Sorry brother. What Wilt accomplished was amazing. BUT............... The "Centers" back in the day were like 6'8 slow-ass white-guys( Mark Madsen type)
What a sadly misinformed point of view - and unfortunately it's one that has been perpetuated to the point where it's almost universally accepted as fact by those who are too young to have seen Wilt play.
When Wilt came into the league, and for all those years when he was putting up numbers that boggle the mind, there were only 8 or 9 teams in the league. Yes, there were some big white stiffs playing center in those days, just like there have been in every era since. But there were also several hall of fame centers from that era. So, that meant that about half of Wilt's games in his prime were played against future hall of fame centers. He wasn't playing in some watered down league with 30 teams - 26 or 27 with absolutely shitty, talentless centers. By contrast, during Shaq's prime (after Hakeem, Ewing and Robinson retired and before Yao Ming) the center position was UNBELIEVABLY weak. During the 2000-2001 season, the middle of the Lakers 3-peat, Dikembe Mutombo was the 2nd best center in the league, with a scoring average of 10.0 PPG. During 2001-02, they didn't even pick a center for 2nd team all-NBA. Instead, they went with three power forwards (KG, Dirk and C-Webb). That's how weak the center position was in those days. In 2002-03, Ben Wallace was 2nd team all-NBA with a 6.9 PPG scoring average - the 2nd best center in the league couldn't even score 7 PPG! Shaq in his prime played against a hell of a lot more big white (and black) stiffs than Wilt did.
Wilt was simply the most amazing athlete to have ever lived. Wilt was as big as Shaq, stronger and much more athletic. In addition to being 7'1" tall, he was a champion high jumper, hurdler and shot putter. There has never been another human being with such a unique combination of size, strength and speed as Wilt Chamberlain - and he used those unique skills to dominate the sport of basketball like no one before, or since.
Concerning the PER argument for Shaq, it's totally bogus. Yes, Shaq's career PER is 0.1 higher than Wilt's. But, the reason is simple. They didn't keep track of blacks and steals during Wilters entire career (they started the year after he retired). If they would have, I uspect Wilt's PER would have been much higher. Also, Shaq's career isn't over yet. Like Wilt, the longer he plays the lower his PER will go. I suspect after next season, Wilt will have "passed" Shaq in the career PER department (even without the benefit of blocks and steals).
Wilt was the most dominant player ever in the history of any team sport. He was basketball's Babe Ruth and Wayne Gretzky. He averaged over 50 PPG for an entire season. Nobody else has ever averaged 37.1 PPG. Wilt topped that mark 4 times and has five of the top six scoring seasons in NBA history. Wilt is also the only player to have averaged over 25 RPG - he did it three times and has six of the top seven RPG seasons in NBA history. Even in his last season, at the age of 36, Wilt led the league in rebounding (for the 11th time) - and set the record for FG% at 0.727, breaking his own record of 0.683 set in 1966-67.
When he was criticized for not being a good team player, Wilt went out and led the league in assists. No other center has ever come close to that - and he also led the league in rebounding that year, becoming the only player to ever lead the league in both rebounding and assists. And, it's not like he was a bad passer before that. In the two previous seasons he had averaged 5.2 and 7.8 APG to go with the 8.6 APG he averaged in 1967-68.
Russell gets all the credit for being a winner and winning so many championships, but when Wilt was surrounded with talent, he also won. When he retired, he had played on the two winningest teams in NBA history - the 69-13 1971-72 Lakers and the 68-13 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers.
Late in his career, Wilt went head-to-head with Kareem/Lew Alcindor. When Kareem (then Lew) entered the league, he was an amazing offensive talent - the greatest scorer since Wilt's early years. His sky hook was thought to be unstoppable. During the 1971-72 season, Kareem led the league in scoring at 34.8 PPG. The Bucks and Lakers met in the Western Conference finals that year, in what was probably the greatest big man match-up in NBA play-off history. Ironically, the match-up was very similar to the old Wilt/Russell match-ups during the 1960s, only this time, Wilt's role was reversed. He was now the dominant defender, rebounder, team player trying to stop the younger, taller, unstoppable scoring machine. That was the first, last and only time I have ever cheered for the Lakers. Wilt at 35, and well past his athletic prime, did what no one thought possible in that series, he blocked the sky hook - twice. His defense on Kareem won the series for the Lakers. The Lakers went on to win the finals in an easy 5 game series over the Knicks and Wilt was named the Finals MVP.
Wilt wasn't just a myth. The things he accomplished were very real. Nobody will very come close to changing the game the way he did. He was such a great athlete that he would have dominated the sport in any generation. I've seen all the great centers play. I missed Wilt's early career, but have very distinct memories of his mid and late career. I remember Kareem/Lew as a rookie and of course Shaq and Hakeem through college and their entire NBA careers. I can honestly say that if Wilt was in his 20s today he would EASILY be the best center in the league right now - and it wouldn't be close. He was more athletic (could jump higher and run faster) than Dwight Howard (and 3" taller) and stronger than Shaq. He was, without a doubt, the best center to ever play the game.
My list:
Wilt
Kareem
Russell
Hakeem
Shaq
David Robinson
BNM
