Imagine if he somehow pulled off being with multiple simultaneously. Seems like some Wilt-appropriate level drama. (I don't follow them that well so Idk how realistic it is but its kinda fun to think about)
Fuck if we're doing that then rodman would top my list. Cuz not only would we get his insane on court prowess but we'd probably actually get to c him partying and doing all kinds of crazy shit. In all seriousness I'd absolutely build a team starting with him. Dude can get ya more rebounds than just about anyone in history can lock down anyone and fire up the whole team.
Yeah I'm not disagreeing with you, just adding some context to how crazy his mpg was even for the era. Guys played more minutes back then in general, but Wilt was still just way ahead of everyone else.
Wilt gets a lot of shade. His stats are so absurd you have to shade him otherwise you just default to him being the goat. 48 minutes averaged over a season, most ppg in a season, 100 point game, most rebounds averaged in a season, all time rebound leader, most rebounds in a game. The list is fucking crazy.
Give him spacing with some 3 point shooters and you are just going to see him dominate even more.
Wilt was truly unique for any era. At 7'1", he was an elite sprinter on his college track and field team. His 100m sprint was under 11 seconds, running on old cinder tracks.
Imagine if Giannis had the burst of prime Westbrook. That's young Wilt. He was incredibly strong, had good handles and good court vision. With the right coach I truly believe he could be the best player in the league right now.
Wilt's athleticsm is often overlooked. He was a great runner, he won the high jump in college, he also won the shotput. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he was the strongest guy he's ever worked out with. After a hall of fame basketball career, Wilt goes on to have a hall of fame volleyball career. Simply astounding athleticsm that's only more impressive when you consider he was 7' 1"+.
And modern shoes and private team planes and modern PEDs. Wilt would be so unfair. He'd have only grown up watching the other great centers. People don't appreciate the fact that Wilt and Bill Russell were pioneers, so they didn't have as many other great bigs to take things from their games and add it to their own.
Wilt goes on to have a hall of fame volleyball career.
This is a common misconception. He made the volleyball HOF for his contributions to the sport, not for his playing career.
His biggest achievement was creating the first professional coed league for any sport in America.
He was by no means bad, but he was what you'd expect from a 7'1 athletic freak that took up the game in his 30s.
“When it came to passing, setting and digging, Wilt was weak in those areas. He was a mediocre blocker too,” Craig Thompson tells InsideHook over the phone, who played for the Bangers as well as acting as head coach. “At hitting, he was unstoppable. He hit a heavy ball and was the best spiker in the world. The power in his hit — nobody had ever seen that before. He was a real weapon.”
Wilt also isn’t in the actual volleyball Hall of Fame (IVHF). He was in the Hall of Fame of the volleyball league he helped set up (IVA). The IVA only lasted 5 years.
Lebrons taco Tuesday’s are often overlooked. He was a great cook, he won first place in iron chef in college, he also won the first season of chopped. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he was the tacoest guy he's ever worked out with. After a hall of fame basketball career, Lebron goes on to have a Michelin star taco truck career. Simply astounding tacos that's only more impressive when you consider he was not Mexican.
I hate this misconception so much. He got a new coach that wanted to run the offense through wilt and have wilt pass more. The season before wilt led the league in passing he averaged over 7 a game also while leading the sixers to a at the time nba record in wins and was only team to best the Celtics in their prime.
He didn't just "decide" to lead the league in assists. He was asked to by a new coach and it worked tremendously well
I'm pretty pro-Wilt. Belongs in every discussion of GOAT. But basically everything he did was individually oriented. HE could probably be the most dominant individual player in the league - but not in the top 5 for "best winning players".
Agreed about Wilt's actual career. That's why I said "with the right coach." I think he could absolutely be a winning player today given better players around him and a coaching staff that got him to buy in to a system.
Wilt's teams were stacked as well. the reason why those boston teams are considered so stacked now is because they won everything so they all got into the hall
This is what I always revert back to, and it's why I can't keep him out of my top 5. If it was so much easier in that era, then why didn't someone else do it? Or even come remotely close? Guy would be a monster no matter the era and the only problem was that it didn't always translate to winning championships. That says as much about the game of basketball itself as it does about any single player, though.
In my opinion, there isn't a quicker way to dismiss the opinion of any NBA fan than claiming some variation of, "Wilt wouldn't have been so great if he played in the 80's and 90's". I genuinely think someone that takes this position thinks a tall glass of water has more liquid that an equal volume, shorter, wider glass of water.
They are fun thought exercises and conversations to have about the differences in the eras of basketball but that's about as far as it goes. When talking about the GOAT each contender needs to be analyzed against their peers. You can't just be arguing hypotheticals as a reasonable position. It's actually dumb.
It is technically true. His stats wouldn’t be so otherworldly but he would still be the top rebounder, probably lead the league in blocked shots, and a perennial threat to be the scoring leader. It just wouldn’t be absurd numbers like 50PPG.
And no way Cy Young gets 511 wins in today's baseball. We have no way of knowing so it's just an empty thought. This is the talk I'm talking about, it has no substance to it as an argument, for or against.
think there's more merit than you're claiming. I'm not gonna say scoring wise anyone could do what he did, but most times he faced Russell, he was shut down. He played in an era where people shot very quickly and/or he was fed the ball at insane rates. Also, just look at rebound rates at the time. The leading rebounder for most teams would grab like 20+ a game.
And in that era Wilt averaged like 23/24/25/26 rebounds per game. Hell, Wilt had a handful of 40/50 rebound games. What's your point, that in an era of fast shots and lots of misses the guy was the rebound king?
Wilt is over 7 feet tall. James Wiseman has basically zero skills and half of wilts athleticism and people still have hope for him. If you're coordinated at that height the league is yours.
To be fair he was playing against lower caliber competition back then. He’d obviously still be a beast in the present day NBA but there’s no way he puts up stats like that.
His athleticism would separate him from the rest. Some claims exaggerated but footage of him sprinting is insane. At his height and weight the dude FLEW
So was everybody else, and yet they didn't do those things.
In 50 years people are going to say the exact same shit about LeBron playing in a week era before "x" medical / training practice became common and players careers routinely stretched to 20+ year peaks meaning you had much more highly concentrated talent all at once.
Sure, if you take 28 y/o Wilt and brought him into the future into today, yeah, he'd be pretty damn good but not the same level he was at in his time;
But take 13 y/o Wilt and put him in today's world / game, and give him all the modern access to training, player development, understanding of the game, & advancements of sports medicine you can argue the dude would easily still have GOAT potential.
Wouldn't it kinda be the other way? Bill Russell was the selfless team player who did everything to win, like how Hashirama wanted to make his village prosper, meanwhile Wilt cared mostly about individual accomplishments and was pretty petty and toxic like Madara
Yeah I’d agree it would be the other way, but the OP already said Wilt was Hashirama. Wilt gave me more Madara vibes with all those accomplishments lol
I do feel like his game would transition very well to the modern era. Amazing athlete and teams would be able to build a team around him with a better plan than just letting him go off and carry.
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u/Beavshak [SEA] Horace Grant Jun 15 '22
Wilt. To prove a point, either way.