Wilt was obviously not as good a shooter as Larry Bird. Larry had a range of shots on the floor. Wilt scored goals with ease. A distinction exists. Wilt was terrible beyond ten feet from the rim, but he could score anyplace else. Larry made 90% of his free throws whereas Wilt only made 50%. Excellent shooters typically possess beautiful outside arcing shots. Wilt and other great scorers use their bulk and size to score near to the hoop, but you rarely see them making clean jumpers from ten feet and beyond. Larry Legend throughout
By a wide margin, Larry Bird was so proficient with the gun that he would warn opponents to only use their right or left hand when shooting, yet they were still unable to prevent him from hitting his shots. “Who’s gonna be second place?” Larry Bird once asked as he entered the locker room after a three-point shooting competition. He said, “None other than himself, later he would win the shooting contest,” while everyone was in disbelief and wondered who would go first.
In their respective basketball periods, Wilt Chamberlain and Larry Bird were both exceptionally talented shooters, but they played distinct positions on the court and had different play styles.
Playing mostly in the 1960s and early 1970s, Wilt Chamberlain was a formidable center who was renowned for his extraordinary size, strength, and quickness. He broke multiple scoring records during his career and was a superb shooter, particularly at close range. He was not well-known for his long-range shooting prowess, though, and his shooting range was constrained in comparison to more contemporary players.
Conversely, small forward Larry Bird, who was a star player mostly in the 1980s, was renowned for his amazing accuracy and shooting range. As one of the best shooters in NBA history, he won three titles and averaged 49.6% from the field, 37.6% from three-point range, and 88.6% from the free-throw line throughout his career.
Although it’s challenging to directly compare players from different eras when it comes to shooting, it’s widely agreed that Wilt Chamberlain was less accurate and more versatile than Larry Bird. Nevertheless, both players made substantial contributions to the game of basketball and were extremely talented and powerful individuals in their own right.
If Wilt Chamberlain had played in the NBA today, would he have been a decent three-point shooter?
He could, for sure. Actually, he said in his writings that he found it far simpler to shoot from a distance farther away from the hoop than it was to remain motionless at the free throw line. He clearly has the range, as you can see:
In the NBA, three-point shooting is (or at least was) tough since it takes muscle in the lower body to make shots consistently. Wilt had no trouble with that at all.
Having said that, why would a coach ever want Wilt to shoot three points when he could easily do so? In order to “stretch the defense” and open up space for a shot to the basket without the other center close by, centers shoot threes. Wilt was virtually the closest thing to a sure field goal in the league’s history, thus there was really no reason to do this with him.
When shooting three pointers, you don’t need a two-point superweapon. And thanks to Wilt’s incredible passing abilities, he would locate open shooters away.
