Most Athletic Center of All Time? David Robinson or Dwight Howard

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Originally Posted by Phila_Chamberlain

I can go on about Wilt, so I will.

Just to bring something up, Wilt still hold the records for minutes per game in a season and in a career. No one will ikely ever break either, especially the minutes per game in a season.

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Cy Young has pitching records that will never be touched, do you think he could do it today?

I don't know where everyone is getting this angle that Howard is a slam dunk in the strength department over the Admiral...the Admiral was the only guy in the league that could defend Shaq and hold him to mortal numbers. Which he did right up to the very last season of his career.

Upperbodywise Howard's got a good set of shoulders on him...but get fucking serious, he doesn't have the guns Drob did. Takes incredible arm strength to do a handstand( go do it even if you don't believe me, and you probably won't be lifting 250 like the Admiral was), even more to do it the length of a basketball court.


Hakeem was a great defender but his offense was very much a part of his defense(I don't mean drawing fouls like Drob did it), I mean he flat out wore people out with his offense and didn't leave them much left for their own offense, plus he had very quick hands that produced a shitload of steal for a bigman...Honestly, Hakeem's game was pretty much a twin of Duncan's, kicked peoples asses with his scoring skill, played great team D...just sub the bank shot for the for the Dream Shake. And Hakeem had quicker hands whereas I think Duncan is stronger than Hakeem was.

Drob OTOH was a one on one physical mismatch for any player in the league...there was no bigman faster than he was, and Shaq was about the only guy stronger. It took multiple players to stop Drob...yes he could be stopped by a physical doubleteam(usually because the fouls weren't getting called due to all the bodies surrounding him) more easily than Duncan or Hakeem, but he could beat a one on one matchup with his speed like no other bigman other than maybe Shaq utilizing his strength.


Drob won a scoring title...and his scoring was the weakest part of his game. And he didn't win that scoring title because he spent 10 hours a day in the gym polishing his game from JR high on...

They just gave his ass the basketball a bunch and he just fucking did it...

Because he fucking could. Simple as that.

He was the first C in 20 or so years do it...and he and Wilt are the only C's to ever put up 70+points in a game. And unlike Drob, offense was the best part of Wilt's game.


Think about that for a second.

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Originally Posted by Phila_Chamberlain

When Wilt dunked in game it was mostly off 1 step a dribble and a man between him and the basket. That might be what he meant by an effort. However in Wilt's book he had pictures that show he is clearly above 50 inches from the ground and he talks about his amazing jumping ability a few times. In another book there are two stories that come to mind.

One is when Wilt was bet $50 that he couldn't grab a quarter off the top of the back board. Wilt asked for a quarter, walked up to a basket took 1 step an placed the quarter on top of the back board. Then when he landed he quickly sprang back up and grabed the quarter.

Another was when he was coaching in the aba in his late 30s and a practice ball got stuck above the back board. None of these great athletes (one of which was rumored he could touch the top pf back boards) could reach the ball stuck about 14 feet in the air. So Wilt took off his nice leather shoes and knocked the ball out.

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Basically what Wilt is saying is that he could, without running, vertical high enough to put his wrist above the top of a backboard.

Sorry, I just don't see that as being humanly possible. People exaggerated all the time back then, and if it sold tickets, why wouldn't they? There were no standards for measuring jumps back then, at least none were officially measured. I'm going to need a lot more than hearsay and sketchy photographs to back up a 7'1" player claiming that he could out jump pretty much every other human being on the planet from a flat-footed position.

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Originally Posted by Cry Havoc

Basically what Wilt is saying is that he could, without running, vertical high enough to put his wrist above the top of a backboard.

Sorry, I just don't see that as being humanly possible. People exaggerated all the time back then, and if it sold tickets, why wouldn't they? There were no standards for measuring jumps back then, at least none were officially measured. I'm going to need a lot more than hearsay and sketchy photographs to back up a 7'1" player claiming that he could out jump pretty much every other human being on the planet from a flat-footed position.

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You do realize Wilt was a high jump champion in the big 8 right, in track?

I actually do believe Wilt could jump higher(in terms of actual hight reached if not distance from the ground) than any body on planet standing, as there aren't many 7' high jump champions. In fact Wilt may be the only one in history. There is a certain mechanics to jumping...


I remember watching this 40 year old man on American Gladiators once upon a time...they had this bungee jumping event where you had to grab velcroed balls off a pole in the middle of the arena...the highest level was red, second highest was white, lowest level was blue...

I watched that event hundreds of times and saw a contender or two barely manage to get maybe one or two of those red balls in all of those times I watched it...took what seemed to be superhuman effort to grab one just barely with their finger tips.

The day this 40 year old man was in the event he pretty much cleaned the whole fucking level of red balls...on his very first jump, grabbed like 4 of them, it was like he was from a different planet...and he was just averaged size guy, maybe 6', maybe 170lbs. Looked every bit of 40 years old.

Turned out he was a former Olympic Pole vaulter(was never even champion)...but what he did was completely unnatural looking, he just knew how to jump. Wilt did too...

If basketball did not exist back then, and track was available for Wilt, he might have done all the inhuman things in track, looking at old clips and all.

I'd put any amount of money on it though that Wilt couldn't walk the length of basketball court on his hands. And even though he looks pretty fast in the video I have seen...he doesn't look as fast Drob does. It's entirely possible that Drob was the fastest player in the NBA early in his career. He was faster than AJ...and AJ was fast.

Pretty sure he could beat Tony Parker in windsprints in his final year in the league(I'm pretty sure I've heard Tony or Pop mention that before).

I do not think it's out of the question that the Admiral was the better athlete of the two...I'm not saying I'm certain like I am with other bigman to ever play, but I do think it's possible...

Since Shoogar is the only one that's actually seen Wilt play I give his opinion some weight...but he's not exactly known for his staunch past defenses of the Admiral.

All I know is that the Admiral is probably the best athlete I've seen in my lifetime, in any sport, definitely in basketball, 7 footer or not.

Michael Jordan is not the best athlete and he's usually the one people throw out there...the best athlete wouldn't hit at the Mendoza line playing minor league ball.

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Originally Posted by lakaluva

Howard should never be mentioned in any category with Robinson. Wilt, then Hakeem were the most athletic. I'd put a David behind them.

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And you are quite simply on dangerous amounts of crack if you think Hakeem was a better athlete than Drob was. Hakeem had about the same level of athleticism as Tim Duncan. Duncan might even be more athletic, and he's been playing on one knee since the 2000 season.

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Originally Posted by whottt

And you are quite simply on dangerous amounts of crack if you think Hakeem was a better athlete than Drob was. Hakeem had about the same level of athleticism as Tim Duncan. Duncan might even be more athletic, and he's been playing on one knee since the 2000 season.

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Dude, consider who posted that, and then ask yourself if he's ever had a solid, legitimate, unbiased take on anything.

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Originally Posted by Phila_Chamberlain

Anyone who ever knew Wilt personally and got to see this side of him knew that he was some kind of fictional character out of a fairy tale.

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David Robinson has done some fictional things too...you let me know how many 6'4 gymnasts you've seen in your lifetime.

I'm just going to throw this out there...

David Robinson is the only C besides Wilt to put up 70 points in a game.
He and Kareem are the only players to lead the league in scoring, boards and blocks.
He and Michael Jordan are the only players to win a scoring title and DPOY award.


Difference between David Robinson and them?


David Robinson played no highschool basketball.

I repeat, the man played no highschool basketball.

I won't go into the other non-athleticism based almost fiction like achievements, like qualifying for MENSA with SAT score, or keeping a running total(including tax)in his head of the bill when his mom won a supermarket shopping spree...

But you get the non-fictional point right?


In 1996 David Robinson was the career leader in Olympic blocks, the all time leader in NBA blocks per game(his numbers went down after his injury), and held the NCAA record for career blocks, blocks in a season and single season blocks per game...

Once again for emphasis, the man played no highschool basketball.

I'll give you Wilt could jump higher(which is definitely a premium talent on the basketball court)....I won't give you any other field of athleticism at least not without a better argument, this argument is about the best athlete, not just the highest jumper.


I can take one look at Wilt's body type and see pretty easily he probably wasn't going to walk the lenght of a basketball court on his hands either.

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Originally Posted by whottt

Since Shoogar is the only one that's actually seen Wilt play I give his opinion some weight...but he's not exactly known for his staunch past defenses of the Admiral.

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Would it help if I said something nice about the Coyote here?

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Originally Posted by whottt

David Robinson played no highschool basketball.

I repeat, the man played no highschool basketball.

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*gasp* . . . robinson228 you ain't. Very shocking and disappointing.

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Originally Posted by Wikipedia

By his senior year in high school he was 6 feet, 7 inches tall, but he had not played organized basketball. When the coach added the tall senior to the basketball team, Robinson earned all-area and all-district honors

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Originally Posted by http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20123903,00.html

It wasn't until his senior year at Osbourne Park High School that friends coaxed Robinson into trying out for the varsity. He made it—and was named to several local all-star teams.

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Originally Posted by ShoogarBear

*gasp* . . . robinson228 you ain't. Very shocking and disappointing.

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Shit...maybe it was Rodman that played no highschool basketball then. Ah well...Ok, he played no highschool basketball till his SR yr of highschool then.

My bad.


I still stand by the point.

Hmmm...that article doesn't seem right though, I don't believe David Robinson was 6'7 in highschool...

If so then he was actually 6'7 instead of 6'4 when he qualified for the Naval Gymnastics Team....which is even more sickening.

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Originally Posted by whottt

Shit...maybe it was Rodman that played no highschool basketball then.

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Certainly understandable. Hardcore knowledgeable Spurs fans are known to get the two confused all the time.

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Hmmm...that article doesn't seem right though, I don't believe David Robinson was 6'7 in highschool...

If so then he was actually 6'7 instead of 6'4 when he qualified for the Naval Gymnastics Team....which is even more sickening.

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I'm pretty sure he was 6'7". The story I remember is his growing six inches in a year.

And now will you please stop editing this post? You're stepping on my jokes.

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Originally Posted by ShoogarBear

Certainly understandable. Hardcore knowledgeable Spurs fans are known to get the two confused all the time.

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DR/DR

I keep my filing system and my fandom separate. Besides, even I didn't know who Drob was in highschool.

And even IBM's get glitches on occasion.

I like you much better when you stick to humor btw.

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Originally Posted by ShoogarBear

Certainly understandable. Hardcore knowledgeable Spurs fans are known to get the two confused all the time.



I'm pretty sure he was 6'7". The story I remember is his growing six inches in a year.

And now will you please stop editing this post? You're stepping on my jokes.

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I just want to say thanks for reminding me what training camp is all about :tu

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Originally Posted by ShoogarBear

I'm pretty sure he was 6'7". The story I remember is his growing six inches in a year.

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I've thought it was that he grew 7 inchest while in the Navy, like in the span of year...

If he was 6'7 in highschool and grew 7(or 6) inches period in the Navy that means he's 7'4.

Hmm...I might have to call BS on that entire wiki article.

I am a little late to the party, but I vote D Rob as most athletic. I also wanted to point out 6 or 7 inches added to 6'7 would be 7'1 or 7'2, I am just sayin.

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Originally Posted by bishopospurs

I am a little late to the party, but I vote D Rob as most athletic. I also wanted to point out 6 or 7 inches added to 6'7 would be 7'1 or 7'2, I am just sayin.

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Two words...

Off
Season.

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Originally Posted by whottt

Two words...

Off
Season.

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For what, the National Arithmetic Association?

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Originally Posted by ShoogarBear

For what, the National Arithmetic Association?

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:lmao

Shoog never fails to land some sig worthy quotes in a thread when he really feels the need.

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Originally Posted by 4down

Did you read the post? I acknowledged my own lack of knowledge of all of Chamberlains athletic accomplishments, so thoughtfully prvided in the wikipedia link above.

I am not however, so blinded by rose colored visions of the past as to ignore the superior athletic competition the modern NBA has to offer. If you think the NBA was better in the 50's than it is now, by all means, go on with your nostalgic ramblings.

The only reason Olajuwon, Howard, and Robinson did not similarly dominate the college track and field days of their time, was that they never competed in them.

P.S. Instead of just using your time to call someone ignorant in an inane post of your own, why not bring a take? Something legit. I'm up for discussion.

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Honestly, what you are doing is the same as the following:

I personally have never met, seen, or talked to 4down, but I mean come on, the guy has Herpes and 1 leg.