I know I made the same exact topic a couple months ago. It was active and full of debates and now with new memebrs that means more debates and discussion will be here in this forum.
I will probably have the lowest estimates in the thread but Wilt would average about 25-10-2. I mean he played on the fastest paced team of all time with the most minutes and shot attempts of all time and in an easy era with far smaller centers. Adjusting for all that, I don't see how you can say he'd get the 30-15 that a lot will predict. The owner NEEDED Wilt to average 50 as the NBA was about selling enough tickets to survive, which is why he got the ball so much. He was great and dominant for his time, but I just don't think his game would translate better than being an allstar and an occasional outside MVP candidate if he was teleported to today.
Yeah, everybody on this site now thinks I'm a biased Chamberlain lover that doesn't give enough credit to todays bigmen.Oh well. As for playing today. I think 19ppg 17rpg and 5apg would be a legit stat line for him. I don't know why everybody here says that he'd only average 10 boards, he's Wilt f*cking Chamberlain not Shawn Bradely. Yet people say he'd average a lot of points. Listen up, scoring was the variable, rebounding was the constant. Wilt scored as much as he was asked to, but he ALWAYS dominated the glass. It would be no different in todays game. 17rpg for him wouldn't be off, that would include about 8-12 games with 30 or more rebounds. Gasp! 30 rebounds? That's right. Now I wait for everybody to shoot me down.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>The owner NEEDED Wilt to average 50 as the NBA was about selling enough tickets to survive, which is why he got the ball so much.</div>According to his coach, that was the only way they were going to catch Boston in the standings and be able to beat them.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Michael Bryant @ Apr 14 2007, 01:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>scoring was the variable, rebounding was the constant. Wilt scored as much as he was asked to, but he ALWAYS dominated the glass. It would be no different in todays game. 17rpg for him wouldn't be off, that would include about 8-12 games with 30 or more rebounds. Gasp! 30 rebounds? That's right.</div>I agree with you about scoring being the variable and rebounding being the constant and Wilt could easily be the leagues leading rebounder however in this day and age, grabbing 30 rebounds or more for 10 games would be quite difficult. If Wilt were to play in todays game I could see him averaging 25ppg and 14rpg with a couple of blocks (add more if he were on suns). Albeit, Wilt would probably foul out alot with the rules they players play with nowadays because lets be honest, he was a really dirty player. He makes alot of contact when hes rebounding for the ball and he goes over the back of people to rebound because he was simply taller than them and there werent over the back calls then. Just imagine what someone like Shaq could do in the Wilt era...
I think that he would be one of the better centers in the league, but nothing TOO special. He would put up like 23 and 11 or something like that. He was big, and he had some nice moves and what not, but he would be playing against much bigger guys.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>I agree with you about scoring being the variable and rebounding being the constant and Wilt could easily be the leagues leading rebounder however in this day and age, grabbing 30 rebounds or more for 10 games would be quite difficult. If Wilt were to play in todays game I could see him averaging 25ppg and 14rpg with a couple of blocks (add more if he were on suns). Albeit, Wilt would probably foul out alot with the rules they players play with nowadays because lets be honest, he was a really dirty player. He makes alot of contact when hes rebounding for the ball and he goes over the back of people to rebound because he was simply taller than them and there werent over the back calls then. Just imagine what someone like Shaq could do in the Wilt era...</div>Well, Shaq would definately have the size advantage but, the league back then was super fast. I just have hard time seeing Shaq run up and down the court in that era when he barely jogs up and down in todays era.And yeah, 30 is a lot. But Wilt was a fundamentally sound rebounder. Meaning he jumped high with two hands, he stayed close to the rim and went after the ball. That's why I think he'd be able to have a few 30 rebound games. Of course, all those 3 pointers and the long rebounds may hurt his averages. In his day, nobody shot 24 footers, hence all the rebounders didn't go flying into the backcourt at 80mph.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>If Wilt were to play in todays game I could see him averaging 25ppg and 14rpg with a couple of blocks (add more if he were on suns). Albeit, Wilt would probably foul out alot with the rules they players play with nowadays because lets be honest, he was a really dirty player. He makes alot of contact when hes rebounding for the ball and he goes over the back of people to rebound because he was simply taller than them and there werent over the back calls then.</div>if he was a really dirty player why did he NEVER foul out?<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Just imagine what someone like Shaq could do in the Wilt era... </div>I once ran the numbers and here's what it came out to adjusting shaq to wilt's minutes and paceLet's look at Shaq's peak in place of Wilt's peak: 45.6 ppg, 27.2 rpg, 3.0 apg, 4.4 bpg, 1.5 spg And Lebron's peak in place of Oscar's peak: 42.9 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 9.0 apg, 2.1 spg, 1.1 bpg But my intuition is that Lebron would do far better than that (he's unstoppable on the fast break, and games back then were purely fast breaks, not to mention he'd play center but be the best dribbler in the league) but Shaq would do worse (he'd be able to play maybe 30 minutes per game tops)
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (tHe_pEsTiLeNcE @ Apr 14 2007, 03:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>if he was a really dirty player why did he NEVER foul out?</div>Rules were not as enforced then and there werent calls like over the back fouls. I mean I've read things where Wilt swings elbows worse than dikembe mutombo, like as bad as puttin people on the floor bleeding, and he wouldnt get calls for those. Also players in the NBA are bigger now so he would have a harder time than he would before which results in more fouls.
Wilt would still dominate. I don't care when he played, Wilt would still get 14 boards a game today....He was so athletic and agile for a giant player as well. He had such good touch around the rim, and he was so strong. I say he'd be a 28 and 14 guy today.
Scoring would be the issue, as teams are more athletic and better at doubling the post.His own athleticism would allow for huge rebounding and shot blocking. Let's not forget this man had a huge ego and pride. He'd work very hard at being the best Center in the league.Shaq would be dominant in that era too. Let's not forget he's put on at least 40 pounds since joining the league. With the different style of play back then, he'd be big enough at his rookie size and all the running would keep him relatively slim.
^The man averaged 50 ppg in one season, I don't think scoring would be an issue in his prime...Maybe in his later years with the Lakers when he was alot slower and when he focused more on passing and being a team player.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Wilt would still dominate. I don't care when he played, Wilt would still get 14 boards a game today....He was so athletic and agile for a giant player as well. He had such good touch around the rim, and he was so strong. I say he'd be a 28 and 14 guy today.</div>Good touch around the rim? His touch around the rim was comparable to Andris Biedrins or Ben Wallace; when you see wilt shoot you truly know why they call a badly missed shot a brick.And he'd probably get 28 ppg once, but hover around 24 for most of his career.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CB4AllStar @ Apr 15 2007, 09:34 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>^The man averaged 50 ppg in one season, I don't think scoring would be an issue in his prime...Maybe in his later years with the Lakers when he was alot slower and when he focused more on passing and being a team player.</div>you do realise we're talking about Wilt playing today and facing copious amounts of double teams right?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>you do realise we're talking about Wilt playing today and facing copious amounts of double teams right?</div>Are you kidding? Wilt was quadruple teamed every f*cking night. The rules on that were relaxed in those days.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Michael Bryant @ Apr 18 2007, 05:57 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Are you kidding? Wilt was quadruple teamed every f*cking night. The rules on that were relaxed in those days.</div>word, he was the center of gravity then
this is what I'd think he would average: 31 ppg 16 rpg 4 apg 4 bpg 1 spgCall me crazy but I definetley think he would dominate today as much as he did back then. In fact I know he would.
