Wilt Chamberlain shot blocking averages:

[CavaliersFTW]

Okay so I posted before, KU tracked Wilt's blocked shots even though the NCAA does not officially recognize them. 302 blocks in 48 games. Or 6.3 bpg. This in 40 minute games with no shot clock. Keep in mind all his other career stats (points, rebounds, assists) went up from his KU numbers once he entered the NBA due to the greater minutes on the floor and shot clocks. So one would assume his NBA blocks might be higher than 6.3 as well yes?

Well, based on NBAstats.net excel sheet, plus several additional games I had that they have not yet added, and a few corrections, I counted 109 NBA games (of random nature, playoff, reg season, etc) where Wilt Chamberlains blocked shot data was listed. I've been going through and double checking most of these numbers and while I've made a few corrections, most of their data seems on point when I cross reference with my own google-news-archive research so I thought I'd do a quick calculation. Some of these mention his blocks because they are incredible games with as much as 20+, some of these mention he only blocked as few as 1 shot so these aren't necessarily all his glorious games where they listed his block data. In those 109 games, I added up 976 blocks. Comes to an 8.95 bpg average. Take it for what it is. An average based on newspaper data (some game film of course but mostly newspapers). Plausible I guess, based on his KU data and how all his numbers sort of jumped in the NBA. But still, take it for what it is, incomplete data from sources that can never be 100% verified. It's worth pointing out though, it does sort of line up with the "career" figures Harvey Pollack estimated, and what Sonny Hill likes to mention.

6.3bpg KU - all 48 games, complete NCAA career avg

*EDIT - added more games:
8.813bpg NBA - 112 random games out of his total 1205 (9% of his career) from mostly newspaper sources and a few game films

By the way for those that have downloaded the Wilt Chamberlain spreadsheet from NBA stats, I disregarded all the "estimate" numbers. And as said, corrected a few, and also added a few others to come up with my 110 game sample size and 986 count.

[warriorfan]

Amazing stats but may need adjusting due to high pace and no 3 point line.

[Rose'sACL]

If we adjust due to pace and quality of players, then it would be about 1.9 blocks per game which is great given how much sex the guy used to have.

[CavaliersFTW]

Amazing stats but may need adjusting due to high pace and no 3 point line.

If we adjust due to pace and quality of players, then it would be about 1.9 blocks per game which is great given how much sex the guy used to have.

I know you guys are just trying to have a laugh but if I may offer a serious suggestion here. Everyone should make an effort to learn the history of the game if you feel you need more context when viewing a player like Wilt, or Oscar, or even Magic/Larry/MJ's numbers. Don't worry about the concept of "adjusting/ed" (completely imaginary) stats. That's seriously the laziest, and most inaccurate way to attempt to get a handle on a player. The best way, is to just learn about what other players were doing that also played in that period of time.

Simply because, especially the further back in time you go, the number of variables that would need taken into consideration change exponentially. There's probably hundreds of variables that you'll never acknowledge no matter how thorough you try to be coming up with some sort of formula to account for every big or small change in the game then to now. There are no shortcut adjustments to plug a players numbers into today's game. Just learn how the game was played then. It's more honest. And IMO easier.

[warriorfan]

Just learn how the game was played then. It's easier.

More shots with less spacing. More shot-blocking opportunities.

[CavaliersFTW]

More shots with less spacing. More shot-blocking opportunities.

And there's no formula for that. Nor is there a formula for less layups taken, due to a present shot blocker like Wilt, Thurmond, or Russell protecting a rim.

[24-Inch_Chrome]

So a mid-range heavy game? I haven't seen much of that era of basketball, my knowledge limited to whatever has been posted here but I don't remember the videos very well.

[CavaliersFTW]

So a mid-range heavy game? I haven't seen much of that era of basketball, my knowledge limited to whatever has been posted here but I don't remember the videos very well.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...DnQ6iIRVg4twUN

Check out a game where I broke down lots of individual players to see how all the positions/roles were playing.

[Trollsmasher]

I have done the calculations and it adjusts roughly to 2 block per game in today's game

Thank me later

[CavaliersFTW]

Since shot block data doesn't exist for other players and we don't have a frame of reference this is sort of a difficult number (if it is at all reflective of Wilt's actual career numbers) to understand. So for context I recall Harvey Pollack the statistician of that era claiming that Wilt blocked more shots than Russell on average. Now, this doesn't necessarily mean he was a better defensive player. Just that he had higher shot blocking numbers. Wilt, Nate Thurmond, and Bill Russell are cited as having the highest shot blocking averages in the 60's of any centers. As the early 70's came along after Russell retired it would be Wilt, followed by some mix of Nate Thurmond (when healthy) Elmore Smith and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Wilt's shot blocking numbers seemed to curve downwards towards the end of his career, in spite of becoming almost an exclusively defensive minded player. I'll have to double-check with the stat sheet tomorrow perhaps (getting late now) but I recall he was blocking something like 5.4bpg with a solid sample size his final season or two.

The first year blocks were officially recorded by the NBA (season after Wilt retired) these are the official numbers:

1. Elmore Smith ▪ LAL 4.9
2. Kareem* ▪ MIL 3.5
3. Bob McAdoo* ▪ BUF 3.3
4. Bob Lanier* ▪ DET 3.0
5. Elvin Hayes* ▪ CAP 3.0

[24-Inch_Chrome]

Do per-100 stats exist for that era? If not, is there any way to estimate? Just curious.

[3ball]

The lowest pace has ever been is about 90 (from 1996-1999 and again in the early 2000's).

In Wilt's prime, the pace was about 130.. So that's 44% higher than today's pace.

Pace adjusted, Wilt's 8.95 blocks would be 44% higher than 6.25.. So in today's game, Wilt would average 6.25 blocks, not counting 3-pointers.

Including 3-pointers, his gets about 4.5 - 5.5 blocks, which sounds just about right - I would basically take the league's leading shot blocker (say Ibaka, Dikembe, or whoever in any given year) and add like 30-50% more - seriously, how far physically superior is Wilt to Ibaka or Tyson Chandler or whoever?.. Vastly.

I don't even want to hear comparisons to Shaq - the two couldn't be more different physically - Wilt had more power and was FAR quicker and nimbler.. To me, he was built like Dwight Howard (with the bow-legs), but was far bigger and longer

[CavaliersFTW]

Do per-100 stats exist for that era? If not, is there any way to estimate? Just curious.

I don't believe in adjusted numbers per-anything will be of much help. There are many other differences in the game then to now that you will be overlooking if you start to fiddle with numbers. Just try and learn how the game was played then, plain and simple. Look up the numbers other players were getting. I know this won't work with shot blocking unfortunately since we don't have widespread shot blocking data of players of his era but it helps put his other numbers in a more honest context at least.

[3ball]

I don't believe in adjusted numbers per-anything will be of much help. There are many other differences in the game then to now that you will be overlooking if you start to fiddle with numbers. Just try and learn how the game was played then, plain and simple. Look up the numbers other players were getting. I know this won't work with shot blocking unfortunately since we don't have widespread shot blocking data of players of his era but it helps put his other numbers in a more honest context at least.

agreed.. i was just adjusting the numbers for the sake of posters who simply CAN'T understand the game.. because even if you adjust the numbers, Wilt still comes out far ahead, so it's like throwing them the red meat they seek.

[24-Inch_Chrome]

I don't believe in adjusted numbers per-anything will be of much help. There are many other differences in the game then to now that you will be overlooking if you start to fiddle with numbers. Just try and learn how the game was played then, plain and simple. Look up the numbers other players were getting. I know this won't work with shot blocking unfortunately since we don't have widespread shot blocking data of players of his era but it helps put his other numbers in a more honest context at least.

I was just curious, it wasn't intended as a shot.

Wilt is locked into my top-4 all-time as a tier-1 player.