fascinating Wilt quote's

[coastalmarker99]

A rare Wilt Chamberlain quote from 1972,

“I’ve always been the best center in the league, I was better than Russell he just had the better team so he won. Kareem is the best center in the league but we have the better team, let’s get this done and don’t give them any more hope.”

I guarantee you, if you could give me 10 points in all those seventh games against the Boston Celtics, instead of Bill Russell having 11 rings, I could've at least had nine or eight.


This is a team game and one man doesn't win and one man doesn't lose. In the end, the best team usually wins.

We make too much of winning. The mere fact of winning doesn't make you great.

People say my ego is grand. I think it's in proportion to me.

I was played the villain so much because I was bigger and stronger than most, and they cast me as the villain everywhere I went. that's my tag, whether I like it or not.

Villains are kind of hard to really know on a personal level when you see them as mean, unsensitive-type people.



The toughest thing for me was growing up and being stared at and being looked at and being talked about in that particular way. Other than that it was a good childhood.

If I were given a change of life, I'd like to see how it would be to live as a mere six-footer.

All of the sudden, my right leg caved in. I crumpled to the floor in pain. The doctor weren't sure I'd ever be able to play again...and even if I did recover physically, the psychological scars of so traumatic an injury might never heal.




“Everyone roots for David, Nobody pulls for Goliath”


When you go out there and do the things you're supposed to do, people view you as selfish.


Scoring 100 points is a lot, but… I maybe could have scored 140 if they had played straight-up basketball.”

[Roundball_Rock]

Interesting stuff. He is right on it being a team sport. Wilt did enough to win time and again but Boston was too stacked.

[coastalmarker99]

Interesting stuff. He is right on it being a team sport. Wilt did enough to win time and again but Boston was too stacked.

indeed and even he lost 4 game 7's to them by a combined total of 9 points if 10 points goes his way in those games or his teammates play better Wilt has 6 to 7 rings and is viewed as the goat with 7 titles to back up his stats records.



it just shows you how fickle all-time rankings are if that had happened the entire narrative we have about Wilt gets completely changed from loser to winner if his teammates just step up for him instead of being bums.

[AirBonner]

What’s interesting was Wilt asking for 10 extra points while his averages dropped off that amount or more once in the playoffs. So instead of asking for more help he could have maintained averages and won those titles

[Marchesk]

I guarantee you, if you could give me 10 points in all those seventh games against the Boston Celtics, instead of Bill Russell having 11 rings, I could've at least had nine or eight.

This is a team game and one man doesn't win and one man doesn't lose. In the end, the best team usually wins.

We make too much of winning. The mere fact of winning doesn't make you great.

As much as I stan Wilt and think he was a better overall player than Russell, these quotes are problematic. Why didn't Wilt score those extra 10 points? How come Russell retired with a perfect game 7 record with all those close games? And yeah, winning alone doesn't make you great, like when you're Robert Horry, but it does go a long way to separating all-time greats. If Lebron were 6-9 in the finals and no 2011 disappointment, we would be having a different GOAT conversation today.

And if Wilt's teams had won those close game 7s against the Celtics, and had won 5 or 6 titles, while denying Russell's teams a few more titles, then again it's a different GOAT conversation. Imagine Wilt, Kareem, Jordan and Lebron all sitting at six championships. It's not so clear Jordan still comes out on top. It's not all on Wilt as he's right that it is a team game, and sometimes the other team is just better. Or sometimes your teammates don't play well. But Wilt is the equivalent of Jordan or prime Shaq for most of his career. He has to be the one to carry the team to victory.

For example, 1962 game 7 against the Celtics in the a two point loss, Wilt scores only 22 points. He takes only 15 shots in a season he averaged almost 40 FGA. Why wasn't Wilt demanding the ball? Did his teammates decide to win it themselves? Was he not feeling well, or was he playing hurt? I don't get it. One gets the distinct impression Wilt was more like Lebron on average, while Russell was like Jordan when it came to winning big games.

[NBAGOAT]

wilt has a point but also notoriously also played at times like a black hole focused on his scoring or padded assists even compared to other greats. Just because you're scoring the most or getting a lot of assists doesnt mean you're contributing the most to your team playing well. That's what really matters how much you help your team get better. I have no problem taking wilt over russell a lot of years but russell was the opposite of that.

[Axe]

Imagine if he joined forces with russell in the celtics, they would have gotten at least 15 rings.

[coastalmarker99]

As much as I stan Wilt and think he was a better overall player than Russell, these quotes are problematic. Why didn't Wilt score those extra 10 points? How come Russell retired with a perfect game 7 record with all those close games? And yeah, winning alone doesn't make you great, like when you're Robert Horry, but it does go a long way to separating all-time greats. If Lebron were 6-9 in the finals and no 2011 disappointment, we would be having a different GOAT conversation today.

And if Wilt's teams had won those close game 7s against the Celtics, and had won 5 or 6 titles, while denying Russell's teams a few more titles, then again it's a different GOAT conversation. Imagine Wilt, Kareem, Jordan and Lebron all sitting at six championships. It's not so clear Jordan still comes out on top. It's not all on Wilt as he's right that it is a team game, and sometimes the other team is just better. Or sometimes your teammates don't play well. But Wilt is the equivalent of Jordan or prime Shaq for most of his career. He has to be the one to carry the team to victory.

For example, 1962 game 7 against the Celtics in the a two point loss, Wilt scores only 22 points. He takes only 15 shots in a season he averaged almost 40 FGA. Why wasn't Wilt demanding the ball? Did his teammates decide to win it themselves? Was he not feeling well, or was he playing hurt? I don't get it. One gets the distinct impression Wilt was more like Lebron on average, while Russell was like Jordan when it came to winning big games.

Wilt had 22 points and 15 blocks in that 1962 game 7 against the Celtics and shot 8 from 9 from the foul line and he was getting double-teamed a lot.

a instance in Chamberlain's postseason career often discussed is 1962, particularly when he "only scored 22 points" in Game 7 against Boston when he averaged 50.4 in the regular season. I invite everyone to take a good look at Chamberlain's schedule that year. Right after averaging 48.5 minutes a game in the regular season he gets only one day of rest before meeting Syracuse in the semifinals that went down to a deciding game which Chamberlain put up a 56 point, 35 rebound performance to win. Then he gets only one day of rest again before meeting the Boston Celtics who, on other hand, got ten straight days of rest. In a series where Boston was predicted to sweep the Warriors it went down to a Game 7 and decided by one basket.

Also here is the story behind his 22 points in that Game 7. Warriors coach Frank McGuire asked Chamberlain to play out of pivot more. Tom Meschery continued his hot shooting from Game 6. Tom Gola returned from injury and also shot well. This took the pressure off Chamberlain to focus more on defence Wilt blocked 15 shots in this game. The game was close all night. With 50 seconds to go in the 4th quarter and the Warriors down by 5 points, Wilt tied the game by himself with 16 seconds left. On the Celtics' last play Paul Arizin was guarding Sam Jones, who freed himself off a pick and made the game-winning shot. Chamberlain left his post to try and block it but didn't get there in time.

[coastalmarker99]

All that game came down to was in the final minute when the referees slapped Chamberlain with a questionable goaltending call, which put Boston up by five. Then on the Warriors' last possession they were given fewer seconds to respond thanks to a shot clock error. So basically Boston made it out alive against a much more inferior team on technicalities. Warriors coach Frank McGuire was so upset at the preferential treatment the officials were giving the Celtics all game long that he punched the referees' locker room door after the game was over.




No other player in history has come close to achieving what Chamberlain did in 1962 with what he had to work with. He defied all the odds. Take Wilt off that team and the Warriors would be dead last in the league in fg% at .40.2 and his teammates would collectively shoot an even worse .35.2 in the playoffs.

And although Wilt finished second only to Russell in playoff defensive win shares, the Warriors were still the absolute worst defensive team in the league. On top of that, 7 of the top 10 playoff defensive win shareholders that year were all Celtics players. The Warriors had no business being in the East Finals and were not even favoured to win a single game against Boston. Yet Wilt managed to push that sorry cast of characters to a Game 7 two-point loss.

Wilt did everything necessary to win that game 7 otherwise it wouldn't have been that close. In fact, the papers praised Wilt for playing "outstanding defence" while sharing scoring with his teammates. He was literally all over the place. But after Guy Rodgers fouled out and the Warriors began to trail he immediately went to work and tied the game by himself. And in the end, all it came down to was Boston barely squeaking by on technicalities.

Bottom line is that what Wilt did in the 1962 playoffs was incredible, and no other player could've come close to what he accomplished with the amount of success he had given the cards he was dealt.


In a 1997 interview with Bob Costas, Wilt said it was his toughest loss as a pro: "We took them to the limit. They were a great basketball team. We were becoming a great basketball team"



For those who say Wilt "only" scored 22 in this game and "only averaged 35 PPG in the playoffs don't realize that it was a strategy. the coach McGuire pretty much said to Wilt, something along the lines of "Okay you got your points in the season, pass the ball and play defence now, and win." Also McGuire's strategy was to ride the hot hand, and example being Tom Meschery in this case, and Paul Arizin in the previous series against Syracuse. Many believe and some of the players such as Tom Meschery, and Al Attles believed that if McGuire stayed, the Warriors could have eventually won a championship. That year people predicted a sweep for Boston, but it was an intense 7 game series. Problem was McGuire quit in the summer because the team was sold to a Credit Card Company from San Francisco and he was unwilling to re-locate, as well this would be the last game of Paul Arizin's remarkable Hall of Fame career

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

He isn't totally wrong but intangibles are underrated.

Does Wilt let players keep their roles and feel "needed"? Or would they stand around watching Wilt grab one of the thousands of records he holds? Wilt sacrificed his individual numbers in LA, sure. But before that I cant say he would be willing to do that. '67 Philly is probably the exception although they're also a GOAT team.

I can agree that if the roles were reversed, Wilt would have a few more rings. Doubt even the most passionate Boston homer is going to argue that.

[coastalmarker99]

He isn't totally wrong but intangibles are underrated.

Does Wilt let players keep their roles and feel "needed"? Or would they stand around watching Wilt grab one of the thousands of records he holds? Wilt sacrificed his individual numbers in LA, sure. But before that I cant say he would be willing to do that. '67 Philly is probably the exception although they're also a GOAT team.

I can agree that if the roles were reversed, Wilt would have a few more rings. Doubt even the most passionate Boston homer is going to argue that.

Trust me Kuniva people have argued to me that if Wilt was on the Celtics they win 0 rings with him as he was a team cancer and he would ruin the Celtics and that if you placed Russell on any other team he would still beat Wilt because of his intangibles which is complete garbage.

Wilt would have crushed the Nba on the Celtics hell he most likely wins 13 to 14 rings as a Celtic if he plays from 1959 to 1976 with them as even when he gets older he has a prime Havlicek to carry him and the rest of the Celtics to titles in the '70s.

And to be honest some of those Celtic teams in the 60's win 70 games a season with Wilt taking Russell's place good god can you imagine Red having a prime Wilt. There would no hope for the rest of the NBA it would have been comical if Wilt was on the Celtics from 1959 to 1976 who the hell is going to stop them from winning titles every single year the Lakers forget about it :lol

[Marchesk]

Wilt would have crushed the Nba on the Celtics hell he most likely wins 13 to 14 rings as a Celtic if he plays from 1959 to 1976 with them as even when he gets older he has a prime Havlicek to carry him and the rest of the Celtics to titles in the '70s.

If this were true, Wilt would have won more than one title with West, who was better than Havlicek. I didn't know Wilt had 15 blocks in the 62 game 7. That's amazing. But still, imagine prime Shaq scoring less than half his regular season average in a game 7 against the Spurs, and the Lakers lose by two points. People would want to know why in the hell Shaq didn't get the ball more. Even if Shaq blocked 10 shots, was rebounding and playing great defense, they'd wonder why he wasn't more assertive on offense.

Wilt didn't elevate his scoring in the playoffs like West or Jordan did. Some of that is situational, but we're comparing all-time greats, not just regular HOFers. And if you're arguing for GOAT, Wilt's 2 for 5 while Russell had 11 titles stands out. Same deal with Lebron's 3/9. Yes, the championship count does matter, when discussing players at the very top all-time.

[NBAGOAT]

He isn't totally wrong but intangibles are underrated.

Does Wilt let players keep their roles and feel "needed"? Or would they stand around watching Wilt grab one of the thousands of records he holds? Wilt sacrificed his individual numbers in LA, sure. But before that I cant say he would be willing to do that. '67 Philly is probably the exception although they're also a GOAT team.

I can agree that if the roles were reversed, Wilt would have a few more rings. Doubt even the most passionate Boston homer is going to argue that.

next year with philly was one of those years he padded with assists mainly and got upset by the celtics in the playoffs with the same roster as the goat lvl 67 team. that was one of the few years wilt had a cast that could've beat the celtics.

[GimmeThat]

if he was light skinned, people would have long pointed out he's a woman trapped in a man's body. thanks to those dark skin tone, no one is saying, that's the son of an investment banker who had a crazy mother.

[coastalmarker99]

next year with philly was one of those years he padded with assists mainly and got upset by the celtics in the playoffs with the same roster as the goat lvl 67 team. that was one of the few years wilt had a cast that could've beat the celtics.

Losing the '68 playoffs to the Celtics was a fluke for Wilt and his team. No disrespect to the Celtics, but Philly was a better team. The injury to Billy C. and other key Sixers including Chamberlain who played with a pulled thigh muscle, a torn calf muscle, and a sprained right toe (all injuries on the same leg) doomed the Sixers And, for that series, a hobbled Chamberlain, even with two poor games in six and seven, still averaged 22 ppg, 25 RPG, 7 APG, and shot .48.7 from the field (one of only two times in his eight post-season series against Russell in which he shot less than .50.0 BTW...and in a post-season NBA that still only shot .44.6.)

Furthermore, the Sixers were without HOFer Billy Cunningham that entire series. Factor in that in game five, and leading the series 3-1, and only trailing by two points at the time, both Wali Jones and Luke Jackson suffered leg injuries and were basically worthless the last two games, as well as Chamberlain playing with his assorted injuries, and it was actually quite amazing that the Sixers only lost a game seven by four points.

Clearly, had the Sixers been healthy in that post-season, it would have been a repeat of the '67 EDF's, when they had destroyed the Celtics, 4-1.

[MrFonzworth]

if he was light skinned, people would have long pointed out he's a woman trapped in a man's body. thanks to those dark skin tone, no one is saying, that's the son of an investment banker who had a crazy mother.

:roll::roll::roll:

[Horatio33]

The MOST DOMINANT and ATHLETIC player ever with the MOST EXCUSES ever.

[getting_old]

Interesting stuff. He is right on it being a team sport. Wilt did enough to win time and again but Boston was too stacked.


Boston in 1968 and 1969 were 20 points underdogs to Wilt's teams, total complete 100% theft of those playoff series.

And the 70 and 73 Knicks were not as good as Wilt's Lakers teams.

[SouBeachTalents]

Boston in 1968 and 1969 were 20 points underdogs to Wilt's teams, total complete 100% theft of those playoff series.

And the 70 and 73 Knicks were not as good as Wilt's Lakers teams.
20 point underdogs :oldlol: That's literally 4-5x what the point spread probably was

[tpols]

it is a team sport and i look to judge individual player's impacts, while also considering their impacts on teammates. I cant speak for wilt or russell tbh, but of those watched and studied can make a decent opinion. the only gist i've gathered of this whole situation was that russell was willing to make any play to win while wilt generally demanded the ball. My grandpa watched wilt in philly in high school and they used to literally quadruple team him, and they won. Maybe his teammates sucked idk.

[Axe]

And the 70 and 73 Knicks were not as good as Wilt's Lakers teams.
Not as good as wilt's lakers teams, yet they demolished them in game 7 and gave them their 8-straight finals loss. Then in 1973, overpowered them once again this time 4-1 in their second finals meetup for the decade. But ofc, injuries became an obvious factor for the outcome.

[derereder]

A rare Wilt Chamberlain quote from 1972,

“I’ve always been the best center in the league, I was better than Russell he just had the better team so he won. Kareem is the best center in the league but we have the better team, let’s get this done and don’t give them any more hope.”

I guarantee you, if you could give me 10 points in all those seventh games against the Boston Celtics, instead of Bill Russell having 11 rings, I could've at least had nine or eight.


This is a team game and one man doesn't win and one man doesn't lose. In the end, the best team usually wins.

We make too much of winning. The mere fact of winning doesn't make you great.

People say my ego is grand. I think it's in proportion to me.

I was played the villain so much because I was bigger and stronger than most, and they cast me as the villain everywhere I went. that's my tag, whether I like it or not.

Villains are kind of hard to really know on a personal level when you see them as mean, unsensitive-type people.



The toughest thing for me was growing up and being stared at and being looked at and being talked about in that particular way. Other than that it was a good childhood.

If I were given a change of life, I'd like to see how it would be to live as a mere six-footer.

All of the sudden, my right leg caved in. I crumpled to the floor in pain. The doctor weren't sure I'd ever be able to play again...and even if I did recover physically, the psychological scars of so traumatic an injury might never heal.




“Everyone roots for David, Nobody pulls for Goliath”


When you go out there and do the things you're supposed to do, people view you as selfish.


Scoring 100 points is a lot, but… I maybe could have scored 140 if they had played straight-up basketball.”

In my opinion, this is a unique person, Wilt Chamberlain was not just an outstanding athlete and was quite erudite. He was highly developed in writing and economics. https://samplius.com/free-essay-examples/economics/ After he finished his career as a basketball player and volleyball player, He became a successful businessman, the author of several books. I was pleasantly surprised when I read this. Everyone called him "Goliath" but he was "Big Dipper" he liked it that much.

[warriorfan]

Welcome to Insidehoops.

[Jasper]

The toughest thing for me was growing up and being stared at and being looked at and being talked about in that particular way. Other than that it was a good childhood.

how many people had to deal with that ?????

Whether you are tall, black or not every kid is thinking of what others think of them(.)

[guy]

A rare Wilt Chamberlain quote from 1972,

“I’ve always been the best center in the league, I was better than Russell he just had the better team so he won. Kareem is the best center in the league but we have the better team, let’s get this done and don’t give them any more hope.”

I guarantee you, if you could give me 10 points in all those seventh games against the Boston Celtics, instead of Bill Russell having 11 rings, I could've at least had nine or eight.


This is a team game and one man doesn't win and one man doesn't lose. In the end, the best team usually wins.

We make too much of winning. The mere fact of winning doesn't make you great.

People say my ego is grand. I think it's in proportion to me.

I was played the villain so much because I was bigger and stronger than most, and they cast me as the villain everywhere I went. that's my tag, whether I like it or not.

Villains are kind of hard to really know on a personal level when you see them as mean, unsensitive-type people.



The toughest thing for me was growing up and being stared at and being looked at and being talked about in that particular way. Other than that it was a good childhood.

If I were given a change of life, I'd like to see how it would be to live as a mere six-footer.

All of the sudden, my right leg caved in. I crumpled to the floor in pain. The doctor weren't sure I'd ever be able to play again...and even if I did recover physically, the psychological scars of so traumatic an injury might never heal.




“Everyone roots for David, Nobody pulls for Goliath”


When you go out there and do the things you're supposed to do, people view you as selfish.


Scoring 100 points is a lot, but… I maybe could have scored 140 if they had played straight-up basketball.”

Wilt and Russell played against each other in 4 game 7s I believe so wouldn’t at most it be 6 rings for Wilt? Where does 8-9 come from?