Would Wilt Chamberlain make an All-Star team if he played in the '90s?

[Deuce Bigalow]

Your right, and none of those guys are over 300lbs either. Some 5'8 to 6'0 pipsqueaks might look jacked as **** but their chest measurements are still going to be smaller than Wilt's. Wilt has a massive frame. He's heavier than any NBA player in history not named Shaq - and Shaq was fat.

You do understand that it is harder for longer guys to bench heavy. There is no way on God's green earth that Wilt could get close to 500
So much range of motion on those long ass arms.

[CavaliersFTW]

all-star team? of course

benching 500? it seems very, very unlikely. 350lbs nfl players have trouble with that kind of weight, and they don't have the disadvantage of ridiculously long arms

350lbs NFL players? Name them. Name any NFL player over 275lbs that isn't fat while your at it.

[jlauber]

The vibe you get is wrong - and this is a troll thread btw - of course Wilt would make an all-star game any year the NBA existed if he was in his prime.

His stats changed due to the roles he was asked to fulfill on teams. He would have averaged an absolute bare minimum of 35ppg for his career had he not been asked to change his game to focus on different things by his coaches. I feel he changed his game for the better, but a modern superstar would not likely do what he did today. Try telling Carmello to stop scoring and focus on assists instead. Try telling him after that to just play defense and let everyone else do the scoring. Think he'd do it?

Few here ever bring up the fact that Wilt, in his 69-70 season, was asked by his new coach, to become the focal point of the Laker offense (and for Baylor to take a back seast.) Chamberlain responded by averaging 32.2 ppg, on 60% shooting, in his first nine games (which was leading the league BTW.) Included in those nine games, were games of 33, 35, 37 (against 7-0 270 lb Tom Boerwinkle), 38 (against reigning league MVP Wes Unseld), 42 (against star center Bob Rule), and 43 points. Oh, and BTW, Chamberlain hung a 25-25 game, on 9-14 shooting against Kareem in those nine games, too. Unfortunately, Wilt shredded his knee in that ninth game ( in a game in which he scored 33 points on 13-13 shooting), and was never the same again. Still, in the Finals, and basically playing on one leg, he posted a 23.2 ppg, 24.1 rpg, .625 seven game series.

And, in the 68-69 season, his idiotic coach had asked him to sacrifice his offense, so that Baylor could shot-jack. It got so bad, that when he was only averaging 18 ppg, SI ran an article claiming that Wilt could no longer score. Wilt responded with a 60 point game, and a few days later he hung a 66 point game (on 29-35 shooting.) In fact, over the course of 17 straight games, Wilt averaged 31.1 ppg, including a 35 point game against Russell, which was his highest game against him since his 46 point game five in the '66 ECF's.

CLEARLY, Wilt COULD have scored MUCH MORE. Even as late as the last season in the decade of the 60's, he was STILL the game's greatest scorer.

[kurt_rambis]

350lbs NFL players? Name them. Name any NFL player over 275lbs that isn't fat while your at it.

ndamukong suh was already mentioned. he's beefy, not fat. dude weighs 307lbs and has a 35 inch vert

he's also only 6'4", which is a HUGE advantage when bench pressing vs. someone who's 7'2", and he can't bench 500lbs

[jlauber]

You do understand that it is harder for longer guys to bench heavy. There is no way on God's green earth that Wilt could get close to 500
So much range of motion on those long ass arms.

Dunce, I have provided SEVERAL articles and FIRST HAND accounts of Wilt's bench press. Now, where are YOUR's?

[CavaliersFTW]

You do understand that it is harder for longer guys to bench heavy. There is no way on God's green earth that Wilt could get close to 500

No, it isn't. What you can bench press is not going to be soley dictated by the length of your arms that is a gross oversimplification of only one of the variables that goes into a persons potential to bench press. It's leverage and strength. Leverage has less to do with limb length than it has to do with skeletal indexes such as the breadth of your shoulders in relation to the length of your your radius/ulna, in relation to your humerus, etc. You don't know what Wilt's body composition is, but you do know that every single person that's ever known the dude keeps insisting he's the strongest person they've ever seen and/or strongest basketball player that ever lived. True? So is everyone who talks about Wilt like this a lunatic?

[CavaliersFTW]

ndamukong suh was already mentioned. he's beefy, not fat. dude weighs 307lbs and has a 35 inch vert

he's also only 6'4", which is a HUGE advantage when bench pressing vs. someone who's 7'2", and he can't bench 500lbs

The dude had a belly, shave about 20lbs of fat. 6'4 = huge advantage my ass. I'm sorry but my post above addresses that.

[jstern]

The vibe you get is wrong - and this is a troll thread btw - of course Wilt would make an all-star game any year the NBA existed if he was in his prime.

His stats changed due to the roles he was asked to fulfill on teams. He would have averaged an absolute bare minimum of 35ppg for his career had he not been asked to change his game to focus on different things by his coaches. I feel he changed his game for the better, but a modern superstar would not likely do what he did today. Try telling Carmello to stop scoring and focus on assists instead. Try telling him after that to just play defense and let everyone else do the scoring. Think he'd do it?

I know his role changed, and he was taking less shot and doing other things. But the league did get better, not the only reason why Wilt's ppg went down in my opinion, but it did get better, and I mentioned that so that the younger people who won't look past just the superficial could get a better sense of why I feel that Wilt would be an All Star. Too complicated to explain, I'm tired.

[jlauber]

No, it isn't. What you can bench press is not going to be soley dictated by the length of your arms that is a gross oversimplification of only one of the variables that goes into a persons potential to bench press. It's leverage and strength. Leverage has less to do with limb length than it has to do with skeletal indexes such as the breadth of your shoulders in relation to the length of your your radius/ulna, in relation to your humerus, etc. You don't know what Wilt's body composition is, but you do know that every single person that's ever known the dude keeps insisting he's the strongest person they've ever seen and/or strongest basketball player that ever lived. True? So is everyone who talks about Wilt like this a lunatic?

THAT is the bottom line. There are DOZENS, if not HUNDREDS, of FIRST HAND accounts of Chamberrlain's incredible physical feats. And yet, not ONE LEGITIMATE first hand account that DISPUTES them. Why?

[CavaliersFTW]

You do understand that it is harder for longer guys to bench heavy. There is no way on God's green earth that Wilt could get close to 500
So much range of motion on those long ass arms.

And Usain Bolt should be too tall to compete in Olympic sprints much less shatter records. His long legs certainly can't generate enough power to run with ideal 6 foot tall sprinters. Tall athletes have a huge disadvantage in sprints.

This logic existed 10 years ago. It is the same logic as a tall guy can't bench press. You get a gifted athlete, and it doesn't matter how tall they are, they're gonna blow stereotypes out of the water. Wilt isn't some run of the mill 7 footer churned out of the NBA factory, he is not some tall joe blow nobody.

[jlauber]

No, it isn't. What you can bench press is not going to be soley dictated by the length of your arms that is a gross oversimplification of only one of the variables that goes into a persons potential to bench press. It's leverage and strength. Leverage has less to do with limb length than it has to do with skeletal indexes such as the breadth of your shoulders in relation to the length of your your radius/ulna, in relation to your humerus, etc. You don't know what Wilt's body composition is, but you do know that every single person that's ever known the dude keeps insisting he's the strongest person they've ever seen and/or strongest basketball player that ever lived. True? So is everyone who talks about Wilt like this a lunatic?

For the longest time on this forum, the "anti-Chamberlain" posters scoffed at the EYE-WITNESS accounts of Wilt touching the top of the backboard (two of them were Sonny Hill and long-time Sixer trainer Al Domenico.) They demanded VIDEO FOOTAGE. Well, thanks to you, we now have a VIDEO in which Chamberlain's fingertips are nearly at the top of the backboard, on a leap in which he has no time to react, and without benefit of a running start, AND, with his OFF-HAND. CLEARLY, that was a man, with a well-rested running start, would EASILY have reached the top of the backboard. Which, was COMMON KNOWLEDGE, AT THE TIME Chamberlain played.

Other's here laughed at Wilt dunking his FTs with only a couple of steps. Impossible they claimed. And yet, we have a VIDEO INTERVIEW, with TEX WINTER, in which he claims that he WITNESSED a high-shool Chamberlain, taking three steps from behind the line, and with a leap at the line, DUNKING a FT. Now, can anyone explain to me why TEX WINTER would have gone out of his way, to see that that tactic was banned?

Or that Wilt's college COACH rolled out a 12 ft basket, and there were accounts of Wilt DUNKING on it...back in the 50's! Here again, I have NEVER read ANYONE claiming that they witnessed Wilt, FAILING at doing that, either. How come?

These MANY so-called "myths" that Wilt was supposedly accomplishing have now become DOCUMENTED REALITY...

[CavaliersFTW]

I know his role changed, and he was taking less shot and doing other things. But the league did get better, not the only reason why Wilt's ppg went down in my opinion, but it did get better, and I mentioned that so that the younger people who won't look past just the superficial could get a better sense of why I feel that Wilt would be an All Star. Too complicated to explain, I'm tired.

Wilt dropped a 60 and a 66 point game within days of each other in 1969 after some ignorant reporter published reasons why Wilt couldn't score anymore too. Which is exactly what you are doing. Seriously, his role changed, that's it there is no "league got better" rationale at all - he was very very capable of putting up bat sh!t crazy numbers even as an old guy on a bum knee. 1970 NBA finals G6, Wilt had arthroscopic knee surgery literally only months before the series, and he scored 45 points... 45 in a finals game. He didn't have the green light to score anymore except on the rarest of occasions. If he was greenlit to be the scorer his entire career he'd have maintained gaudy numbers every single season. He'd never average anything under 30 per game even by his 13th and 14th season if that's what his job was. He was very good at doing what he was asked to do by his coaches, a lot of people don't give him enough credit for that - he was a pure, gifted scorer - he could always fill a stat sheet with points during his career the NBA never "advanced" past him.

Did the NBA become too advanced for Tim Duncan now that Pop put him in as center on reduced minutes? Is that why his stats changed? - The NBA has never become to advanced for any player - if you think it got too advanced for Wilt than he's the only one in NBA history who's had that happen.

[Deuce Bigalow]

Wilt dropped a 60 and a 66 point game within days of each other in 1969 after some ignorant reporter published reasons why Wilt couldn't score anymore too. Which is exactly what you are doing. Seriously, his role changed, that's it there is no "league got better" rationale at all - he was very very capable of putting up bat sh!t crazy numbers even as an old guy on a bum knee. 1970 NBA finals G6, Wilt had arthroscopic knee surgery literally only months before the series, and he scored 45 points... 45 in a finals game. He didn't have the green light to score anymore except on the rarest of occasions. If he was greenlit to be the scorer his entire career he'd have maintained gaudy numbers every single season. He'd never average anything under 30 per game even by his 13th and 14th season if that's what his job was. He was very good at doing what he was asked to do by his coaches, a lot of people don't give him enough credit for that - and they also use that against him when they wanna look at his stats that "slid".

then the next game went 1-11 from the freethrow line

[Simple Jack]

Wilt dropped a 60 and a 66 point game within days of each other in 1969 after some ignorant reporter published reasons why Wilt couldn't score anymore too. Which is exactly what you are doing. Seriously, his role changed, that's it there is no "league got better" rationale at all - he was very very capable of putting up bat sh!t crazy numbers even as an old guy on a bum knee. 1970 NBA finals G6, Wilt had arthroscopic knee surgery literally only months before the series, and he scored 45 points... 45 in a finals game. He didn't have the green light to score anymore except on the rarest of occasions. If he was greenlit to be the scorer his entire career he'd have maintained gaudy numbers every single season. He'd never average anything under 30 per game even by his 13th and 14th season if that's what his job was. He was very good at doing what he was asked to do by his coaches, a lot of people don't give him enough credit for that - he was a pure, gifted scorer - he could always fill a stat sheet with points during his career the NBA never "advanced" past him.

Did the NBA become too advanced for Tim Duncan now that Pop put him in as center on reduced minutes? Is that why his stats changed? - The NBA has never become to advanced for any player - if you think it got too advanced for Wilt than he's the only one in NBA history who's had that happen.

You don't think the average player in the NBA today is > than the average player in the NBA in, say, the 1960's?

[CavaliersFTW]

then the next game went 1-11 from the freethrow line

Yes he did lol - see, you can be a historian too