4. Wilt vs. the modern NBA
Besides the lack of rings, the biggest knock on Chamberlain by detractors is that he did not face the level of competition that modern players have.
Of course, the current flood of players from all parts of the world did not occur back then, but the talent pool in the United States was also much wider.
Basketball was a much more popular participatory sport in America. Soccer and lacrosse, which many American youth play now, were minor, as almost every kid played baseball, basketball or football. Also, in that time, there were no video games or smartphones or other distractions, they played outside activities a lot more.
Importantly, remember that when Wilt started there were only eight teams (in 2020 they have 30). Even if you go by the theory there were not as many good players, there were also a lot less roster spots.
Imagine if LeBron James or Michael Jordan’s entire career was only against teams that made the conference semifinals. That is basically what Wilt faced, and with the smaller league he played some teams,12 times a year, so they could game plan much more than in the modern NBA.
The thing about Chamberlain was his versatility. He could power inside like Shaquille O’Neal but he also had a finesse game with a finger-roll that was just as accurate as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar‘s skyhook.
The three-point shot was not around in Wilt’s time so we will never know whether he could knock down a long outside shot, but that is also a positive. Chamberlain knew where his bread and butter was and, unlike some modern center’s (um…Embiid), he stayed there.
Famously, after leading the league in scoring year after year, in 1967-68, Wilt announced he wanted to show the world he was unselfish, so he led the NBA in assists that season (with an 8.6 average). To this day, he is the only pure center in NBA history to have led the league in assists.
In his final two seasons (1971-73), when he was 35 and 36 years old, the closest you can argue of him playing in the modern NBA, he made NBA All-Defensive first team twice, was named the NBA Finals MVP in 1972 and averaged 14 points, 19 rebounds and 4.5 assists as, unlike his early years, he was surrounded by a lot of talent so he did not need to score as much.
And his career ended prematurely due to a contract dispute with the Lakers, or he undoubtedly would have played a few more seasons.
The modern player whose game is most like Chamberlain’s is his fellow Kansas alumni Joel Embiid. He can score, rebound, pass and play defense and is an exceptional athlete for his size (around the same as Wilt, 7-foot-2, 275).
When he is motivated and focused, most NBA experts agree that Embiid is pretty much unstoppable.
If teams struggle to stop Embiid when he is on, what they heck would they do against Wilt Chamberlain?