Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that At the age of 55, basketball legend, Wilt Chamberlain, claimed to have slept with over 20,000 women.(Read More Here).
Taking to social media, popular American tabloid, RapMedia, revealed the Gist to its followers, especially to those on Twitter.
One of the most common types of articles on this site is a comparison between players and teams, which can certainly be a fun way to pass some time.
There have been numerous articles (generating thousands upon thousands of comments) contemplating who is the better player, Kobe Bryant or LeBron James.
There have been an even greater number of articles wondering whether Kobe deserves to be ranked with Jordan, which at times sparks so much controversy it makes you wonder whether those commenting on it all are even out of grade school.Most of the questions on the “Short List” are comparisons just such as this—one of them asking “Jordan or Russell?” And there are even some articles questioning who is the greatest player of all time, with Michael Jordan being the de facto answer of a majority of those I see.
Other players are always mentioned when a list of the greatest players in NBA history are worked up, including Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon, and more recent players such as Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson, Paul Pierce, and Tim Duncan.
While there are valid arguments to be made that all of these players should be considered among the best players in NBA history, their accomplishments, one and all, pale in comparison to Wilt Chamberlain’s, who is, while mentioned among them, relegated far too often to second-string.
One misconception among some is that Bill Russell shut Wilt down. I think this myth can only be explained by the fact that Bill Russell’s Celtics were so often successful against Chamberlain’s teams. However, many of Wilt’s teammates during that era were anything but Hall of Famers, whereas Bill Russell shared the court with seven of them.
Certainly the Celtics won the battles against Wilt’s early Philadelphia-San Francisco Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, and Los Angeles Lakers teams, but those battles were ferocious and hard fought, with four of the six series going the full seven games, and one of the others going to six games. Wilt, without a great supporting cast, nearly defeated some of the greatest “teams” in NBA history merely on the strength of his own ability.
And how did Wilt fare against his great nemesis, Bill Russell, throughout his career in head-to-head matchups? Was he shut down, as some claim? Hardly.
According to Philadelphia76ers stat man Harvey Pollack, Chamberlain and Russell played head-to-head a total of 142 times. In those matchups, Wilt averaged 28.7 PPG and 28.7 RPG. Russell, on the other hand, averaged 23.7 PPG, and 14.5 RPG.
We’ve seen some brilliant big men throughout the history of the league. Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon, and of course, Shaquille O’Neal. O’Neal played 19 seasons in the NBA, during which time he won 4 NBA Championships.
Shaq retired from the NBA and went down as one of the most dominant players the game had ever seen. Lakers legend Magic Johnson still doesn’t feel that Shaq was as good as this other Lakers great.Magic played with Kareem for a decade, during which time they won five NBA Championships. In one of his interviews, Magic was asked if Shaq, in his prime, was better than Kareem. Magic put his former partner over O’Neal, which might be because of some obvious bias. He said,
“I like Shaq but he was no Kareem Abdul Jabbar. This man could dominate you with both hands. When they have to change the game because of you that is greatness. We have to remember that Kareem won 3 NCAA championships in a row and it could have been 4 if freshmen were allowed to play. The man was so dominant. I like Shaq and he is probably the most dominant with his physical presence as you’ve ever seen in the game of basketball. He has a big personality and I love Shaq and I would put him right behind.”
Kareem was dominant and showed the world how a big can control the entire game. Shaq followed suit, and took it to another level. To compare the two is not easy, with each having their own set of accomplishments.
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