Why did Kareem only win one championship in the 70's?

[magnax1]

I can understand why he only won one, I get his teams weren't the best, but what I really want to know is why Kareem wasn't capable of winning with teams with talent like Bob Dandrige, Lucius Allen, and Oscar Robertson, or the 79 Lakers, when Rick Barry was capable of winning with the 75 warriors.
I'm not trying to be unfair to Kareem, I just really want to know why. Did he just choke? Was his team worse then the stats suggested? His teams definitely seemed talented enough going by the stat sheet, but I wanted to hear from some one who watched him playing early in Milwaukee.

[zizozain]

why legend Muhammad Ali was banned from boxing for 3

[PurpleChuck]

The bigger qns is why Wilt only won one championship.

Inb4 ppl say Bill Russell.

[magnax1]

The bigger qns is why Wilt only won one championship.

Inb4 ppl say Bill Russell.

he won 2

[jlauber]

The bigger qns is why Wilt only won one championship.

Inb4 ppl say Bill Russell.

Wilt won TWO.

[jlauber]

There are those here who love to rip Wilt for his "failures", but they will find "excuses" for Kareem's failings. The fact was Kareem was the best player in the league in the 70's, and he could be an overwhelmingly dominant player. But he also lost focus for much of that period, and played many games with disinterest.

Yes, he had legitimate excuses. But, he also played poorly in some of his biggest series and biggest games. And, what was really puzzling was that after Wilt retired following the '73 season, ...the NBA became mired in a very weak decade. You mentioned Barry's 48-34 Warriors in '75. The 49-33 Blazers swept Kareem's Lakers in '77 (despite great play by Kareem). The 42-40 Bullets won the title in '78. And the '79 Soincs won with a 52-30 record (and only one borderline HOF player in Dennis Johnson.)

[magnax1]

What always confuses me is why the 79 Lakers didn't beat the Sonics. I've actually watched one game in that series.... and I just don't get it.

[eliteballer]

1970: Loses to Champs
71: Wins Championship
72: Loses to Champs
73:Loses to Warriors
74: Loses in 7 game Finals
75: Oscar retires, misses playoffs
76: Joins Laker team that won 30 games the year before, wins 40 but misses playoffs
77: Loses to NBA Champ
78: Loses to NBA Finalist(Sonics)
79: Loses to NBA Champ: Sonics

Really...73 is the only year where you can really criticize.

[PurpleChuck]

Wilt won TWO.

Sorry for the mistake. My point is, Wilt should and could have won far far more. He's made to win, but somehow couldn't.

[jlauber]

I always found it fascinating that in the 71-72 season, Kareem played 44 mpg, on a team that went 63-19 and had a scoring differential of +11.1 ppg, and he led the NBA in scoring at 34.8 ppg and shot .574 (with 16.6 rpg.) In the post-season, he shot .405 against Thurmond (he was outscored and outshot by Thurmond BTW), and then he shot .457 against Wilt (and only .414 in the last four games of that series.)

YET, he goes to a bad Laker team (40-42) in the 75-76 season, and "only" plays 41 mpg, scoring 27.7 ppg on .529 shooting, with 16.9 rpg.

He could dominate meaningless games on a powerful team, and yet, when his team obviously needed him to carry them, as in the 75-76 season, his numbers were considerably less than in his 71-72 season.

[eliteballer]

On 73 btw: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TavBp-0cqZY.

Listen to 2:20 and the explanation below:

Schenkel doesn't explain very well why Kareem is not at the game. What actually happened is that In 1973, while a member of the Milwaukee Bucks, he was voted to the All-Star team but chose not play. Several of his friends were slain that year in a confrontation between rival Muslim factions at a home in Washington that Abdul-Jabbar owned. He served as a pallbearer at their funerals during the All-Star break.

[jlauber]

Sorry for the mistake. My point is, Wilt should and could have won far far more. He's made to win, but somehow couldn't.

I have posted this many times, but Wilt came within an eyelash of winning FIVE more titles (FIVE game seven's...and four of them losses by 2, 1, 4, and 2 points), and had injuries not decimated his '71 and '73 teams, it might have been as many as SEVEN.

[PurpleChuck]

I always found it fascinating that in the 71-72 season, Kareem played 44 mpg, on a team that went 63-19 and had a scoring differential of +11.1 ppg, and he led the NBA in scoring at 34.8 ppg and shot .574 (with 16.6 rpg.) In the post-season, he shot .405 against Thurmond (he was outscored and outshot by Thurmond BTW), and then he shot .457 against Wilt (and only .414 in the last four games of that series.)

YET, he goes to a bad Laker team (40-42) in the 75-76 season, and "only" plays 41 mpg, scoring 27.7 ppg on .529 shooting, with 16.9 rpg.

He could dominate meaningless games on a powerful team, and yet, when his team obviously needed him to carry them, as in the 75-76 season, his numbers were considerably less than in his 71-72 season.

And yet alot of ppl put Kareem>Wilt which I find to be -worthy.
Why ask this qns "Why did Kareem only win one championship in the 70's?" when you can ask this "Why did Wilt only win two championship in the 70's?"

[jlauber]

And yet alot of ppl put Kareem>Wilt which I find to be -worthy.
Why ask this qns "Why did Kareem only win one championship in the 70's?" when you can ask this "Why did Wilt only win two championship in the 70's?"

Wilt "only" won ONE title in the 70's...on that great 71-72 Laker team that won 33 straight games, and went 69-13, and then dominated the post-season (BTW, they went 8-3 against Kareem's Bucks that year.)

BUT, Wilt retired after the 72-73 season (playing on an injury-riddled team that STILL went to the Finals, where, despite a 4-1 series loss, they were in EVERY game into the final minute.) So, Chamberlain only played in the first third of that decade.

[eliteballer]

I always found it fascinating that in the 71-72 season, Kareem played 44 mpg, on a team that went 63-19 and had a scoring differential of +11.1 ppg, and he led the NBA in scoring at 34.8 ppg and shot .574 (with 16.6 rpg.) In the post-season, he shot .405 against Thurmond (he was outscored and outshot by Thurmond BTW), and then he shot .457 against Wilt (and only .414 in the last four games of that series.)

YET, he goes to a bad Laker team (40-42) in the 75-76 season, and "only" plays 41 mpg, scoring 27.7 ppg on .529 shooting, with 16.9 rpg.

He could dominate meaningless games on a powerful team, and yet, when his team obviously needed him to carry them, as in the 75-76 season, his numbers were considerably less than in his 71-72 season.

No this is ridiculous. Kareem was the core of that Milaukee offense. He scored 16 more PPG than the next highest player. Acting as if he didnt carry the offense and was just along for the ride is absurd

The Lakers had a 10 game improvement the year he joined them, and that's not considering Sharman's coaching philosophy or the difference in pace. He was still 2nd in the league in scoring.