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  1. #16
    HomieWeMajor
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    Default Re: What was Wilt Chamberlain's top speed?

    Have a white woman at the finish line and he'd clock 100 metres in under 9.5 .

  2. #17
    NBA Legend CavaliersFTW's Avatar
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    Default Re: What was Wilt Chamberlain's top speed?

    Quote Originally Posted by KobesFinger
    Are these with or without a ball?
    If you read the article, they are simply pointing out these players max recorded speed during the season - they do not specify any variables such as "on ball/while dribbling". So to me, it appears they are simply tracking the top speed of these guys whether it be on or off the ball.

  3. #18
    Future NBA G.O.A.T inclinerator's Avatar
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    Default Re: What was Wilt Chamberlain's top speed?

    40 miles per hr in the 60s 5 mph in todays league

  4. #19
    NBA Legend LAZERUSS's Avatar
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    Default Re: What was Wilt Chamberlain's top speed?

    I agree with CavsFan on Wilt's reported 10.9 100 yard time. I don't think that is even close.

    In one of Chamberlain's books, he claims to have barely lost footraces with KU's fellow track star, Ernie Shelby, who supposedly ran a 9.3 100 yards. And both were members of KU's 4x100 yard relay team. I would suspect that Chamberlain was probably easily running sub-10.0's in a 100 yards at the time.

    Chamberlain also claims that he ran a timed 4.4 40 yards while at Kansas. And before someone scoffs at that, and claims that Wilt was "exaggerating", none other than Hank Stram, who invited Wilt to a Chief's mini-camp in the mid-60's, timed a 27 year old Wilt, and who weighed in at 292 lbs at the time, with a 4.6 40 (which was faster than any of the Chief's RBs at the time.) So, I don't see how anyone could dispute a 4.4 by a 20-22 year old, 250 lb Chamberlain, who was routinely running track at the time.

  5. #20
    NBA rookie of the year Psileas's Avatar
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    Default Re: What was Wilt Chamberlain's top speed?

    Quote Originally Posted by LAZERUSS
    I agree with CavsFan on Wilt's reported 10.9 100 yard time. I don't think that is even close.

    In one of Chamberlain's books, he claims to have barely lost footraces with KU's fellow track star, Ernie Shelby, who supposedly ran a 9.3 100 yards. And both were members of KU's 4x100 yard relay team. I would suspect that Chamberlain was probably easily running sub-10.0's in a 100 yards at the time.


    Chamberlain also claims that he ran a timed 4.4 40 yards while at Kansas. And before someone scoffs at that, and claims that Wilt was "exaggerating", none other than Hank Stram, who invited Wilt to a Chief's mini-camp in the mid-60's, timed a 27 year old Wilt, and who weighed in at 292 lbs at the time, with a 4.6 40 (which was faster than any of the Chief's RBs at the time.) So, I don't see how anyone could dispute a 4.4 by a 20-22 year old, 250 lb Chamberlain, who was routinely running track at the time.
    Yeah, someone who runs both 100 and 440 yards and runs the 440 in 49'' is expected to run 100 in significantly less than 10.9''. Heck, it's almost the same speed and there's no way someone maintains his supposed top speed in 100 yrds for 4.4 times the same distance.

  6. #21
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    Default Re: What was Wilt Chamberlain's top speed?

    I know that there are factors that limit full blown sprint speed in the NBA... namely a really short court (relative to sprints and the player's size) and not much time and place to sprint... That being said, I'm shocked that the listed speeds earlier are tops in the NBA. I have a friend from HS that could do that, and he was not a D1 level college athlete.

  7. #22
    Wilt Davis Marchesk's Avatar
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    Default Re: What was Wilt Chamberlain's top speed?

    Quote Originally Posted by Psileas
    Yeah, someone who runs both 100 and 440 yards and runs the 440 in 49'' is expected to run 100 in significantly less than 10.9''. Heck, it's almost the same speed and there's no way someone maintains his supposed top speed in 100 yrds for 4.4 times the same distance.
    Not really. A 10.9 pace for 100 meters is 43.6 for the 400. So 49 is quite reasonable.

  8. #23
    NBA rookie of the year Psileas's Avatar
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    Default Re: What was Wilt Chamberlain's top speed?

    Quote Originally Posted by Marchesk
    Not really. A 10.9 pace for 100 meters is 43.6 for the 400. So 49 is quite reasonable.
    I've read that 100 referred to yards, not meters. So, I'm saying that 10.9 for 100 yards is unrealistically low.

  9. #24
    NBA Legend CavaliersFTW's Avatar
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    Default Re: What was Wilt Chamberlain's top speed?

    Quote Originally Posted by Psileas
    I've read that 100 referred to yards, not meters. So, I'm saying that 10.9 for 100 yards is unrealistically low.
    Also the "400 meter" and "800 meter" people always reference were actually the 440 yard quarter mile and 880 yard - which are both a little longer than the modern 400/800 meter. But yeah the 100 yard is less distance than the 100 meter, and a 4.6 40 yard dash athlete when in his late 20's and 290lbs is probably going to cover the 100 yard quicker than 10.9 during his 240lb (and lighter) competitive track years if he actually participated in it. AFAIK he never did though, at least not in college or at the Philadelphia city-league level in HS. Unless someone comes forward with a specific first hand account - like they're the ones who timed him at multiple events just while Wilt was at Track and Field practice (not unheard of, I used to do this too when I ran Track) etc than the 10.9 100 yard should be treated as hearsay with no known source. He could have done that as an 10th grader in HS for all we know, or not at all it could even be a made up number.
    Last edited by CavaliersFTW; 07-19-2013 at 12:14 PM.

  10. #25
    Trump Towers LikeABosh's Avatar
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    Default Re: What was Wilt Chamberlain's top speed?

    33.1 Mph, 1000 pound bench press, 5 confirmed mountain lion kills

  11. #26
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    Default Re: What was Wilt Chamberlain's top speed?

    18.2 MPH seems about right.

  12. #27
    Wilt Davis Marchesk's Avatar
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    Default Re: What was Wilt Chamberlain's top speed?

    Quote Originally Posted by LikeABosh
    33.1 Mph, 1000 pound bench press, 5 confirmed mountain lion kills


    Shaq would be 20,000 and one on the list! Wait, are those cougars from the 60s?

  13. #28
    NBA Legend CavaliersFTW's Avatar
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    Default Re: What was Wilt Chamberlain's top speed?

    Quote Originally Posted by kshutts1
    I know that there are factors that limit full blown sprint speed in the NBA... namely a really short court (relative to sprints and the player's size) and not much time and place to sprint... That being said, I'm shocked that the listed speeds earlier are tops in the NBA. I have a friend from HS that could do that, and he was not a D1 level college athlete.
    I think the court size, the fact that these players are all sharing floor space with other bodies and trying to avoid collisions plus being alert and focused on playing the game all prevent them from sprinting as fast as physically possible. I doubt the measured speeds represent the peak of how fast these athletes are capable of running. I'm sure a good number of the fastest players in the league could crack 20mph in a dead sprint if the court was empty and that was their primary objective. They're all pre-occupied playing the game though, and only running as fast as they can or as fast as they feel is necessary given the flow and opportunites present within a game.

  14. #29
    NBA Legend CavaliersFTW's Avatar
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    Default Re: What was Wilt Chamberlain's top speed?

    In spite of visibly slowing down and turning around to catch the ball Wilt averages 18.65mph in the 2nd half of the 22 foot stretch of court I'm using for measurement in the SFU game sprint. Even faster than his 18.2mph he averages when accelerating. 18.65mph is the fastest average speed he achieves within the aforementioned 22 foot length of floor I'm using for measurement. I've used clips of his from several games now, that's definitely his peak over that span of distance. I'm going to attempt to get his absolute "peak" speed by just measuring how many frames it takes his body to cross the 12 foot circle in the middle of the court. That should be the closest I can get to measuring his peak speed on a basketball court w/o him visibly slowing down or speeding up to skew the results.
    Last edited by CavaliersFTW; 07-23-2013 at 12:24 AM.

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