Greatest of All-Time PRE-Jordan?

[Roundball_Rock]

Back when Wilt played people say it was a weak era. That is what I think is pathetic. Now days you have 30 teams so the talent level is watered down. Can you imagine 12 teams being in the NBA today.

Winning against 11 other teams<beating 29 other teams for a championship. Making the conference finals today is more difficult than winning a championship then. To do so you need to get through 25+ teams, not 11. Even the conference semifinals are more difficult since you need to beat 20+ teams to get there.

What really holds Wilt back is how could he win only 2 championships against such weak competition?

You'd have teams with Duncan, Kobe, and Artest. Dwight and Wade and Bosh. Ray Allen would be coming off the bench.

Yeah but each team would have players like that so it would be a wash.

when people realised how hard it was to whin a championship yet 11?!

Russell had 6-7 HOFers on his teams and played in an era where there were about 6 teams so it is not surprising he won 11. MJ's 6 are more impressive than Russell's 11 imo.

I vote for Kareem. I believe he is the second best basketball player of all-time and he has a case for being the GOAT even post-Jordan. He has more MVP's than anybody in history and won as many championships as MJ.

[L.Kizzle]

Huh?

Not Tim Duncan, Carl Duncan,he played for the Rochester Royals from 54 to 61.

[LJJ]

This is categorically false.

In a vote of coaches and media members in 1980, Russell was voted the GOAT.

Obviously this excludes Jordan, Bird, Magic, etc....but Russell was indeed considered a legend before this decade.

Yeah.

It's funny how back in the day people thought Russell was better than Chamberlain, but nowadays Chamberlain is considered superior. Mostly by people who haven't watched 60s basketball at all.

[zay_24]

Winning against 11 other teams<beating 29 other teams for a championship. Making the conference finals today is more difficult than winning a championship then. To do so you need to get through 25+ teams, not 11. Even the conference semifinals are more difficult since you need to beat 20+ teams to get there.

What really holds Wilt back is how could he win only 2 championships against such weak competition?



Yeah but each team would have players like that so it would be a wash.



Russell had 6-7 HOFers on his teams and played in an era where there were about 6 teams so it is not surprising he won 11. MJ's 6 are more impressive than Russell's 11 imo.

I vote for Kareem. I believe he is the second best basketball player of all-time and he has a case for being the GOAT even post-Jordan. He has more MVP's than anybody in history and won as many championships as MJ.

[eliteballer]

Back when Wilt played people say it was a weak era. That is what I think is pathetic. Now days you have 30 teams so the talent level is watered down. Can you imagine 12 teams being in the NBA today. You'd have teams with Duncan, Kobe, and Artest. Dwight and Wade and Bosh. Ray Allen would be coming off the bench.

Now imagine back in the 50's. That means that Wilt was going up against the best of the best night in and night out. What we know is that he averaged 50 points a game in a season. Do you realize how unbelievable that is against the best of the best in your day?

There aren't players today grabbing 30 rebounds a game or scoring 50 PPG. Wilt was the best before Jordan. Then Kareem.

You have to be smoking some good ISH to think that the talent pool back then was anywhere NEAR as good as it is now. Seriously.

[RocketGreatness]

Kareem and then Bill Russell. That easy.

Kareem got his 1st league MVP at the age of 23 and that was also the same year he won his 1st championship and was named the Finals MVP. It's literally that simple.

[Mr Know It All]

People need to stop with the "weak era" crap. The only way a player should be judged is by his dominance and impact in his era, and going by that the best player of all time is by far Wilt Chamberlain. 40 years from now I'm sure ignorant fools will say Jordan, Shaq, Lebron, and Kobe played in a weak era and are overrated. As technology moves forward so will training techniques and players access to better development strategies. Nowadays with modern sports medicine and multiple personal trainers how can you say players don't have the unfair advantage over a guy like Wilt who didn't have access to any of our modern training methods.

Wilt was a pure athletic freak and an unbelievable talent. He was a track star and the most dominant force professional basketball has ever seen. Even past his prime he held his own against Kareem in his later days, when Kareem was a young gun coming into his own.

Pre or post Jordan Wilt is the most dominant force the game has ever seen, and that makes him the greatest player of all time in my eyes.

[White Chocolate]

In no order:


-Wilt
-Kareem
-Magic
-Bird

[plowking]

ahh the old "i insult you, then you proceed to attempt to use the exact same insult on me..and fail dismally" rebuttal. don't you get sick and tired of failure?

based on his career, and the fact that nobody dominated more, from an individual standpoint, over a career in nba history. also:
- best rookie year in nba history post 1949
- out of the top 5 peaks of all time, wilt owns 3 of them, and out of the top 10, 5
- owns 4 out of the top 10 mvp seasons ever
- was the best player in the nba 8 different seasons, including his first 4 years in the league
- averaged the most minutes in nba history, and only missed significant time 1 season
- was a standout both offensively and defensively
- led the league in just about every category.. etc

congratulations, you've just destroyed yourself with that comment, and any credibility you had left (if any)

Funny, because if I remember correctly, basketball is about winning, not putting up awesome stats. Might as well put down Pistol Pete as one of the best ever then.

Wilt couldn't do what is considered to be the main point of any sport. Win.
Look at the Spurs, when they wanted Robinson to get as many points as he wanted in a night, he was able to get 71. This is the treatment Wilt got every game. Not to mention other scoring battles in the last games of the season that resulted in 60 and 70 point games. Wilt was the show. The teams purpose was to give it to him as much as possible.

Jordan on the other hand provided statistical dominance along with championships. Plenty of them as well, with even better stats in the playoffs, unlike Wilt. Thanks for bring up MVP's. Russel, whom he played against has more MVP's then he does.

[Disaprine]

pre jordan? chamberlain. post jordan? chamberlain

+1

[Manute for Ever!]

[L.Kizzle]

In no order:


-Wilt
-Kareem
-Magic
-Bird

Pre-Jordan, Bird and Magic had only been in the league for five seasons, they were not GOATs yet. Replace them with Oscar, Jerry and Pettit (For some reason, I feel Pettit wasn't shat only like he is now.)

[daily]

Kareem was and still is the GOAT in my book. Even moreso when you include college and high school

Winner! This is the correct answer.

[plowking]

Winner! This is the correct answer.

Says the Laker fan...

[Shep]

Funny, because if I remember correctly, basketball is about winning, not putting up awesome stats. Might as well put down Pistol Pete as one of the best ever then.

yes, ofcourse basketball is about winning. but basketball is a team sport, if your team is not good enough you will not win, its that simple. unfortunately for wilt, he played in the same era of the greatest dynasty in pro sports history, that being the boston celtics.

Wilt couldn't do what is considered to be the main point of any sport. Win.

wilt couldn't win? 2 championships, and 11 conference finals appearances say otherwise

Look at the Spurs, when they wanted Robinson to get as many points as he wanted in a night, he was able to get 71.

a night. 1 night. nobody in nba history could take the beatings wilt took and play the minutes he played night, night out. you think just because someone does it 1 night he could do it for 82 games? pathetic.

Not to mention other scoring battles in the last games of the season that resulted in 60 and 70 point games. Wilt was the show. The teams purpose was to give it to him as much as possible.

this was the teams only chance at winning games.

Jordan on the other hand provided statistical dominance along with championships

how many hall of famers on one team did jordan have to go through?

Plenty of them as well, with even better stats in the playoffs, unlike Wilt.

check where wilt played his most playoff games - after he stopped scoring and started concentrated on defense and rebounding - which obviously brings his career playoff numbers down from his career regular season numbers.

Thanks for bring up MVP's. Russel, whom he played against has more MVP's then he does.

russell deserved 1 mvp, and that was 2 years before wilt had stepped onto a nba court