Kareem Abdul Jabbars open letter to Wilt Chumberlame

[kennethgriffin]

http://articles.latimes.com/1990-03-18/magazine/tm-602_1_final-season/5


Wilt and I go way back. When I was in high school, there were only two men I could be like, Wilt or Bill Russell. I kept a scrapbook of photos of both of them in action. Wilt lived in New York then, and I sought out his company. I'd run down the block just to say hello. But as I grew older, I strongly disagreed with some of the positions he took, like supporting Richard Nixon for President and denigrating black women in his autobiography. But I've never really disliked Wilt, and I've always respected him professionally for what he achieved. He was one of the best centers to have ever played the game. I've decided to take this opportunity to respond to all the aspersions he's cast on me over the years:


An Open Letter to Wilt Chumperlame

It's been several years now, Wilt, that you have been criticizing my career with your friends in the press. Since this pattern does not seem to have any end in sight, I feel that I might as well have my say about the situation.

It would seem that someone who achieved as much as you did would be satisfied with his career. After all, some of the things you did in your time were quite admirable and have given us an enduring set of records for the books. So why all the jealousy and envy?

In trying to figure this out, I started to look for what you would be jealous of, and that's when the picture started to become clear. Many remember how frustrated you were when your team couldn't win the NCAA tournament. Your talent and abilities were so great that everyone assumed the NCAA was all yours. But after a terrific triple-overtime game, Kansas lost. You complained about the officiating, your teammates and other things, and then quit, leaving college early to tour with the Globetrotters. That seemed to set a pattern for you. After any tough test in which you didn't do well, you blamed those around you and quit.

In professional basketball, Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics gave you a yearly lesson in real competitive competence and teamwork. All you could say was that your teammates stunk and that you had done all you could, and besides, the refs never gave you a break. Poor Wilt.

In 1967, your team finally broke through. That 76er team established records that are still standing today. But the following year, the Sixers lost and, predictable as ever, you quit. You came out to L.A. and got with a dream team. The only lack that team had was leadership at the center position. Bill and the Celts took one from you in '69, and the Knicks followed suit in '70. People are still trying to figure out where you disappeared to in that series. True to form, after the Knicks beat the Lakers in the world championship in 1973, you quit and haven't been seen on the court since.

Of course, you came out every so often to take a cheap shot at me. During the sixth game of the world championship series in 1988, you stated, "Kareem should have retired five years ago." I can now see why you said that. If I had quit at the time you suggested, it would have been right after a disappointing loss to the 76ers. And it would have been typical of one of your retreats.

But after that loss, I decided that I had more to give. I believed in myself and in the Lakers and stuck with it. We went on to win three out of four world championships between '85 and '88. The two teams you played on that won world championships, in '67 and '72, never repeated. They never showed the consistency that the Lakers of the '80s have shown. And you didn't want me to be part of that.

Given your jealousy, I can understand that. So , now that I have left, one thing will be part of my legacy: People will remember that I worked with my teammates and helped us win. You will be remembered as a whining crybaby and a quitter, stats and all.


found this on another forum

thought it was interesting. seems as though wilts choking, cancerous attitude and jealousy was well known back then. dunno why its been burried for so long until now

he was a serious quitter, ring chaser, spitefull sour small minded beta individual

is wilt the truest form of stats not telling the whole story or what

[Beastmode88]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwHP04TWOps

[LAZERUSS]

In their four years in the league together, they each won one ring, but Wilt went to three Finals, and KAJ to one. And KAJ's title season might very well have been the easiest to road to a championship in NBA history, as well.

[kennethgriffin]

In their four years in the league together, they each won one ring, but Wilt went to three Finals, and KAJ to one. And KAJ's title season might very well have been the easiest to road to a championship in NBA history, as well.


dem laker squads were stacked though. and wilt lost 2 of those 3 finals.



these were his finals teams

http://i59.tinypic.com/sb6cma.png


atleast kareem was the bucks unquestionable leader

and kareem was a rookie.. regardless of him being the best center in basketball from day one... he was still a rookie


and the bucks werent nearly as deap as LA

[Jameerthefear]

Ethered

[BlkMambaGOAT]

30 years later...

Kevin Durant's open letter to Lebron James...

[LAZERUSS]

dem laker squads were stacked though. and wilt lost 2 of those 3 finals.



these were his finals teams

http://i59.tinypic.com/sb6cma.png


atleast kareem was the bucks unquestionable leader

and kareem was a rookie.. regardless of him being the best center in basketball from day one... he was still a rookie


and the bucks werent nearly as deap as LA

Notice the games played by Wilt and Baylor in '70. And Chamberlain came back four months after major knee surgery, and at nowhere near 100%.

In '71, West missed the entire post-season (as did Baylor, who was basically done early in the year.) And Wilt still battled a peak KAJ to a statistical draw in the '71 WCF's.

In '72, West shot .376 overall in the playoffs, and .325 in the Finals...and the entire team, aside from Wilt, shot .414 in the post-season. And yet they still went 12-3 in the playoffs, and Wilt led them to a dominating title (including chopping a peak KAJ down in the WCF's), en route to a FMVP.

In '73, KAJ's 60-22 Bucks were shocked by Thurmond's 47-35 Warriors in the first round. Wilt manhandled Nate in the WCF's, and they crushed the Warriors, 4-1. They did lose, 4-1, to the HOF-laden Knicks in the Finals (SIX HOFers), but the four loses were by margins of 4, 4, 5, and 9 points, and all were decided in the last minute. And, West was just shell. Oh, and look at Hairston's GP in '73. He was injured early on, and while he did return for the playoffs, he was nowhere near 100%.

[kennethgriffin]

In their four years in the league together, they each won one ring, but Wilt went to three Finals, and KAJ to one. And KAJ's title season might very well have been the easiest to road to a championship in NBA history, as well.


dude.. wilt wasnt better than kareem abdul jabbar from 1970-1973

are you ****ing mental?


i mean im not a firm believer in mvps voted by the media

but back then it was voted by the players ( WHEN IT COUNTS )


and this is the 1970 mvp voting kareems rookie year


http://i61.tinypic.com/e060y8.png


WHERE THE HELL IS CHUMBERLAME?

then kareem won mvp in 71 and 72, in his 2nd year in the league he destroyed the stacked west/goodrich/wilt lakers in the western confrence finals and went on to win the title

then finished it up finishing 2nd in mvp voting in 73



kareem was by far the best player on his team during those 4 years. wilt was never the best player on his team while he was on the lakers.


when wilt won finals mvp.. he averaged 14ppg in the playoffs, 19 in the finals

gail goodrich was robbed of finals mvp. he averaged 24ppg in the playoffs and 26ppg in the finals



**** outa here

[LAZERUSS]

dude.. wilt wasnt better than kareem abdul jabbar from 1970-1973

are you ****ing mental?


i mean im not a firm believer in mvps voted by the media

but back then it was voted by the players ( WHEN IT COUNTS )


and this is the 1970 mvp voting kareems rookie year


http://i61.tinypic.com/e060y8.png


WHERE THE HELL IS CHUMBERLAME?

then kareem won mvp in 71 and 72, in his 2nd year in the league he destroyed the stacked west/goodrich/wilt lakers in the western confrence finals and went on to win the title

then finished it up finishing 2nd in mvp voting in 73



kareem was by far the best player on his team during those 4 years. wilt was never the best player on his team while he was on the lakers.


when wilt won finals mvp.. he averaged 14ppg in the playoffs, 19 in the finals

gail goodrich was robbed of finals mvp. he averaged 24ppg in the playoffs and 26ppg in the finals



**** outa here

Damn, you mean a Chamberlain that played in 12 games in '70, wasn't in the MVP voting?

BTW, when Wilt shredded his knee in the ninth game of that season, he was LEADING the league in SCORING at 32.2 ppg (on a .579 FG%, to go along with 20 rpg.) West would finish the league -leader at 31.2 ppg (he was at 30.8 ppg when Wilt went down BTW)...and KAJ came in at 28.8 ppg, on a .518 FG%, and with 14.5 rpg.

[kennethgriffin]

Damn, you mean a Chamberlain that played in 12 games in '70, wasn't in the MVP voting?

BTW, when Wilt shredded his knee in the ninth game of that season, he was LEADING the league in SCORING at 32.2 ppg (on a .579 FG%, to go along with 20 rpg.) West would finish the league -leader at 31.2 ppg (he was at 30.8 ppg when Wilt went down BTW)...and KAJ came in at 28.8 ppg, on a .518 FG%, and with 14.5 rpg.


why is it anywhere near or close to a knock on kareem in 1970 because wilt missed the whole year

doesnt that mean kareem in 1970 had by mother ****ing far the better year?

:roll:

[LAZERUSS]

Kareem in 2011...

http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2011/05/kareem-abdul-jabbar-questions-scottie-pippens-argument-that-lebron-james-may-be-the-greatest-player-.html

[QUOTE]

How Soon They Forget: An Open Letter to Scottie Pippen

Dear Scottie,

I have nothing but respect for you my friend as an athlete and knowledgeable basketball mind. But you are way off in your assessment of who is the greatest player of all time and the greatest scorer of all time. Your comments are off because of your limited perspective. You obviously never saw Wilt Chamberlain play who undoubtedly was the greatest scorer this game has ever known. When did MJ ever average 50.4 points per game plus 25.7 rebounds? (Wilt in the 1962 season when blocked shot statistics were not kept). We will never accurately know how many shots Wilt blocked. Oh, by the way in 1967 and 68, Wilt was a league leader in assists. Did MJ ever score 100 points in a game? How many times did MJ score more than 60 points in a game? MJ led the league in scoring in consecutive seasons for 10 years but he did this in an NBA that eventually expanded into 30 teams vs. when Wilt played and there were only 8 teams.



Every team had the opportunity to amass a solid nucleus. Only the cream of the basketball world got to play then. So MJ has to be appraised in perspective. His incredible athletic ability, charisma and leadership on the court helped to make basketball popular around the world -- no question about that. But in terms of greatness, MJ has to take a backseat to The Stilt.

In terms of winning, Michael excelled as both an emotional and scoring leader but Bill Russell

[kennethgriffin]

Kareem in 2011...

http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2011/05/kareem-abdul-jabbar-questions-scottie-pippens-argument-that-lebron-james-may-be-the-greatest-player-.html



Looks like KAJ came to his senses a few years later...

yeah and allen iverson is one of the greatest scorers this league has ever seen too


is he one of the top 30 players of all time?

**** no

:roll:

[LAZERUSS]

yeah and allen iverson is one of the greatest scorers this league has ever seen too


is he one of the top 30 players of all time?

**** no

:roll:

Hmmm...and yet KAJ also said "But in terms of greatness, MJ has to take a backseat to The Stilt."

[Asukal]

This is already common knowledge. Wilt had all the stats but not the heart of a true champion. Who the **** drops from 30 to 18 in the finals? Only Wilt. :oldlol:

He shouldn't be top 5 imo, those spots are reserved for the best most competitive players ever. Wilt was a mental midget who never blamed himself for his failures. He was always insecure he had to make tall tale after tall tale to prop himself up. :oldlol:

[LAZERUSS]

This is already common knowledge. Wilt had all the stats but not the heart of a true champion. Who the **** drops from 30 to 18 in the finals? Only Wilt. :oldlol:

He shouldn't be top 5 imo, those spots are reserved for the best most competitive players ever. Wilt was a mental midget who never blamed himself for his failures. He was always insecure he had to make tall tale after tall tale to prop himself up. :oldlol:

And yet the great Kareem was CLEARLY claiming that Wilt was greater than MJ.

[kennethgriffin]

Hmmm...and yet KAJ also said "But in terms of greatness, MJ has to take a backseat to The Stilt."


well hes a center. big men are notorious for hyping up other bigs and never giving a guard a higher spot all time

he probably also has russell and himself over mj... and he'd probly even also put shaq and hakeem over mj

so what?

:lol

:roll: :roll: :roll:
infact anyone from the 60s and 70s usually leaves jordan out of their top 5-10 all together

[LAZERUSS]

well hes a center. big men are notorious for hyping up other bigs and never giving a guard a higher spot all time

he probably also has russell and himself over mj... and he'd probly even also put shaq and hakeem over mj

so what?

:lol

:roll: :roll: :roll:
infact anyone from the 60s and 70s usually leaves jordan out of their top 5-10 all together

Give us the list of those that do please...

[kennethgriffin]

Give us the list of those that do please...


walt frazier
bill russell
dr j
wilt chamberlain
rick barry


theyve all been quoted.. and many others have aswell

do more research on your own favorite players ya bum

[LAZERUSS]

This is already common knowledge. Wilt had all the stats but not the heart of a true champion. Who the **** drops from 30 to 18 in the finals? Only Wilt. :oldlol:

He shouldn't be top 5 imo, those spots are reserved for the best most competitive players ever. Wilt was a mental midget who never blamed himself for his failures. He was always insecure he had to make tall tale after tall tale to prop himself up. :oldlol:

Wilt outscored, outrebounded, and massively outshot his opposing centers in his SIX Finals...and all of them are in the HOF.

Oh, and in the clinching games in those Six Finals...

Wilt's opposing starting centers (again, all are in the HOF) averaged 11.3 ppg, 15.5 rpg, 5.0 apg, and shot .409 from the field.

In those six series clinching games... Wilt averaged 23.5 ppg, 25.2 rpg, 3.3 apg, and shot .589 from the floor.

[LAZERUSS]

walt frazier
bill russell
dr j
wilt chamberlain
rick barry


theyve all been quoted.. and many others have aswell

do more research on your own favorite players ya bum

Give us their quotes then.

BTW, Barry and Russell are on record as claiming that WILT was the GOAT.

[D-FENS]

Notice the games played by Wilt and Baylor in '70. And Chamberlain came back four months after major knee surgery, and at nowhere near 100%.

In '71, West missed the entire post-season (as did Baylor, who was basically done early in the year.) And Wilt still battled a peak KAJ to a statistical draw in the '71 WCF's.

In '72, West shot .376 overall in the playoffs, and .325 in the Finals...and the entire team, aside from Wilt, shot .414 in the post-season. And yet they still went 12-3 in the playoffs, and Wilt led them to a dominating title (including chopping a peak KAJ down in the WCF's), en route to a FMVP.

In '73, KAJ's 60-22 Bucks were shocked by Thurmond's 47-35 Warriors in the first round. Wilt manhandled Nate in the WCF's, and they crushed the Warriors, 4-1. They did lose, 4-1, to the HOF-laden Knicks in the Finals (SIX HOFers), but the four loses were by margins of 4, 4, 5, and 9 points, and all were decided in the last minute. And, West was just shell. Oh, and look at Hairston's GP in '73. He was injured early on, and while he did return for the playoffs, he was nowhere near 100%.

http://www.quickmeme.com/img/83/83d862ca6be03de5ee238d4456895c9ba2ef149f200dfc1376 6e04ae56b7a237.jpg

[kennethgriffin]

Wilt outscored, outrebounded, and massively outshot his opposing centers in his SIX Finals...and all of them are in the HOF.

Oh, and in the clinching games in those Six Finals...

Wilt's opposing starting centers (again, all are in the HOF) averaged 11.3 ppg, 15.5 rpg, 5.0 apg, and shot .409 from the field.

In those six series clinching games... Wilt averaged 23.5 ppg, 25.2 rpg, 3.3 apg, and shot .589 from the floor.


sometimes less is more


when you're shooting the ball 40 times a game. its hard for others to gain any confidence

and its not like wilt didnt have team mates.. he had hall of famers on his squad a bunch of years

you didnt see kobe going for 35-40ppg when he played with gasol did you?

he dialed it back because even just a minimal amount of talent was enough for kobe to change back to winning mode

no championship team should have a guy averaging any more than 30-33ppg imo

[kennethgriffin]

Give us their quotes then.

BTW, Barry and Russell are on record as claiming that WILT was the GOAT.

youre a dumbass

rick barry in an interview said his all nba 1st team of 1966 is not only the best players that year. but the best players of all time ( himself included lol )

frazier

top 5 guys who should be there

- chamberlain
- russell
- baylor
- jerry west
- oscar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMvmsCqRAiI


dr j

- russell
- chamberlain
- baylor
- robertson
- west

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZjopaoa_Lg


bill russell was quoted saying that no player/team can handle anyone from the 60's especially his celtics

wilt obviously never gave jordan credit for jack shit. he wrote a book about how he sucked and he watched every game and knew his efficiency rating for every single move on the court



god damn you dont fallow anything but basketball-reference do you? you dont watch games, you dont watch interviews... you're a stat geek ******

:roll: :roll: :roll:

[kennethgriffin]

and?

[Asukal]

Wilt outscored, outrebounded, and massively outshot his opposing centers in his SIX Finals...and all of them are in the HOF.

Oh, and in the clinching games in those Six Finals...

Wilt's opposing starting centers (again, all are in the HOF) averaged 11.3 ppg, 15.5 rpg, 5.0 apg, and shot .409 from the field.

In those six series clinching games... Wilt averaged 23.5 ppg, 25.2 rpg, 3.3 apg, and shot .589 from the floor.

:applause: :bowdown:

All that and he only won 2. Do you ever wonder why Wilt despite all that statistical dominance couldn't get it done? There's a fine line between dominating the game and dominating the stat sheets. :rolleyes:

[houston]

kareem full of crap like always

[LAZERUSS]

:applause: :bowdown:

All that and he only won 2. Do you ever wonder why Wilt despite all that statistical dominance couldn't get it done? There's a fine line between dominating the game and dominating the stat sheets. :rolleyes:

So what was a PRIME KAJ's excuse then? In his first TEN seasons in the league...TWO Finals, and ONE ring. And in his title run his 66-16 Bucks beat a 41-41 Warrior team in the first round; then beat Wilt's 48-34 Lakers, who were minus BOTH West and Baylor, and in a series in which Chamberlain outplayed KAJ in three of the five games. Then they swept a 42-40 Bullets team in the Finals.

And before brings up KAJ's 11th season, and in which he was the league MVP, his Lakers were good enough to easily win a clinching title game, on the road, and with Kareem watching the game from his couch.


Again, I am not knocking Kareem here, but his "losses" were to considerably less dominant teams than Wilt's were.

[Stringer Bell]

:oldlol: at wilt blaming west for losing the 70 finals when we couldn't dominate a cripple.

[LAZERUSS]

:oldlol: at wilt blaming west for losing the 70 finals when we couldn't dominate a cripple.

Oh, you mean the Wilt who had MAJOR KNEE SURGERY just FOUR MONTHS prior? The Wilt who was the ONLY Laker to play well in that game seven loss (21 points, on 10-16 shooting, with 24 rebounds)? The same Wilt who put up a 23.2 ppg, 24.1 rpg, .625 Finals? The same Wilt, who one ONE LEG, battled the MVP Reed, to a draw in the first four games, and before Reed suffered his injury? BTW, Wilt played every minute of a seven game series against Russell in the '68 EDF's, with a similar injury to what Reed had in that '70's Finals.

Nope, let's blame Wilt. Anyone else coming back from that type of injury, and putting up a 23-24 .625 series would STILL be hailed as among the greatest playoff efforts of all-time. But with Wilt...he "choked."

[Stringer Bell]

I wonder what Wilt said about black women in his autobiography.

Kareem actually wrote "Wilt Chumperlame" :oldlol: :cheers:

He'd fit in well on sports message boards with people with their corny names for athletes.

[sportjames23]

Stringer, why you resurrect this thread? :oldlol:

[AirFederer]

I`d have to say Kareem is coming of as very balanced here, and it`s the same thing Wilts teammates and peers said about him. Barry etc.

Only years later would they say positive things about the GOAT statpadder and quitter. :confusedshrug: :cheers:

[LAZERUSS]

Interesting...

How about Kareem's open letter to Scottie Pippen in 2011...

http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2011/05/kareem-abdul-jabbar-questions-scottie-pippens-argument-that-lebron-james-may-be-the-greatest-player-.html

[QUOTE]So without further ado, here is Abdul-Jabbar's open letter to Pippen, which was recently obtained by The Times:

How Soon They Forget: An Open Letter to Scottie Pippen

Dear Scottie,

I have nothing but respect for you my friend as an athlete and knowledgeable basketball mind. But you are way off in your assessment of who is the greatest player of all time and the greatest scorer of all time. Your comments are off because of your limited perspective. You obviously never saw Wilt Chamberlain play who undoubtedly was the greatest scorer this game has ever known. When did MJ ever average 50.4 points per game plus 25.7 rebounds? (Wilt in the 1962 season when blocked shot statistics were not kept). We will never accurately know how many shots Wilt blocked. Oh, by the way in 1967 and 68, Wilt was a league leader in assists. Did MJ ever score 100 points in a game? How many times did MJ score more than 60 points in a game? MJ led the league in scoring in consecutive seasons for 10 years but he did this in an NBA that eventually expanded into 30 teams vs. when Wilt played and there were only 8 teams.

Every team had the opportunity to amass a solid nucleus. Only the cream of the basketball world got to play then. So MJ has to be appraised in perspective. His incredible athletic ability, charisma and leadership on the court helped to make basketball popular around the world -- no question about that. But in terms of greatness, MJ has to take a backseat to The Stilt.

In terms of winning, Michael excelled as both an emotional and scoring leader but Bill Russell

[Overdrive]

Cap sounds like an ish troll.

Too bad you can't register alt in real life between this


http://articles.latimes.com/1990-03-18/magazine/tm-602_1_final-season/5




found this on another forum

thought it was interesting. seems as though wilts choking, cancerous attitude and jealousy was well known back then. dunno why its been burried for so long until now

he was a serious quitter, ring chaser, spitefull sour small minded beta individual

is wilt the truest form of stats not telling the whole story or what

and this


Kareem in 2011...

http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2011/05/kareem-abdul-jabbar-questions-scottie-pippens-argument-that-lebron-james-may-be-the-greatest-player-.html



Looks like KAJ came to his senses a few years later...

[PJR]

Damn, Kareem ethered that closet hom0 Wilt!

[LAZERUSS]

I`d have to say Kareem is coming of as very balanced here, and it`s the same thing Wilts teammates and peers said about him. Barry etc.

Only years later would they say positive things about the GOAT statpadder and quitter. :confusedshrug: :cheers:

Ah yes, Barry. The Barry whom Chamberlain slaughtered in the '67 Finals, and a few years later in his Wilt's last post-season in '73. BTW, I was at the game in Oakland in the '73 playoffs in which Wilt's Lakers beat Barry's Warriors by a 126-70 margin.

In any case....here was Barry just a few years ago...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSTt_TxoFVo

"At one time you called Wilt Chamberlain a loser."

"I was wrong about that... and I really regret saying that."

"If you have ONE player to start a team around, who would it be?"

"No question...it would be Wilt Chamberlain."

[Dresta]

Interesting...

How about Kareem's open letter to Scottie Pippen in 2011...

http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2011/05/kareem-abdul-jabbar-questions-scottie-pippens-argument-that-lebron-james-may-be-the-greatest-player-.html
You already posted that letter on the first page you idiot.

[Big164]

Wilt made more money as a volleyball player than Ka__em Jabba did as a Laker.

[1987_Lakers]

Good read.

[coastalmarker99]

Good read.

Actually, as well written as the letter is... it’s pretty much all bullshit.

Kareem said that Wilt had trouble playing second fiddle, but Alex Hannum actually found that Wilt Chamberlain was so content with putting up a mere 20 points in a victory that the coach literally had to plant news articles criticizing Wilt in order to motivate him to score more aggressively.



Wilt also was more than happy to take a more defensive and low volume role on the Lakers, especially under Bill Sharman.


Wilt was actually pretty consistent in his willingness to sacrifice personal glory for his team, but because of his gaudy numbers, most people simply assume the more entertaining narrative.

Kareem speculated that Chamberlain was merely envious and bitter, but Wilt actually had the greatest respect for Kareem.

He took Kareem under his wing as a teenager, recognized him as the best player in the NBA toward the end of Wilt’s career, and after retirement praised him seemingly nonstop and stated he only ever criticized Kareem because he thought Kareem was capable of better.

Kareem called him a quitter who blamed everyone else around him because Wilt left NCAA after he lost due to getting consistently triple-teamed every game, but Wilt had repeatedly stated that he had no ill feelings toward his teammates or the school and merely prioritized spending his life doing what he enjoyed.

Kareem mocked Wilt for blaming his teammates for losing to Bill Russell Celtics.

But the Elgin Baylor/Jerry West duo and Oscar Robertson-led-offense lost to the Celtics every year they made it far enough, making Wilt Chamberlain the only player to ever lead a team past the Celtics in the 60s.


Wilt was given the responsibility to score more and more points for the Warriors by the coaches until they had lost their two other best scores and became widely recognized as having the slowest players in the NBA and the worst shooters in the NBA on the same team.


While on the Warriors, coach after coach praised Wilt for his willingness to do whatever it took for his team to win, despite how poorly run the organization was.

He accused Wilt Chamberlain of quitting in 1968 after he had blown a 3–1 lead to the Celtics.

Actually Wilt had a serious disagreement with the front office in the off-season (he was promised a significant role and stake in the organization that was now being reneged on due to change in executives) before that and wanted to leave after winning the championship, but was convinced to stay for one more season.

He criticized Wilt for losing the series in 1969, but it is nigh-universally agreed upon, then and today, that the biggest reason the Lakers lost was due to Coach Bretta van Kolff’s misuse of Wilt, which is why he was fired after the series.

He criticized Wilt for losing the series in 1970, ignoring the fact that he had earlier in the season had a full patellar tendon tear that had potential to end his career.

After coming off the injury a few games before the postseason, Wilt Chamberlain was arguably the most dominant player in the playoffs, even giving one of the greatest elimination game performances in history.

And Wilt’s infamous disappearance game? He put up an overall efficient 21/24/4, giving the best performance on his team.

He criticized Wilt for retiring after losing the series in 1973, but truth of the matter is that despite being the best player on his team at age 36 with a bum knee, Chamberlain’s interests had already shifted toward beach volleyball which he had been enjoying more than the NBA, both in his championship season or a losing season.

He criticized Wilt for saying that Kareem should’ve retired years earlier, but Wilt had always been consistent in his preference of the all-time great’s retiring before they become merely a shadow of their best selves.

He criticizes Wilt For winning only two championships compared to Kareem’s plethora.

Naturally, he mentions nothing of Wilt Leading the best team from the 60s as well as the best team from the 70s to unprecedented records of victory.

Naturally he mentions nothing of the teammate, front office, and coach that fell into his lap, each of whom were superior than everyone Wilt had ever the luxury to play with or under.

Read any and every quote by Wilt Chamberlain’s teammates you can find, then you’ll get a pretty good picture of how full of crap Kareem was.

Kareem clearly knew all of this, so why did he work to fuel a silly narrative?

A lot of people tend to forget that this is the same Kareem Abdul Jabbar who racistly criticized Wilt for dating white women and was widely considered an overly aggressive “punk” on the court. The animosity in this relationship was very one-sided.

[1987_Lakers]

Actually, as well written as the letter is... it’s pretty much all bullshit.

Kareem said that Wilt had trouble playing second fiddle, but Alex Hannum actually found that Wilt Chamberlain was so content with putting up a mere 20 points in a victory that the coach literally had to plant news articles criticizing Wilt in order to motivate him to score more aggressively.



Wilt also was more than happy to take a more defensive and low volume role on the Lakers, especially under Bill Sharman.


Wilt was actually pretty consistent in his willingness to sacrifice personal glory for his team, but because of his gaudy numbers, most people simply assume the more entertaining narrative.

Kareem speculated that Chamberlain was merely envious and bitter, but Wilt actually had the greatest respect for Kareem.

He took Kareem under his wing as a teenager, recognized him as the best player in the NBA toward the end of Wilt’s career, and after retirement praised him seemingly nonstop and stated he only ever criticized Kareem because he thought Kareem was capable of better.

Kareem called him a quitter who blamed everyone else around him because Wilt left NCAA after he lost due to getting consistently triple-teamed every game, but Wilt had repeatedly stated that he had no ill feelings toward his teammates or the school and merely prioritized spending his life doing what he enjoyed.

Kareem mocked Wilt for blaming his teammates for losing to Bill Russell Celtics.

But the Elgin Baylor/Jerry West duo and Oscar Robertson-led-offense lost to the Celtics every year they made it far enough, making Wilt Chamberlain the only player to ever lead a team past the Celtics in the 60s.


Wilt was given the responsibility to score more and more points for the Warriors by the coaches until they had lost their two other best scores and became widely recognized as having the slowest players in the NBA and the worst shooters in the NBA on the same team.


While on the Warriors, coach after coach praised Wilt for his willingness to do whatever it took for his team to win, despite how poorly run the organization was.

He accused Wilt Chamberlain of quitting in 1968 after he had blown a 3–1 lead to the Celtics.

Actually Wilt had a serious disagreement with the front office in the off-season (he was promised a significant role and stake in the organization that was now being reneged on due to change in executives) before that and wanted to leave after winning the championship, but was convinced to stay for one more season.

He criticized Wilt for losing the series in 1969, but it is nigh-universally agreed upon, then and today, that the biggest reason the Lakers lost was due to Coach Bretta van Kolff’s misuse of Wilt, which is why he was fired after the series.

He criticized Wilt for losing the series in 1970, ignoring the fact that he had earlier in the season had a full patellar tendon tear that had potential to end his career.

After coming off the injury a few games before the postseason, Wilt Chamberlain was arguably the most dominant player in the playoffs, even giving one of the greatest elimination game performances in history.

And Wilt’s infamous disappearance game? He put up an overall efficient 21/24/4, giving the best performance on his team.

He criticized Wilt for retiring after losing the series in 1973, but truth of the matter is that despite being the best player on his team at age 36 with a bum knee, Chamberlain’s interests had already shifted toward beach volleyball which he had been enjoying more than the NBA, both in his championship season or a losing season.

He criticized Wilt for saying that Kareem should’ve retired years earlier, but Wilt had always been consistent in his preference of the all-time great’s retiring before they become merely a shadow of their best selves.

He criticizes Wilt For winning only two championships compared to Kareem’s plethora.

Naturally, he mentions nothing of Wilt Leading the best team from the 60s as well as the best team from the 70s to unprecedented records of victory.

Naturally he mentions nothing of the teammate, front office, and coach that fell into his lap, each of whom were superior than everyone Wilt had ever the luxury to play with or under.

Read any and every quote by Wilt Chamberlain’s teammates you can find, then you’ll get a pretty good picture of how full of crap Kareem was.

Kareem clearly knew all of this, so why did he work to fuel a silly narrative?

A lot of people tend to forget that this is the same Kareem Abdul Jabbar who racistly criticized Wilt for dating white women and was widely considered an overly aggressive “punk” on the court. The animosity in this relationship was very one-sided.

I was thinking when you were gonna show up. BTW, nice thread on realgm regarding Wilt in 1962, it seems like it blew up.

:cheers:

[coastalmarker99]

I was thinking when you were gonna show up. BTW, nice thread on realgm regarding Wilt in 1962, it seems like it blew up.

:cheers:

Here is Wilt (ages 33-36) vs. Kareem (ages 22-25): 1970-73:

RS: 9-8 Wilt > KAJ

PO: 5-6 Wilt < KAJ (1-1 in PO series)

Total: 14-14 Wilt = KAJ


They basically played each other to a draw when their careers overlapped.


It would have been great to have another series in the playoffs between the two of them in 1973 but Nate ruined that.