1968 NBA Finals (BOS vs LAL) Retroactive Finals MVP Thread

[fpliii]

Give it to Russell and let's keep mowing 'em down!

there are a few votes for Havlicek so I need to tally them up (haven't decided who I'm voting for yet), but I think Russell will win

I expect to put up the new thread at 8PM EST (need to find some articles first)

[oolalaa]

there are a few votes for Havlicek so I need to tally them up (haven't decided who I'm voting for yet), but I think Russell will win

I expect to put up the new thread at 8PM EST (need to find some articles first)

Great stuff. The next one should be very fun, even though it's obvious who the FMVP should be.

[Owl]

Dark horse candidate for '68 has to be Bailey Howell. Worst shooting game was 8 of 15 (53.33% in both game 1 and game 5); shot 56.667% from the field over the series, 21ppg plus 7.5rpg in approx 35mpg (couldn't find minutes for Game 3). Still it's hard to get a good read on who played best without actually seeing the games, who guarded who for what period etc. So I wouldn't actually cast a vote but by the boxscore on the winning side it might be Howell (though one assumes he didn't have the same impact on the defensive end as Havlicek and Russell), overall West's numbers might be more impressive though less consistent (and Boston triumphed in his two "down" games).

Anyway like I said don't feel confident that I know enough to choose but thanks for the research, great info.

[ClipperRevival]

Any let-down whatsoever by West and his own team absolutely murdered him. Essentially, there were only 2 blemishes that marked West's entire series; Poor 4th quarter in game 3 (Understandibly induced by tiredness), and an "average" performance in the potentially close-out game 6 (With a pulled, heavily bandaged left hamstring). Both times, his teammates failed miserably to pick up the slack (With the exception of Egan's big final period in game 3).

Baylor was abominabally pathetic in the decisive games 3, 4 & 5. Over that span, he averaged 8/10/3 on 22% shooting. TWENTY TWO PERCENT!!!! At this point in his career, outside of his scoring and rebounding, Baylor was contributing absolutely NOTHING to the Lakers. He was completely worthless defensively, and was never a great or willing passer/playmaker. You can imagine, then, the type of player the Lakers were lumbered with in the middle of that series. A one-legged, arthritic eskimo who was legally blind in one eye would have been more productive.

[COLOR="Red"]Where was Wilt?? He exhibited an obscene level of passiveness throughout the entire series. It's no secret that Breda Kolff didn't make him the focus of the Laker offense, that he played Wilt in the high post to accommodate Baylor, but there is absolutely no excuse for taking less shots per game than Johnny Egan AND Keith Erickson. Clearly he didn't want the ball. When the lakers needed him to step up in game 6, and take on more of the offensive load, he shrunk, scoring just 1 measly field goal on only 5 shot attempts. His terrible free throw shooting performance in game 4 cannot be ignored, either. He missed 9 of 11 foul shots in a game that the Lakers lost by 1 one point. Oops.
[/COLOR]
Game 4 was the absolute killer and the turning point. If Wilt and Baylor didn't inexcusably combine to shoot 5/22 from the field and 3/16 from the line, then Sam Jones wouldn't have been given the opportunity to convert perhaps the luckiest game winner in Finals history. Boston were there for the taking. They were old and tiring. Hondo, likely due to a pulled groin, had his first poor game of the series, and Russell scored just 6 points on 12 shots. They say the NBA is a 'make or miss' league. MAKE SOME ****ING SHOTS!! GIVE JERRY WEST SOME ****ING HELP!! After that loss, it was inevitably going to go to a seventh and deciding game. Bill Russell was 9-0 in game 7s prior to the '69 Finals. A team with Bill Russell on it didn't lose close series.


Other than West, only Havlicek has a case for FMVP, and that's ONLY because he was a member of the winning team. He was really great in the first 3 games, but West was even greater, and the Lakers won 2 out of 3. He then rattled off 3 incredibly mediocre performances in games 4, 5 & 6. It wasn't just his shooting (32%), his non-stop motor deserted him as well, and, as a resuIt, his all-around game suffered. He did say he was playing with a pulled groin, though. Considering his sharp drop off in performance, I'm certainly willing to believe him. I also find it curious why he wasn't Jerry West's primary defender throughout the series (Even in the first 3 games), considering he was easily Boston's best perimiter defender. Maybe Russell didn't want to wear him out, but West was the entire Laker offense. Stopping him should have been the primary goal.

Speaking of Russell, he was clearly fatiguing as the series progressed. There wasn't much from him in crunch time, and in the key moments/periods. His best performance was in game 1, and he seemed to reach rock bottom by the 5th game, in which his getting abused by Wilt on the boards was mainly responsible for the loss. He was still operating the mid-post really well - spreading the floor, finding open shooters cutters etc. His 5 assists per game average, including 13 assists in game 2, are an indication of this - but there is almost no mention of Russell's defense/shot blocking in any of the 7 games.


Jerry West didn't just deserve the FMVP, he deserved his 1st championship as well....

Some guys just don't have that killer instinct. They don't want it as much as the other guy and it shows when it matters most. I've always thought that Baylor was similar to Ilt. I mean some things just can't be coincidence. Like him never winning a ring and his team going on a historical 33 game winning streak right after he retires. Some guys are flow killers and don't help you win.

[LAZERUSS]

Some guys just don't have that killer instinct. They don't want it as much as the other guy and it shows when it matters most. I've always thought that Baylor was similar to Ilt. I mean some things just can't be coincidence. Like him never winning a ring and his team going on a historical 33 game winning streak right after he retires. Some guys are flow killers and don't help you win.

Looks like you have spent hours and weeks trying to come up with something disparage Wilt...

even reopening an old thread from 4 years ago,...

and that does not even pertain to this topic of the '68 Finals...this was from the '69 Finals.

Excellent work.

No agenda here...




BTW, that opinion of the '69 Finals was pure shit, as well.

[ClipperRevival]

Looks like you have spent hours and weeks trying to come up with something disparage Wilt...

even reopening an old thread from 4 years ago,...

and that does not even pertain to this topic of the '68 EDF's.

Excellent work.

Actually, it's a link from this thread, which was made yesterday:

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=396804

But I have a love for the history of the game and want to find out the truth about the past. So that would exclude you from anything regarding Ilt. Sad part about all of this is that with your decades of watching the game, you can really give the younger folks a solid education on the history of the game but you just can't bring yourself to be OBJECTIVE. And wiithout objectivity, you have NOTHING.

You fail to realize that bball is a team game. Just because one guy is filling up the stat sheets doesn't necessarily mean he's playing optimal, team ball. You can get yours at the expense of the team instead of within the flow. Sometimes it's not about the points/rebounds, it's about playing the right way. Like I said before, if you don't know what I'm talking about, you never will.

So continue on with your Wilt obsession with his individual stats.

[ClipperRevival]

Looks like you have spent hours and weeks trying to come up with something disparage Wilt...

even reopening an old thread from 4 years ago,...

and that does not even pertain to this topic of the '68 Finals...this was from the '69 Finals.

Excellent work.

No agenda here...




[COLOR="Red"]BTW, that opinion of the '69 Finals was pure shit, as well[/COLOR].

Duh. Ya think? Coming from YOU?

[LAZERUSS]

Actually, it's a link from this thread, which was made yesterday:

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=396804

But I have a love for the history of the game and want to find out the truth about the past. So that would exclude you from anything regarding Ilt. Sad part about all of this is that with your decades of watching the game, you can really give the younger folks a solid education on the history of the game but you just can't bring yourself to be OBJECTIVE. And wiithout objectivity, you have NOTHING.

You fail to realize that bball is a team game. Just because one guy is filling up the stat sheets doesn't necessarily mean he's playing optimal, team ball. You can get yours at the expense of the team instead of within the flow. Sometimes it's not about the points/rebounds, it's about playing the right way. Like I said before, if you don't know what I'm talking about, you never will.

So continue on with your Wilt obsession with his individual stats.

Ok, my friend, let's do some real research on the fabled '69 Lakers and their Finals, shall we...

First of all...Butch "the Butcher" Van Breda Kolff. Just so you know, he was vehemently against the trade that brought Chamberlain to the Lakers to begin with. From day one he hated Wilt.

Now, when a team brings in the GOAT low-post center of all-time, you would them to utilize him in that fashion, wouldn't you?

https://books.google.com/books?id=9B...20post&f=false

Chamberlain: "Butch wanted me to play the high post so Elgin could drive to the basket, but they got me for rebounding. Why pull a guy away from the basket when you want him to rebound?"

And here is one of my personal all-time favorites from Van Breda Kolff...

Butch Van Breda Kolff: "Not having enough basketballs wasn't the problem at all for us. The trade changed our chemistry. Elgin's favorite move was the drive from the left wing and into the middle. Now, when he did that, he ran into Wilt, and Wilt's man. Wilt took that move away from Elgin. Imhoff loved to pick-and-roll with Elgin, but that wasn't something Wilt did very well. So we were able to throw the ball down low to [COLOR="DarkRed"]Wilt and he'd score[/COLOR], but it was an awful offense to watch. When the ball stops moving, then guys don't rebound or play defense as well as they normally would."

So, VBK decided that instead of getting the ball down low and into Chamberlain, where he would SCORE, that he preferred Baylor to roam the baseline and get his offense. And, of course, Wilt complied. The result? Baylor had a good regular season, averaging 24.8 ppg (West was at 25.9 ppg, and Wilt at 20.5 ppg BTW), but he was completely exposed in the playoff as the shell that he was, and in fact, had the WORST FG% on the entire team in the post-season (.385.)


Now, let's get down to the Finals. Where a COACH LOST the series.

As we already know, VBK had basically SHACKLED Wilt in that post-season. It was bad enough that during the regular season, Wilt had averaged a career-low 13.6 FGAs per game (Baylor was at 21.5 FGA per game, and West at 19.0 BTW), but then, in the post-season, Wilt hardly the saw the ball at all. His FGAs dropped down to 9.8 (West's went to 23.5 and Baylor 15.4.) And in the Finals... Wilt was at 8.3, Baylor at 17.3, and West at a staggering 28.0!

Obviously, VBK was rolling his dice with West and Baylor, and Wilt was an afterthought. And that is why I always find it comical that WILT gets blamed for that series loss. Obviously Baylor would be, by far-and-away, the biggest culprit...but also, why not West? After all, he was putting up "Wilt-type" shot attempts, and his team ultimately lost. When Wilt's teams lost with Chamberlain shooting the ball...he was a selfish ball-hog. When he didn't shoot...well, he was a coward and choked. Why not blame West as well?

How about the matchups?

The Lakers were favored coming into that series, but the reality was...they had an edge at TWO positions.and with TWO players. West and Wilt. Baylor was on paper only. In fact, it turned out that he was a complete LIABILITY. From players 3-9, it was all Boston. And while Havlicek and West were not normally assigned to defend one another, the fact was, that match-up was REALLY close. As was the Wilt-Russell duels. However, the reason that that battle was close, was again, because VBK's offense did NOT include Wilt.

BTW, the 4th quarter of game seven is available on Youtube. Just watch it. Immediately after Russell picked up his 5th PF, the Lakers went right into Wilt, and he went right around the "matador" defense of Russell for an easy lay-in. It would basically be the last time he touched the ball down low the rest of the game (obviously he missed the last five minutes, as well.) BTW, as a side-note...while you are watching that footage...look for Russell. You will seldom find him. He was essentially hiding the entire quarter...and as the Lakers stormed back from a 17 point deficit with 10 minutes left, down to a one point game with two minutes left.


Ok, now let's get into some game specifics. First of all, and as I have said before, this was Chamberlain's worst post-season series of his entire career. He played poorly in three games...albeit, he still averaged 22.7 rpg in those three contests. In one of them, game two, his team still eked out a 118-112 win (and by god, Baylor miraculously played well in that game, too.)

So, the first poor game didn't hurt the Lakers at all. And they jumped out to a 2-0 series lead. Wilt actually played well in game three, scoring 16 points, on 6-11 shooting, with 26 rebounds (and he easily outplayed Russell, who had scored 11 pts, on 5-12 shooting, with 18 rebounds. HOWEVER, BOTH West and Baylor were terrible. West scored 24 points, but on 9-24 shooting, while Baylor couldn't have played much worse (wait, he will) with 11 points on 4-18 from the field.

Oh, and how well did West and Baylor play in the 4th quarter of that game three, six point loss?

http://webuns.chez-alice.fr/finals/1969.htm

L.A. fails to rally in the 4th in large part due to Jerry West & Elgin Baylor shooting a combined 1-14 from the floor in the period.

So, had WEST and BAYLOR even played a decent game, the Lakers would have been up 3-0, and essentially the series was over. Instead, it was now 2-1.

Continued...

[LAZERUSS]

Ok, now on to game four, and the pivotal PLAY that ultimately cost the Lakers a title in 1969 (albeit, there were several other's, as well.)

https://books.google.com/books?id=b7...bryant&f=false

The Celtics proved that again in Game 4 as Sam Jones hit a dramatic off-balance, game-winning shot with a second to play to lift his team to a wild 89-88 victory over the Lakers. "I thought Sam's shot was going to miss when he put it up, "Russell confessed, "I said to myself__'Oh damn!" But the ball looked like it had fingers and just crawled in. To Lakers coach Bill van Breda Kolff, the basket represented a nightmare come true. "I've lost tough one's before," he sighed, "but never any tougher." Elgin Baylor concurred: "It was a lucky shot. But [Jones] made it. And that's what counts. He slipped, went off-balance and still put the ball in the hoop."

An improbable series of events set the stage for the victory shot, starting with a nondescript out-of-bounds play iniated by Baylor under the Los Angeles basket with 14 seconds remaining. Protecting an 88-87 Lakers lead, Baylor passed the ball to Johnny Egan, who promptly had it stolen away from him by Boston's Emmette Bryant. "He slapped me right on the arm and knocked the ball loose," Egan said. "It was the key play in the game and [the officials] didn't call it." Bryant immediately flicked a pass to Jones, who launched a 15-foot jumper from the right of the key. The ball bounced off the front of the rim, but the Celtics retained possession, and called time-out with 7 seconds to play. While contemplating his options in the huddle, player-coach Russell was successfully lobbied by Havlicek and Siegfried to use a play straight out of their old Ohio State playbook. "There's just enough time for it," said Havlicek, who had introduced the play to his teammates at an earlier practice session during the Philadelphia series. The play call for the use of a triple screen to give the intended shooter, in this case Jones, a clean look at the basket. "We walked through it one time in the huddle, just to make sure everyone would be sure of what he had to do," said Jones, who had 16 points and 4 rebounds. When play resumed Bryant inbounded the ball to Havlicek, who then "broke" to form a defensive barrier along-side Bailey Howell and Don Nelson near the free-throw line. While this was taking place, Jones wheeled around the screen on the right to receive the anticipated pass from Havlicek. After momentarily stumbling on the parquet floor, Jones tossed up a prayer that hit both the front and back rims before finally dropping.

"I didn't think the ball was going in," said Jones. "In fact. I didn't think it was going in the right general direction and I didn't think it was going to even make the front rim. I slipped as I tried to plant my foot."

ONE DAMNED LUCKY PLAY won the series.

But, think about this. Why didn't VBK call a time-out after the made Celtic free-throw had cut the lead to 88-87? Furthermore, what was Baylor thinking inbounding the ball to EGAN? Where was WEST?

There was plenty of blame to go around, including Wilt. Chamberlain had scored 8 points, on 3-8 from the field, and 2-11 from the line (in a one point loss), BUT, he had STILL managed to outplay Russell, who was even worse. Russell was ghastly. He scored 6 points, on 2-12 from the field, and 2-4 from the line. On top of that, Chamberlain outrebounded him,m 31-29. Of course, it was BAYLOR who REALLY blew chunks in that game. He scored FIVE points, on...get this... 2-14 from the field. BUT, it gets even worse...he also went an unfathomable, 1-5 from the line...in a ONE POINT loss!

That one stupid play, (and subsequent miracle shot) cost the Lakers a 4-1 series romp. Because, in game five, back in LA, the Lakers, behind Wilt finally just beating the stuffing out of Russell (outscoring him 13-7, and outrebounding him by a massive 31-13 margin)...pounded Boston, 117-104.

ONE PLAY.

Continued...

[ClipperRevival]

You think I give a fu*k about your thoughts on Ilt? You have proven time and time again that you bring no objectivity to the table on this topic.

[LAZERUSS]

Chamberlain VERY SELDOM played a truly poor game in his entire post-season career. Hell, in his 160 playoff games, he had at least 20 rebounds in 124 of them. And a 20-20 game was a BAD game for a PRIME Wilt.

Furthermore, in their 49 post-season H2H games, Russell almost never outplayed Chamberlain.

However, both occurred in game six of the '69 Finals. With Wilt playing poorly, the Celtics built a 17 point lead going into the 4th quarter, and coasted to a 99-90 win. Russell outscored Wilt, 9-8, outshot Wilt, 3-8 to 1-5 (and 3-3 to 6-10 from the line), and outrebounded Wilt, 19-18. Obviously, the difference wasn't much, but had Chamberlain just put up even a near normal game, the series would have been over.

Instead, the series was now tied, 3-3. Still, game seven was back in LA, where the Lakers would be favored. Their owner was so confident that his Lakers would win, that he had a ton of balloons hanging from the ceiling, the USC marching band in attendance, and champagne on ice in the locker room. None of which sat well with Russell and his proud Celtics.

Boston immediately jumped out a 24-12 lead, and slowly took control of the game. Late in the third period, the margin was up to 15, and even worse, Wilt picked up his 5th personal foul. However, he remained in the game, and in fact, was a defensive factor for the rest of his time in the contest.

Early in the 4th quarter, it was now Russell who picked up HIS 5th personal foul, but, unlike Wilt, who was still contesting shots, Russell completely went into hiding. Right after that foul, the Lakers inbounded the ball into a low-post Wilt, and he went right around the "statue" Russell for an easy lay-in. However, and mainly do the the incompetence of Van Breda Kolff, Chamberlain never got another low-post touch again.

With ten minutes remaining, Boston had extended their lead to 17 points. It was then that the Lakers started mounting a furious rally. Aided by Sam Jones fouling out shortly thereafter, LA stormed back and cut the margin to 11 with over six minutes remaining. BUT, Chamberlain, while grabbing a rebound, came down awkwardedly, and injured his knee. He still threw an outlet that led to another Laker basket, and the lead was now only nine points. He stayed hobbled at the defensive end, and then grabbed yet another rebound (BTW, those two rebounds, on successive possessions, equaled Russell's entire total in his 4th quarter), and his outlet led to a play in which West was fouled. Wilt HAD to come out. The Lakers called time-out, and VBK sent in Mel Counts to replace Chamberlain. West subsequently hit both FTs, and the lead was now down to seven, with about five-and-a-half minutes remaining.

After the game, there were rumors that were circulating that Wilt had "feigned" his injury. However, even Van Breda Kolff, who absolutely despised Wilt, defended Wilt's injury. Furthermore, if Wilt were somehow trying to protect his image, why wouldn't he have "faked" it late in the 3rd quarter, and after his 5th foul, and with his team trailing by 15 points? And why would he pull himself out of the game, when the Lakers had chopped a full 10 points off of a 17 point margin, and in a little over four minutes, and with over five minutes left in the game?

In any case, the Celtics were running on fumes, and were slowly dying. LA continued to cut into the deficit, and with a little over two minutes left, the margin was now 103-102. That is when Wilt, now feeling well enough to play, asked VBK to go back in. Van Breda Kolff refused, and that decision basically cost not only the city of Los Angeles their very first title, but it basically ruined VBK's coaching career.

Boston extended the lead back to 105-102, and then Wilt's "replacement' mel Counts, missed a shot. Boston would get the ball to Don Nelson at the free-throw line, where he put up a shot that clanked off the back of the rim...went straight up, and came straight down into the basket, for an insurmountable 107-102 lead. Counts threw an errant pass with under a minute remaining, as well, to seal the loss... 108-106. BTW, Counts shot 4-13 from the floor in that game.

Was game seven WILT's fault? In his 43 minutes, he scored 18 points, on 7-8 from the floor (and admittedly, 4-13 from the line), with 27 rebounds. Meanwhile, his counter-part, Russell, had just been pathetic. Russell scored six points, on 2-7 from the field, and 2-4 from the line, with 21 rebounds.

Even more damning...remove Wilt's and Russell's FG/FGAs from that game...and Russell's teammates outshot Wilt's teammates from the floor by a staggering .477 to .360 margin! Even the brilliant West had his lapses. He missed more shots than he made (going 14-29 from the floor), and even missed two of his four missed free-throws down the stretch (going 14-18 overall.)

Unbelievably, the Lakers had lost a seven game series, including a game seven, two point loss, with a series of poor play, multiple miraculous game-winning shots from Boston, an injury to Wilt, and just a complete meltdown by a coach.

When West, and owner Jack Kent Cooke had learned that Wilt had asked to go back in, they were furious. But before Cooke could fire VBK, he quit. Again, the stubborn Van Breda Kolff put his own hatred for Wilt above even winning a world championship.

Chamberlain would eventually get Los Angeles their first ring a couple of years later. LA brought in Bill Sharman in the 71-72 season, and after he basically jettisoned Baylor following the ninth game, the Lakers immediately went on a 33 game winning streak, en route to a 69-13 record, and a dominating world title. Oh, and in the Finals, and with West just choking on his own puke the entire series, Chamberlain absolutely destroyed the Knicks, in a series in which he averaged 19 ppg, 23 rpg, and shot .600 from the field...which included a clinching game five performance of 24 points, on 10-14 shooting, with 29 rebounds (the entire NY team only had 39), and 8 blocked shots. All accomplished with one badly sprained wrist, and the other fractured.

Now, you know EVERYTHING you need to know about the '69 Finals.

[LAZERUSS]

You think I give a fu*k about your thoughts on Ilt? You have proven time and time again that you bring no objectivity to the table on this topic.

So, next time when you go out of your way to bash Wilt, and so by using a post from an OPINION from a complete idiot...


just ask ME, and I will give you the REAL story.

[Helix]

So, next time when you go out of your way to bash Wilt, and so by using a post from an OPINION from a complete idiot...


just ask ME, and I will give you the REAL story.

He's a troll Laz.....a mindless troll. Why even bother with him?

[LAZERUSS]

He's a troll Laz.....a mindless troll. Why even bother with him?

I know I waste a lot of time here, as do other's, but hopefully some of my posts educate the few that might actually want to learn more about Wilt. As you know, having grown up in the Chamberlain-era, he was held in an almost god-like regard, despite his lack of rings. And almost daily you would read about either some unfathomable statistical accomplishment or physical feat.

Nowadays, he is regarded as a choking loser who feasted on the 6-5 white nerds of the 60's, but was dominated by Russell. Furthermore, none of his physical feats ever occurred, and were all bedtime stories.

BTW, take a look at these two clowns that Chamberlain dominated in the '60's...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7TnbhJr8iY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=993UTozPECc

Can you imagine just how laughable it would be, if you were to transport those two "Jerry's Kids" to the current NBA?

I find it fascinating that Chamberlain was basically the ONLY one putting up those eye-popping numbers in his era. And he was accomplishing them year-after-year, and even into his last season.

As for his staggering physical feats...they are plastered all over the internet. Page-after-page of articles and eye-witness accounts, even photos, and footage (much of which has been unearthed in the last few years BTW.) And just as mind-boggling...virtually zero eyewitness accounts that DISPUTE any of them.

If Chamberlain were not capable of dunking on a 12 foot rim, or touching the top of the back-board, or taking a couple of steps and then dunking from the free-throw line, or bench-pressing 500 lbs, or curling 100 lbs dumb-bells "like you or I would pick up a telephone", or running a 4.4 40, etc., etc....where are those that witnessed him NOT doing them? Surely, in his four years of high school, his three years of college, and then his 14 seasons in the NBA, and then his public appearances into his late 50's...surely at least ONE LEGITIMATE source would have come forth and claimed that, "hey, I watched him attempt to touch the top of the backboard, and he was nowhere near it."

Not only that, but so many respected eye-witness accounts, too. Sonny Hill, Hank Stram, Tex Winter, and Arnold himself...and many other's...players, coaches, members of the media, and thousands of fans...all just awe-struck by what they witnessed.

In any case...I'll keep wasting my time. I actually enjoy it.

[LAZERUSS]

BTW, 1969 is THE season that the bashers ALWAYS bring up in Wilt's career. This one post-season, and particularly his Finals...is considered the norm for Chamberlain's entire career.

You seldom see anyone bring up, say his '65 post-season, in which he dragged a 40-40 team to a 3-1 romp over Oscar's stacked 48-32 Royals, and then to the brink of the greatest upset in NBA playoff history, and did so with a 30-31 .555 seven game series, against Russell and his 62-18 Celtics.

Nor his 65-66 season, when he absolutely carpet-bombed his HOF peers (Russell, Thurmond, and Bellamy) that season, including Russell in both the regular season, and the post-season.

And about the only time a basher mentions Wilt's '67 season...well, he was only their 5th leading scorer in the Finals. Of course, they conveniently ignore his crushing dominance in all three post-season series, and his demolition of two of the GOAT defensive centers in NBA history. They will gloss over his 29-36-13-7 clinching game five game against Russell in the '67 EDF's, or his 24-23 clinching game in the Finals...and in both games, he completely shut down Russell and Thurmond. Or that he had two straight playoff series of 28-27-11 .617, and then 22-32-10 .556 against Russell. Or that in his first playoff game, he scored a team playoff high for that post-season, of 41 points (and then in the next game scored 37.)

Oh, some of them will cite his '68 EDF's, but only the last two games (and even in one of those he pulled down 34 rebounds). They will ignore his overwhelming play against the Bellamy-Reed-Frazier trio in the first round, and also fail to mention his 24-23 .539 first five games of that seven game series. And for sure they will have amnesia when it comes to his and his teammates health in that series.

Some will also point out a crippled Reed winning the FMVP in his '70 Finals, but no mention at all of Wilt playing in that series only four months after major knee surgery (and certainly no mention of his 23-24 .625 seven game Finals.)

The bashers will also disparage his '72 title run and FMVP, by claiming that he was only the Lakers third leading scorer in the Finals. And, of course, no mention of his chopping down a peak KAJ in the WCF's (especially in the last four games, and particularly in the clinching game six win.)

Nope...Wilt's entire post-season career was on full display in the '69 Finals. THAT was the REAL Wilt.