The only person to ever score 100 points in a game of professional basketball is Wilt Chamberlain. Is he now the best basketball player of all time because of that accomplishment?

The 100-point game took place in a small Hershey, Pennsylvania venue. Wilt had to contend with two lackluster lesser centers, whom he thoroughly outclassed. That was a common occurrence in the NBA at the time. He deserves a lot of praise for making 28 of the 32 free throws. His side just gave him the ball and stopped playing defense after he scored 80 points so they could swiftly regain possession of it. Like he frequently did in his early years in the league, Wilt also played the whole 48 minutes in that match. To reach 100 points, he needed 63 shots.

assuming a D-man role in order to swiftly recover the ball. Like he frequently did in his early years in the league, Wilt also played the whole 48 minutes in that match. To reach 100 points, he needed 63 shots. As he frequently did on those days, he pulled down a sizable 25 rebounds and had numerous shots blocked. Unrecorded shots blocked. With 63 shots, Wilt scored 1.6 points per shot, and his 100 points were scored over 48 minutes, representing an average of 2.08 points per minute. Since many of his shots were close to the hoop, he would often grab the rebound and try again. When he received the ball in the key, three players would frequently guard him at once.

That is hard to compare to Kobe’s 81-point performance. He played a significant 41 minutes, and during his time on the field, the team was up +25. Kobe gained from his seven three-pointers. He was a member of a bad squad as well. He made 46 shots during the game, which translates to 1,8 points per attempt. He scored at a pace of around two points per minute during his 41 minutes of play.

Compare those three games—including the one last night—with three other effective games by Klay Thompson. In 32 minutes, he scored 52 points and made 11 three-pointers. When he played, he was a +38. He scored 1.62 points per minute during his 32 minutes of play, and he scored 2.1 points per shot on 25 attempts. Klay had a 60-point game with eight threes last season. He scored at a pace of 2.1 points per minute during his 29 minutes of play.

With 33 shots, he scored 1.82 points per shot on average. It was his game last night that really pleased me. With a record 14 three-pointers in 26 minutes, he scored 52 points on 29 shots. He scored 1.8 points per shot and 2.0 points per minute. In the game, he was a +28. He shares the court with three other future Hall of Famers.

All these points can be translated into one minute, and Klay Thompson and Kobe seem to be on par with Wilt. The distinction lies in Wilt’s extraordinary athletic prowess, since he averaged more than 45 minutes each game during his career. At that time, or since, no other player has done that. Therefore, it is safe to assume that Klay would have scored more than 100 points had he played 48 minutes. Klay was never able to play that much. Or how about if Kobe had played seven more minutes? He could have scored more than 100 points. He didn’t. Many other players, like David Thompson and Elgin Baylor, have had nights with huge scoring totals. Six of the ten highest scoring games are played by Wilt.

Yes, Wilt’s 100-point performance was just as legitimate as Kobe and Klay Thompson’s big games in which they received the ball from teammates to help them score points. Whether a game is the greatest depends on who is watching. Perhaps because I saw Klay’s game last night and could understand what he was doing, I enjoyed his performance. I witnessed both his 60-point and Kobe’s 81-point performances.