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

[Nathan Explosion]

Owned by a video showing 95% simple, basic passes a junior high schooler could make. Boy, he sure showed me!



Yes, he is.



... playing against players that are 6'7".



I don't really care if he's gay. That doesn't really matter to me.



How big is Magic? Do they play the same position?



Some team must have been really, really desperate.



Before or after Michael J. Fox?


Where was the proof again?

Magic was 6'8" and in his prime. Wilt was 45.

I love how you can't admit you were absolutely, totally wrong.

[whottt]

Your superstar is supposed to be the one taking over the game.....

Individuals don't win championships, teams do. If you don't have a team good enough to win, it doesn't matter how great an idividual is......


One player can be taken away...Wilt got taken away, Duncan has been taken away, Shaq has been taken away, David got taken away.

And none of these guys played for shiittier teams year in and year out than David Robinson did. Especially at the guard positions.


The best PG David played with was a 3rd string PG for Houston that was waived...matter of fact, Houston didn't even make the playoffs one year they had AJ.

Why in the didn't Hakeem step up then? What about the other 16 years of his career he didn't win the le? I guess he just didn't feel like stepping up then...

[Nathan Explosion]

Individuals don't win championships, teams do. If you don't have a team good enough to win, it doesn't matter how great an idividual is......

And none of these guys played for shiittier teams year in and year out than David Robinson did.

I'd call 2003 an "individual carrying a team to a le" kind of season. A not ready for prime time pg, a rookie sg, an aging center, and an absolutely dominant PF who lead his team in pts, reb, ast and blks.

As for the other guy, if you can't see you're own ignorance, then I can't help you. I don't need to prove you wrong because Phila already did the hard work, if proving you wrong was even that hard.

You're just trolling for attention and I'm done with you already.

[whottt]

What about Hakeem's first championship in Houston?

It had a former ALL NBA PF named Otis Thorpe on it, and it had a PG that could take over a game and was routinely the guy that closed out their wins named Sam Cassell, who would go on to be an All Star...and win a championsho with another team.


His team lead the NBA in 3 pont shooting, it had a guy named Robert Horry on it..., in case you don't remember, he butt ed your team in game 5 of the NBA finals. Who would go on to win several more championships with several another teas.

It also had a guard name Mario Elie who played a huge role in forever changing the Spurs from also rans into champions and had a knack for knocking timely daggers. Who would go on to win a championship with another team.

That Rockets team had 3 other players that went on to win championships with other teams, pretty much at the start of their careers.


I want you to name one player David Robinson played with that was equivalent to any of them prior to his injury.


Mo Cheeks was on his last legs and so was Moses Malone.

[polandprzem]

Is the blowjob gonna be videotaped?


ambchang - I would love to disscuss your problems but I do not see the purpose of doing it. Mostly because it leads to nothing and besides I have not much time explaining all the stuff.

1. dave was capable of doing AND he was doing mostly because the flashy game was allowed in 90s and it was common.
2. Wilt was not doing the things Dave was doing o the court. And I'm not talking about capabilieties as we haven't seen Chamberlain doing better athletic things then Dave. He might have been capable or not.
3. the thing you do not understand about Bolt is that we are not disscussing who was the best athlete that played basketball (well maybe you do but I'm not).
4. Quit that alleyoop it gets boring. You gonna to bang it all the time for meaningless reason, making it a stupid argument.
5. To make it as simple as I can - Wilt was not as quick as Dave, Wilt was not that plastic (I would like to see him dunk a 360 he would probably do it but what style?), Wilt was stronger then Admiral, Wilt was not that fluid around the basket with his moves.
6. I don't know what else is not clear ... I might get back to it tomorrow

[Cry Havoc]

Those are good passing skills. Not unheard of for a big man, and definitely not heard of for a good guard. Most of those passes are being made on very simple cuts to the hoop. He's telegraphing half of them.

If you'll note, the defenders in the 60s apparently didn't feel it necessary to even keep their hands/arms up on defense. They stand there like twigs, absolutely no defense at all.

[whottt]

I'd call 2003 an "individual carrying a team to a le" kind of season. A not ready for prime time pg, a rookie sg, an aging center, and an absolutely dominant PF who lead his team in pts, reb, ast and blks.

Hey, in 1994 David Robinson lead his team in points, assists, steals, blocks, FG% snd pulled down over 10 boards a game. He also pulled a quadruple double and became the only other C besides Wilt Chamberlain to score 70 points in a game.

That season wipes it's ing ass with any by Tim Duncan.

And it was probably worst team David Robinson played on and was the easiest to defeat in the post season.

It was by far David Robinson's worst playoff performance...

Now I ask you, was it just that he stopped caring once his team made the post season, or was the fact that team sucked ing ass the more likely culprit.


And that aging center was the guy guarding ing Shaquille O'Neal when they dethroned those 3 time defening champions.

[whottt]

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SFW/1963.html

Click it...then explain that season to me. I guess he just didn't feel like having a winning record, or making the playoffs that year...


Hakeem has a season like that, so does Kareem, so does Shaq. David does not.


It's funny because David Robinson played on less talented teams than any of these guys and did more with it, yet he is the only one people say couldn't win without player X...

Well Wilt didn't win without other All Stars on his team, neither did Hakeem, neither did Kareem, neither did Shaq. The difference is, David with played with fewer of them anyone.


Cue: Idiot bringing Dennis Rodman, as if he is a secondary scorer and solution to double and triple teaming.


Or will it be...the Finals MVP suddenly becomes the single most important thing in the history of the game....you know, because Duncan got it in 99...


I guess if the finals MVP means that then the 2007 championship was Tony Parker singlehandedly carrying the Spurs to victory.

I guess that means Chauncy Billups is a better PG than Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul...

And John Stockton.


Simple minded fools with bush league arguments.

Heard them all before.

[whottt]

All I know is, Robinson couldn't come close to getting a ring until Duncan came.

Hey stick...he was within 2 wins of beating the 95 NBA champions...while Shaq got swept by them.

[whottt]

I don't think he is soft. Looking at the posters post, I think he said he was soft because he didn't have much of a post game. If you prefer your C to play like a C then I can see why you would say that.

That soft game used to lay triple doubles on Shaq and drop 52 points on Alonzo Mourning...it also used to keep any single C defending him with their ass glued to the bench in foul trouble.

It won a scoring le, it was over a 50% FG% for a career. It lead the NBA in slam dunks, it lead the NBA in FTA. It drew double and triple teams like no other offensive game in this disucssion, aside from Wilt and Shaq.

I prefer my C get the job done...and David did that, he did it to them better than they did it to him. And this included Hakeem...

And if you guys think Hakeem was guarding Drob all by himself in 95, I suggest you

A. Rewatch those games and
B. Check out the boxscores...make you sure you look at all the FT David took.

[whottt]

lol @ not even making the Finals.

lol @ being in the same conference as the champions.

lol @ you attempting thought

[ShoogarBear]

There is a problem with your theory about assists.
In 1967-1968 the average team assist was almost 23 apg.
In 2008-2009 it is just under 21 apg.

Bingo. That's the key factor.

No way Wilt gets even close to ten assists a game.

[whottt]

This stuff is not all up the players.

For instance...50 points per game. Theoretically, any player can score 50 points per game if they take enough shots. I mean a 50% guy scoring 25ppg just needs to take twice as many shots. It's probably not going to happen because a coach isn't going to let it happen. They aren't going to call that many plays for their bigman. And even if they do, he may not shoot the ball because he doesn't want to be a ball hog and get that rep.



Assists are similar.....in Wilt's case, those assists were as much due to his dominance as they were some great passing ability, it wasn't like he had to be Jason Kidd or Steve Nash when pretty much every other guy on his team was unguarded.

There are a few bigmen that could have averaged 10 assists per game if they focused on it...Shaq for one, Duncan for another.

And I guarantee you if they had attempted it they would have had a coach crawling up their ass telling them to stop being such a wuss and take it to the hoop. Because it would pretty much be an exercise in stupidity that didn't best utilize their talents or do the most to help their team win.


Wilt didn't have those issues really because there just wasn't the amount of talent in the league back then that there is now. It wasn't as specialized as it is now. I mean it was a no brainer he was by far the best on his team probably in every aspect. Why give it to anyone else? Were the better by giving it to anyone else? Especially since fans were paying to see him. It wasn't a big money sport, it wasn't really a mainstream sport. He was the show and as such he could do that stuff just on a whim.


I have absolutely no doubt that if Wilt were playing to day, he would be a dominant player...but he wouldn't do everything he did back then even if he was as much of a freak physically, because the game and the players are different now. You look at any sport and the one trend that all of them share, the players and roles get more and more specialized as time goes by.

He could probably average 10assists per game, any dominant player that draws multiple defenders could...but the point is they wouldn't now.

More to the point about the game being different, it wasn't that uncommon for bigmen to put up high assists totals back then, because the guards weren't as talented, the entire league wasn't as talented, and often the talent in the league was consolidated on just a handful of teams(like the Lakers and Celitcs)...so when teams had a dominant big and typical for that era guards, their bigmen would be the entire engine for the offense. Kareem, Wes Unseld, even Bill Russell had big assist years, they didn't lead the league as Wilt did, but what they did would put what any centers have done since then to shame...because they didn't have guards back then like they have now, or at least not as many.

I mean if you stick Magic Johnson on that 67 team, I gurantee you Wilt is not going to put up those same assist totals.


Different league, different time...different players, different game.

[Obstructed_View]

You play world of warcraft.

And my death knight's ghoul is smarter than you are.

[Chieflion]

There is more high school footage of Lebron James than there is NBA footage in the enitre decade of the 60s. And almost all of those passes are much harder than they look. Back to the basket hitting a teammate in stride to make the lay in is extremly hard.

I agree. Those passes were amazing. The way Wilt was using his long hands and reach to his advantage made it look too easy in my opinion.

[ambchang]

Did you read the actual story? Van Exel didn't come close to 23 assists. One example was NVE passes to the wing, the guy holds the ball for a few seconds, pump fakes, 2 dribbles and the pull up. Swish. Van Exel assisted.

He gave numerous examples of how the stats were being doctored. And the reasons he gave just didn't exist back in the 60s. Getting national attention didn't really matter because there was no Sportscenter or nationally televised games 4 times a weeks or more sometimes.

I did in fact read the article, but I am not going to take a blog from some guy who admittingly wasn't doing his own job in a professional manner as any kind of evidence.

It sounds plausible, but without actually watching the game itself, I can't really draw any conclusions if this was correct or not.

BTW, I remember John Stockton's assist to Karl Malone when he broke Magic's record. Stockton passed to Malone, Malone dribbled, almost lost the ball, picked it back up, turn around and hit the jumper, and that was an assist.

I just wouldn't be surprised if they did exactly the same thing back in the 60's.

BTW, the NVE, even if it did exist, was one game out of 82, the effect of that pushing the total to 8 to 10 assists again, say, from 5 assists a game, is negligeble.

[mathbzh]

No matter if assists are/were real one, hard to get...
Teams score less assist now, so it is not easier to have assists on your statsheet that it used to be.
Maybe only true assists were recorded, but it just mean that for whatever reason (fast pace, bad defense...) it was easier to have a real assist.

Wilt was a great passer for a center but nowdays he would not surpass his 8.6 mark.

[ambchang]

ambchang - I would love to disscuss your problems but I do not see the purpose of doing it. Mostly because it leads to nothing and besides I have not much time explaining all the stuff.

I really hope that you mean questions … this makes me sound like some kind of psychopath.

1. dave was capable of doing AND he was doing mostly because the flashy game was allowed in 90s and it was common.
2. Wilt was not doing the things Dave was doing o the court. And I'm not talking about capabilieties as we haven't seen Chamberlain doing better athletic things then Dave. He might have been capable or not.

Other than the fact that you explicit said that he wasn’t, I don’t really get what you are trying to get out of. You said:

He was capable of doing much more then Wilt.

Does that not speak directly to capabilities?

3. the thing you do not understand about Bolt is that we are not disscussing who was the best athlete that played basketball (well maybe you do but I'm not).

Really? Aren’t we talking about the most athletic center to ever play in the NBA? Seriously, what are you trying to argue? You seem to just jump all over the place whenever you please.

4. Quit that alleyoop it gets boring. You gonna to bang it all the time for meaningless reason, making it a stupid argument.

A reminder for you, you came up with the alleyoops example, and you came up with arguments to refute it. It almost makes you look schizophrenic.

5. To make it as simple as I can - Wilt was not as quick as Dave, Wilt was not that plastic (I would like to see him dunk a 360 he would probably do it but what style?), Wilt was stronger then Admiral, Wilt was not that fluid around the basket with his moves.
6. I don't know what else is not clear ... I might get back to it tomorrow

Dave was probably quicker than Wilt, because I don’t think anybody was as quick as Dave at the center position, or even the PF position. Wilt was plenty elastic around the basket, the way he controlled the basketball around the rim requires a high level of agility and control.

I doubt that anybody is trying to argue that Wilt out-classes Robinson in every single athletic measure, but overall, as an athlete, there really shouldn’t be any questions that Wilt was the most athletic big man to ever play in the NBA.

[kingmalaki]

Individuals don't win championships, teams do. If you don't have a team good enough to win, it doesn't matter how great an idividual is......

This is true. But the poster noted how Robinson didn’t have teammates to take over the game. The star is supposed to take over the game…that’s all I’m saying.

One player can be taken away...Wilt got taken away, Duncan has been taken away, Shaq has been taken away, David got taken away.

Those players weren’t always taken away though. At some point in time, they came through and delivered no matter what. Duncan is a prime example. The team that he won with in 2003….not that great of a team. Robinson would not have won with that squad. Robinson has more of a history of faltering in the playoffs (his individual play) then stepping up and doing more.

And none of these guys played for shiittier teams year in and year out than David Robinson did. Especially at the guard positions.

Robinson had a better team in 95 than Duncan had in 2003. As much as you want to discount his teammates, it was his man going off for almost 40 a night that caused them to lose that series.

And truthfully, not all of Robinson’s teams were “that bad”. They may not have all been le worthy, but they weren’t complete wastelands of garbage. For most of those playoff losses, you can point to a decrease in his production. Here are a few examples:

The 91 team had mings, Anderson, Elliott and Strickland. They lost 3-1 to a #7 seed that only won 44 games. There is no reason Robinson’s numbers should not have increased dramatically against the Warriors. They didn’t necessarily decrease, but they didn’t get much better…which is suprising considering the frontcourt he was facing.

The 93 team had Elliott, Carr and Dale Ellis. They lost to the Suns 4-2, and Barkley basically played Robinson to a standstill. Actually, you can argue that Barkley took over in the last two games. In Game 5 he had 36 and 12 (Robinson had 24 and 8). In the elimination game he had 28 and 21 (Robinson had 22 and 14, on 40% shooting…this against a Suns team with no real center). Barkley only shot 42% in the final game, but he had 21 boards. That’s an example of a star taking over. Robinson’s playoff numbers basically matched his regular season numbers again, but his FG% dropped from 50% to 47%. And IIRC, wasn't this the series where Barkley hit a game winner in Robinson's eye? I may be wrong on that one....

The 94 team won 55 games, behind Robinson’s monster season (30, 11, 5, 3.3 on 51%). They lost 3-1 to the Jazz, where Robinson’s numbers dropped to 20 and 10 on 41%. That’s a huge decrease. You can say he had crap teammates, but those teammates were good enough to win 55 games with. The difference is Robinson played much worse. You can argue that he got outplayed by a PF for the 2nd year in a row (Malone put up 29 and 13 that series…he only shot 41% but he got to the line 14 times a night).

We all know what happened in 95. His teammates had nothing to do with him letting Hakeem almost drop 40 a night on him. Not to mention, he had another huge decrease in the postseason (from 28 on 53% to 25 on 45%).

Karl Malone outplayed him again in 96 (25 and 9 on 45% to 19 and 9 on 48%). He put up 25 and 12 that yr on 52%. That’s a big dip. And when the series was knotted 1-1, he had 22 combined points in the next 2 games (fouled out of one) as SA fell behind 3-1 (Malone had 54 combined points).

And then Duncan arrived. But prior to that, David Robinson got outplayed by another HOF pivot every postseason that he faced one. Don’t just point to his teammates….point to him too!!

The best PG David played with was a 3rd string PG for Houston that was waived...matter of fact, Houston didn't even make the playoffs one year they had AJ.

Didn’t he play with Rod Strickland?

Why in the didn't Hakeem step up then? What about the other 16 years of his career he didn't win the le? I guess he just didn't feel like stepping up then...

Hakeem did step up…twice. I believe in his two les he outplayed 3 HOF pivots along the way. I don’t know what more you can ask a center to do than slap around Ewing, Robinson and Shaq on the way to repeat championships.

[polandprzem]

I really hope that you mean questions … this makes me sound like some kind of psychopath.

GMAB man

Other than the fact that you explicit said that he wasn’t, I don’t really get what you are trying to get out of. You said:



Does that not speak directly to capabilities?

To me really it doesn't in a meaning that I tried to explain.
Dave showed much more on the court IMO

As far as athletic goes you can't just measure it like that, that's why people got different opinions. So all that disscussion to me is not worth posting.

Really? Aren’t we talking about the most athletic center to ever play in the NBA? Seriously, what are you trying to argue? You seem to just jump all over the place whenever you please.

Hey, there is a difference between the things you can do out of the court and on the court.
As I said before I'm comparing those two players from basketball point of view. Not othr aspects like high jumps and track speed. Because it does not mean much when you can't translate it well to the asketball court.

All my saying is to look what these guys were doing while they were playing. Not how great athletes they were off the court.
Maybe it's not a correct thinking but damn once again athlete does not = best basketball athlete.

Being capable is just another stuff - and you try to convince me to your points of seing it.
Maybe my english is not good enough, but
was capable of doing and was doing
was capable od doing and was not doing

I maybe made some mistake right there

A reminder for you, you came up with the alleyoops example, and you came up with arguments to refute it. It almost makes you look schizophrenic.

I'm glad you said almost ;p


When I will get back home I will watch a game. I will gonna see Wilts athletics on the screen of my tv. Then I will put some game with Dave.
Then I will say and I will go to bed.

[kingmalaki]

I prefer my C get the job done...and David did that, he did it to them better than they did it to him. And this included Hakeem...

But that’s the thing….he didn’t get the job done. The other centers you noted did.

And in case you missed it the first time, I don't think Robinson was soft. I just think he didn't have a post game, which seemed to hurt him in the postseason when things slow down.

[whottt]

This is true. But the poster noted how Robinson didn’t have teammates to take over the game. The star is supposed to take over the game…that’s all I’m saying.

And what you are saying is over simplified...the star steps up and dominates and get his teamates open by drawing multiple defenders, then the teamates step up and punish the other team for using multiple defenders on their guy, then the star steps us. David never had anyone that punished the team for doubling him.


AJ had no perimeter game, Vinny Del Negro was a second rate player who would not have started on any of Hakeem's, Kareem's, Shaq's or Wilt's teams.

Those players weren’t always taken away though. At some point in time, they came through and delivered no matter what.

Yeah when they were on teams good enough to where they could.

Duncan is a prime example. The team that he won with in 2003….not that great of a team. Robinson would not have won with that squad. Robinson has more of a history of faltering in the playoffs (his individual play) then stepping up and doing more.

That's because David's teams were comprised of of backups and also rans and that 2003 team was full of guys that stepped up.

Robinson had a better team in 95 than Duncan had in 2003.

You are ing insane.

As much as you want to discount his teammates, it was his man going off for almost 40 a night that caused them to lose that series.

He had no help on the defensive end....Hakeem went off on the Celtics, how come the Rockets didn't win a le then?

And truthfully, not all of Robinson’s teams were “that bad”. They may not have all been le worthy, but they weren’t complete wastelands of garbage.

Oh yes they ing were. Especially on the offensive end.

For most of those playoff losses, you can point to a decrease in his production. Here are a few examples:

The 91 team had mings, Anderson, Elliott and Strickland. They lost 3-1 to a #7 seed that only won 44 games. There is no reason Robinson’s numbers should not have increased dramatically against the Warriors. They didn’t necessarily decrease, but they didn’t get much better…which is suprising considering the frontcourt he was facing.[/quot]

and if you check out the numbers for that series you will see David Robinson shot at a FG% that is higher than any ever totalled by Hakeem, Wilt, Shaq, Duncan or Kareem in a playoff series, and that's when they started doubling him, and of the rest of his career he never had anyone to help carry the offensive load, and you either lying or stupid you attempt to claim those other centers won championships without the same things David lacked.


The 93 team had Elliott, Carr and Dale Ellis. They lost to the Suns 4-2, and Barkley basically played Robinson to a standstill. Actually, you can argue that Barkley took over in the last two games. In Game 5 he had 36 and 12 (Robinson had 24 and 8). In the elimination game he had 28 and 21 (Robinson had 22 and 14, on 40% shooting…this against a Suns team with no real center). Barkley only shot 42% in the final game, but he had 21 boards. That’s an example of a star taking over. Robinson’s playoff numbers basically matched his regular season numbers again, but his FG% dropped from 50% to 47%. And IIRC, wasn't this the series where Barkley hit a game winner in Robinson's eye? I may be wrong on that one....

Yes, I guesss just mysteriously started shooting 40% in the playoffs routinely, for absolutely no reason, inspite of the fact he went off for nearly 70% in a series as a second year player...

Must have been his nerves. You are stupid. And you don't understand the gane anymore now than you did 6 years ago the first time you and I had this argument.

The 94 team won 55 games, behind Robinson’s monster season (30, 11, 5, 3.3 on 51%). They lost 3-1 to the Jazz, where Robinson’s numbers dropped to 20 and 10 on 41%. That’s a huge decrease. You can say he had crap teammates, but those teammates were good enough to win 55 games with.

No they weren't...they weren't anything close to a 55 win team and it's took Robinson's insane season to win 55 games on that team.

Again, who is going to be a defensive focus on that team other than Robinson?

Vinny Del Negro?

[whottt]

Hakeem did step up…twice. I believe in his two les he outplayed 3 HOF pivots along the way. I don’t know what more you can ask a center to do than slap around Ewing, Robinson and Shaq on the way to repeat championships.

Uh no, Hakeem couldn't win without Cassell.


How many les did Hakeem win before Sam Cassell got there? And after he left?

Hakeem won nothing then the Rockets draft Cassell and he wins 2 les then they trade him and Hakeem never wins anything again.





Hakem didn't win until Cassell got there.


Exactly the same as it is with Duncan and Robinson.



Boy is that hard to do.






And don't you ing tell me a guy who at various times played with Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, Ralph Sampson, and Charles Barkley, not to mention Robert Horry...didn't hve better teamates than David Robinson.

Ditto Stockton and Malone, those two guys had each other for their entire careers and didn't win .


Wilt won his le w Hal Geer...Kareem didn't win without Oscar Robertson or Magic Johnson, Shaq didn't win without Kobe Bryant or Dwayne Wade...


Where is Robinson's guy like that? Where the is it, if you think it's Vinny Del Negro or Avery Johnson, you are ing stupid.


And you are rigth, he did play with Rod Strickland, the guy who threw the ball away on the pivotal play in Robinson rookie season when he would have dethroned the eventual conference champions.



David Robinson's playoff numbers were great his first 2 years in the league, they stopped being great when he started getting career backup scrubs as his starting guards....

[Nathan Explosion]

When arguing Duncan vs Robinson, remember one thing. Robinson is arguably a Top 10 big man ever. Duncan is arguably a top 10 PLAYER ever. This coming from a guy who grew up watching DRob play from day 1.

Duncan had a quadruple double, but Duncan had his near quad-double on the biggest stage, the le clinching game of the Finals. Find me a game where DRob absolutely dominated the court, and carried his team the way Duncan did in 2003. In a span of 3 years, Duncan won over 200 games. Duncan has a career winning percentage of over 70% in the regular season. Duncan did things Robinson could NEVER do on the court, and DRob will be the absolute first person to tell you that.

Back to Wilt, Wilt did things on the court no player has done before or since. Scoring 100 pts, grabbing 55 rebounds, those have been mentioned. Harvey Pollack, longtime Philly Warriors and 76ers director of stat analysis, says that if blocks had been kept as an official stat, Wilt would have blown Hakeem away. Some nights Wilt had 20 or more blocks.

BTW, this guy is the most respected stat guy in the league. He puts out "Harvey Pollack’s NBA Statistical Yearbook" that is among the most complete stat books out there. He was also the guy who recorded the 100 pt game and actually wrote "100" on a piece of paper for Wilt to hold up for photographers after the game.

http://www.nba.com/encyclopedia/pollack_wilt.html

Here's a small sample of what Harvey has to say about Wilt.

[Nathan Explosion]

Here's some more on Wilt.

NBA.com: You've been with the NBA since day 1, 1946-47. Who is the greatest player you ever saw?

Harvey Pollack: Wilt Chamberlain is without a doubt the greatest and the NBA record book proves it. Wilt holds records for a minimum of 130 different categories.

People forget who he is because fans today never saw him play. For instance, a triple-double-double -- there isn't anybody since Wilt did this in 1968 that has come close to getting 20 points, 20 rebounds and 20 assists in a game. No one has come close to Wilt's mark of 55 rebounds in a game. The closest someone got to Wilt's 100-point game was Kobe Bryant, who hit for 81.

Plus, name me a center who has led the league in assists like Wilt did in 1967-68? No one. Also, Wilt played every minute of every game in the 1961-62 season, including overtime, except one because he was thrown out of the game with three personal fouls.

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/03/08/H...lack.20090308/