True or False, Wilt Chamberlain might be the greatest athlete that ever lived?

[CavaliersFTW]

I've been tracking down footage and testimony of him for a new Wilt mix about his all around athleticism and physical abilities... he played water polo, volleyball, raquet ball, was a multi-event track and field athlete potentially capable of competing in the decathalon, marathoner, water skier, chariot racer, weightlifter with enough strength to outlift even guys like Arnold Schwartzenegger, tried out for the Kansas City Chiefs and had their HOF coach convinced he'd be the "best ever" TE, trained to fight Muhammad Ali, I mean the list of things he could do to at least a degree that held peers and contemporaries in awe is staggering. And he was doing this stuff up into his 50's.

On top of this he owns the record book of professional basketball... with equally impressive tall tales to boot of physical feats, dunking free throws with only a 3 stride start, dunking on a 12 foot rim, dislocating shoulders and breaking his opponents down. You look at footage of him and his upper body is wider, broader, and longer than Shaq's but with long legs that would make any middle distance track and field runner envious. What do you guys think? How strong is his case as greatest athlete ever? I've seen the Bo Jackson documentary... I've researched guys like Jim Thorpe... Wilt is easily in this discussion IMO.

[navy]

You hedged your bet and said might be.

For that? False.

[Cocaine80s]

False

[TheMarkMadsen]

Ever lived?

You mean like the last 100 years right..

[Paul George 24]

also biggest loser in nba :facepalm

[CavaliersFTW]

Ever lived?

You mean like the last 100 years right..
No, ever lived. Yeah it's sensationalist, maybe short sighted. Not very easy to understand how good athletes were like 100+ years ago. But Darrall Imhoff and Alex Hannum have both stated they believe Wilt Chamberlain was the greatest athlete that ever lived so I borrowed their hyperbole. Roll with it.

[fpliii]

Definitely a chance.

[dubeta]

All this talk about Wilt's godlike athleticism, and his superhuman feats but nothing to show for it except a 2/6 :lol

[gts]

All this talk about Wilt's godlike athleticism, and his superhuman feats but nothing to show for it except a 2/6you lost the argument kid when you decided to use team accomplishments to define a persons athletic ability

move along the adults want to talk...


back to the OP

Greatest athlete of all times? so many hyper athletic people throughout just modern history that I doubt we'd be able to narrow it down to even 10 people let alone one

[Cocaine80s]

Shit I think Javale McGee is more athletic than him

[LAZERUSS]

Bo and Wilt.

Easily the two greatest.

[kennethgriffin]

FALSE


bo jackson


allstar in baseball and football

even dieon sanders had a good baseball career

wilts high jump at the special olympics doesnt match up

[Round Mound]

Yes.

How Many 7footers Could Do All Those Things Wilt Did?

[JohnFreeman]

Ali? Pele? Tyson? Sanders?

[JohnMax]

Usain Bolt

[Warfan]

I don't know why I laughed at water skier and chariot racer :oldlol:

[CavaliersFTW]

Ali? Pele? Tyson? Sanders?
As masters of their disciplines, they are as great as anyone. I'm speaking on multiple-sport versatility. The list of things Wilt was coordinated enough to just pick up and be extremely extremely good at is high, all while possessing one of the biggest, strongest and simultaneously longest/tallest frames on the planet. The combination is virtually bar-none. I feel like had he focused on strong man competition, he could have done that... inversely if he focused on Track and Field, he could have competed in that... or Volley ball, etc... But he focused on basketball, so he dominated that. It's like there just weren't enough life times for Wilt to reach his maximum potential in all the sports he could have been dominant at. Guys like Bo Jackson, and Jim Thorpe come to mind as others who gave off that aura. Guys like Ali and Pele though masters of their craft, don't. It wasn't sheer physical athleticism that made them overwhelm opponents, nor do they have countless testimony of being athletic and showing dominant potential in multiple sports.

[JohnFreeman]

As masters of their disciplines, they are as great as anyone. I'm speaking on multiple-sport versatility. The list of things Wilt was coordinated enough to just pick up and be extremely extremely good at is high, all while possessing one of the biggest, strongest and simultaneously longest/tallest frames on the planet. The combination is virtually bar-none. I feel like had he focused on strong man competition, he could have done that... inversely if he focused on Track and Field, he could have competed in that... or Volley ball, etc... But he focused on basketball, so he dominated that. It's like there just weren't enough life times for Wilt to reach his maximum potential in all the sports he could have been dominant at. Guys like Bo Jackson, and Jim Thorpe come to mind as others who gave off that aura. Guys like Ali and Pele at least don't. It wasn't sheer physical athleticism that made them as special as they were.
Maybe Wilt is. LeBron deserves a HM

[CavaliersFTW]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6QS98dHNjs

some clips

[CavaliersFTW]

Maybe Wilt is. LeBron deserves a HM
Yeah he's currently at the top for this generation of "all-around" athletes.

[Miller for 3]

TBH, I think Brittany Griner is a better athlete. Grainy black and white clips of high school Wilt dunking on 5-4 white guy centers doesn't do it for me.

[LAZERUSS]

http://www2.kusports.com/news/1999/oct/14/novotny_remembers_chamberlain/


Out behind Carruth-O'Leary Hall, then a Kansas University dormitory, stood three of KU's most decorated athletes -- Bill Nieder, Al Oerter and Wilt Chamberlain.



It was an autumn night in 1956 and the trio had assembled to determine who could put a 16-pound shot the greatest distance.

"I bet a buck on Bill Nieder," said John Novotny, a Lawrence real estate agent who was a naive KU freshman from Claflin at the time. "That's all I had."

Why not Nieder? A Lawrence High product, Nieder had just earned a silver medal in the shot at the Olympic Games at Melbourne. At the same Games, Oerter had won the gold medal in the discus.

"Al was pretty good with the shot, too," Novotny said, "but I put my dollar on Bill Nieder."

Novotny didn't even consider betting on Chamberlain, a basketball player whose only experience in track and field was in the high jump, even though Chamberlain was the impetus for the three-man contest.

"Wilt liked to bet " He loved poker," said Novotny, who lived two doors from Wilt in Carruth-O'Leary that year.

"Wilt came in one night when Bill and Al were there eating at the training table," Novotny related, "and he started talking to them, and then he told them he could throw the shot farther than either one of them."

Moreover, Chamberlain bet he could beat both of them, and that sent Novotny and a handful of others to their rooms in search of spare loot.

"There we were on that grassy knoll," Novotny reflected. "Oerter threw first, then Bill Nieder threw one past his. Then it was Wilt's turn.

"He turned his back, bent over and intertwined his fingers with the shot in his hands and sling-shotted it over his head. It went about two feet farther than Nieder's throw."

No matter that throwing the shot in that manner is illegal in track and field. This wasn't a matter of esthetics. This was a bet.

[CavaliersFTW]

Usain Bolt
He could be a multi-open-field competitor in Track and Field (several sprints, maybe some long jump or triple jump), he's obviously the fastest man on the planet. But from what I've seen he's not really in possession of great strength or versatility in other sports... he's honestly not that coordinated
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJuNnYkRtRI

Compare to Mike Powell or Mike Conley:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHkKRaKbVqw

[Marchesk]

inversely if he focused on Track and Field, he could have competed in that.

So could have Bill Russell and a few other NBA and NFL players. Although I think Wilt would have been suited best at the Decathlon, as opposed to an individual sport.

Which raises the question of how good of athletes do we consider the elite decathletes?

[Miller for 3]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6QS98dHNjs


some clips

:lol :oldlol:

Holy crap, I take back what I said about Griner. I am now certain that every WNBA player is a better athlete. Let's do a breakdown of this vid

00-13 - Struggles to shake the hand of Shaq and then hangs his head in shame

13-29 - Awkwardly walks to car with terrible walking motion, then strikes one of the worst posture stances I have ever seen. can you say "chiropractor"?

40-43 - Appears to have trouble lifting no weight. noodle arms much?

49-59 - Knee bends waaay too much when going under the net, and then his bump technique is horrific. 7th grade jv volleyball girls are rolling in their graves watching this

1:10-1:29 - some mediocore spikes on a what looks to be an 8 foot net. I think this clears the claims that Wilt had a 50 inch vertical :roll: Dude struggles to clear an 8ft net at 7 feet tall :eek: Shawn Bradley looks like Gerald Green compared to this stiff

1:38-1:49 - If you've ever wanted to see the devastation of carpel tunnel syndrome, this is the part to watch. A grown man in his prime with extremely limited wrist and arm movement. Sickening. No wonder he shot 40% from the line

2:00-2:22 - Grainy footage of Wilt appearing to be playing around at a local farm? I see a lot of hay, a lot of lankly awkward running, and a lot of barely jumping over a 6ft pole

2:23-2:25 - Basically the part of the video where you realize it is a troll vid. Wilt playing racquetball, the sport of retired 70 year olds :facepalm

2:30-2:35 - Worst. Form. Ever

2:36-2:45 - Regular mundane exercises that 50 year old chicks do at yoga. Go Wilt go!

2:47-2:49 - Wilt being bothered by seething pain in his wrist from carpel tunnel syndrome

I lost a lot of respect for Wilt after watching this. I now rank him below Keith Van Horn alltime, and I think someone like Sim Bhullar is 10x the athlete

[CavaliersFTW]

:lol :oldlol:

Holy crap, I take back what I said about Griner. I am now certain that every WNBA player is a better athlete. Let's do a breakdown of this vid

00-13 - Struggles to shake the hand of Shaq and then hangs his head in shame

13-29 - Awkwardly walks to car with terrible walking motion, then strikes one of the worst posture stances I have ever seen. can you say "chiropractor"?

40-43 - Appears to have trouble lifting no weight. noodle arms much?

49-59 - Knee bends waaay too much when going under the net, and then his bump technique is horrific. 7th grade jv volleyball girls are rolling in their graves watching this

1:10-1:29 - some mediocore spikes on a what looks to be an 8 foot net. I think this clears the claims that Wilt had a 50 inch vertical :roll: Dude struggles to clear an 8ft net at 7 feet tall :eek: Shawn Bradley looks like Gerald Green compared to this stiff

1:38-1:49 - If you've ever wanted to see the devastation of carpel tunnel syndrome, this is the part to watch. A grown man in his prime with extremely limited wrist and arm movement. Sickening. No wonder he shot 40% from the line

2:00-2:22 - Grainy footage of Wilt appearing to be playing around at a local farm? I see a lot of hay, a lot of lankly awkward running, and a lot of barely jumping over a 6ft pole

2:23-2:25 - Basically the part of the video where you realize it is a troll vid. Wilt playing racquetball, the sport of retired 70 year olds :facepalm

2:30-2:35 - Worst. Form. Ever

2:36-2:45 - Regular mundane exercises that 50 year old chicks do at yoga. Go Wilt go!

2:47-2:49 - Wilt being bothered by seething pain in his wrist from carpel tunnel syndrome

I lost a lot of respect for Wilt after watching this. I now rank him below Keith Van Horn alltime, and I think someone like Sim Bhullar is 10x the athlete
I legit lol'd :oldlol:

[Marchesk]

Are we including mountain climbing, surfing, skating and extreme sports in the conversation? There are a lot of amazing athletic accomplishments, and I have no idea how those guys stack up. Where you rank someone who can free climb difficult rock faces or surf 30 foot waves?

[fpliii]

I legit lol'd :oldlol:
lol

Wonder whose alt that it.

[Marchesk]

As far as ever goes, we have to stick with recorded history, because we have no idea what sort of athletic freaks might have existed. But instead of putting a ball in a hoop, they spent their time running giraffes into exhaustion or mopping it up on the battle field.

[CavaliersFTW]

So could have Bill Russell and a few other NBA and NFL players. Although I think Wilt would have been suited best at the Decathlon, as opposed to an individual sport.

Which raises the question of how good of athletes do we consider the elite decathletes?
Yes, Track and Field type athleticism is fairly common among the greatest NBA and NFL athletes. But is Track and Field athleticism AND World class strength? Also his size alone is extremely rare. Yet with all his size and strength he's still coordinated enough to not only compete in a variety of sports but excel in them. It's a much rarer combo than guys who played in the NBA or NFL that were also Track athletes... Oscar Robertson, Gus Johnson, Connie Hawkins, and Bill Russell were all noteworthy Track and Field athletes (Russell being Olympic level, was the most impressive).

[Marchesk]

You say excel, but to my knowledge, Wilt only competed in basketball at a professional level. It's like arguing over whether Lebron would make a great NFL TE or elite soccer player, just because his skill and athleticism are well suited to dominate at basketball (I should add size to that).

[CavaliersFTW]

You say excel, but to my knowledge, Wilt only competed in basketball at a professional level. It's like arguing over whether Lebron would make a great NFL TE or elite soccer player, just because his skill and athleticism are well suited to dominate at basketball (I should add size to that).
Yeah, excel, Wilt could have excelled at a lot more sports than just basketball. Did he? That depends on your defintion, he wasn't shattering records in other sports, but genuine potential to be the best or nearly so in several sports disciplines was there. Hank Stram scouted Wilt for a week for the Chiefs and afterwards was convinced he would be the greatest receiver ever in football. Wilt's Track and Field coach at Kansas thought Wilt could clear 7 feet (then the record) if he was more dedicated to the sport and not focused on basketball. His form has room for leaps and bounds of improvement in track, he picked up volleyball in his 30's... he as a raw athlete, is about as maleable as any I can think of. He could pack on enough muscle mass working out on his own to out lift the strongest guys at Arnold's gym, yet could also stride a quarter mile at Kansas as fast as the guys who trained for it? Really, I mean the word excel when I say it. He had world class potential in several sports. His discipline just ended up being basketball.

[LAZERUSS]

You say excel, but to my knowledge, Wilt only competed in basketball at a professional level. It's like arguing over whether Lebron would make a great NFL TE or elite soccer player, just because his skill and athleticism are well suited to dominate at basketball (I should add size to that).

Well, none other than HANK STRAM believed Wilt could have been a great football player.

Thanks to CavsFan for this BTW...

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showpost.php?p=7766029&postcount=20


And think about this...in his book, Chamberlain claimed that he ran a 4.4 40 in college. Before anyone scoffs at that...Stram timed a 27 year old 290 lb Wilt, at a 4.6.

[LAZERUSS]

You say excel, but to my knowledge, Wilt only competed in basketball at a professional level. It's like arguing over whether Lebron would make a great NFL TE or elite soccer player, just because his skill and athleticism are well suited to dominate at basketball (I should add size to that).

Volleyball?

A Chamberlain in his 30's, and only having picked up the game a short time...

http://www.volleyballmag.com/articles/43228-wilt-chamberlain-s-lasting-legacy

[QUOTE]Byron Shewman, former IVA player

In 1978, I was a player-coach for the Tucson Sky. The All-Star Game was held in El Paso, and I was coaching the East team. Wilt was playing, and a journalist from the major El Paso paper called me a couple of days before for an interview about the game. I found out later that this guy didn

[LAZERUSS]

Strength?

How about the opinion of Arnold Schwartzenegger?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzIu7o5NH1k

[LAZERUSS]

Boxing?

How about the opinion of none other than Cus D'Aamato?

http://www.eastsideboxing.com/weblog/news.php?p=7095&more=1

[QUOTE]Although Chamberlain had no competitive experience as a boxer, he approached the Ali fight with a plan. He would retain the services of world-class trainer Cus D

[Miller for 3]

Volleyball?

A Chamberlain in his 30's, and only having picked up the game a short time...

http://www.volleyballmag.com/articles/43228-wilt-chamberlain-s-lasting-legacy


Volleyball = woman's sport. Who cares?

[Miller for 3]

Strength?

How about the opinion of Arnold Schwartzenegger?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzIu7o5NH1k

Arnold = steroid using politician (aka pathological liar). Who cares?

[Miller for 3]

Boxing?

How about the opinion of none other than Cus D'Aamato?

http://www.eastsideboxing.com/weblog/news.php?p=7095&more=1

Boxing? The sport that is only pay per view (aka they have to pay people to watch it because it sucks so bad)? Who cares

[Asukal]

False. :pimp:

[Round Mound]

Wilt might be the most envied sports figure ever. :confusedshrug:

[LAZERUSS]

How about a 50 year old Chamberlain?

http://www.si.com/vault/1986/08/18/113812/doing-just-fine-my-man-at-50-wilt-chamberlain-has-finally-mellowed-some-however-he-remains-as-always-larger-than-life


Chamberlain was on holiday on the Adriatic in the summer of '74
when it occurred to him that he would finally hang it up. It wasn't
anything dramatic that made him quit. Good Lord, he could sure still
play. (Twelve years later, just this past April, the New Jersey Nets
reportedly offered him nearly half a million dollars to play out the
last couple weeks of the NBA season -- and he was 49 by then.) He
didn't have any special new career plans back in '74 either


And how strong was he exactly? How fast? How high could he jump?
How long? Who knows? By now, the myths of what Chamberlain did at his
leisure (or might have done, if he hadn't been concentrating on
basketball) compete in memory all too much with whatever did happen.
Wilt is not averse to embellishing his own legend here and there,
either. At the moment, Lynda Huey, an old friend, a travel agent by
trade, a track nut by passion, is trying to get Wilt to enter the
World Veterans Championships in track and field (50-year-old
division) next year in Melbourne. ''Wilt will rewrite all the record
books,'' Huey says blithely.
And what event would you enter, Wilt? The discus, the 200, the
high jump? ''Almost anything,'' he shrugs. These days, for typical
daily amusement he competes (against others or himself) in the
following activities: basketball, racquetball, volleyball, tennis,
polo (yes, the kind with horses), rowing single sculls, swimming,
running races, lifting weights, hurling objects, performing the
martial arts, aerobics and walking long distances. He still holds his
own in scrimmages with current NBA players. The Nets' offer, while
obviously of considerable publicity value to a team somewhere out in
the suburbs that nobody knows exists, was perfectly legitimate. Wilt
finally turned it down only because he was afraid he would disappoint
people, afraid that even though he was sure he would acquit himself
proudly, playing in the NBA in his 50th year, nothing he could do
would be enough to satisfy expectations.

[LAZERUSS]

How about Larry Brown's opinion...


Of all his memories of Wilt Chamberlain, the one that stood out for Larry Brown happened long after Chamberlain's professional career had ended. On a summer day in the early 1980s, when Brown was coaching at UCLA, Chamberlain showed up at Pauley Pavilion to take part in one of the high-octane pickup games that the arena constantly attracted. "Magic Johnson used to run the games," Brown recalled Tuesday after hearing that Chamberlain, his friend, had died at 63, "and he called a couple of chintzy fouls and a goaltending on Wilt. "So Wilt said: 'There will be no more layups in this gym,' and he blocked every shot after that. That's the truth, I saw it. He didn't let one [of Johnson's] shots get to the rim." Chamberlain would have been in his mid-40s at the time, and he remained in top physical shape until recently

Stewart, Larry (1999-10-13). "Giant Towered Over the Rest". The Los Angeles Times.

[Marchesk]

With all that being said, Wilt didn't compete professionally at other sports, nor was he world class. Note the difference in saying that Wilt excelled at track versus Jim Ryun excelled at track. It's a whole different ballgame with Ryun, because he was world class as high school junior in the mile. Ryun's mile and 800 times wow me to this day.

Wilt's track results only wow me because he was a 7 footer, not because they were world class. Plenty of good high school track athletes have done what Wilt did or better. But only four other American high schoolers have gone under 4 minutes in the 50 years since Ryun became the first high schooler in the world to do so.

I use Ryun as an example of what it means to excel at a sport in a world class fashion. When he was 19, he set the world record. There are other examples in the various track and field events.

Now we can say that Wilt most likely would have excelled at the high jump or volleyball if he choose to make them his career. Football and boxing are different animals, and it doesn't matter to me what Stram said, because Wilt never suited up on Sunday. So who knows. Saying he would have been the best receiver ever is pure hyporbole.

To answer the OP, Wilt is in the conversation, but I'm not sure if the conversation is defined well enough.

[oarabbus]

Wilt is definitely an option, but greatest athlete isn't the same as best multi-sport athlete.

As stated before Bo Jackson is definitely a contender for the latter category. And I'd bet some olympic decathletes could best Wilt in many areas of athletic ability - they would be faster over 100m, 400m, hurdles, high jump, long jump, etc.

[kshutts1]

:lol :oldlol:

Holy crap, I take back what I said about Griner. I am now certain that every WNBA player is a better athlete. Let's do a breakdown of this vid

00-13 - Struggles to shake the hand of Shaq and then hangs his head in shame

13-29 - Awkwardly walks to car with terrible walking motion, then strikes one of the worst posture stances I have ever seen. can you say "chiropractor"?

40-43 - Appears to have trouble lifting no weight. noodle arms much?

49-59 - Knee bends waaay too much when going under the net, and then his bump technique is horrific. 7th grade jv volleyball girls are rolling in their graves watching this

1:10-1:29 - some mediocore spikes on a what looks to be an 8 foot net. I think this clears the claims that Wilt had a 50 inch vertical :roll: Dude struggles to clear an 8ft net at 7 feet tall :eek: Shawn Bradley looks like Gerald Green compared to this stiff

1:38-1:49 - If you've ever wanted to see the devastation of carpel tunnel syndrome, this is the part to watch. A grown man in his prime with extremely limited wrist and arm movement. Sickening. No wonder he shot 40% from the line

2:00-2:22 - Grainy footage of Wilt appearing to be playing around at a local farm? I see a lot of hay, a lot of lankly awkward running, and a lot of barely jumping over a 6ft pole

2:23-2:25 - Basically the part of the video where you realize it is a troll vid. Wilt playing racquetball, the sport of retired 70 year olds :facepalm

2:30-2:35 - Worst. Form. Ever

2:36-2:45 - Regular mundane exercises that 50 year old chicks do at yoga. Go Wilt go!

2:47-2:49 - Wilt being bothered by seething pain in his wrist from carpel tunnel syndrome

I lost a lot of respect for Wilt after watching this. I now rank him below Keith Van Horn alltime, and I think someone like Sim Bhullar is 10x the athlete
I know you're trolling.. but I play in a vball league and those are nasty, nasty spikes. No matter the net height, either. And with legit form, though I'm no expert in that area.

[SHAQisGOAT]

Can definitely be argued, yea.

[Psileas]

He had been routinely mentioned among the most iconic athletes of his generation, like Ali, Pele, etc. So, if they are still considered among the GOAT athletes, he should pretty obviously belong to this conversation as well.

[Lebron23]

Michael Jordan

[jongib369]

Probably would of killed someone trying to tackle him in football with that much speed and weight...Would love to see him and Butkus collide xD

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progression_of_the_bench_press_world_record

His lifts are scary when compared to what the top lifters of his day were doing...

[jayfan]

Jim Thorpe





.

[Pointguard]

Jim Thorpe
.
This. But Wilt definitely could be.

[Jlamb47]

Lebron

[jongib369]

https://38.media.tumblr.com/54eaf1c7a87fb79abdefbf93766b913e/tumblr_nc220jto251td15w4o2_500.jpg

https://33.media.tumblr.com/d0b3e456a349700640d1136c57414891/tumblr_nc220jto251td15w4o1_500.jpg

https://38.media.tumblr.com/5bad8eda571c7ddb3afda3a7bc596551/tumblr_nc224lqEv41td15w4o1_500.jpg

[Cold soul]

Wilt is in the discussion for sure. I'll say yes he is.

[jongib369]

http://oi57.tinypic.com/2ur2jjd.jpg

[AirFederer]

Great athlete but come on.

Very insecure guy unfortunately.

[SpanishACB]

False.

There are more remarkable myths if one starts reading into older times. Specially when any tale is taken literally. Hercules was a better athlete.

And nutrition has come a long way and it's too important a factor.

[winwin]

also biggest loser in nba :facepalm
NO.

lebron is the biggest loser in nba that ever lived.















-

[Budadiiii]

I honestly think it's LeBron James.

His combination of size, speed, strength, agility, body control, hand-eye coordination, durability, and any other term to describe an athlete is beyond insane.

If he was a real competitor like MJ and Tiger he would be considered the best "sportsman" of all time.