Is Wilt Chamberlain's 50.4ppg season overrated?

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

Lets take a look at the numbers first:

20.0FG 39.5FGA 10.4FT 17.0FTA 50.4PPG

The shot attempts are what really is startling. The most impressive stat was the 48.5 minutes per game. Gotta give him credit there, even if that did mean he played in blow-outs.

If any other player (well, the Shaq, Kareem and Hakeem's) had that kinda stamina to play THAT MANY mpg and average THAT MANY shots, they too would average 50 points a game. But let's face it, no player has the stamina to go 48 minutes a game. So let's use another number: shot attempts per minutes played. Wilt, that season...took 0.814 shots for each minute he played. He also took 0.351 freethrows per minute.

Let's say 42mpg is realistic (Kobe for example shooting at that rate would average 44.7 points per game - taking into account his shooting %'s).

Other great scorers averages attempting shots at that rate...

Michael Jordan - 46.8ppg

Shaquille O'Neal - 47.0ppg

Kareem Abdul Jabbar - 48.4ppg

Allen Iverson - 40.1ppg

So anyway, point is, I almost forgot my point.. but If any great player were given Wilt's ridiculous circumstances and green light to shoot, they too could have averaged 50 points for a season or close to it. The thing is, could any player have the stamina to put up that many shots, at that rate, and getting abused and going to the line that much?

[ThaRegul8r]

[jlauber]

Lets take a look at the numbers first:

20.0FG 39.5FGA 10.4FT 17.0FTA 50.4PPG

The shot attempts are what really is startling. The most impressive stat was the 48.5 minutes per game. Gotta give him credit there, even if that did mean he played in blow-outs.

If any other player (well, the Shaq, Kareem and Hakeem's) had that kinda stamina to play THAT MANY mpg and average THAT MANY shots, they too would average 50 points a game. But let's face it, no player has the stamina to go 48 minutes a game. So let's use another number: shot attempts per minutes played. Wilt, that season...took 0.814 shots for each minute he played. He also took 0.351 freethrows per minute.

Let's say 42mpg is realistic (Kobe for example shooting at that rate would average 44.7 points per game - taking into account his shooting %'s).

Other great scorers averages attempting shots at that rate...

Michael Jordan - 46.8ppg

Shaquille O'Neal - 47.0ppg

Kareem Abdul Jabbar - 48.4ppg

Allen Iverson - 40.1ppg

So anyway, point is, I almost forgot my point.. but If any great player were given Wilt's ridiculous circumstances and green light to shoot, they too could have averaged 50 points for a season or close to it. The thing is, could any player have the stamina to put up that many shots, at that rate, and getting abused and going to the line that much?

Wilt's .506 FG% came in a league that shot .426. Elgin Baylor shot .428 and Jerry West shot .445 (and the year before that he shot .419)

In MJ's '87 season, the league shot .480. And in Kobe's '06 season, the league shot .454, but had an eFG% of .490.

[ShaqAttack3234]

It's true that with individual scorers, pace will make more of a difference in extreme cases, and this is even true with more recent teams(Run TMC, 80's Nuggets ect.) and this goes well beyond that. Of course it had to for a player to get 39.5 FGA and 17 FTA. You simply couldn't do that with 1 player on a modern team. To put this into perspective, the average team in 2011 averaged 92.1 possessions per 48 minutes, Wilt's '62 Warriors averaged about 129.7. The fastest team in 2011 averaged 96.5.

There's also the 48.5 mpg. No doubt this shows that Wilt had phenomenal stamina, but this also wouldn't be remotely plausible now. Teams are more cautious about giving their stars rest now, and particularly when the game is out of reach. It's also considered showing up the other team. Wilt played every minute even in 20, 30, 40, 50 point blowouts, could you imagine the criticism he'd receive today for doing this?

To show somewhat of a modern example to how pace can affect an individual's scoring at extremes. Orlando Woolridge averaged 25.1 ppg on the '91 Nuggets. He was averaging 29 ppg before his injury. Denver's pace was 113.7. Woolridge hadn't averaged 20+ ppg since 1987 and his career high had been 22.9 in '85.

On that same Nugget team, Michael Adams averaged 26.5 ppg and 10.5 apg. In the rest of his career, his best averages were 18.5 ppg and 7.6 apg, both in different seasons.

Furthermore, his scoring average was nowhere near 50 ppg in the playoffs. It was actually 35 ppg on 28.9 FGA and 12.6 FTA. He averaged 33.6 in the 7 game series vs Boston and 37 the previous round vs Syracuse.

Then there's also the lane widening from 12 to 16 feet in the '64-'65 season. Both Willis Reed and Kareem felt this had an impact on Wilt's game. I personally don't think this made Wilt a worse player, but I do think it had an effect on how many shots he could attempt.

There's also defensive schemes which included far less double teaming as well as the fact that as Fatal has pointed out, there were only 3 rotation players in 1962 who were over 6'9". Which not only factors in the opposing big man guarding Wilt, but if there was help coming over, it was nothing like the athletic wing players 6'6"-6'9" that we've seen regularly the last 20+ years.

Wilt's peak is considered '67, and by then, he wasn't looking to score as much, but the year before when he still was. He averaged 33.5 ppg on 25.2 FGA and 12.4 FTA in 47.3 mpg. Starting to look less like a product of his era, particularly if you consider per 40 minutes that's 28.4 ppg on 21.3 FGA and 10.4 FTA.

And finally, this type of high volume scoring by Wilt didn't prove to be the way he was most effective for his teams. He seemed at his best as a shot blocker/defensive force, finisher and passer out of the post.

Wilt's 1962 was very good, but clearly not his own best, imo. And the biggest mistake people make is comparing it to modern player's scoring when there is no way to make a fair comparison. It's simply not possible to shoot that much or score that much today, particularly for a big man.

[Richesly]

No, Wilt chamberlain is not overrated. Maybe he was ahead of his time, but put him in Jordan's era, It would be Wilt's era.

[jlauber]

You could make a case for SEVERAL of Wilt's seasons, but the biggest "mystery season" was the "what-if" of his 69-70 season.

For the record, he once again had a new coach, Joe Mullaney, and Mullaney's first order of business was to ask Wilt to become the focal point of the offense.

But before I continue with that season, there was an interesting aspect to Wilt's 68-69 season. He was traded to the Lakers before the start of the season, and his new coach, Butch Van Breda Kolf, had no idea how to use him. He had Wilt playing the high post, and he even BENCHED him at times.

It got so bad that SI ran article claiming that Wilt could no longer score. Wilt caught wind of the article, and the night before it hit the newstands, Chamberlain exploded with a 60 point game. He followed that up with a 66 point game (on 29-35 shooting) a few days later. In fact, over the course of 17 straight games, Wilt crushed the league, averaging 31.1 ppg in that span. Included were games of 30 on ROY and HOFer Elvin Hayes; 33 on Bob Rule (look him up...he had three straight outstanding seasons before he injured his knee), and even a 35 point game on Russell, which was his highest against Russell since his 46 point game in the '66 ECF's. BTW, the NBA was down to 112.3 ppg in that 68-69 season.

Of course, Van Breda Kolf, couldn't stand that. He was even quoted with this, "When we pass the ball to Wilt, he will score. But it is an ugly offense to watch." So, instead he preferred Baylor's shot-jacking in the playoffs, and Elgin responded with a 15.3 ppg .385 post-season, while Wilt was at 13.9 ppg on .545.

Back to the 69-70 season. Wilt roared out to a 32.2 ppg average in his first nine games, and on 60% shooting (along with 20 rpg). Included in those nine games, were games of 33, 35, 37, 38, 42, and 43. He also battered rookie Kareem with a 25-20 game on 9-14 shooting. The 38 point game came against reigning MVP Wes Unseld. The 37 point game came against 7-0 Tom Boerwinkle. And the 42 point game was against Rule.

Unfortunately, Wilt blew out his knee in that ninth game (in a game in which he had scored 33 points on 13-13 shooting), and would require surgery. And while he miraculously returned late, he was nowhere near 100%. Still, he hung game of 30 and 36 in leading LA back from a 3-1 deficit against the Suns. And, in the Finals, he averaged 23.2 ppg, 24.1 rpg., and shot an eye-popping .625.

BTW, who were some of Wilt's opposing centers in the '69 and '70 seasons?

In '69 there were Russell, Thurmond, Hayes, Unseld, Reed, Bellamy, Beaty, Rule, all very good to great players, as well as Boerwinkle, Unhoff, and Dierking...who were all decent centers.

In '70 he faced Reed, Unseld, Hayes, Bellamy, Thurmond, Rule, and Kareem...all very good to great players...as well as Counts, Dierking, Boerwinkle, and Dierking...all of whom were decent.

Of course we will never know if Wilt could have sustained that 32.2 ppg, .600, 20.0 rpg pace...but based on his 17 game streak in '69 (and the fact that in '68 he had the FOUR highest games in the NBA with games of 52, 53, 53, and 68 points), and those sensational nine games at the beginning of the 69-70 season, he was probably on his way to one of his best seasons ever.

[Kobe 4 The Win]

Wilt Chamberlain in my opinion is the hardest player in which to put his abilities and accomplishmets in perspective. His stats are insane. He was probably the most dominant player ever. The competition duing is era wasn't physically able to compete with him so it is hard to measure his actual skill level. He under-acheived in the post season which wrecked his claim on the title G.O.A.T. to most people. The fact that a player that dominant wasn't able to translate that into championships in a league with that few teams begs the questions. Why?

With Wilt there are more questions than answers.

[magnax1]

There's also defensive schemes which included far less double teaming as well as the fact that as Fatal has pointed out, there were only 3 rotation players in 1962 who were over 6'9".

That's not true... Or even remotely close to true.
6-10 Bill Russell
7-1 Wilt
7-3 Halbrook
6-10 Phil Jordan and Darrall Imhoff (both played for the Knicks)
6-11 Ray Felix
7-0 Walters Duke
6-11 Walt Bellamy
So in reality, there were only 2 teams without a player 6'10" playing 15+ minutes a game. On top of the majority of teams in the league had centers starting above 6-10.
Also, comparing it to players like Wooldridge isn't fair either since
1-Wooldridge and the nuggets sucked, were awful on offense and just put up empty innefficient scoring numbers, compared to Wilt leading the league in shooting % in 61 and 63 (came close him 50 ppg season too)
2-Wilt scored 12 ppg more then the next closest guys in the league, and even pace adjusted to the year jordan averaged 37 he would average 37 ppg

[millwad]

Wilt's .506 FG% came in a league that shot .426. Elgin Baylor shot .428 and Jerry West shot .445 (and the year before that he shot .419)

In MJ's '87 season, the league shot .480. And in Kobe's '06 season, the league shot .454, but had an eFG% of .490.

Still comparing a center's FG% to two guard's FG%...

Why don't you compare Wilt's FT% to them?

And to OP, yes, Wilt's season is overrated. Too understand how many shots Wilt really put up that season you can compare his FGA average to Michael Jordan's '87 season. In '87 MJ averaged the 2nd most FGA per game in league history and averaged 37 points per game and still Wilt in his 50 point season averaged 12 more FGA per game. And he also shot 17 FT's per game on terrible %.

[millwad]

That's not true... Or even remotely close to true.
6-10 Bill Russell
7-1 Wilt
7-3 Halbrook
6-10 Phil Jordan and Darrall Imhoff (both played for the Knicks)
6-11 Ray Felix
7-0 Walters Duke
6-11 Walt Bellamy

Well, Halbrook, Imhoff, Felix, Jordon (not Jordan), Dukes were pure crap in '62 so you've got Bellamy (4-time all-star and never on the top 10 MVP list) and Russell (who's listed at 6'9) as Wilt's competitors in '62.

[ShaqAttack3234]

That's not true... Or even remotely close to true.
6-10 Bill Russell
7-1 Wilt
7-3 Halbrook
6-10 Phil Jordan and Darrall Imhoff (both played for the Knicks)
6-11 Ray Felix
7-0 Walters Duke
6-11 Walt Bellamy
So in reality, there were only 2 teams without a player 6'10" playing 15+ minutes a game. On top of the majority of teams in the league had centers starting above 6-10.

I meant 20+ mpg.

Imhoff was close at 19.8
Jordan was correct at 28.9

Swede Halbrook played 14.2 mpg

Felix played 18.5

Dukes is correct as well at 24.6.

My mistake, should've said 4 other, wouldn't object to Imhoff either. But either way, the point stands, that's not many players.

Also, comparing it to players like Wooldridge isn't fair either since
1-Wooldridge and the nuggets sucked, were awful on offense and just put up empty innefficient scoring numbers, compared to Wilt leading the league in shooting % in 61 and 63 (came close him 50 ppg season too)

You completely missed the point which is how such a fast pace can increase your scoring numbers. And Woolridge actually wasn't inefficient. His TS% was 56.5%(much better than Wilt's) and his FG% was almost as good(49.8%)

2-Wilt scored 12 ppg more then the next closest guys in the league, and even pace adjusted to the year jordan averaged 37 he would average 37 ppg

In '62, Wilt averaged 35.38% of his team's shot attempts. That equals about 2531 FGA on the '87 Bulls, that'd also equal about 1092 free throw attempts if he shot the same amount free throws for every field goal attempt(of course, he might not considering there were no 3 to make 2s and 2 to make 1s in '62).

That's 39.4 ppg on 30.9 FGA and 13.3 FTA if he still played 48.5 mpg. Or 32.5 ppg on 25.5 FGA and 11 FTA in 40 mpg on Jordan's '87 Bulls.

[Psileas]

Not overrated at all. A PER of 31.8 in an astonishing 48.5 mpg, despite the high pace (PER is adjusted per minutes and pace) without even all stats being taken into account (add blocks, steals and TO's, and he'd probably be over 33.0) equals pretty much either the most dominant or, at worst, among the 4-5 most dominant individual seasons ever. Couple this with a very solid 49-31 team record and a very narrow defeat at the Eastern Finals to the 60-22 Celtics and...seriously...overrated? Maybe in the same sense that Jordan gets overrated by some people, when they claim he's "clearly" the GOAT, this may get overrated by the ones who may claim this is "clearly" the GOAT season. And these "ones" are not nearly as many as the Jordan ones, especially here.

Oh, scratch that, I just saw who the thread maker is.

[PTB Fan]

I wouldn't say so. Wilt's ability to score was admirable as he was a high volume, efficient, dominant with nice arsenal of moves. My only problem with Wilt is his finesse play.

While finesse isn't bad, it wouldn't have been bad all if he relied more on his power because very few were capable to keep him from dominating. In his first seven years, he established as a great scorer which he truly was (i have him as the 3rd top scorer ever)

Won 7 scoring titles and had nice stats versus elite teams. However, he was not as efficient as other, his scoring actually hurt his team mates and he was not passing well which leads to the opinion of him being a ball hog.

If he played today, with good minutes (let's say 40), i can see him scoring like 30-35 points because a)the center position is weak, b)his abilities would in my opinion translate well and c)he'd be needed to require on his power where he was superior to most.

[Sarcastic]

If anything, it's underrated. Already on the first page we have people trying to discredit it (for their personal agendas), and there will be more to come.

[jlauber]

When Wilt came into the NBA in the 59-60 season, the NBA scoring record was 29.2 ppg; the NBA rebounding record was 23.0 rpg (Russell); and the NBA FG% record was .490.

In his 14 seasons, he SHATTERED all of those marks, and some several times over. He had scoring seasons of 44.8 ppg and 50.4 ppg, and won those titles by margins of +10.8 ppg and +18.8 ppg. In fact, he averaged 40 ppg over the course of his first seven seasons...COMBINED. Furthermore, the highest "non-Wilt" full season scoring mark was Rick Barry's 35.6 ppg in '67 (and even Barry acknowledged that he won it because Wilt didn't want to win it.)

He won ELEVEN rebounding titles in his 14 years in the league, and some by nearly FIVE per game. He faced Russell in 142 H2H games, and outrebounded him by an average of 28.7 rpg to 23.7 rpg. He even had one game which he outrebounded Russell by a 55-19 margin. He had seasons of 27.0 and 27.2 rpg, and he also had post-seasons of 29.1 rpg and even 30.2 rpg. He even LED the NBA in rebounding in his LAST season, and then averaged 22.5 rpg in 17 post-season games that year...which was the LAST time any player ever averaged 20+ in the post-season (and in fact, Kareem's 17.7 rpg in '76-77 is the next greatest mark since.)

He shattered the FG% mark in '61, '63, '66, '67, and '73. He has the top-two FG% seasons in NBA history, and three of the top-5...all achieved in leagues that shot between .410 thru .456. He outshot his nearest competitor's by .157 and .162, and he outshot the league average by as much as .244 and .271 (as well as consistently outshooting the league average by around 100 points almost every season in which he played.)

Then Wilt retired after the 72-73 season...and no one has challenged any of the above since. Why? And why ONLY Wilt?