76ers triumphing once, in 1967. With the help of Jerry West, he was able to win a second championship in 1972.
The persistent rumor that Wilt's teams did not win was slightly overblown. In 14 seasons, his teams won two championships, reached 6 NBA Finals, and played in the Conference Finals 12 times. If Boston and Philadelphia had been in different conferences, it's likely he would have played in the Finals at least 10 times. Even in his final season, he was still a great player, averaging a league-leading 18.6 rebounds per game and setting a league record with a 72.7% field goal percentage at age 36.
Wilt had most of the factors that lead to a high ranking on this list. He was a great offensive player. He was a great defensive player. He was a great player in the regular season. He had the longevity that is needed for greatness. What he lacked, and what ultimately kept him from the #1 spot was that greatness in the playoffs, where he was good but not great. Every player I've chronicled so far is lacking at least somewhat in one of those areas, but in my next post you'll see the one player who can be considered great in every one of those areas.
Kareem's numbers throughout the early part of his career were pretty incredible, but they look pretty average when compared to those of Wilt's first decade. Kareem may have won more championships, although half of those had more to do with Magic than Kareem, and Kareem didn't dominate a decade the way Wilt did the 1960's, although he is one of only two players to come close. It seems pretty clear to me that Wilt was the better overall player.
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