James Harden has more 30 point playoff games than Wilt Chamberlin. Stat Wilt aint it

[Shooter]

Wilt was a choker. Sorry bro, you know who you are.

[Bawkish]

Harden is a noob compared to Wilt's list of hoes banged

[coastalmarker99]

Wilt made every team he played for into a title contender, led them all to franchise win records of which 2 still stand today, led 4 squads to the best record in the league, reached the conference finals 12 times, the finals 6 times, and won 2 championships and finals Mvps in different conferences as the anchorman for 2 of the greatest teams of all time while playing completely different roles in each of them, has a winning record in postseason games facing elimination, and put in more playing time than any human being ever.


Please never compare him to Harden again.

[1987_Lakers]

Wilt made every team he played for into a title contender, led them all to franchise win records of which 2 still stand today, led 4 squads to the best record in the league, reached the conference finals 12 times, the finals 6 times, and won 2 championships and finals Mvps in different conferences as the anchorman for 2 of the greatest teams of all time while playing completely different roles in each of them, has a winning record in postseason games facing elimination, and put in more playing time than any human being ever.


Please never compare him to Harden again.

Lakers were already title contenders before Wilt got there and the Warriors made the Finals after he left.

[coastalmarker99]

16 PPG Lakers in 80 games/53%
25 PPG 76ers in 44 Games/54%
*34.7 PPG Warrior's 36games/50%


Wilt's Warriors playoff average is still the league record among all 30 franchise leaders in Playoff PPG, which includes Jordan Bulls.



Wilt played in 29 postseason series, the majority of them played from 1966-73, and Wilt's teams went 18-11 in them.

Anyone wondering about Wilt's drop-off in career average points from the regular season to the playoffs (30.1 to 22.5) should know that when Wilt was the main shot taker on his team he put up 39.6 season PPG and 32.9 playoffs PPG. in his first seven years.

[coastalmarker99]

Lakers were already title contenders before Wilt got there and the Warriors made the Finals after he left.


Not really I mean the Lakers were never a serious chance of winning the title against the stacked Celtics throughout the 1960s due to their problems at the center position which Russell feasted on.




The Celtics were always massively favoured to beat La in the finals throughout the 1960s before Wilt then got traded there and made them the biggest favourites to win the title for the first time ever.


As usually everyone knew the Wilt vs Russell matchups in the east were basically the real NBA finals throughout the 1960s as whoever won out of the two was going to utterly feast on the Lakers weak centers.

[1987_Lakers]

Not really I mean the Lakers were never a serious chance of winning the title against the stacked Celtics throughout the 1960s due to their problems at the center position which Russell feasted on.




The Celtics were always favoured to beat La in the finals throughout the 1960s before Wilt then got traded there and made them the biggest favourites to win the title for the first time ever.


As usually everyone knew the Wilt vs Russell matchups were basically the real NBA finals throughout the 1960s as whoever won out of the two was going to utterly feast on the Lakers weak centers

And the Lakers still couldn't beat the Celtics once Wilt joined.

[coastalmarker99]

And the Lakers still couldn't beat the Celtics once Wilt joined.


I mean they were a late-game turnover away and a Sam Jones miracle game-winning shot in game 4 from ending the 1969 finals in 5 games despite the fact the Lakers had massive locker room issues basically for the entire season.



Wilt's real value to the Lakers was that from the moment he was traded there in the 1968 offseason was that there was a 60% increase in home game attendance for the Lakers




Plus the fact that he helped bring them their first title in LA along with four conference titles proves that Jack kent Cooke's investment in getting Wilt wasn't a bad return.

[Axe]

Not really I mean the Lakers were never a serious chance of winning the title against the stacked Celtics throughout the 1960s due to their problems at the center position which Russell feasted on.




The Celtics were always massively favoured to beat La in the finals throughout the 1960s before Wilt then got traded there and made them the biggest favourites to win the title for the first time ever.


As usually everyone knew the Wilt vs Russell matchups in the east were basically the real NBA finals throughout the 1960s as whoever won out of the two was going to utterly feast on the Lakers weak centers.
He choked though and blew a 3-2 lead as well. As great as he is, bill just made him look like his boy back then as usual.

[Sulico]

The problem with Wilt was, he was praised like he's a living god, yet as soon as he joined Jerry West it became painfully obvious whos the better player out of those two.

[coastalmarker99]

The problem with Wilt was, he was praised like he's a living god, yet as soon as he joined Jerry West it became painfully obvious whos the better player out of those two.

Lol if that was the case then how come Wilt was the finals Mvp in 1972 and would have also been in 1970 if the Lakers had won the title that year.

[ImKobe]

The problem with Wilt was, he was praised like he's a living god, yet as soon as he joined Jerry West it became painfully obvious whos the better player out of those two.

It's tough, I'd like to argue that Wilt probably had more impact as an all-around player(I wish we had all the advanced data from that era), but you can't overlook his pathetic FT shooting. 4/13 from the FT line in a 2-point loss in a Game 7 of the Finals in their first year together while West had 42/13/12. Brutal.

[coastalmarker99]

It's tough, I'd like to argue that Wilt probably had more impact as an all-around player(I wish we had all the advanced data from that era), but you can't overlook his pathetic FT shooting. 4/13 from the FT line in a 2-point loss in a Game 7 of the Finals in their first year together while West had 42/13/12. Brutal.



Wilt had 18 and 27 plus 10 blocks on 7 out of 8 shooting in 42 minutes so he actually played very well in that game and I am not going to blame him for the Lakers losing that game seven as there were many other factors that went into that game seven loss.





Through I will criticize him for his terrible performances in games 6 and 4 of that series as those were very bad for a player of his standard.



On another note West was always hurt from 1969 to 1973 and as a result, him getting hurt in key moments may have cost the Lakers two or three titles in 1971 and 1973 and maybe 1969.


As due to his hamstring injury he suffered at the end of game 5 in the 1969 finals he was unable to play well in game six of that series when the Lakers could have closed it out.

[coastalmarker99]

It's tough, I'd like to argue that Wilt probably had more impact as an all-around player(I wish we had all the advanced data from that era), but you can't overlook his pathetic FT shooting. 4/13 from the FT line in a 2-point loss in a Game 7 of the Finals in their first year together while West had 42/13/12. Brutal.




Durability matters when speaking about who was the best player on those Laker teams from 1969 to 1973


West played 78 games in the 1968-1969 season to Wilt's 99.

West played 92 games in the 1969 1970 season to Wilt's 30 games it should be noted that Wilt despite his injury was still the Lakers best player that year in the postseason.

West played 69 games in 1970-71 and missed the entire postseason due to injury while Wilt played 93 games

West played 92 games in 1971-1972 to Wilt's 97 and he was basically awful that entire postseason.

West played 86 games in 1972 -1973 to Wilt's 99 games and then he got hurt in the finals which doomed the Lakers along with injuries to Happy Hairston.


The reality is that West played exceptionally well in the '69 Finals; played well in the '70 Finals...until the clinching game seven; didn't play at all in the '71 playoffs; was simply awful in the '72 Finals (the entire post-season as well), and was well below average in the '73 Finals due to injury.

[ImKobe]

Durability matters when speaking about who was the best player on those Laker teams from 1969 to 1973


West played 78 games in the 1968-1969 season to Wilt's 99.

West played 92 games in the 1969 1970 season to Wilt's 30 games it should be noted that Wilt despite his injury was still the Lakers best player that year in the postseason.

West played 69 games in 1970-71 and missed the entire postseason due to injury while Wilt played 93 games

West played 92 games in 1971-1972 to Wilt's 97.

West played 86 games in 1972 -1973 to Wilt's 99 games and then he got hurt in the finals which doomed the Lakers along with injuries to Happy Hairston.

Yeah, so Wilt was the best player under those circumstances overall, but we do know that West's all-around offensive play could have won them way more championships if healthy. We're also leaving out Baylor's injuries. If both West and Wilt were healthy for that entire duration, they win at least 3 titles together IMO. Look at what they did when Wilt and West were both healthy for that one season: 69 - 13 record and a dominant Playoff run, that's at the tail end of their careers. What could have been..

[getting_old]

Wilt psyched himself out later in his career by wanting to lead the league in assists, just because of course he did this.

So he deliberately gave up bunnies for a chance at a dime.

We saw Simmons do this the other night on a clear dunk.... didn't look good....

[coastalmarker99]

Yeah, so Wilt was the best player under those circumstances overall, but we do know that West's all-around offensive play could have won them way more championships if healthy. We're also leaving out Baylor's injuries. If both West and Wilt were healthy for that entire duration, they win at least 3 titles together IMO. Look at what they did when Wilt and West were both healthy for that one season: 69 - 13 record and a dominant Playoff run, that's at the tail end of their careers. What could have been..




If the Lakers had traded an old washed up Baylor and kept Gail Goodwich starting from the moment Wilt was traded there they would have at least 3 titles together despite the injuries that West and both Wilt suffered.




As a starting five of

Jerry West

Gail Goodrich

Keith Erickson

Happy Hairston.

Wilt Chamberlain


Would have destroyed the Celtics in 69 and beaten New york in the 1970 finals.

[getting_old]

Yeah, so Wilt was the best player under those circumstances overall, but we do know that West's all-around offensive play could have won them way more championships if healthy. We're also leaving out Baylor's injuries. If both West and Wilt were healthy for that entire duration, they win at least 3 titles together IMO. Look at what they did when Wilt and West were both healthy for that one season: 69 - 13 record and a dominant Playoff run, that's at the tail end of their careers. What could have been..


Wilt's teams were so much better than all the others 1967 to 1973

and he won when his team was 30 points better

when merely 25 points better, that was getting dicey

he started wondering to himself in the middle of a game if this was all worth it, wasn't there more to life than winning and playing sports?

and plunked himself on the bench when he could have been out there. for one of them the coach told him to GFY when he wanted to go back in...

Dwight Howard is kind of like Wilt, a lack of seriousness that looks real bad when the chips are down and you unaccountably lost again.

[coastalmarker99]

Wilt's teams were so much better than all the others 1967 to 1973

and he won when his team was 30 points better

when merely 25 points better, that was getting dicey

he started wondering to himself in the middle of a game if this was all worth it, wasn't there more to life than winning and playing sports?

and plunked himself on the bench when he could have been out there. for one of them the coach told him to GFY when he wanted to go back in...

Dwight Howard is kind of like Wilt, a lack of seriousness that looks real bad when the chips are down and you unaccountably lost again.


Yes, let's conveniently leave out the fact that Chamberlain was only four months removed from major knee surgery in the 1970 Finals. Or the fact that his 46-36 Lakers were under-dogs to a HOF-laden 60-22 Knicks team that had HCA.


Or the fact that in the 1971 playoffs after losing both Baylor and West plus Keith Erickson to season-ending injuries that the depleted Lakers were seen as huge underdogs against the Bucks that had a freshly crowned MVP Kareem and veteran Hall-of-Fame guard Oscar Robertson and had also won 66 games in the regular season.




Or the fact that in the 1968 Eastern Division Finals the 76ers got utterly killed by injuries


For example, Wilt Chamberlain had (a tear of the calf muscle in his right leg, a strain in his right thigh and an injured right toe

-Wally Jones had (injured knee cartilage):

-Luke Jackson (pulled hamstring muscle):

-Hal Greer had (bursitis in his right knee plus a pulled hamstring muscle ):

-And, Billy Cunningham had (broken right wrist).

[coastalmarker99]

When people mention that Wilt's teams were so much better than all the others from 1967 to 1973 in an attempt to call to him a choker for only winning two rings in those years.


They forget to bring up that Wilt's teams in 1968 1971 and 1973 all got destroyed by injuries or that Wilt himself was barely at 50 percent health in the 1970 playoffs after suffering a total rupture of the patellar tendon at the base of his right kneecap 9 games in that season.



The only year from 1967 to 1973 that you can blame Wilt for coming up short is 1969 as he should have won the title that season against an old Celtics team especially when you consider the fact that West was the best player on both teams in that finals series.

[coastalmarker99]

Just with better luck in his career Wilt could have seriously won 8-9 championships

‘62 - Gola who is arguably the 2nd best player is injured against Boston and they lose in Game 7 by 2 points of a Sam Jones game-winner.

‘65 - Costello is injured against Boston and they lose in Game 7 by 1 point due to Havlicek stealing the ball.


‘68 - Cunningham out and basically the entire 76ers team including Wilt all played through injuries otherwise they would have easily steamrolled their way to back to back titles.

‘69 - West played with a hamstring and calf injury which limited his ability to defend how he normally does. Wilt gets injured late and they lose in Game 7 by 2 points

‘70 - Happy Hairston who was arguably the 3rd most important player after Wilt/West missed the playoffs and they lose in Game 7.

‘73 - Hairston out once again, West is playing with another hamstring injury and West also mentions in his autobiography that McMillan was playing through an injury as well.

That 73 Lakers team was clearly beaten up pretty bad and they lost a lot of close Finals games.



Wilt is most likely the most unlucky player in the top ten of all time as if you redo his career over then he most likely wins 4 to 5 rings instead of the 2 that he ended up with.