Wilt Chamberlain is the Greatest Pro Basketball Player of all Time

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Photo: Bill Varie, Los Angeles Times, via Wikimedia Commons

Matt Guokas and Wilt Chamberlain

Wilt Chamberlain keeps the ball from Matt Guokas.

With the NBA playoffs in full swing—now sadly minus my dual-favorites Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets—it seems a good time to revisit the never-ending debate over the legitimate greatest player of all time. This is commonly called the GOAT.

While some may disagree, to me it’s not Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Clearly, the GOAT is the late 7’1”, 300 lb. Wilt (The Stilt) Chamberlain, holder of many unreachable all-time NBA records and an awesome iron-man who seldom missed a game in his 14-year career (1959-73).

In the measured words of Abdul-Jabbar, who began his pro career with the Bucks as Lew Alcindor: “We will never see another one like Wilt …” 

In addition to watching Chamberlain (also known as the Big Dipper) play many times in person and on TV over the years, my opinion initially was buttressed in my newspaper interview of the Boston Celtics’ late Bill Russell, the game’s undisputed all-time best defensive player.

During a visit to Cleveland in the late ‘70s to tout his Bell System long-distance calling commercials, Russell—Chamberlain’s long-time nemesis—opined: “Wilt was so strong he was virtually unstoppable—even by me. 

“He could do what he wanted, any time he wanted,” Russell said, laughing heartily. “Rebound, shoot finger-rolls, dunk, pass, block shots, push you around—everything. There ain’t never been no one like him and probably never will be …”        

Speaking as a many-decades pro hoops fan, I saw my first NBA game as a kid here in the 1950s at The Arena downtown. That’s when the Milwaukee Hawks held forth prior to moving to St. Louis and then to Atlanta. 

Milwaukee Holiday Doubleheader 

But my first exposure to lanky, muscular, super-athletic Chamberlain was in 1957 when he led the University of Kansas Jayhawks into Milwaukee as part of a holiday doubleheader hosted by Marquette University, which I was attending. 

Also a standout in track at Kansas, Chamberlain ran the 440-yard dash, 120-yard high-hurdles and was a high-jumper and world-class volleyball player. When the NBA beckoned, he became an instant star, a multi-skilled, powerful big man who was destined to rewrite the record books. 

Escorted by my father, I initially saw Chamberlain play professionally at the Chicago Stadium in 1958 with the legendary Black Harlem Globetrotters. He began his stellar NBA career the next year with the Philadelphia Warriors, moved with the team to San Francisco in 1962 and returned to Philadelphia with the 76ers in 1965. With the Los Angeles Lakers from 1968-1973, he combined with Elgin Baylor and Jerry West to form, arguably, the best Big 3 in NBA history. 

And just how great at pro basketball—in every respect—was Chamberlain? Let me count the ways:

How Many Points?

Most points in a game (100 in 1962); most points in a season (4,029); most points in a game by a rookie (58 in 1959); most career over 50-point games (118), over 60-point games (32), over 70-point games (6); highest average points-per-game in a season (50.4 in 1962); most shots in a game without a miss (18);  highest per-game average assists by a center (8.6); most rebounds in a game (55); most rebounds in a playoff game (41); most rebounds in a season (2,149); most consecutive games without fouling-out (1,045) and, including playoff games, most minutes-per-game in a season (48.5) and complete games in a season (47 in 1961-62).

With the exception of ‘69-’70 when an injury sidelined him, during his storied career Chamberlain rarely left a game for any reason for an entire season. And unlike Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, he posted his awesome scoring numbers without benefit of the 3-point-shot rule. Despite these mind-boggling milestones, some derided his scoring prowess owing to his immense size and strength. To which Chamberlain often would say: ‘Nobody loves Goliath.”

Yet, he was so popular, a famous publicity stunt even proposed a heavyweight bout between the huge Chamberlain, and 6-3, 220 lb. champion Muhammad Ali. 

In his day-to-day life, Chamberlain was a true-blue everyman who often expressed strong political and social views. He was an outspoken advocate of women’s sports—especially volleyball and track, which he coached. He proudly participated in good causes such as Harlem’s famed annual Rucker League basketball tournament and the Maurice Stokes charity game at New York’s exclusive Kutsher’s County Club. 

Colorful Life

Interestingly, Wilt also enjoyed a full, colorful existence outside pro basketball. For example, in 1961 he purchased the famed, Harlem live-music hot spot, Small’s Paradise, and renamed it Big Wilt’s Small’s. He reportedly spent 18-hours-a-day there learning the night club business.

After changing its music style from jazz to rhythm and blues, he brought in Ray Charles as his first performer. In Chamberlain’s tenure, the club was patronized by many big-name athletes, entertainers and politicians while maintaining his popular ownership into the early 1970s. The club eventually was shut down in 1983.

Indeed, Chamberlain was more than an outsized, record-setting professional athlete. He was a one-in-a-million-man who overcame, if you will, the handicap of being oversized in an undersized world. In so doing, he gained much well-deserved respect.