Was Wilt Chamberlain really at his best when he scored 50 points per game? Was his scoring ever “damaging?” Why did he change his style so much over the course of career? And in which of his many great seasons was he at his best on offense?
This episode is part of the the second season of the “Greatest Peaks” series. Season 2 focuses on the legends of NBA offense, examining unique archetypes, controversial players and stylistic spearheads who have influenced the game over the years.
Support at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thinkingbasketball
Book: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Basketball-Ben-Taylor/dp/1532968175
Podcast: https://player.fm/series/thinking-basketball or at https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/ben-taylor/thinking-basketball-podcast
Website: https://www.backpicks.com
Twitter: @elgee35
Ben Taylor is the author of Thinking Basketball, a Nylon Calculus contributor, creator of the Backpicks Top 40 series & host of the Thinking Basketball podcast.
Stats courtesy:
http://www.pbpstats.com @bballport
https://www.basketball-reference.com
https://stats.nba.com
—–
Footage in this video is owned by the NBA and its partners. It is intended for critique and education.
Music by Cody Martin (Epiphany)
Fairlight (Detour In Velour, Hair)
Imperfect Place
#ThinkingBasketball #OffensiveLegends
30 Comments
people keep asking MJ or Bron? but the real GOAT is Ben Taylor
Let's goooo new series!!!!
Just watching the replays you can see that JJ Reddick was right in the sense that the guys he was playing against weren't that good. If Wilt tries that finger roll with his right hand and right shoulder being closest to the bucket today, he gets blocked everytime. Would Wilt have picked up a little baby hook with the left for those situations? Probably, because he's one of the GOATs, but it is clear that he didn't need to which speaks volumes about the competition.
Michael Jordan went through a similar evolution from his rookie season to his first NBA championship. Same goes for Kobe, from his 1st post Shaq season to his 1st post Shaq championship season.
You're a cognitive scientist? I'd love to hear more about your work in that field and if you ever apply anything from it to your basketball analysis, as I'm a cognitive science student myself.
Yeah 70sFan getting a shoutout!
Can’t wait to see jokic offense broken down never seen a player do so much on offense from shooting, dominating the paint, setting screens popping n rolling, moving off the ball, posting up, making every pass n more
Great work on the wilt documentary Ben!!! You truly are a legend to diehards of the sport of basketball. I've learned a lot from you, and it was cool to see you on a showtime documentary!!
He appears to be "non-biased" but he is. Maybe not intentionally, but he is. Nobody had a better season from start to finish than Wilt in 1967. His season is first in FG ADD and third in TS ADD all time. On top of that, I challenge anyone to find any player tops in as many categories as Wilt. In both the playoffs AND regular season. Remember, he played against Russell and Thurmond at the center position in the playoffs. Also, Wilt and the Sixers knocked the Celtics out of the playoffs. Wilt averaged 22/32/10/10 in this series.
Regular Season:
PTS(3)
PPG(5)
TRB(1)
RPG(1)
ASTS(3)
APG(3)
FG%(1)
TS%(1)
FGM(3)
MP(1)
MPG(1)
PER(1)
WS(1)
OWS(1)
DWS(2)
WS48(1)
AST%(6)
PLAYOFFS
PTS(3)
PPG(7)
TRB(1)
RPG(1)
ASTS(1)
APG(2)
FG%(2)
TS%(5)
FGM(3)
MP(1)
MPG(1)
PER(1)
WS(1)
OWS(1)
DWS(1)
WS48(1)
AST%(4)
Rebounding Records
Most rebounds in a game(41) Celtics
Most rebounds in a half(26) Warriors
Most RPG in a series(32.0) Celtics
Most rebounds in a 5 game series(160) Celtics
Most rebounds in a 6 game series(171) Warriors
Assist Records(some just broken by Jokic)
Most assists by a center in a playoff run(2nd)
Most APG by a center in a playoff run(2nd)
Most assists in a game by center(19) Royals
Most APG in a series(11.0) Royals
Harden Nash and Westbrook are some of the guys I’d like to see the most
This is one of the best analytic videos I know, on any topic. I watched Wilt for all those years, and he was indeed stiff and clunky, and repetitious. It's also true that the rules as enforced back then wouldn't allow him to use power moves underneath, a la Shaq. Overall, the very best players of the early sixties were nearly as good as the best players now in many areas of the game (think "Jerry West"), but the game as a whole wasn't as fluid, partly because of the weaker outside shooting and, to some extent, because of the less creative ball handling (carry, anyone?).
More please
I still think he needed the right coach. He would have had more titles and better teammates. I believe everyone relied too heavily on Wilt’s natural ability and instincts
Congratulations on getting tapped for this series
It's vogue in today's culture to play the role of the contrarian, but in case of a prime Wilt Chamberlain, one needs to focus on KISS or Keeping It Simple Stupid. In his first 7 seasons in the league, Wilt had to score in order for his teams to be successful and this was especially evident when it mattered most. Chamberlain's teams made the playoffs in 6 of those 7 seasons, he averaged 32.8 points a game, and shot .505 from the field in a league that shot .426 in that time span. In those 6 playoff runs, his teammates collectively shot .382, .352, .332, .354, .352, and .380 from the field. If Wilt didn't score, the Warriors/76ers would not have taken the 1961-1962 and/or the 1964-1965 Celtics to the brink of elimination in the waning seconds of Game 7 of the East Finals.
Speaking of the 1964-1965 76ers, Chamberlain became the ONLY player in NBA history to post a 30-30 (e.g., 30.1 points, 31.4 rebounds) in a playoff series (e.g., 1965 East Finals) against Bill Russell and the heavily favored Boston Celtics. In Game 7 of that series, Wilt scored 30 points on 12-15 from the field; he scored 8 of the last 10 points of the contest; he scored the last 6 points of the game to cut the Celtics lead to 1 point; Russell hits one of the basket support wires on an inbounds pass; but Havlicek steals the ball and rest is history.
After leading the league in scoring in his first 7 seasons in the league, the 1966-1967 Chamberlain morphed from unstoppable offensive force (e.g., fadeaway jumper, finger roll, driving baseline for dunks/reverse layups) to elite passer and he went from dominant defender to arguably the greatest 7 foot defender in NBA history. After putting forth one of the greatest playoff runs (e.g., 1967 Playoffs/15 games 21.7 points, 29.1 rebounds, 9.0 assists, and 9.2 blocked shots) in NBA history, Wilt had compiled the following statistics in 67 playoff games…30.4 points, 27.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists,, and .515 from the field. To put that stat line in its proper perspective, no player in NBA history had a SINGULAR playoff series averaging 30 points, 27 rebounds, and 4.5 assists.
Thank you for the mention, I am happy I could provide even an insignificant value for the creation of this video!
I was rewatching greatest peaks yesterday. Perfect timing.
Our favorite historical basketball analysis series is BACK! On a side note, it would be fascinating to see Wilt playing in today's NBA, with modern training regimen, modern tactical thinking, and modern rule sets. He's just so freakishly built that I think if he grows up in a modern basketball environment, he could be a peak AD type of defensive player, and a Giannis type of offensive player, plus the potential in play-making.
Can't wait for jokic
I hope there's an episode about Charles Barkley in here.
Great video quality 🎉
"There's no recent evidence that great rebounding is as valuable as great playmaking". Yes, because teams DO NOT contest boards anymore in order to protect themselves from transition points. I'll quote Brett Brown, one of the assistants in San Antonio under Gregg Popovich:
"We don't care if you get an offensive rebound in your entire life"
This is why people were critical about Russell Westbrook's run of triple-doubles: Nobody's contesting those boards, even people on his own team. He's the point guard, so why would anyone else bother to take the rock from him, only to give it back? The entire league has eschewed second-chance points, because as more and more long balls are shot, the harder and harder it is to predict where the ball will go after it bounces off the rim.
But that has nothing to do with the state of play in the 1960's before the three-pointer even existed. All shooting was made from closer to the basket, and generally lower accuracy league-wide made Wilt's interior presence immensely valuable.
I was disappointed that Harden didn't make an appearance in your Greatest Peaks series, so I hope that you can at least see that he deserves a spot as one of your Offensive Legends.
This was my favorite part of your book. More scoring does not always equal better offense.
need this type of video for Arvydas Sabonis
I need this kind of series, love u ben for this content❤
James Harden before James Harden
There are highlight reels of Wilt's assists. He got some sweet dimes!
I play a game called whatifsports. They basically let you simulate games with any players from any year. 1966-67 Wilt Chamberlain is easily the best player in the game/on the site
yeeeeessssss! This is my favorite series y'all do!