How come Wilt missed the playoffs in his prime? (with no missed games)

[Deuce Bigalow]

In 62-63 his team went 31-49 with Wilt playing all 80, missing the playoffs. In 64-65 his team was 10-28 through the first 38 with him playing all 38 before he was traded to a 22-23 team. If there was no trade then that is likely another missed playoffs for Wilt. Dominant they said. Check the record book they said. "GOAT" they said.

[TommyGriffin]

Wilt's stats look awesome if you are a little kid who doesn't know anything about basketball.

Once you learn more and more about the game, the numbers come back down to earth.

[Dr Hawk]

If you don't have a team good enough, you might miss the PO's. Look at what happened to Kobe or KG

[aj1987]

If you don't have a team good enough, you might miss the PO's. Look at what happened to Kobe or KG

Except for 2-3 idiot Kobe stans, literally no one else call Kobe or KG the GOAT. CavsFTW, Loozerus, jongrib, etc. all consider Wilt to the GOAT and they aren't trolling either.

EDIT: IIRC, Ilt had HOF teammates during both seasons.

[AirFederer]

Big Wilt stan here, but this is serious damage. Luckily we will soon be served essays on
-how bad his team mates and coach were
- his stats vs opposing centers ("he crushed them, but his team mates let him down)
- he was a good shooter
- a clutch permformer
- aka the GOAT

He is to me anyway.

[feyki]

Big Wilt stan here, but this is serious damage. Luckily we will soon be served essays on
-how bad his team mates and coach were
- his stats vs opposing centers ("he crushed them, but his team mates let him down)
- he was a good shooter
- a clutch permformer
- aka the GOAT

He is to me anyway.

[Angel Face]

He missed playoffs puting up 45ppg? Wow! talk about "Empty stats". Not only he is the GOAT choker, he might also be the GOAT stat-padder.

Wilt Chamberlame

[Horatio33]

In before his teammates were TERRIBLE, Wilt had SIX DIFFERENT CANCERS AND TEMPORARY AIDS, and STILL AVERAGED 45 PPG.

It WASN'T his fault guys!

[Asukal]

waiting for grandpa loseruz's cherrypicked stat essay.

[deja vu]

Damn. It's not like he had no help. He had HOF teammates yet still missed the playoffs?

[Sarcastic]

Despite all that Wilt is still a tier above Kobe.

[STATUTORY]

guy crushed mountain lions like beer cans

GOAT

[Psileas]

Despite all that Wilt is still a tier above Kobe.

He obviously is.
After all, Kobe also missed the playoffs in his prime.
With prime Lamar and Butler in his team.
And with his team posting a 28-38 record with him.
But 31-33 with Lamar.
Oh, and way worse stats.

[LAZERUSS]

In 62-63 his team went 31-49 with Wilt playing all 80, missing the playoffs. In 64-65 his team was 10-28 through the first 38 with him playing all 38 before he was traded to a 22-23 team. If there was no trade then that is likely another missed playoffs for Wilt. Dominant they said. Check the record book they said. "GOAT" they said.

As for Wilt's 62-63 season,...I could tell you that he...

Played 47.6 mpg
Had a PER of 31.8, which is the NBA record
Led the NBA in FIFTEEN categories
Led the league in WIN SHARES, and by a mile, at 20.9 (on a team with 31 wins.)
Averaged 38 ppg against RUSSELL in their nine H2H's

Or that he had the EXACT same roster the very next year, and led them to a 48-32 record, and into the Finals...in an 11 game post-season in which he averaged 34.7 ppg, 25.2 rpg, and shot .543 (in a post-season that shot .420.)

Oh, he did have rookie Nate Thurmond in that 63-64 season, who had played center in college, and who then played part-time, out of position, and because of that, shot .395 in his limited minutes. That will be important.

So, again, with a new coach, Chamberlain carried that same exact roster, except with part-time rookie Thurmond added, to the Finals the very next year...

Then, in his 64-65 season, Wilt became ill with what turned out to be pancreatitis. He missed some games, and his team played so poorly, that in the games he played, his team went 10-27.

He was then traded (the SF doctors had diagnosed him with a heart problem, so they unloaded him ASAP), for three players, and a boatload of cash, to the Sixers, who had gone 34-46 the year before.

Ok, so the Warriors moved Thurmond to the pivot, where he would go on to have a HOF career. However, after the trade, Nate's Warriors could only go 7-36.

Meanwhile, Wilt then took his Sixers to a 40-40 record. And then, in the first round, he destroyed Oscar's stacked 48-32 Royals. And in the EDF's, he took that 40-40 team, to a game seven, one point loss against Russell's 62-18 Celtics...in a series in which Chamberlain averaged 30 ppg, 31 rpg, and shot .555 from the field.

Back to the Warriors. Since they had gone 17-63 in '64-65, it enabled them to draft Rick Barry, who would go on to have a HOF career. Ok, so now with HOFer Thurmond, and HOFer Barry...the 65-66 Warriors would go 35-45. TWO HOFer replaced Wilt, and they could top Chamberlain's 48-32 team of '64.

But, it gets even better. The Warriors then added Jeff Mullins and Clyde Lee to that roster in '66-67. Furthermore, Barry would average 35.6 ppg, and Thurmond would have the greatest season of his career. With all of that since the Wilt trade... a 44-37 record.


Back to Wilt. He would take the Sixers to the best record in the league over the course of the next three straight seasons, including a dominating title, over...you guessed it... Nate's Warriors...in a series in which Chamberlain just destroyed Thurmond.

[LAZERUSS]

BTW, let's take a look at some other "GOATs" shall we?

How about MJ? Guess what? In his highest scoring season, he led his team to a ...you guessed it...LOSING RECORD. Sure, he got them to the post-season...where they were SWEPT in the first round, in a series in which he ashot .417 from the field, and which included a clinching game performance, in a blowout loss, of 9-35 from the floor!

How about KAJ? In his the middle of his prime, he played on TWO STRAIGHT LOSING teams, and missed the playoffs in both of them. Not only that, but in one of them, Rick Barry, with a roster of no-names, led his team to a 48-34 record, and a title. BTW, and this is hilarious...KAJ won an MVP that season.

So, we can safely remove those two from ANY GOAT conversations, right?