Shaq vs Wilt

[GIF REACTION]

None of those things are true. Endurance/stamina is maybe debatable.

Anyone who thinks Wilt would put up the same numbers he did against 6'8" 230lbs car salesmen in Shaq's era is completely delusional.

These were the 7 starting centers (only 8 teams in the NBA) Wilt played against his first few seasons:

Wilt's Center Competiton in '59-'60 (Rookie Year)
Bill Russell 6'10" 215 lbs



Red Kerr 6'9" 230 lbs



Charlie Tyra 6'8" 230lbs



Clyde Lovellette 6'9" 234 lbs



Walter Dukes 7' 220 lbs



Jim Krebs 6'8" 230 lbs



Phil Jordon 6'10" 205 lbs




Look at what happened to Wilt's scoring once the league started integrating more and bigger, more skilled centers entered the league in the late 60s-early 70s. From age 25 to age 30, his PPG was cut in half. And that was with teams playing at a pace upwards of 130.

Waiting for Cavs or Lazzerus to respond

[Marchesk]

Waiting for Cavs or Lazzerus to respond

Why pick on Wilt's rookie season? Because there was no Thurmond, Bellamy, Unseld, Reed, Jabbar around yet?

How was Shaq's competition in the finals at center?

[Psileas]

None of those things are true. Endurance/stamina is maybe debatable.

Anyone who thinks Wilt would put up the same numbers he did against 6'8" 230lbs car salesmen in Shaq's era is completely delusional.

These were the 7 starting centers (only 8 teams in the NBA) Wilt played against his first few seasons:

Wilt's Center Competiton in '59-'60 (Rookie Year)
Bill Russell 6'10" 215 lbs



Red Kerr 6'9" 230 lbs



Charlie Tyra 6'8" 230lbs



Clyde Lovellette 6'9" 234 lbs



Walter Dukes 7' 220 lbs



Jim Krebs 6'8" 230 lbs



Phil Jordon 6'10" 205 lbs

Is this supposed to be an anti-Wilt argument?
Russell needs no intro and Wilt averaged 40 ppg vs him as a rookie.
Kerr and Lovellette were very good, especially the second.
Dukes was a legit 7 footer.

That's already 50% of rookie Wilt's competition. 3 out of these 4 played in the East as well and 2 of them were Wilt's playoff competition.

Look at what happened to Wilt's scoring once the league started integrating more and bigger, more skilled centers entered the league in the late 60s-early 70s. From age 25 to age 30, his PPG was cut in half. And that was with teams playing at a pace upwards of 130.

Do you think Wilt's scoring fell by half because of competition? How about 1966? In a league with Russell, Thurmond, Bellamy, Reed and Beaty, in an 8 opponent teams' league, Wilt still averaged a league leading 33.5 ppg on a league leading 54% FG, winning MVP. On a pace of 121, not "upwards of 130" - and pace hardly matters for a center as long as he doesn't finish a lot of fast-breaks.
Nothing changed in Wilt's competition in 1967. He cut his scoring willingly and shot at a sky-high percentage.

[LAZERUSS]

Based on the season he played to become the leagues leading passer and made it his mission?

Young Wilt would give Shaq problems?

Young Shaq:



Young Wilt:



Wilt played with 3 HOF'ers a top 12 player and another top ~20 player and choked HARD in the PO's. One player's numbers went up in the RS and the Finals, while the other players' nose dived.

Shaq:
23.7 PPG in the RS
24.3 PPG in the PO's
29 PPG int he Finals

4/5 in the Finals.

Wilt:
30 PPG in the RS
22 PPG in the PO's
19 PPG in the Finals

2/6 in the Finals.

"The Big Dipper" aptly named.

Wilt took a LAST PLACE roster to a 49-26 record,..and then single-handedly carried that pathetic cast of clowns (Two of his "HOFers" were Gola and Rodgers...go ahead and look them up... ) to a first round playoff win, with a 39 ppg 23 rpg series...

and then to a game six, two point loss, against Russell's 59-16 Celtics with their their SEVEN HOFers...in a series in which Chamberlain just destroyed Russell (31 ppg, 27 rpg, and on a .500 FG% ...in a post-season NBA that shot .402.)

Howe about Shaq's rookie season. He got his team to a 41-41 record, and couldn't even get them to the playoffs.

Wilt >>>> Shaq.

[TheMan]

Lol at this being a debate...

Shaq easily

[STATUTORY]

None of those things are true. Endurance/stamina is maybe debatable.

Anyone who thinks Wilt would put up the same numbers he did against 6'8" 230lbs car salesmen in Shaq's era is completely delusional.

These were the 7 starting centers (only 8 teams in the NBA) Wilt played against his first few seasons:

Wilt's Center Competiton in '59-'60 (Rookie Year)
Bill Russell 6'10" 215 lbs



Red Kerr 6'9" 230 lbs



Charlie Tyra 6'8" 230lbs



Clyde Lovellette 6'9" 234 lbs



Walter Dukes 7' 220 lbs



Jim Krebs 6'8" 230 lbs



Phil Jordon 6'10" 205 lbs




Look at what happened to Wilt's scoring once the league started integrating more and bigger, more skilled centers entered the league in the late 60s-early 70s. From age 25 to age 30, his PPG was cut in half. And that was with teams playing at a pace upwards of 130.

hard to take those white boys in high socks and converse seriously

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

Shaq would just dunk the ball on nikkas and use his GOAT level athleticism/physical talents. He aint care he hit teams down, Wilt was more emotional wanted to appeal to the masses and have a finesse game. Nikka wanted to shoot fadeaways and finger rolls when he one of the 5 most physically talented players ever thats why he always struggled in the playoffs and Shaq was so great there prolly 2nd to MJ

[Elosha]

Wilt had better endurance, was a more explosive leaper, and was faster down the floor. So you have to factor that in.

I think this is a very close contest, and one in which both greats should be given their due respect. But the above bold portion is wrong in my opinion. Shaq was an incredible leaper for his size, and in my opinion was more explosive than Chamberlain, based on the footage we have. I have to discount horrible across court camera angles that show Wilt blocking shots at "rim level" "top of the backboard" when such angles are known to greatly exaggerate how high the player jumps. Pretty much every good angle of Wilt dunking or blocking shows him well below the rim. Not to say that he couldn't get that high, but we've got a fairly good amount of footage of his dunks/blocks and I've yet to see him clearly at rim level. Shaq on the other hand has multiple such dunks, such as: (watch the replays)

https://youtu.be/eVycsmQuoPA?t=66
(hand if extended very close to top of backboard)

https://youtu.be/eVycsmQuoPA?t=67
(off a spin move away from his man )

https://youtu.be/aSI7NpnhkXQ?t=258
(block in college, not the greatest angle, but he's definitely way up there)

By the way Cavs, in these two VIDEOS ALONE, you see probably dozens of facial dunks, sometimes over and through two or more defenders while being fouled. Wilt was a powerful dunker in his own right, but for my money there has never been a more powerful and devastating dunker than Shaq.

Now who is better between the two is another question that I don't have time for right now...

[DonDadda59]

Why pick on Wilt's rookie season? Because there was no Thurmond, Bellamy, Unseld, Reed, Jabbar around yet?

How exactly am I 'picking' on his rookie season? Those were ALL the Center starters in the NBA, that was his competition on a nightly basis. It's not like I nitpicked anything? Those were all the starting NBA centers in '59-'60.

And when those guys you listed came along later in Wilt's career, you saw his scoring numbers get cut literally in half. He was only 30 when he was scoring 24 PPG, a far cry from the 40-50 PPG seasons he had just 5 years earlier when he was duking it out with Walter Dukes.

By the 70s, he was a DeAndre Jordan type player. He was past his prime of course.

How was Shaq's competition in the finals at center?

Overall, not great. But Hakeem>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >Anyone Wilt played against until the 70s.

And the centers Shaq faced upon entering the league were in another galaxy compared to what Wilt faced at the beginning of his career.

[Marchesk]

And when those guys you listed came along later in Wilt's career, you saw his scoring numbers get cut literally in half. He was only 30 when he was scoring 24 PPG, a far cry from the 40-50 PPG seasons he had just 5 years earlier when he was duking it out with Walter Dukes.

Yeah, 24 ppg on 68% shooting and almost 8 assists for a 68 win team. Might have had something to do with the role he had on the 76ers, and the kind of talent around him. Wilt didn't need to volume score.

But that doesn't mean he couldn't have. Plus, he won the MVP and the 76ers ended the Celtics 8 title run in 5 games.

[LAZERUSS]

Yeah, 24 ppg on 68% shooting and almost 8 assists for a 68 win team. Might have had something to do with the role he had on the 76ers, and the kind of talent around him. Wilt didn't need to volume score.

But that doesn't mean he couldn't have. Plus, he won the MVP and the 76ers ended the Celtics 8 title run in 5 games.

From the 66-67 season thru his 68-69 season, Wilt had games of 52, 53, 53, 58, 60, 66, and 68 points.

Oh, and his new coach in the 69-70 season asked Wilt to become the focal point of the offense...and he was leading the league in scoring at 32.2 ppg (on a .579 FG%), when he shredded his knee. Hell, in the game he blew out his knee, he had scored 33 points in only 28 minutes, and on 13-14 shooting. He was on his way to another 40+, maybe even 50+ point game.

[aj1987]

Wilt took a LAST PLACE roster to a 49-26 record,..and then single-handedly carried that pathetic cast of clowns (Two of his "HOFers" were Gola and Rodgers...go ahead and look them up...) to a first round playoff win, with a 39 ppg 23 rpg series...

and then to a game six, two point loss, against Russell's 59-16 Celtics with their their SEVEN HOFers...in a series in which Chamberlain just destroyed Russell (31 ppg, 27 rpg, and on a .500 FG% ...in a post-season NBA that shot .402.)

Howe about Shaq's rookie season. He got his team to a 41-41 record, and couldn't even get them to the playoffs.

Shaq >>>> Wilt.

FTFY.

Wilt played with 3 HOF'ers a top 12 player and another top ~20 player and choked HARD in the PO's. One player's numbers went up in the RS and the Finals, while the other players' nose dived.

Shaq:

23.7 PPG in the RS
24.3 PPG in the PO's
29 PPG in the Finals

4/5 in the Finals.

Wilt:

30 PPG in the RS
22 PPG in the PO's
19 PPG in the Finals

2/6 in the Finals.

"The Big Dipper" aptly named.

[LAZERUSS]

FTFY.

Wilt played with 3 HOF'ers a top 12 player and another top ~20 player and choked HARD in the PO's. One player's numbers went up in the RS and the Finals, while the other players' nose dived.

Shaq:

23.7 PPG in the RS
24.3 PPG in the PO's
29 PPG in the Finals

4/5 in the Finals.

Wilt:

30 PPG in the RS
22 PPG in the PO's
19 PPG in the Finals

2/6 in the Finals.

"The Big Dipper" aptly named.

How many Finals was Wilt outrebounded in? ZERO. How about Shaq? He was manhandled on the glass by a 6-7 Ben Wallace. He was also slaughtered by a 6-8 Rodman in the '96 ECF's.

How many Finals was Chamberlain outshot in? ZERO. Shaq...outshot by a 35 year old Mutombo.

BTW, Shaq hung a 33 ppg .555 series on 35 year old Mutombo.

Chamberlain hung a 30-31 .555 series on a 30 year old Russell.

When a prime Wilt faced a center who was considerably better than Todd McCullough ever was... a 39-23 .559 series (in a post-season that shot .420 overall...or a full 13 percentage points above the league average.)

[Bless Mathews]

From the 66-67 season thru his 68-69 season, Wilt had games of 52, 53, 53, 58, 60, 66, and 68 points.

Oh, and his new coach in the 69-70 season asked Wilt to become the focal point of the offense...and he was leading the league in scoring at 32.2 ppg (on a .579 FG%), when he shredded his knee. Hell, in the game he blew out his knee, he had scored 33 points in only 28 minutes, and on 13-14 shooting. He was on his way to another 40+, maybe even 50+ point game.

Not hard against high school level talent.

Did you not see them scrubs he was going against?

220 pounds?

Are you serious?

Your delusional.


Shaq would AVERAGE 100 a game against them high school level, 200 pound white boys.

[Bless Mathews]

None of those things are true. Endurance/stamina is maybe debatable.

Anyone who thinks Wilt would put up the same numbers he did against 6'8" 230lbs car salesmen in Shaq's era is completely delusional.

These were the 7 starting centers (only 8 teams in the NBA) Wilt played against his first few seasons:

Wilt's Center Competiton in '59-'60 (Rookie Year)
Bill Russell 6'10" 215 lbs



Red Kerr 6'9" 230 lbs



Charlie Tyra 6'8" 230lbs



Clyde Lovellette 6'9" 234 lbs



Walter Dukes 7' 220 lbs



Jim Krebs 6'8" 230 lbs



Phil Jordon 6'10" 205 lbs




Look at what happened to Wilt's scoring once the league started integrating more and bigger, more skilled centers entered the league in the late 60s-early 70s. From age 25 to age 30, his PPG was cut in half. And that was with teams playing at a pace upwards of 130.

Slay of the decade nominee.


That is absolutely hilarious.


Them 200 pound white boys that couldn't bench 185 would get anihilated by high school kids today.

Let alone a player that literally tore down an entire hoop.

Wilt Is most overrated player ever.

Best competitor , Russell has the frame of durant.

And just rotated against those scrubs over and over


What a joke.