Eighteen of those 50 — were players from two franchises — the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics.
That’s 36%.
Bob Cousy, Dave Cowens, Bill Russell, Bill
Sharman, John Havlicek, Bill Walton, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Nate
Archibald, Sam Jones, Robert Parish, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor,
Shaquille O’Neal, Wilt Chamberlain, George Mikan, James Worthy, and
Magic Johnson.
During the 2008 NBA Finals, I’ll profile (nba.com, youtube, basketball-reference.com) one of those Lakers-Celtics legends daily.
“He was basketball’s unstoppable force,
the most awesome offensive force the game has ever seen. Asked to name
the greatest players ever to play basketball, most fans and aficionados
would put Wilt Chamberlain at or near the top of the list.
Dominating the game as few players in any
sport ever have, Chamberlain seemed capable of scoring and rebounding
at will, despite the double- and triple-teams and constant fouling
tactics that opposing teams used to try to shut him down.
As Oscar Robertson put it in the
Philadelphia Daily News when asked whether Chamberlain was the best
ever, “The books don’t lie.”
The record books are indeed heavy with
Chamberlain’s accomplishments. He was the only NBA player to score
4,000 points in a season. He set NBA single-game records for most
points (100), most consecutive field goals (18) and most rebounds (55).
Perhaps his most mind-boggling stat was the 50.4 points per game he
averaged during the 1961-62 season–and if not that, then perhaps the
48.5 minutes per game he averaged that same year.
He retired as the all-time in career
points with 31,419, which was later surpassed by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,
Karl Malone and Michael Jordan. He is tops in rebounds with 23,924. He
led the NBA in scoring seven years in a row. He was the league’s top
rebounder in 11 of his 14 seasons. And as if to prove that he was not a
selfish player, he had the NBA’s highest assist total in 1967-68.” [Read]
butt?? hoffman im not that old!!!! ive had the good fortune to see some great players,, now i never got the chance to be at the university of oregons winning the 1st NCAA basketball title??? that was in 1939!!!!! ouch!!!!!! i wont put me in the old folks home just yet!!! 6/22/08 i turn 56
Hoffman thats about right 20.000 -some nerd somewhere figgured it out that if it were true he would have slept with a woman every night sometimes two every day of the week and weekends now I don't know about you I love the women but a man has to have some rest every now and then I don't see how it could be possible but you never know.
There's a first time for everything, I'm not giving up on the Lakers (however bleak it may seem)
If a player posted the ridiculous numbers Wilt did in his career nowadays, he'd own his own country.
Shaq's hype was crazy in his prime and he never lived up to his potential (IMO), Wilt's stats makes Shaq look like a joke. At his size, he should have AVERAGED 20 rebounds a game for his career.
I love basketball. While many basketball fans enjoy the month of March, I prefer the months of April, May, and June. I look forward to productive chats, heated debates, and honest opinions.
