Is Wilt is the only superstar who's team didn't regress much when they traded him?

[1987_Lakers]

-Bucks became irrelevant when they traded away Kareem
-Lakers became irrelevant for a few seasons when Shaq was traded
-Spurs haven't been relevant since the Kawhi trade
-Everytime CP3 was traded during his prime, the team that traded him suffered for a while
-Minnesota became even worse when they traded KG
-Houston has been terrible since Harden left

Then you have the curious case of Wilt Chamberlain

1965 Warriors with Wilt: 11-33 record (Traded in a middle of an 11 game losing streak)
'66 Warriors without Wilt: 33-45 (Better win%)
'67 Warriors without Wilt: Make the NBA Finals

1968 Sixers with Wilt: 62-20
1969 Sixers without Wilt: 55-27

It's honestly kinda odd.

[Full Court]

Probably. His underwhelming team accomplishments are what keeps him from being the GOAT.

To be fair though, going from 62-20 to 55-27 is a notable drop.

[warriorfan]

Good point op on how raw stats can be misleading. If we take wilts 50 ppg seasons for face value he’s the goat. If we adjust for rule sets, pace, and stylistic differences we see a much different picture. This is why Jordan is the indisputable goat.

[Overdrive]

-Bucks became irrelevant when they traded away Kareem
-Lakers became irrelevant for a few seasons when Shaq was traded
-Spurs haven't been relevant since the Kawhi trade
-Everytime CP3 was traded during his prime, the team that traded him suffered for a while
-Minnesota became even worse when they traded KG
-Houston has been terrible since Harden left

Then you have the curious case of Wilt Chamberlain

1965 Warriors with Wilt: 11-33 record (Traded in a middle of an 11 game losing streak)
'66 Warriors without Wilt: 33-45 (Better win%)
'67 Warriors without Wilt: Make the NBA Finals

1968 Sixers with Wilt: 62-20
1969 Sixers without Wilt: 55-27

It's honestly kinda odd.

Warriors might've added some players.

[John8204]

-Bucks became irrelevant when they traded away Kareem
-Lakers became irrelevant for a few seasons when Shaq was traded
-Spurs haven't been relevant since the Kawhi trade
-Everytime CP3 was traded during his prime, the team that traded him suffered for a while
-Minnesota became even worse when they traded KG
-Houston has been terrible since Harden left

Then you have the curious case of Wilt Chamberlain

1965 Warriors with Wilt: 11-33 record (Traded in a middle of an 11 game losing streak)
'66 Warriors without Wilt: 33-45 (Better win%)
'67 Warriors without Wilt: Make the NBA Finals

1968 Sixers with Wilt: 62-20
1969 Sixers without Wilt: 55-27

It's honestly kinda odd.

When you have so few roster spots you can replace guys with Hall of Famers...The Warrors had Nate Thurmond and Rick Barry, the Sixers had Hal Greer and Billy Cunningham.

[GimmeThat]

it shows you that points and rebounds are team efforts, strength and conditioning are individual efforts

[coastalmarker99]

The 76ers lost a 3-1 series lead in the '68 ECFs (because of a huge rash of injuries), and lost that series, in a game seven, by four points.

Not only that, but the previous season, in 66-67, they overwhelmed the NBA with a 68-13 record, and a dominating world championship.

How about the '68-69 Sixers now without Wilt they were promptly dispatched in the first round of the playoffs, by a 48-34 Celtic team, 4-1.

And the Sixer slide would continue years after to the point that by Wilt's last season, in 72-73, they went a record 9-73.

Meanwhile, after that trade to LA, Wilt led LA to four Finals in five seasons (and a WCF in the other)...and a first-ever world championship in Los Angeles in that magical 71-72 season.

After Wilt retired following the 72-73 season (a 60-22 record and another Finals appearance), the Lakers dropped to a 47-35 season (even with Elmore Smith at center), and a 4-1 blowout loss in the first round of the playoffs.


In the very next season, 74-75, the Lakers went 30-52.

And they would not sniff the finals until Magic arrived in the 79-80 season.

[GimmeThat]

The 76ers lost a 3-1 series lead in the '68 ECFs (because of a huge rash of injuries), and lost that series, in a game seven, by four points.

Not only that, but the previous season, in 66-67, they overwhelmed the NBA with a 68-13 record, and a dominating world championship.

How about the '68-69 Sixers now without Wilt they were promptly dispatched in the first round of the playoffs, by a 48-34 Celtic team, 4-1.

And the Sixer slide would continue years after to the point that by Wilt's last season, in 72-73, they went a record 9-73.

Meanwhile, after that trade to LA, Wilt led LA to four Finals in five seasons (and a WCF in the other)...and a first-ever world championship in Los Angeles in that magical 71-72 season.

After Wilt retired following the 72-73 season (a 60-22 record and another Finals appearance), the Lakers dropped to a 47-35 season (even with Elmore Smith at center), and a 4-1 blowout loss in the first round of the playoffs.


In the very next season, 74-75, the Lakers went 30-52.

And they would not sniff the finals until Magic arrived in the 79-80 season.

so he made sure everyone knew that he was black. and that turns you on. got it.

[Axe]

Damn, so trading him away didn't lead related teams to the lottery immediately.

[coastalmarker99]

It is worth noting in 1960, the Warriors go 31-12 when Wilt takes 32+ shots; they go 18-14 for the rest of the season.

1961: Warriors go 29-13 when Wilt takes 32+ shots; they go 17-20 for the rest of the season when he does not.


Wilt had an incredible impact on offense. Every time he was asked to score more, the offense would improve; even the year Hannum first had him scoring less to move the ball more, the team offense was comparatively worse than the previous season when they missed the playoffs all-together.

I believe Wilt is one of the very few players to ever lead the best offense in the league in both points and assists and is probably the only one to lead the best offense in history in those stats.


Throughout his scoring years, his team won the more Wilt shot the ball.


Throughout his passing years, his team won the more assists Wilt got.


76er's record when Wilt has 7+ assists:

1965: 2-0

1966: 19-3 Total: 21-3

1967: 46-2 Total: 67-5

1968: 40-11 Total: 107-16

Playoffs: 15-5

[Wardell Curry]

Throughout his scoring years, his team won the more Wilt shot the ball.


Throughout his passing years, his team won the more assists Wilt got.


76er's record when Wilt has 7+ assists:

1965: 2-0

1966: 19-3 Total: 21-3

1967: 46-2 Total: 67-5

1968: 40-11 Total: 107-16

Playoffs: 15-5

Wilt somewhat recognized that his own scoring wasn't necessarily the best result for the team later on, acknowledging Russell as the best center ever because Russell did not take anything away from his own team's offense, whereas Wilt himself likely would have taken away from those Celtics' offense because of his own personal scoring dominance. While it certainly can be the best result, the best result does not necessarily come with a player prioritizing their own scoring, even if they are by far and away the best scorer. In Wilt's very own words, "sometimes less is more."

[GimmeThat]

I suppose to Wilt, having someone alive who you hate more than yourself, is being lucky

[ImKobe]

Because you didn't look at the context beyond the team's W/L records.

Warriors were 10 - 28 with Wilt and 7 - 35 without in the '65 season. They ended up drafting Rick Barry, who was one of the GOATs of that era. Sixers had a deep roster and the league added 2 teams the following season. Even though Philly maintained a high win total, their defense and Net Rating regressed by a significant margin and they just weren't as good.

Wolves were a poverty franchise and were in the lottery for 3 straight years with KG. It's rare to get an ATG player back in these types of trades as well so if you're looking at it from the GM's POV you're usually forced to go into the tank unless you manage to sign another superstar in FA, and rebuilding can take a long time if you have terrible luck in the lottery and you whiff on the 2nd-8th guys in the draft like the Wolves have in the past.

[1987_Lakers]

Because you didn't look at the context beyond the team's W/L records.

Warriors were 10 - 28 with Wilt and 7 - 35 without in the '65 season.

How the hell were they 10-28 with a 28 year old Wilt to begin with? You'd expect more impact from a player who many have as a top 5 ever player, not to mention he was traded during an 11 game losing streak. Has any top 10 player ever in his prime ever lost 10 straight?

Wolves got 10 games worse when they traded KG.

[HoopsNY]

-Bucks became irrelevant when they traded away Kareem
-Lakers became irrelevant for a few seasons when Shaq was traded
-Spurs haven't been relevant since the Kawhi trade
-Everytime CP3 was traded during his prime, the team that traded him suffered for a while
-Minnesota became even worse when they traded KG
-Houston has been terrible since Harden left

Then you have the curious case of Wilt Chamberlain

1965 Warriors with Wilt: 11-33 record (Traded in a middle of an 11 game losing streak)
'66 Warriors without Wilt: 33-45 (Better win%)
'67 Warriors without Wilt: Make the NBA Finals

1968 Sixers with Wilt: 62-20
1969 Sixers without Wilt: 55-27

It's honestly kinda odd.

Milwaukee was 38-44 in Kareem's last season. They traded him and had the exact same record the next season. He missed some games in the '75 season, but the drop off wasn't as significant as I would have thought.

Shaq was traded but they also lost Malone, GP, Fox, Fisher, and Phil. It was an entirely new team, so the drop off made sense. No one expected anything from that Lakers team.

Even with Kawhi, his final season in SA, he missed 73 games; the team still won 45 games that year.

KG doesn't surprise me that much. The team won only 32 games in his final season. They had also lost their second best player in Ricky Davis.

With Harden, they won 44 games with him and Westbrook. They lost both guys by the next season. Harden played the first 8 games but the team was only 2-6 with him. The numbers kinda add up for all these different situations for the most part.