True or False, Wilt Chamberlain might be the greatest athlete that ever lived?

[Warfan]

I don't know why I laughed at water skier and chariot racer

[CavaliersFTW]

Ali? Pele? Tyson? Sanders?

As masters of their disciplines, they are as great as anyone. I'm speaking on multiple-sport versatility. The list of things Wilt was coordinated enough to just pick up and be extremely extremely good at is high, all while possessing one of the biggest, strongest and simultaneously longest/tallest frames on the planet. The combination is virtually bar-none. I feel like had he focused on strong man competition, he could have done that... inversely if he focused on Track and Field, he could have competed in that... or Volley ball, etc... But he focused on basketball, so he dominated that. It's like there just weren't enough life times for Wilt to reach his maximum potential in all the sports he could have been dominant at. Guys like Bo Jackson, and Jim Thorpe come to mind as others who gave off that aura. Guys like Ali and Pele though masters of their craft, don't. It wasn't sheer physical athleticism that made them overwhelm opponents, nor do they have countless testimony of being athletic and showing dominant potential in multiple sports.

[JohnFreeman]

As masters of their disciplines, they are as great as anyone. I'm speaking on multiple-sport versatility. The list of things Wilt was coordinated enough to just pick up and be extremely extremely good at is high, all while possessing one of the biggest, strongest and simultaneously longest/tallest frames on the planet. The combination is virtually bar-none. I feel like had he focused on strong man competition, he could have done that... inversely if he focused on Track and Field, he could have competed in that... or Volley ball, etc... But he focused on basketball, so he dominated that. It's like there just weren't enough life times for Wilt to reach his maximum potential in all the sports he could have been dominant at. Guys like Bo Jackson, and Jim Thorpe come to mind as others who gave off that aura. Guys like Ali and Pele at least don't. It wasn't sheer physical athleticism that made them as special as they were.

Maybe Wilt is. LeBron deserves a HM

[CavaliersFTW]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6QS98dHNjs

some clips

[CavaliersFTW]

Maybe Wilt is. LeBron deserves a HM

Yeah he's currently at the top for this generation of "all-around" athletes.

[Miller for 3]

TBH, I think Brittany Griner is a better athlete. Grainy black and white clips of high school Wilt dunking on 5-4 white guy centers doesn't do it for me.

[LAZERUSS]

http://www2.kusports.com/news/1999/o...s_chamberlain/

Out behind Carruth-O'Leary Hall, then a Kansas University dormitory, stood three of KU's most decorated athletes -- Bill Nieder, Al Oerter and Wilt Chamberlain.



It was an autumn night in 1956 and the trio had assembled to determine who could put a 16-pound shot the greatest distance.

"I bet a buck on Bill Nieder," said John Novotny, a Lawrence real estate agent who was a naive KU freshman from Claflin at the time. "That's all I had."

Why not Nieder? A Lawrence High product, Nieder had just earned a silver medal in the shot at the Olympic Games at Melbourne. At the same Games, Oerter had won the gold medal in the discus.

"Al was pretty good with the shot, too," Novotny said, "but I put my dollar on Bill Nieder."

Novotny didn't even consider betting on Chamberlain, a basketball player whose only experience in track and field was in the high jump, even though Chamberlain was the impetus for the three-man contest.

"Wilt liked to bet " He loved poker," said Novotny, who lived two doors from Wilt in Carruth-O'Leary that year.

"Wilt came in one night when Bill and Al were there eating at the training table," Novotny related, "and he started talking to them, and then he told them he could throw the shot farther than either one of them."

Moreover, Chamberlain bet he could beat both of them, and that sent Novotny and a handful of others to their rooms in search of spare loot.

"There we were on that grassy knoll," Novotny reflected. "Oerter threw first, then Bill Nieder threw one past his. Then it was Wilt's turn.

"He turned his back, bent over and intertwined his fingers with the shot in his hands and sling-shotted it over his head. It went about two feet farther than Nieder's throw."

No matter that throwing the shot in that manner is illegal in track and field. This wasn't a matter of esthetics. This was a bet.

[CavaliersFTW]

Usain Bolt

He could be a multi-open-field competitor in Track and Field (several sprints, maybe some long jump or triple jump), he's obviously the fastest man on the planet. But from what I've seen he's not really in possession of great strength or versatility in other sports... he's honestly not that coordinated
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJuNnYkRtRI

Compare to Mike Powell or Mike Conley:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHkKRaKbVqw

[Marchesk]

inversely if he focused on Track and Field, he could have competed in that.

So could have Bill Russell and a few other NBA and NFL players. Although I think Wilt would have been suited best at the Decathlon, as opposed to an individual sport.

Which raises the question of how good of athletes do we consider the elite decathletes?

[Miller for 3]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6QS98dHNjs


some clips

Holy crap, I take back what I said about Griner. I am now certain that every WNBA player is a better athlete. Let's do a breakdown of this vid

00-13 - Struggles to shake the hand of Shaq and then hangs his head in shame

13-29 - Awkwardly walks to car with terrible walking motion, then strikes one of the worst posture stances I have ever seen. can you say "chiropractor"?

40-43 - Appears to have trouble lifting no weight. noodle arms much?

49-59 - Knee bends waaay too much when going under the net, and then his bump technique is horrific. 7th grade jv volleyball girls are rolling in their graves watching this

1:10-1:29 - some mediocore spikes on a what looks to be an 8 foot net. I think this clears the claims that Wilt had a 50 inch vertical Dude struggles to clear an 8ft net at 7 feet tall Shawn Bradley looks like Gerald Green compared to this stiff

1:38-1:49 - If you've ever wanted to see the devastation of carpel tunnel syndrome, this is the part to watch. A grown man in his prime with extremely limited wrist and arm movement. Sickening. No wonder he shot 40% from the line

2:00-2:22 - Grainy footage of Wilt appearing to be playing around at a local farm? I see a lot of hay, a lot of lankly awkward running, and a lot of barely jumping over a 6ft pole

2:23-2:25 - Basically the part of the video where you realize it is a troll vid. Wilt playing racquetball, the sport of retired 70 year olds

2:30-2:35 - Worst. Form. Ever

2:36-2:45 - Regular mundane exercises that 50 year old chicks do at yoga. Go Wilt go!

2:47-2:49 - Wilt being bothered by seething pain in his wrist from carpel tunnel syndrome

I lost a lot of respect for Wilt after watching this. I now rank him below Keith Van Horn alltime, and I think someone like Sim Bhullar is 10x the athlete

[CavaliersFTW]

Holy crap, I take back what I said about Griner. I am now certain that every WNBA player is a better athlete. Let's do a breakdown of this vid

00-13 - Struggles to shake the hand of Shaq and then hangs his head in shame

13-29 - Awkwardly walks to car with terrible walking motion, then strikes one of the worst posture stances I have ever seen. can you say "chiropractor"?

40-43 - Appears to have trouble lifting no weight. noodle arms much?

49-59 - Knee bends waaay too much when going under the net, and then his bump technique is horrific. 7th grade jv volleyball girls are rolling in their graves watching this

1:10-1:29 - some mediocore spikes on a what looks to be an 8 foot net. I think this clears the claims that Wilt had a 50 inch vertical Dude struggles to clear an 8ft net at 7 feet tall Shawn Bradley looks like Gerald Green compared to this stiff

1:38-1:49 - If you've ever wanted to see the devastation of carpel tunnel syndrome, this is the part to watch. A grown man in his prime with extremely limited wrist and arm movement. Sickening. No wonder he shot 40% from the line

2:00-2:22 - Grainy footage of Wilt appearing to be playing around at a local farm? I see a lot of hay, a lot of lankly awkward running, and a lot of barely jumping over a 6ft pole

2:23-2:25 - Basically the part of the video where you realize it is a troll vid. Wilt playing racquetball, the sport of retired 70 year olds

2:30-2:35 - Worst. Form. Ever

2:36-2:45 - Regular mundane exercises that 50 year old chicks do at yoga. Go Wilt go!

2:47-2:49 - Wilt being bothered by seething pain in his wrist from carpel tunnel syndrome

I lost a lot of respect for Wilt after watching this. I now rank him below Keith Van Horn alltime, and I think someone like Sim Bhullar is 10x the athlete

I legit lol'd

[Marchesk]

Are we including mountain climbing, surfing, skating and extreme sports in the conversation? There are a lot of amazing athletic accomplishments, and I have no idea how those guys stack up. Where you rank someone who can free climb difficult rock faces or surf 30 foot waves?

[fpliii]

I legit lol'd

lol

Wonder whose alt that it.

[Marchesk]

As far as ever goes, we have to stick with recorded history, because we have no idea what sort of athletic freaks might have existed. But instead of putting a ball in a hoop, they spent their time running giraffes into exhaustion or mopping it up on the battle field.

[CavaliersFTW]

So could have Bill Russell and a few other NBA and NFL players. Although I think Wilt would have been suited best at the Decathlon, as opposed to an individual sport.

Which raises the question of how good of athletes do we consider the elite decathletes?

Yes, Track and Field type athleticism is fairly common among the greatest NBA and NFL athletes. But is Track and Field athleticism AND World class strength? Also his size alone is extremely rare. Yet with all his size and strength he's still coordinated enough to not only compete in a variety of sports but excel in them. It's a much rarer combo than guys who played in the NBA or NFL that were also Track athletes... Oscar Robertson, Gus Johnson, Connie Hawkins, and Bill Russell were all noteworthy Track and Field athletes (Russell being Olympic level, was the most impressive).