What's the youngest age you think Wilt Chamberlain could have played in the Nba at.

[coastalmarker99]

If Wilt had entered the Nba in 1951 or 1952 as a 15 or 16-year-old teenager do you think he would have been able to handle himself against the pros such as George Mikan and the other great players of the early 1950s

Also, how do you think Wilt's all-time career stats get affected if he plays all the way from 1951 or 1952 to 1973.

I am going to say that Wilt would now have over 40000 points and 35000 rebounds to his name along with a couple of more rings with the Warriors in 1956 and 1955.

[coastalmarker99]

Another interesting question is "What's the oldest age you think Chamberlain could've played at in the Nba?"

Jerry Buss tried repeatedly to get Wilt to make a comeback, and the last time was at age 55. And Buss was far from alone, with a half-dozen or so teams trying to lure Chamberlain back to the league which would have seen him go up against Magic and Bird and finally Micheal Jordan.

[HBK_Kliq_2]

23-24 years old is when a boy becomes a man. Wilt was a rookie at 23 years old, so he came in the league at pretty much the perfect time in terms of maturity.

So I think his stats decline due to not being physically and mentally mature. Tim Duncan or Kareem would of had a much slower start in the league if they didn't play 4 college years and were not old rookies.

Kawhi was a slow rookie because he only played 2 years and was just 20 years old (although he did win all rookie 1st team). Kawhi hit his true prime in 2016 at 24 years old, probably would of came about a year earlier if he was on a worse team.

LeBron didn't hit his true prime until about 2009, which was when he was about 24 years old.

Kevin Durant was a massive net rating negative in his first two seasons.

So yeah i don't think any player hits their true prime as a player and as a man until 23 or 24 years old. So it would of been all pre prime Wilt if he came in the league at an earlier time.

[coastalmarker99]

23-24 years old is when a boy becomes a man. Wilt was a rookie at 23 years old, so he came in the league at pretty much the perfect time in terms of maturity.

So I think his stats decline due to not being physically and mentally mature. Tim Duncan or Kareem would of had a much slower start in the league if they didn't play 4 college years and were old rookies.

Kawhi was a slow rookie because he only played 2 years and was just 20 years old (although he did win all rookie 1st team). Kawhi hit his true prime in 2016 at 24 years old, probably would of came about a year earlier if he was on a worse team.

LeBron didn't hit his true prime until about 2009, which was when he was about 24 years old.

Kevin Durant was a massive net rating negative in his first two seasons.

So yeah i don't think any player hits their true prime as a player and as a man until 23 or 24 years old. So it would of been all pre prime Wilt if he came in the league at an earlier time.

That's an understandable viewpoint to take but that does not apply to Wilt who was the greatest 7-foot athlete of all time even as a 15-year-old teenager.


Also he did play against pros in high school, under a fake name. Not NBA, but still, he played against grown men. He scored over 40ppg and won the league MVP.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comment..._professional/


There is no doubt in my mind that a 15 or 16-year-old Wilt would have started dominating immediately in the Nba just as he did in 1959 when as a rookie he won both the Rookie of the year award and the regular season Mvp along with the scoring and rebounding titles.

[HBK_Kliq_2]

That's an understandable viewpoint to take but that does not apply to Wilt who was the greatest 7-foot athlete of all time even as a 15-year-old teenager.


Also he did play against pros in high school, under a fake name. Not NBA, but still, he played against grown men. He scored over 40ppg and won the league MVP.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comment..._professional/


There is no doubt in my mind that a 15 or 16-year-old Wilt would have started dominating immediately in the Nba just as he did in 1959 when as a rookie he won both the Rookie of the year award and the regular season Mvp along with the scoring and rebounding titles.

Fair points. Wilt was a freak, so who knows. Kevin Durant is a freak as well in terms of his length/shooting and he wasn't really that great as a rookie. LeBron is a physical freak as well and he wasn't mvp level as a rookie or anything like that. So I do think Wilt would hold his own as an 18 year old rookie and win rookie of the year, he just wouldn't be as good as 23 year old rookie wilt.

[coastalmarker99]

Fair points. Wilt was a freak, so who knows. Kevin Durant is a freak as well in terms of his length/shooting and he wasn't really that great as a rookie. LeBron is a physical freak as well and he wasn't mvp level as a rookie or anything like that. So I do think Wilt would hold his own as an 18 year old rookie and win rookie of the year, he just wouldn't be as good as 23-year-old rookie wilt.

Yeah, he had played with Kanas and the Globetrotters before he entered the NBA as a 23-year-old rookie in 1959 and he has said that playing with the Globetrotters for an entire year in from 1958 to 1959 had taught him a lot about the game and helped with his skills such as ball handling.


So if he enters the Nba as a 15-year-old in 1951 he most likely won't be polished with all the skills and mindset that a 23-year-old Wilt had compared to his 15-year-old self but he would still be great in my eyes.

[coastalmarker99]

Also if George Mikan could average 20 points a game on one leg in 1951 there should that the far more athletic Wilt would average 20 to 25 points a game even as a 15-year-old as the talent level in the 1951 and 1952 season was a complete joke and is a mild step up from what Wilt was already facing in highschool when he scored 90 points in 28 minutes despite the other team trying to hold the ball.

[Micku]

I think Wilt was bragging about shutting down Magic when he was college or in the nba. I forgot which. After magic hit a few layups, Wilt was like, "Ain't gonn'a be anymore of that." And there wasn't.

Hold up. Lemme get the vid.


Here it is. There were a lot of big names too.

So, Wilt probably could've played when he was a teenager. Coaches thought Wilt could've played in the 80s and early 90s too.