Is LeBron James or Michael Jordan? When it comes to the NBA’s greatest player, that’s all we hear. It’s challenging to choose the best athlete in any sport. It’s difficult to compare players from various periods, but Jordan and James are the main topic of discussion. Why does Wilt Chamberlain appear in the last two so infrequently?
James and Jordan are excellent choices. Also, those are the slack decisions. Talk about the GOAT is mostly directed at fans who haven’t watched Chamberlain play. For those, like myself, who have never witnessed him in action, watch a few YouTube videos and look at his numbers; you could be convinced otherwise.
In the discussion of NBA GOATS, Wilt Chamberlain merits greater deference.
What precisely qualifies as the GOAT, then? The most important question lacks a definitive answer. Statistics alone indicate that Chamberlain is the winner of the GOAT debate, and the difference is not even close. With his 11 championships as a player, his rival Bill Russell is the obvious winner if it’s based on winning titles.
People frequently start losing their memories when the greatest-ever conversation starts. Gamers from those bygone days are lost to time. Are they written off because there weren’t many NBA teams back then? Consider the 1966–1967 campaign, which saw the Chicago Bulls’ league debut. The NBA now has ten clubs after adding the Bulls.
Does Chamberlain’s case suffer from a 10-team league? Why, if so? Is it because having fewer teams makes it simpler to win an MVP or a championship? Does that even matter when deciding who the greatest of all time is?
LeBron participates in a 30-team league that is diluted. That ought to weaken his case, right? Compared to Chamberlain, James and Jordan had far greater visibility since they performed in front of sizable television audiences. Does their GOAT status get enhanced publicity? When Chamberlain played, steals and blocks weren’t even a category. Does that come into play? There are lots of questions that have no clear answers.
Wilt Chamberlain has the best statistics of anyone.
Although Chamberlain possesses all the statistics necessary to demonstrate his completeness as a player, his startling statistic alone ought to propel him to the top of the GOAT rankings. All of this occurred in 1961–1962, when Chamberlain played an average of 48.5 minutes each game. Given that an NBA game lasts only 48 minutes, how can one average 48.5 minutes per game?
During the 1961–62 season, Chamberlain only missed one game—that of the final eight minutes—after receiving his second technical foul. That season, seven games went into overtime, which increased his average above 48 minutes. Over the course of his 14-year career, Chamberlain averaged an astounding 45.8 minutes.
Throughout his career, Chamberlain averaged 30.1 points and 22.9 rebounds per game. He also never fouled out of an NBA game. In a league-high 80 games, the big man finished the 1961–62 season with 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds. He averaged 44.8 points and 24.3 rebounds the next season. He once finished a game with 100 points.
Including his first six years in the NBA, Chamberlain won the scoring title seven times and led the league in rebounds eleven times. In 1967–68, the adaptable 7-foot-1 center also astonishingly topped the league in assists, giving out 8.6 a game. He won the NBA championship twice and the MVP award four times.
