Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated
Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell Discuss Who The GOAT Is
In this following video compilation, you can watch and listen to Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell talking about who the greatest player of all time really is.
One Wilt Chamberlain quote sticks out though:
“Just remember Michael. When you played, they changed the rules to make it easier for you to dominate. When I played, they changed the rules to make it harder for me”
I don’t think you can be wrong with picking either of them. We’ve talked about Mike enough, but Wilt really has a point in claiming to be the best to ever play.
During his prime, Wilt Chamberlain averaged 38.8 points and 24.5 rebounds per game over an eight year time span. During his record season in 1961-62, he averaged a ridiculous 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds per game. Back then, they didn’t keep track of blocks as a stat, but according to RealGM, Chamberlain averaged 8.8 blocks per game in the 112 full games of existing footage.
Think about a player, let’s say Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins or Karl-Anthony Towns finishing a game with a 41/25/9 statline. Everyone would go crazy. The league, the media, the players – we would get to see highlights of the game over and over again, for at least a week. That statline, well, it was a regular and average night for Wilt Chamberlain.
He was able to do it all. During the 1967/68 season Wilt got mad and tired that other people and players called him a ball-hog. So what did he do? He went on to lead the league in assists, with 8.6 assists per game. In that year he averaged 24.3 points, 23.7 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game. Oh, and let’s not forget his 8.8 blocks. That’s close to averaging a quadruple double. In league history, there have been 447 50+ point games; Wilt Chamberlain accounted for 26.4% of them.
Chamberlain holds more records than we can list. But among them there are:
- Single-game scoring record (100)
- Highest single-season scoring average (50.4)
- Single-season scoring record (4,029)
- Single-game rebounding record (55)
- Highest single-season rebounding average (27.2)
- Single-season rebounding record (2,149)
- Highest single-season minutes average (48.5)
If Jordan is the GOAT, Chamberlain easily is the most dominant player to ever play the game (sorry Shaq). Russell on the other hand, is the greatest champion in history.
Have a look at the rule changes the league had to do because of Chamberlain and Jordan (via reddit user MedievalGynecologist):
Wilt Chamberlain:
- Shooters cannot cross the free throw line while during free throws (Wilt would throw it against the backboard for dunks)
- Lane widened from 12 feet to 16 feet
- Offensive interference/goaltending
- Ball cannot be inbounded over the backboard (Inbounders standing underneath the basket would routinely lob the ball over the backboard for Wilt)
Michael Jordan:
- Illegal Offense (clear out isolation on one side of the court)
I grew up watching and admiring Jordan. I’ve never got to see Wilt play the game, but I wish I had been able to.
