Wilt Chamberlain: 24 Inch Vertical

[quote=jlauber]Abe,

Since we don't have VIDEO footage of almost everything Wilt accomplished, it was all a big lie perpetrated by the many friends that Wilt had. He was actually on about 6-5, 175 lbs, and he had a 24" vertical...and in fact, he could not dunk...not even on an 8 ft rim. His high scoring game was actually 10 points, but the scorekeeper accidently had another zero at the end of it. The rest was history.[/quote]
[URL="http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/2002-11-11-bryant-cover_x.htm"]USA Today - Nov 11, 2002[/URL]

Indeed, who would believe that a 6'5 200 lb shooting guard named after a steak could once press 300 lbs. That being the same amount of weight that his 7'1 285 lb current starting center mate could press during his ever so short 'peak'. The same man who some here had the audacity to not only declare talented on an all time level (as well as superior to D. Howard), but believed he would give Chamberlain any sort of difficulty at all in the pivot. Some have even declared in the past years on the board players like Francisco Elson would dominate the 60's.


As there is no video footage, I will not believe the testimonies that Jerry West was able to touch the top of the square on the backboard (11'6 height), nor will I believe that decades later a 17 year old Kobe Bryant was able to do the same from a standstill jump during a workout.

[QUOTE=PHILA][URL="http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/2002-11-11-bryant-cover_x.htm"]USA Today - Nov 11, 2002[/URL]

Indeed, who would believe that a 6'5 200 lb shooting guard named after a steak could once press 300 lbs. That being the same amount of weight that his 7'1 285 lb current starting center mate could press during his ever so short 'peak'. The same man who some here had the audacity to not only declare talented on an all time level (as well as superior to D. Howard), but believed he would give Chamberlain any sort of difficulty at all in the pivot. Some have even declared in the past years on the board players like Francisco Elson would dominate the 60's.


As there is no video footage, I will not believe the testimonies that Jerry West was able to touch the top of the square on the backboard (11'6 height), nor will I believe that decades later a 17 year old Kobe Bryant was able to do the same from a standstill jump during a workout.[/QUOTE]

Just curious...do we have any VIDEO footage of Shaq's bench press max? This article claims he could only bench 300 lbs.

[QUOTE=jlauber]Just curious...do we have any VIDEO footage of Shaq's bench press max? This article claims he could only bench 300 lbs.[/QUOTE]
7'1" 285 suggests the center who benched 300 was Andrew Bynum.

Shaq reportedly could bench 465, though I won't claim that's accurate either, but not that hard to believe.

[QUOTE=ShaqAttack3234]7'1" 285 suggests the center who benched 300 was Andrew Bynum.

Shaq reportedly could bench 465, though I won't claim that's accurate either, but not that hard to believe.[/QUOTE]

it was written in 2002. Not hard to believe, though, huh?

Meanwhile, just google Wilt's bench-press. Let me know the numbers.

[QUOTE=jlauber]it was written in 2002. Not hard to believe, though, huh?[/QUOTE]

The article didn't mention a 7'1", 285 pound center benching 300 those were Abe's words, the article mentioned Kobe benching 300, click on the link. And no article in 2002 would have Shaq at 285 pounds. :oldlol: Shaq was more like 380 then.

Go ahead and google Wilt's bench press...

and yes, there are eye-witness accounts. BUT, even beyond that...where did ALL of these 500-550 lb numbers come from? One man started ALL of that??? You are being RIDICULOUS if you believe that.

The only doubters are the one's who never witnessed anything Wilt did. They are nerds that say it is physically impossible. Much like almost everything Wilt did...impossible...even though they existed.

[QUOTE=jlauber]Just curious...do we have any VIDEO footage of Shaq's bench press max? [/QUOTE]
good point.. there's no hard evidence to show that Shaq could bench press 465lbs, so, it doesn't exist, just another lie like Wilt could bench 465 in 62':oldlol:

[QUOTE=alexandreben]good point.. there's no hard evidence to show that Shaq could bench press 465lbs, so, it doesn't exist, just another lie like Wilt could bench 465 in 62':oldlol:[/QUOTE]

Uhhh, when did I ever say Shaq could bench press 465? I said it was reported and I said it was plausible. the man was 340-380 and threw around guys like Mutombo, Sabonis ect. like they were kids and Shaq did lift weights a lot in fact a quote from him in response to his weight was "I'm not concerned about the number, the more I lift weights, the higher the number is going to be". In fact, he lifted a lot of weights prior to the 1999-2000 season to get stronger.

Again, I won't claim Shaq can bench press 465 because for all we know he could be exaggerating, but it's not hard to believe considering his size and the strength we saw him display over the course of his 18 year NBA career.

[QUOTE=ShaqAttack3234]Uhhh, when did I ever say Shaq could bench press 465? I said it was reported and I said it was plausible. the man was 340-380 and threw around guys like Mutombo, Sabonis ect. like they were kids and Shaq did lift weights a lot in fact a quote from him in response to his weight was "I'm not concerned about the number, the more I lift weights, the higher the number is going to be". In fact, he lifted a lot of weights prior to the 1999-2000 season to get stronger.

Again, I won't claim Shaq can bench press 465 because for all we know he could be exaggerating, but it's not hard to believe considering his size and the strength we saw him display over the course of his 18 year NBA career.[/QUOTE]

To be honest...the highest that I read was 440 lbs. Not bad, and totally believeable. BUT, Wilt was considered among the strongest men in the world in the 60's. His reported bench-press of around 500 lbs was only about 125 off the world record at the time. And BTW, the entire Steeler O-Line, and with the help of steroids, were capable of 500 lb bench presses in the early 70's...and I don't ever recall any of them being compared to Chamberlain.

Who cares... look at the ****ing numbers he put up!

I don't know why people are bumping all these old ass threads today, but anyway...

I have a really, really, extremely hard time believing Wilt could bench even 400 lbs, let alone 465 or 500. There are always some nebulous "witnesses" that saw him do it, but common sense says he was probably never anywhere near that.

I've lifted weights for a long time, and while some people are clearly significantly stronger/weaker than they look, you can pretty much always get a general idea of someone's strength by looking at them. I've seen roughly 6 or 7 guys bench 400+ unequiped (and all lifted just slightly over 400) and every single one was massive with huge arms. One of them is a former Mr. America. To think that a 7+ foot guy with a relatively skinny frame could do it just seems absurd. The world record in 1967 was 615 lbs. In 1953 the record was 500 lbs. These are guys that train exclusively for lifting massive weights for very low reps, and are genetic freaks and naturally very big/strong guys with stocky builds. The idea that a lanky 7'2" guy who trains for basketball could put up those numbers is just stupid in my opinion.

Ryan Kennelly holds the current world record and he's 6'2", massive, and is a stocky guy with short arms. At 6'2" he's one of the tallest competitive power lifters. Tall guys struggle with pushing movements especially. The unequiped world record to this day, undoubtedly with steroids and exponentially more competition and better training and nutrition, is only 715 lbs if I remember correctly. I can believe some of Wilt's track claims, and they have a lot more evidence, but Wilt benching 465 at 59? ***** please. Power lifters generally peak around 40 years old. It's unlikely even an elite power lifter could put up 465 at that age even if they continued to train rigorously.

The guy was obviously a great athlete and a freak of nature, but some of these claims are absurd. Funny how these type of claims are never backed up in the age of youtube and video cameras. I don't see anyone turning water into wine, parting seas, or walking on water (unless it's frozen) in the modern age. I also don't see any lanky 7 footers with lanky builds putting up huge numbers on bench press, let alone at 60 years old. Strange, isn't it?

Does anyone really believe that this guy, at his peak, training specifically for power lifting, at 5'9" 300 lbs, couldn't lift more than a 59 year old Wilt Chamberlain?

[IMG]http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2005/12/09/hepburn350x249.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.myclassiclyrics.com/artist_biographies/images/Wilt_Chamberlain_Biography.jpg[/IMG]

Please...

[QUOTE=mayorhoiberg]On the forums page, when this is the last updated topic, it says

"Wilt Chamberlain: 24 Inch...."

It does not say vertical. And that is not the first word that came to mind before I entered into the NBA forum.[/QUOTE]

:roll:

Seriously though Chamberlain was extremely strong and I highly doubt he had a 24 inch vertical. Shaq weighs like 300 pounds and can jump higher than that. Also Chamberlain's numbers were spectacular, 37ppg as a rookie, 50ppg in a season, 100 point game, 55 rebounds in a game, 27.2 rbpg in a season, 72% fg in a season and many many more records. I do understand that he was from a completely different era than than Jordan's era and onwards but still, if Jordan, Kobe or Shaq were in Wilt's era, they would only see slightly better results imo. Chamberlain imo is the best player of all time tied with Kareem. A bit hard to decide because Kareem had his deadly skyhook, 38.2k points, 6 MVP titles, 3rd in total rebounds with 17.4k, had a MUCH better free throw and had more blocks. Also nobody post Jordan is the best because I'm so damn tired of Jordan being the most overrated player in history. Go ask a random who is the best player in NBA history, I bet they'll say Jordan without knowing the names Kareem,Wilt,Russell,Bird,Magic Johnson or Malone.

[QUOTE=Avon Barksdale]Does anyone really believe that this guy, at his peak, training specifically for power lifting, at 5'9" 300 lbs, couldn't lift more than a 59 year old Wilt Chamberlain?

[IMG]http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2005/12/09/hepburn350x249.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://cdn3.iofferphoto.com/img/item/175/226/225/1rY1uWlg47pBJHn.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]

:no:

[QUOTE]Earl Boykins bench press is 315lbs! This weeks spotlight is on Earl Boykins bench press. Earl Boykins has a huge bench press for his weight. At a tiny 133lbs.[/QUOTE]
[IMG]http://chzupnextinsports.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/funny-sports-pictures-boykins-oneal-awwwww-cute.jpg[/IMG]