The rest of the NBA has now almost tied Wilt Chamberlain for most 60pt games

[Magic 32]

I know that's why I picked the picture

[CavaliersFTW]

Guess the decade:

8 white guys


4 white guys

[Magic 32]

Guess the decade:

8 white guys


4 white guys

Well, its the Celtics.

[LAZERUSS]

Wilt has those 32, and then the next best player has 5.

Here were Wilt's LAST five 60+ point games...(with a 58 pointer in for fun)...

02/07/66: 65 points, 29 rebs, 28-43 from the field

03/03/66: 62 points, 37 rebs, 26-39 from the field

02/15/67: 58 points, 25 rebs, 26-34 from the field

12/16/67 : 68 points, 34 rebs, 30-40 from the field

01/26/69: 60 points, 21 rebs, 22-36 from the field

02/09/69: 66 points, 27 rebs, 29-35 from the field


He averaged 63.2 ppg, 28.8 rpg, 26.8 FGM, 37.8 FGA, and shot .709 from the field.

[CavaliersFTW]

Wilt has those 32, and then the next best player has 5.

Here were Wilt's LAST five 60+ point games...(with a 58 pointer in for fun)...

02/07/66: 65 points, 29 rebs, 28-43 from the field

03/03/66: 62 points, 37 rebs, 26-39 from the field

02/15/67: 58 points, 25 rebs, 26-34 from the field

12/16/67 : 68 points, 34 rebs, 30-40 from the field

01/26/69: 60 points, 21 rebs, 22-36 from the field

02/09/69: 66 points, 27 rebs, 29-35 from the field


He averaged 63.2 ppg, 28.8 rpg, 26.8 FGM, 37.8 FGA, and shot .709 from the field.

[jongib369]

Wilt has those 32, and then the next best player has 5.

Here were Wilt's LAST five 60+ point games...(with a 58 pointer in for fun)...

02/07/66: 65 points, 29 rebs, 28-43 from the field

03/03/66: 62 points, 37 rebs, 26-39 from the field

02/15/67: 58 points, 25 rebs, 26-34 from the field

12/16/67 : 68 points, 34 rebs, 30-40 from the field

01/26/69: 60 points, 21 rebs, 22-36 from the field

02/09/69: 66 points, 27 rebs, 29-35 from the field


He averaged 63.2 ppg, 28.8 rpg, 26.8 FGM, 37.8 FGA, and shot .709 from the field.

[Marlo_Stanfield]

well since Wilt is the GOAT its no surprise he owns every scorin record in the history of the game

[CavaliersFTW]

well since Wilt is the GOAT its no surprise he owns every scorin record in the history of the game

My god 2014 draft did produce some good posters after all, welcome aboard sir

[houston]

ok

[LAZERUSS]

Yeah...the Wilt-bashers (and those who know no better) tend to believe that all of Chamberlain's high scoring games before his 66-67 season. The fact was, Wilt put up the HIGH point game(s), each season from 61-62 thru 68-69.

The game on 01/26/69 was an interesting one (for those who have not read about it yet)...

Wilt was averaging a career low 17 ppg mid-way thru that season. In fact, it was so bad, that Sports Illustrated ran an article claiming that Wilt could no longer score...and it hit the newstands on 01/27/69...

BTW, Chamberlain was leading the league in scoring in his 69-70 season, at 32.2 ppg on a .579 FG%, when he blew out his knee in the ninth game. And that average was not inflated by one huge game, either. He had games of 33, 35, 37, 38, 42, and 43 points...as well as 25 point game in which he just wiped the floor with rookie Kareem in every facet of the game. And speaking of Kareem, he would average 28.8 ppg that rookie season. Interesting too that Wilt's teammate, Jerry West, led the league in scoring that season, at 31.2 ppg. At the time of Wilt's injury (again, when Wilt was averaging 32.2 ppg, West was averaging 30.8 ppg.)

In any case, clearly Wilt could have scored so much more had he been so inclined.

[LAZERUSS]

As a sidenote...

Chamberlain had 8 59 point games in his career (and 9 58 point games)...

He was a shade away from 40-to-49 career 60+ point games...

[fpliii]

As a sidenote...

Chamberlain had 8 59 point games in his career (and 9 58 point games)...

He was a shade away from 40-to-49 career 60+ point games...

When you have a chance, I was wondering if you could discuss Wilt's 68-69 and 69-70 years, before the injury? We have a great mix by CavsFTW from his Warriors/Sixers seasons, but very little tape out there from the Lakers portion of his prime (I think a few of us agreed his prime ended with the injury in the other thread).

Also, regarding his later Lakers years, is it possible that he was still in his defensive prime? Or do you feel his loss of mobility post-injury made him a shell of his early self on that end?

[LAZERUSS]

When you have a chance, I was wondering if you could discuss Wilt's 68-69 and 69-70 years, before the injury? We have a great mix by CavsFTW from his Warriors/Sixers seasons, but very little tape out there from the Lakers portion of his prime (I think a few of us agreed his prime ended with the injury in the other thread).

Also, regarding his later Lakers years, is it possible that he was still in his defensive prime? Or do you feel his loss of mobility post-injury made him a shell of his early self on that end?

Van Breda Kolff badly mis-managed Chamberlain. He had him playing the high post (which, admittedly, Chamberlain had done well, part-time, in Philly), so that a declining Baylor could roam the baseline. He also blamed Wilt for the Laker chemistry issues, and even benched Wilt during the season (and in the last five minutes of a game seven, and during a furious Laker rally, that resulted in a two-point loss.)

Incidently, I have read those, like Bill Simmons and even Fatal9, claim that Wilt's impact with the 68-69 Lakers was minimal. They argue that LA "only" increased from a 52-30 win team, to a 55-27 win team. Of course, they will only mention the actual trade, in which the Lakers traded three players (basically two quality players) to Philly, for Chamberlain. BUT, they will never mention that the Lakers also lost Gail Goodrich, and his 14 ppg from 67-68, to the expansion draft (Goodrich was THE prize of that draft BTW.)

How big a factor was the loss of Goodrich? In LA's 67-68 season, West missed 31 games. But, with all-star guard Archie Clark (part of the Wilt trade), and Goodrich, the Lakers went 19-12 without him. So, the Lakers essentially went from a team with THREE exceptional guards, down to ONE. And guess what...West would miss 21 more games in 68-69, too. Still, even with no functional guard play, the Lakers were able to go 12-9 without West in 68-69.

Chamberlain was a beast in 68-69...despite being shackled by a bull-headed moronic coach. Simmons would never mention the fact that Chamberlain just crushed the three centers who would outvote him in the MVP balloting...in both regular season numbers, and in H2H play. Only Unseld's 3-3 team record in those H2H's was close, too. Chamberlain mauled Reed's Knicks, 5-1, and Russell's Celtics, 4-2, in H2H w-l records.

The Russell voting was really ridiculous. Wilt annihilated him in their regular season H2H's, going 6-0 in scoring H2H's, including a 35-5 beatdown, and 5-0-1 in rebounding H2H's, including a crushing margins of 21-8 and 42-18. And Wilt's Lakers also had a considerably better regular season W-L record, too. Obviously, there continued to be an "anti-Wilt" bias in the voting, as there was for much of his career.

Oh, and on Dec. 25th, in 1968, Chamberlain put up a RECORDED 23 blocked shots (in a nationally televised game...that is nowhere to be found now BTW), which, is miles ahead of the "official" mark of 17.

And in the post-season, he pounded Thurmond, solidly out-rebounding him, and, as always, just murdering him in FG% efficiency. The reality was, Wilt was by FAR, the best center on the planet in 68-69. There was only one man who could contain him,...and that was Van Breda Kolff.


As for 69-70, I think there were two main factors that re-energized Wilt going into that season. First, his new coach, Joe Mullaney, immediately asked Chamberlain to become the focal point of the offense again. And secondly, the arrival of rookie Lew Alcindor. And there was no question about it, either. Chamberlain was off to one of his finest seasons ever, even at age 33, in those first nine games (which included a domination of Alcindor in one of them...the only H2H between the two, before Wilt shredded his knee.)

The knee injury was serious. Even the most optimistic medical opinion had Wilt out for at least the season (really, a full year.) And there were those that believed that a 33 year old, 300 lb Wilt, was probably done, too. But he just stunned the medical experts with an amazing rehabilitation program that he, himself, went on.

Here again, have you ever read anything by Simmons (or Fatal9) which APPLAUDED Wilt for coming back way ahead of schedule. I won't take the time to look it up now, but PHILA actually posted a quote from Chamberlain, in which he made up his mind to come back early, even at considerably less than 100%, to HELP lead his teammates to a title.

And I doubt you have ever read anything from either of those two clowns PRAISING Wilt's play in leading a COMEBACK from a first-round, 3-1 series deficit, with three straight dominating games of 36-14 (10 blocks); a QUAD double of 12-26-11-11; and a game seven of 30-27-6 with 11 blocks.

And the fact was, Wilt's 48-34 Lakers were solid under-dogs going into the Finals against the 60-22 Knicks. NY had a loaded and deep lineup, and they had the reigning MVP, Willis Reed, at his peak. Amazingly, a laterally-limited Wilt battled Reed to a 2-2 draw in their first four games of that series (a 2-2 series...which, BTW, was already better than Alcindor's 56-26 Bucks, who had been blown out in the EDF's by the Knicks, 4-1.)

The pivotal game of that series was game five. Reed went down with his leg injury (a similar injury that Wilt played with for every minute of the '68 EDF's BTW.) NY was down by 10 points (and Wilt was badly outplaying Reed to that point), and it would go to 13 at the half. However, the officiating in the second half was very suspect, as reported by NY TIMES writer, Leonard Koppett,...which probably explained why a brutalized West and Wilt were limited to a total of FIVE second half shots...COMBINED. The Knicks came back to win that game, without Reed.

In game six, Chamberlain just crushed the Reedless Knicks, in a blowout win. But, an inspired NY team, even with Reed contributing virtually nothing, just blew out LA in game seven. The fact was, Chamberlain was the ONLY Laker to play well in that game. And Reed, despite scoring a total of 11 points, on 4-10 shooting, with 3 rebounds...in the last three pivotal games of that series...won the FMVP. And, despite scoring 88 points, on 39-55 shooting, with 71 rebounds, in those last three games...Chamberlain was labeled a "choker." A Wilt who was only four months removed from major knee surgery, and who put up the only 20-20 .600 series in Finals history (23.2 ppg, 24.1 rpg, and on a .625 FG%.)

Offensively, Wilt was never the same after that injury. He lost a lot of his lateral mobility (although very little of his vertical leaping ability.) And in his own words, he was a physical wreck in the 70-71 season. However, even he was pleasantly surprised by the fact that his arthritis actually seemed to clear up before his 71-72 season.

And, had their been a DPOY award in that 71-72 season, Chamberlain would have been a unanimous pick. His new coach, Bill Sharman brought in a new mentality, and with Wilt's defense, rebounding, and outlet passes, the realtively old Laker team just ran the NBA to death that season.

And while KAJ had heavy scoring numbers against Wilt in the WCF's, he couldn't hit the ocean from a lifeboat against Wilt in the last four games of that series, and those that actually watched that series, including the Milwaukee Press, and Milwaukeee coach, acknowledged that Wilt outplayed KAJ. Time Magazine even went a step further, proclaiming that Wilt had DECISIVELY outplayed KAJ in that SERIES.

And then Chamberlain just completely took over the Finals. While West was puking all over the floor in that series, Chamberlain shelled the entire NY frontline, and ran away with the FMVP. IMHO, this might have been Wilt's greatest season. For the first time in his career, he was no longer considered the best player on the planet, and then to pull a "Russell" on Kareem, and just reduce him to a shot-jacking brick-layer, was perhaps his finest moment.

He continued to be an elite player in his last season, at age 36. He would finish 4th in MVP voting, lead the league in rebounding, was voted first team all-defense (again...and ahead of players like Cowens, Lanier, Thurmond, and KAJ), set a FG% mark that will probably never be broken, led his team to a 60-22 record, and then to yet another Finals (his 4th in five seasons in LA.) And in the process, he just murdered a Thurmond, who had battered KAJ yet again in the playoffs (and sent the heavily-favored Bucks packing.) And while he was not great in the Finals, his team lost four straight games in the last minute, and he was clearly LA's best player in the clinching loss. In his very last game, Wilt hung a 23 point game, on 9-16 shooting, with 21 rebounds.

[EllEffEll]

OT, but they're one of the most underrated teams in history. 82/83 Sixers are up there with the GOAT NBA teams IMHO.

[TylerOO]

Nobody cares about that dead dude