Ron Artest and culture

Show me where Wilt's ever been listed that large. 7'1" 270 is about where I've always seen him.

Comparing players from different generations is a futile game, but what the hell, I'll play anyways. NO, I don't believe for a second Wilt could've scored like Jordan did against 90s defenses. Not even close.

All you have to do is watch some games from the two eras to see how completely different defenses were. That's something people overlook with Jordan--he set his scoring records during the hardest era to score in league history. Wilt set his during the easiest. That's especially true in the 90s when the thug ball defenses came into vogue and they allowed all that handchecking.

When people make the case for Wilt's greatness, they always point first to his amazing 62 season when he averaged 50 and scored 100 in a game. BUT, have you looked at the stats LEAGUEWIDE in 62? Something screwy was going on that season--teams all averaged around 120 ppg, Baylor averaged nearly 40, about every team had at least one guy averaging near 30 or higher, Wilt and Russell averaged around 25 boards per game. Were they using a 10 second shot clock that year?

In 62, defenses almost never doubled the post and Russell was the only guy who had any hope of matching up to Wilt physically. On most nights Wilt was guarded straight up by some slow footed 6'9" guy. In the 90s he would've been getting doubled constantly and bodied on a nightly basis by the likes of Shaq, Olajuwon, Mutombo, Mourning, Moses Malone, Ewing, Parish, Robinson, etc.

And, as his defenders got bigger and defenses a bit more sophisticated, Wilt's scoring averages took huge drops throughout the last half of his career. He only averaged around 13 or 14 ppg his last couple years in the early 70s. And, frankly, even early 70s defenses were absolutely nothing like they were in the 90s.

 

so wilt's scoring averages went down the older he became? no shit?

 

Name another player whose average ever "went down" by more than 30. There's normal decline and then there's crashing. Jordan was still averaging near 30 in his final seasons with the Bulls, Wilt was averaging around 13 or 14 in his final seasons with the Lakers.

 

Anyone catch Screamin' A's interview with Artest last night/this morning? Artest said, and I'm not kidding, that he wasn't the "Tim Duncan of basketball."

 

As opposed to the Tim Duncan of curling.

 

name the last guy who averaged 50 a season.

 

i love this discussion, because it allows me to quote my favorite stat about Russell:

The Celtics started winning when he arrived. They quit winning when he left.

 

Stop. You're giving me a migrane...

 

you're soft.

 

Wilt was indeed 300+ pounds the last 4-5 years of his career. He took up weightlifting (one of the first basketball players to do so) and grew to a very well-muscled 300 pounds. He was listed at 275 with the Sixers, and that's where they left it, officially at least.

However, in the early, 50 ppg averaging phase of his career, he was more like 240-260 pounds (he had been 225 in college). Wilt didn't really muscle up until the mid-60s.

 

I guess those titles with Bird, McHale and Parrish were a mirage.

 

Quoting Wilt's scoring stats in hisfinal few season proves the only thing you know about Wilt Chamberlain is what you read in an almanac.

And I do not care what he was listed at..he was easily 7-2 and more than 300 pounds.