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Jerry West on choosing Bill Russell over Wilt Chamberlain: “It was probably the dumbest thing I ever said in my life”
(www.basketballnetwork.net)
this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2023
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I don’t know how people can’t have Wilt in their top 5. Yeah, his playoff history is a bit bumpy. Especially 1969 and 1970. But dude averaged 50 ppg, had a 100 point game, scored 40+ points in his debut. And it’s not like he didn’t win. He won two titles. And back in those days, the 1967 sixers and 1972 Lakers were considered some of the best teams of all time. So he was a champion. I haven’t even gotten into his rebounding and assist numbers. Yeah, he should have probably won a couple more titles but he choked a few times. But again, come on, he averaged 50 ppg. Do you guys realize how crazy that is? And he has rings
Wilt got fucked over hard by the rules and the era tbh. So many rules that completely favored the defense (offensive fouls, palming etc) and the Celitcs having several hall of famers in an era with crap free agency and territorial picks while several teams literally collapsed around them due to financial strain. I'm not saying Russell was some scrub and the guy was so much more than his basketball carerer, but no one really acknowledges a lot of the advantages he had and frame it as a knock on Wilt's game
The same people who call LeBron the GOAT (4 rings in 20 years) will dismiss Wilt cause he only won 2 rings in 14 years (and played against "plumbers.")
Except LeBron's stats didn't fall off in ALL of the season he made the playoffs, that's how much of a playoff dropper Wilt is.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kCKSvjBnCRQ
This is a good summary of why they might not.
He doesn’t touch Russell