I'll point out all the height data I was using to compare those players with modern players was based on their barefoot data (acquired through news archives) vs modern barefoot data from the draft. Not listed info - which tends to not be accurate or created equally.
Bill Russell 6'11 240 lbs and Wilt Chamberlain 7'2 285 lbs and you believe LeBron is closer to 6'8 or 6'9 and Moses Malone 6'11 235 lbs but listed as 210 lbs no weight was right in this
Carlos Reid Chamberlain was 7'1" and while in the league played at weights ranging from 275-310 lbs from his rookie year to his final year. Weight isn't static and some players decided to go for different weights throughout their career.
Didn't know Lucas got to that, but maybe. Lanier, later on, may have been around 300. Some broadcasters were saying that. I remember for a while, probably as a rook, Tim Hardaway at 6 ft, was listed at 175. Doug Collins (color commentator) said he was at least 215. He didn't look wrong on that.
Great video! It should be noted that while in the ABA, Zelmo Beaty had a loose piece of cartlidge in his knee. The doctors said that he could either shut it down for the year by going through surgery to remove the cartlidge or play through the intense pain and wait for the cartlidge to detach so a doctor could remove it through an easy, albeit painful procedure. Beaty decided to play through the pain. During a game he felt something weird in his knee, so he went back to the locker room and the trainer said that the cartlidge did in fact detach. Instead of taking the rest of the night off and getting it done by a doctor he had the team's trainer take a pair or tweezers, go INTO his knee, dig around and pull the cartlidge out. He had no painkillers and apparently it took 20 minutes but the trainer finally dug out the piece of cartlidge and pulled it out. Then they stitched up the hole and slapped a band aid on it so Zelmo could finish the game. That was what was left of the cartlidge in his knee and Beatty not only finished the game but won an ABA championship that year with Utah despite having zero cartlidge left in one of his knees. Say what you want about his lack of vertical, but Zelmo Beatty was a great ballplayer and a warrior.
My favorite after Wilt. As the film said Zelmo could do it all. I just couldn't understand why Atlanta got no further than they did. One of the NBA Teams that never made it to the NBA Finals. The St. Louis Hawks won an NBA Championship, the Atlanta Hawks has never done that, never got close in Atlanta.
@@sirrjazz734 - Once the Celtic Dynasty of the 60s was formed, only Wilt's '67 Sixers could get past them. Russell was truly great, but those were team championships. During the decade the Celtics never had fewer than 5 future hall-of-famers on their roster, and 1 year had as many as 9.
Another thing people never mention, those rims had no forgiveness. They were just bolted to the backboard, there was no springs in them. These guys had great accuracy and touch to put up the scoring numbers they did, there was no "shooters role" like they have on the soft rims now. It also hurt to dunk on those rims, they would leave bruises on your wrists and forearms, no forgiveness at all.
This channel has to be one of the best on UA-cam, I love it. Keep it going man! Oh, and Michael Rapaport really needs to educate himself, it's just embarrassing listening to him speak.
Great video and conclusions. To show just how tough the league was in 1965, the guards that sat on the Laker's bench (Jim King, Walt Hazzard and Gail Goodrich) became all-stars after expansion.
Gail is in the Hall, and was the #2 option for the Lakers in the late 1960s/early 1970s behind West - and AHEAD of Wilt or McMillan. I think Walt is also in the Hall, not 100% sure there though. Don't remember Jim, pretty sure he's not in the Hall.
@@VictorLionsTV Bill made a similar point to MJ at least once, about a guy that won a championship for the Bills on a last-minute shot. I forget the exact quote, but Bill pointed out that early in his time, there were only 90 openings for players in the league - and the player that made that shot doesn't even make a team and MJ doesn't win that championship.
Willis Reed was a GREAT and SMART offensive player. Imagine a fast, quick, and agile Zach Randolph at Randolph's APEX with a hint of David Robinson's face-up game.
The average height of a NBA player today is 6'7" and the average height of a player of the 60s was 6'6" People act like he played against 6'0" centers or something
@@Amick44 Agreed. These young know it all fans probably think Gehrig and Ruth batted against college all-star pitchers whos' fastball could be timed with an hour glass! Gimme a break. People who think these guys couldn't play in the "modern" NBA don't think, period!! I remember Henry Finkle, another 7 footer. And 7 foot Reggie Harding. What tremendous potential Reggie had. I noted the statement "No other footage of Harding exists". How sad......
I spent 2 years around Wilt's college teammate and roommate. Ron Loneski was the Power Forward and our HS Varsity Coach starting my 10th Grade Year. Dude was a HORSE! At 42, Coach Loneski was still running 2 miles per day. When Andrew Bynum entered the league in 2005 he couldn't run a mile straight!!! LOL!!! So how well would Andrew Bynum have done back then!!! Those guys all ran Cross Country during the Fall Season. EVERY HIGH SCHOOL COACH REQUIRED IT!!! LOL!!!
As Wilt told MJ , when you came into the league they changed the rules so that you could dominate, when I came into the league they changed the rules so that I couldn’t dominate.
Thank you so much for educating the kids. I'm 67 and grew up watching these guys, and it gets really tiresome to hear the ignorance and arrogance of these kids judging something they know nothing about. You took on most all of their talking points and the clips clearly show the quickness and athleticism of these great players.
Yes im not omd but i still can understand that great people would still be great in any era its like they think ali could not win a boxing match today cause "people are stronger now" or whatever shit are in their head idk
@@juicethreetwo Hakeem gave Shaq fits. Bill was a BETTER jumper than Hakeem (ranked #7 high jumper in the WORLD at one point), about the same quickness and agility, and THOUGHT more.
People need to be educated about the real greats. These old timers played for the "love of the game" and not "money." They did all that they accomplished without a training table, weight rooms, personal trainers, sports psychologist, et Al. Stars today mirror these players, just don't know it. Look at Dr. J, then look at Mike.
Kristaps is nice. We need to see a revolution of big men, instead of just one or the other dominating it needs to be both. Tim Duncan and Tony Parker/Ginobili, Shaq and Kobe, Stockton and Malone. 80s and 90s had the best balance imo.
The biggest factor IMO is the arrival of high-quality film and video footage of NBA games in 1968-70. Prior to that most footage is blurry and flickering BW film from the 1960s which looks very much like it was shot in prehistoric times. Camera angles were different (lower) so the games looked very different (i.e. like high school games). Thing is, many of the early-60s centers (Wilt, Bellamy) were still active in the early 70s when we started to get (limited) NFL-Films quality game footage, along with higher definition video, and all of sudden they looked more like modern players.
Note that there were only 9 NBA teams in the 61-62 season in which Wilt AVERAGED 50ppg. This resulted in him playing Russell a whopping 12 times in the regular season.
And this is what people don't get when they say such nonsense. Fewer teams _concentrates_ talent, and more teams dilute it. Wilt and Russell played against HOF centers for the majority of their careers.
@@Fantline wilts average dropped in 8/8 series he played against Russell, his efficiency dropped 7/8 times even though Wolts team had the best record in the league from 1966-1968, and much better team in 69 with the lakers but still choked
Pure Luminous nah theres alot. Mj, Lbj, wilt, Kobe, hakeem, bird, magic, duncan, Shaq, The admiral, wade, kg, dirk, kareem, Russel, westbrook, tmac, rose, kd, ray allen, pierce, ewing, carter, clyde, melo, Klay Thompson, ben wallace, ron artest, scottie Pip, chris paul, jason kidd, barkely, Blake Griffin, stockton, Karl Malone, ect..ect. There os so many players who would be elite in any era u put them in
Daplayazclub yeah, look at how favorable socialism is today. Did today’s youth forget about the Soviet Union? Oh wait, they did not live to experience it.
And that is a pretty good place to start. West and Robertson join the league that year, Wilt the year before. Russell came in 56', Pettit 54', Baylor 58'. So right around 1960, maybe a tad before is where some true superstars arrived and set the stage for a relatively modern style of play. Of course, subsequent stars have expanded on what they did, but about that time is when the game took off.
Milo Janis Yea the history of the NBA may have been changed if MS had lived. He was on that level with Baylor, Petitt and others. Can you imagine the Royals with Stokes, Twyman, Lucas, Embry, Big O, Adrian Smith. That would have been major competition with the Celtics in the East.
Good summary.Willis Reed was one of the most underrated centers in history.If he were playing today,He would teach the players a thing or two about body positioning.
Thank you for making this video. I'm so sick of arguing with people in comment sections about this subject. People think that Russel and Chamberlain played against plumbers and farmers. I subscribed, great job educating the unknowing .
Thank you for this wonderful footage. So tired of trying to tell the young folks about the players from my childhood and how great they were. This was long overdue.
They'd just act like they never saw it and continue with what they want to believe. It's not that people don't know, it's that they don't want to know. Honesty even with things as trivial as sports is frowned upon nowadays
I have been through the situation of defending the reputation of old great players so many times and it is often very frustrating. It seems like people are starting to disregard any footage or any players pre-1986. Michael Jordan was great but his greatness seems to have skewed the perception of the modern NBA fan to thinking anything before his time is now illegitimate. Hopefully, videos like this can help educate people about the greats that are still great and helped make lay the foundation for the NBA's extremely prosperous history.
Joe Slater Works both ways. Many old schoolers are discrediting newer players for no reason. And many youngters are discrediting older players. But, I feel like old heads are tougher towards LeBron James & Coe than the other way around.
I saw him play,nobody and I mean nobody in the history of the NBA was as dominating as this true great player past or present or future.Just amazing.One of a kind superstar
GREAT VIDEO!!! I'm sooo glad you finished up it up with the comment about how FREQUENTLY these guys played each other. Smaller league means more concentrated talent. Anyone remember the diluted talent during the era when the Heat, Timberwolves, Hornets, and Magic came into the league?
GREAT INFO!!! I'm 38 going on 39 in October💜♎🌀 so naturally I grew up watching the entire decades of 80s and 90s Centers. My favorite position in basketball. PFs next on my list. THE BIGS!!! I love ALL of those Centers. Man Wayne Embry was a MONSTER THOUGH!!!
On both sides of the spectrum, we have old schoolers saying today's players can't play the game of basketball. Which is a blatant disregard towards them. Because, players always been learning from the past, they copied their favorite players moves and tried to replicate them on the hardwood. Just like coaches. The strategies & the mentalities we're witnessing in today's game has been changing because rules have been modified in order to appeal the casual fans. Furthermore, players are dedicated to the gym. They are lifting weights and run intervals like I've never seen before : players had the luxury to have a strength coach, a nutritionist, a team doctor, a shooting coaches, etc. Way before the NBA was brought on television with colors, Bill Russell refused to lift iron, because he claimed it wouldn't make him a better player. If he was born in the 1990s, he would benefit from those advantages. Different time period. On the other side, we have newer fan stating old school players can't play. They don't understand that their equipments (shoes, court) were rudimentary; facilities weren't as develop as today (gym, cafeteria, transport); rules and strategies were obviously different. As an example, players were staying longer on the court, because coaches and medical stafff weren't aware that more stress on your body can cause more injuries. Sorry for the log text. But, I am tired of this war. I was raised in the 80s before Jordan was even a "thing", and since that time, it's the same war : Old vs New. BTW, sorry for my poor sentences, I am not a native English speaker.
Dave Toussaint great point. Because of that you have to compare players for what they did in their era rather than their actual game because the players of today have many more advantages than someone from the late 50s would have had.
C L It's depend. Yes and no. You can't simply took PPG, TRB, AST and compared players from different time period and extrapolating. For instance, for the 1962 season, the league average was 118.8 PPG (no three-point line), 71.4 TRB, 24 AST/G. How is it fair to compared that to a player, let's say, Karl Malone playing in the 1999 season? 91.6 PPG, 41.7 TRB, 20.7 AST/G. Pace was at his lowest in the NBA history (shot clock era)... Now, if you are still tempted to compare players from different era, you have to use advance metrics (TRB%, TS%, etc.) As the premise demonstrated earlier, who could be possibly the best rebounder ever? No one really knows because Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell & let's say Rodman didn't played each other. Knowing, there were more rebounds available in the past, you can't use TRB/G to compare. But, when you looked at the TRB% (or estimated TRB% for pre-merger athletes), you understand the impact Dennis Rodman had the board. And it's not even close : skepticalsports.com/the-case-for-dennis-rodman-guide/ Is he better? Possibly. But, you can't hold his era against him.
Dave Toussaint I understand that many stats can't be compared throughout eras case in point Wilts 62 season could most likely never happen again. But when adjusted to pace of play you can compare players from different eras based off of what they each did in comparison to their peers at the time they did play.
Your channel is going to blow up. Huuuuuuge production value, so I appreciate the compliment. You ever want reference material or aid in fact-checking on Wilt era topics feel free to contact me - my email should be posted on my channel
Could you imagine Shaq or any big man for that matter, especially one that is 7'3 in his sneakers running the 440, winning the high jump, triple jump, Kansas shot put record at the same time dominating basketball. his stamina was unreal. One year he played every minute of every game. 48 minutes a game, never fouling out or taking a rest.
As great as Russell was, Wilt scored 60 points on him, and also had a 55 rebound game against him. Wilt would measure 7'2 1/2 in today's game. As athletic and mobile and strong as he was as well as stamina and could run like a horse in the 60's. With the academy's and the different training and diet etc etc, I could only imagine how good he would be today.
This moron talking about there were only 10 teams when Wilt came to the NBA. But that would make it harder, every team would have the top ten most dominant centers in the world at the time, no breaks, every game Wilt had to be on his game. He AVERAGED 50 points a game at GS, against a good center almost every game. Put Lebron in college right now, he would obviously dominate, but no way 50 a game.
This an awesome great video !!!! You cannot discredit these athletes of the 60s!!!!! Wilt and Bill will always be the best centers of all time then Kareem!
In Wilt's 50 ppg season in 1961-62, it looks like he played against: Bill Russell 12 times: Averaged 41.7 points and 27.9 rebounds Walt Bellamy 10 times: Averaged 52.7 points and 24.9 rebounds Bob Pettit 9 times: Averaged 54.2 points and 22.6 rebounds That's almost 40% of his games against HOF centers/PFs and still put up those numbers.
But do note that Bill at least slowed Wilt down some. Of Wilt's 4 worst games that year, 26 28 30 and 31 points - ALL of them were against Bill, and Wilt only averaged an "above average game" ONCE (61 points IIRC) out of the 12.
@@bricefleckenstein9666 Here's the problem, Mr. Russell didn't guard Wilt 1on1. When comparing head to head matchups people either forget or don't know the C's would auto triple Wilt like everyone else.
@@johnhenry2903 Wilt got double, much less triple, teamed QUITE A BIT LESS by the Celtics than by any other team. The Celtics KNEW Wilt was going to "get his points" most of the time, relied a lot more on Bill to play roadbump, while shutting down (as much as possible) the REST of the Wilt's team players for the win. I'm not saying it didn't happen, especially when Wilt was with the Warriors and didn't have a LOT of help - but it was pretty obvious in his 76ers seasons and even his early Lakers seasons before Bill retired.
@@bricefleckenstein9666 I generally don't even count his Laker days when talking about his dominance since he only played 1 season with them before blowing out his knee. However, if you watch his match-ups against the C's as a Warrior & 76er you'll find he was doubled frequently. Now I'll say the C's were far more disciplined and varied about when they were coming, but they nonetheless did it frequently.
This video needs more views! So many good points. I’m sick of hearing how the old nba was filled with “plumbers and doormen” or whatever bull talking heads want to parrot. Assuming that wide of a talent discrepancy between the ‘modern’ nba and ‘pre-modern’ nba is a common fallacy of understanding the past: what, those athletes didn’t compete to get as good as possible at their craft? They were somehow shorter, smaller, uncoordinated? Please, watch old games. Video footage of Russell gliding through the air would have sold a lot of converse in today’s nba! I believe that the NBA integrating in the 1950’s makes the case that these athletes were competing against the best America had to offer, which is unlike the early days of baseball and slow integration of football. So, how come we don’t hold Babe Ruth to the same diminishing standards? After all he never faced one of the best pitchers ever in Satchel Paige!
No, he was #2. Russell beat him like a drum and even Wilt, a great friend of Russell's admitted it saying that Russell did things that made his team win better than anyone else.
@@gdm49 nope wilt always destroyed russel 1 0n 1 and russel had a better team also a better coach wilt got 55 rebounds on russel and 34 pounts but lost cuz russel team was better
If you go by best player, it is Wilt. But one factor Russell had over Wilt was he hated losing. Both put out their best every minute of every game. But that difference in mentality is an edge that Russell enjoyed and capitalized on.
lol that clip at 1:30 of Wilt shaking his head is from the 1997 All Star Game when Glen Rice broke his record for most points in a half....I'll always remember that
Wilt had to because his teams were that bad. For his first 7 years in the league his teammates never shot higher than .382% in the playoffs combined. He was also their only hope of rebounds and defense. He didn't ask play 48 minutes a game, his coaches did. If he is a "stat padding loser" then what about Elgin Baylor? He averaged more shot attempts than anyone in history (more than Wilt) and went 0 for 8 in the Finals. Why doesn't he get ever the same negative treatment Wilt does?
Bill Russell was great in college. He was better offensively than people think. He made his teammates better. Great defensively and great at getting the ball into a fast break. Wilt was the greatest athlete ever to play center in my opinion.
he ran the floor like a sprinter, great finisher on the break, had a few good low post moves, and from what I saw could hit an open 15 footer. underrated on the offensive end.
I remember seeing the 50 greatest players at the nba halftime thing and I just couldn’t believe how little Shaq looked next to an old Wilt Chamberlain. I was like whaaa 😲😲😲?
Thanks for this masterpiece, you know, people will always be ignorant about stuff like history of the game, i am so grateful that there are so many of us that wanna learn about the game and appreciate each era by its own meassure. Keep it up.
Do not forget to mention these great centers were shortly to be followed by the likes of Unseld, Hayes, Gilmore, Laneir , Jabbar so these others carried into the seventies early eighties then we added Moses Malone and others
I saw Wilt play many times and there was no one, not even Russell, who could stop him. Wilt's all time record of 55 rebounds in one game was against Russell and the Celtics. Wilt regularly scored over 40 against Russell, who many said was the greatest defensive center ever. He couldn't stop Wilt!
He couldn't stop Wilt, but he knew how to beat Wilt -- over and over again. Even Wilt said he believed Russell was the greatest center of all-time because he always won. Reason: Russell had the incredible work ethic and was by far the smartest center who could psych out his opponents with regularity. Wilt said he chose Russell because Bill made everyone around him better and he (Wilt) was more of an individual player. They played each other 142 times. Russell won 88, Wilt won 54.
He couldn't stop him for 48 minutes but he could beat him like a drum. Russell was the smartest player of all time and psyched out his opponents. He was as fast as Wilt and could jump as high. It was his defense and creativity that led to him winning with regularity.
@@gdm49 You obviously have Wilt mixed up with someone else! Russell only dreamed of being able to handle Wilt. The only thing that made Russell successful was that he had a better TEAM than Wilt, at least until 1967 when Wilt finally got some good teammates and led his team to arguably the best team ever! Oh, and by the way, did Russell ever touch the top of the backboard? I doubt it! Wilt did many times. Russell couldn't make a good pimple on Big Wilt's butt!
@@davehill7257 They faced each other 142 times during the 10 years of their rivalry. Russell's Celtics won 85 while Wilt, who was with the Warriors, 76ers and Lakers during that period, was on the winning side 57 times. As to seeing Russell flick a coin off the top of the backboard, I saw him do it in person at Kezar Pavilion when he was at USF. Russell won nine championships to Wilt's one. The argument will rage on forever: Did Wilt just not know how to win, or did he lack the supporting cast that Russell enjoyed? Take the night he scored the 62. The Celtics won the game, 145-136. The Celtics led by 31 in the fourth quarter. Wilt scored 42 in the second half, but his team was never in the game. Russell fans say that was an all-too-familiar scenario when these two played, especially in the first five or six years of their duels. Wilt would score many points during garbage time when the game was out of reach. Wilt was the greatest offensive weapon of all time, but Bill was the greatest PLAYER of all-time. The goal is to win and nobody won like Bill Russell. You belittle Russell's jumping ability but he was the #3 ranked high jumper in the world and his best jump of 6'10", was 4 " better than Wilt's 6'6". Just keeping it real.
@@gdm49 I DO appreciate your reply but the more talented of the two was indeed Wilt. He could do it all! When it was said he was only a scorer he went out and led the league in assists. Of course we both know he was the best rebounder of all time and one of his records is 55 in one game and against Russell and the Celts. You say he scored a lot in garbage time but perhaps even though the game was out of reach due to less talented members with Wilt, he just wouldn't give up. He was without a doubt the most dominant man to ever play in the NBA. Take away Pippen and some of the other Bulls and what does Jordan do? When you compare Wilt's teams with Russell's teams it's the difference between night and day. Until 1967 when Philly finally got Wilt some help look at the difference. Cousy, Heinson, Sharman, Russell, Sanders, later Havlicek! What did Philly have? Only Wilt! It wasn't Wilt that kept them from winning and it wasn't Bill only who kept the Celts winning. If I was starting a team of all timers Wilt would be my first choice.
Many young fans think Wilt's competition was sub-par because they look small compared to him. Most modern players would look small compared to him too. In the "measured in shoes" era, Wilt would be shown as 7-3 on the team roster.
many young fans don't recognize the fact that if wilt's competition was sub par, then he would have won more than 2 championships. He played 14 years and won only 2 championships. If his competition was subpar then he would have won 14.
I'd love to know who was speaking during the video that played against them. It's amazing when so-called experts like BIll SImmons or Colin are clueless about the greatness of players in the 60's. Baylor and Connie Hawkins were Dr. J, before Dr. J, and the centers of that era were beyond belief. Gilmore, Lanier, Beatty, Reed, Thurmond Bellamy aren't even discussed in best ever discussions because Kareem, Wilt and Russelll even eclipsed those incredible centers. Kareem, Wilt and Russell were playing against a Hall of Fame lineup of big men in the 60's and 70's.
A lot of testimony throughout the video. Darrall Imhoff, Richie Guerrin, Rick Barry, Bob Pettit, a little bit of Phil Jackson and Jerry West, plus former coaches Fred Schauss and Alex Hannum, and "superstat" Harvey Pollack also Philly bball legend Sonny Hill
@@WiltChamberlainArchive He came a little later, but Dave Cowens deserves mention. He played against most of the guys mentioned in this video and won two rings with the Celtics.
Them shots swishing with the best accuracy I’ve ever seen in my life , I love old school basketball , grew up watching hardwood classics , I’d definitely blaze up to that shit nowadays
Well written! What about Wes Unseld. Maybe 70’s? Those six centers were incredible. Those critics simply want media attention. The speaker is excellent and accurate. THANKS!
Thank you for this entertaining and important video. This is so very important for the history of this great game. We tend to glorify the players we grow up watching and the older players begin to fade in our collective minds.
Darrel Be basketball player deluxe at 6'10 He gave Jabber and Wilt fits. You see how he ran the floor and could spot up 15ft away on a fast break and knock it down he did this repeatedly when I watched him play. Show me 1 center in the NBA now that can do tbat.
not gonna lie the best centers right now are bad but there is a huge wave of potentially great centers coming. Cousins, Towns, Davis, Jokic, Maker, and Embiid are the future of the C
Willis really was amazing in the 60s. In a lot of ways he was a new breed of center who could play both high and low post as well as step outside and drill the jumper. As you pointed out, he was a tremendously sound offensive player. He could rebound and play great defense too. He wasn't on the same level as Wilt or Russell (or Nate Thurmond, who I think is criminally underrated), but I think there's a good argument for placing him ahead of Beaty or Bellamy.
I was an acquaintance of Walt Bellamy, a son of his went to the same high school that I did. He was a very nice gentleman, who was also a great basketball player in the decade of the 60's, who doesn't receive the credit he deserves for being the caliber of center that he was. In my most humble opinion, only Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell were better in the 60's than Walt Bellamy at the center position, certainly nothing to be ashamed of, may he R.I.P. eternally...
I believe you have to consider this. Every one of these guys would have come into the league today with the same background as modern players. Weightlifting. Year round hoops. Money. Diet. Three point shot. A great player is a great player. They would all have been great today too.
Excellent video and does a great job of summarizing all this fine centers. I've been watching the NBA since 1965 and to this day Russell and Chamberlain are the two best centers I've seen. Ever. Russell is one of the two most intense competitors I've ever seen, the other being Michael Jordan. The thing you have to remember what a fire lived inside Russell. He had this "I am NOT going to lose" attitude that was by far the main reason the Celtics dominated. I hated Russell, mainly because Baylor and West were my two favorite players. As great as they were, they simply couldn't get past Russell. When the game was on the line Russell would either score a key basket, draw a foul, threw a pass, stole the ball, blocked a shot, or snagged the key rebound to win the game. There is absolutely no question in my mind that Bill Russell is the all time MVP. Chamberlain was the better athlete and more gifted performer, but Russell possessed more of the intangibles than anyone I've ever seen. I lived in Chicago during all of Jordan's career, and Michael had the same kind of fire in him that Russell had. The game he played against Utah when he had the flu was exactly the kind of thing that Russell would have done. Russell won more than Chamberlain in part because he had a better surrounding cast - maybe not superstars like Baylor and West and Robertson (except Cousy at the end of his career; Havlicek was with Russell for years, but I think of him more as the ultimate sixth man rather than a superstar, though he definitely deserved his induction into the HoF), but he also won because he played as if his life hinged on winning it all. What a lot of people don't grasp is that most of today's pros wouldn't even have made an NBA roster.There were only eight teams for much of the sixties, which meant that there weren't that many slots available. There are starters in the NBA today who couldn't have won back up jobs back then. The ignorance that exists about the NBA in the sixties is mind boggling. Even the fifties gets short changed. The three best players from the fifties - Bob Pettit, Bob Cousy, and George Mikan - would all be stars today. Mikan would be a power forward instead of a center, but he would be one of the toughest competitors in the league. He was a brawler and would easily be considered one of the hardest nosed players around. Bob Pettit is unquestionably the greatest forgotten player in the history of the NBA. Even people who dismiss the sixties will still grant the greatness of Baylor, West, Chamberlain, Robertson, and Russell. Bob Pettit was as good as those guys. He overlapped with this for several seasons and during that time averaged close to 20 rebounds a game. He was the first person to score 20,000 points in a career. People either forget or ignore the fact that if they were to be magically transferred to today, they would lift weights like today's players do. Pettit could easily have carried another 25 or 30 pounds and as tough as he was playing at a lighter weight, he'd have been incredibly tough today. Pettit would play today at around 250 of muscle, instead of a lean 225. Real quick on Wilt palming a basketball: there is actually a photography of Chamberlain palming two sixteen pound bowling balls, holding his arms straight out in both directions, holding them out as if they were basketballs. In the 1960s Chamberlain would go on talk shows and he would often pick up the host. I mean, he would simply stick out his arms, and pick up the host as if he were a little kid. Just an enormously powerful man.
Luke you are right..Zelmo was superb....I saw him in both the ABA and NBA...I am glad he finally made it into the hall...should have been years earlier.....
You omitted Jabbar. Kareem came into the league the year after Russell retired so we never saw them go head to head, but he played against Wilt , Willis and Thurmond. Kareem is the final answer to kids who claim how weak the centers were when Wilt and Russ dominated. Also going forward he played 20 years and never played anyone that came lose to the level of Wilt et al, except for Bill Walton who outplayed him in the regular season as well as the playoffs. My first game was game 7 when Havlicek stole the ball. But thanks, great, great great video.
Kareem by his own admission says that Nate Thurmond is the greatest defender he ever faced. Yet millennials these days claim Wilt couldn't score against long strong defenders.
Do you have a Wilt vs Knicks footage? I thought Simmons didn't tell the truth and it doesn't exist. How much of footage does really exist? I think it would be nice to make separate video about this performance. Of course only with enough footage. BTW, this is one of your better projects. Amazing display of talent of the 1960s centers. Although I would have Nate over Bells :)
Fred Kruse I don't talk about 100 point game. WCA mentioned here that he saw Wilt 73 points game footage in 1962 against Knicks. He also showed here some sample of highlights from that game. That's why I asked if there is more footage from that game.
For years I have heard a conspiracy theory against Wilt Chamberlain that many decades ago somebody at the NBA archives wiped away the broadcast footage of almost all of Wilt Chamberlains greatest performances as some sort of bias against him, and only preserved some of his worst performances and upsets (1969 Game 7, 1970 Game 7) The only broadcast footage that exists from the 1966-67 Sixers, one of the most dominant teams of all time, is a LOSS against Boston. And the 1972 first championship for the LA Lakers, only the first 3 quarters exist, not the final minutes or championship celebration.
@@Amick44 I'm a Nate Thurmond fan his skills as a center gets lost when talking about the Wilt and Russell during the golden age of center play during the 1960's.
I agree with all of your points and it's a great video, to see how skilled players were back then, more skilled than most players today. The league is more athletic and less skilled nowadays. Respect to the old generation
Zelmo Beaty, frustrated that he couldn't do anything against Wilt, yanked Wilt's shorts down. Wilt lashed out and Zelmo slid across the floor as if shot out of a cannon. Ref. Mendy Rudolph rushed over to Zelmo and said "For God's sake stay down, man. Don't even twitch a muscle!" Wilt was not someone you wanted to anger.
You have outdone yourself! This is by far the best visual display of NBA basketball talent outlining the physical, athletic and basketball skills that clearly dispels the idea that the best players of the 1960s era could not compete against what many believe were the best Centers from the 1980s/1990s (Olajuwon, Ewing, Robinson, Shaquille, Sampson, Smits, etc. and even against today's players like DeMarcus Cousins, Joel Embiid, Karl Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond, DeAndre Jordan and the new kid Deandre Ayton! Keep up the great work. Maybe you can do something on the positions like point guard, shooting guard, small forward and power forward. I would love to learn and see more about Sam Jones, Jerry West, Bob Pettit, Oscar Roberston, Hal Greer, Jerry Lucas, Elgin Baylor, Dick Barnett, Chet Walker, and others.
9:39 idk if anyone else noticed, but after getting scored on by Bill Russell Wilt Chamberlain slaps his butt. Great sportsmanship from both legendary giants.
Great video. Thank you. I am glad somebody finally published what a lot of us older fans already knew. The 60s to the mid 70s was loaded with great, big, and strong centers, as well as great players at all of the positions. No plumbers or taxi drivers in the bunch, as far as I can remember. I enjoyed the 80s a little more, because it was easier to find and watch NBA games on TV, but the early, mid 60s to the mid 70s had some great watches, when you could find them. Buy the way; we can thank Wilt, first, then Russell, and the other great centers and other players like Oscar, Earl, West, Frazier, and others, for getting big TV contracts and exposure for the NBA. Wilt was the reason for TV interest, to start with. He was the one people wanted to watch, whether at live games, or on TV.
Far too many people think Wilt played against 6 6 guys. Thanks for this video to show there were some really big men playing prior to the espn, Bird Magic era.
The NBA changed the rules to make it harder on Wilt but easier on Mike. And, regardless of the argument the man STILL holds 90 NBA records. GOAT, period.
@@gdm49 I would suggest that before you post, please check your information. The NBA changed THREE rules DUE to WILT. If you do not know what those were, google is your friend.
@@chuckgraham1695 I would suggest that before you post you know what the hell you are talking about. Bill Russell was so dominant in college that after his performance for USF at the 1955 NCAA tournament two rule changes were enacted in college basketball, not the NBA: (1) The lane was widened from 6 to 12 feet to make it more difficult to pack in offensively, post up, etc. and (2) offensive goaltending or basket interference. This was to lessen his impact on rebounding which he totally dominated. Wilt was a great athlete but no better than Bill whose dominance over Wilt in the win column was the difference between the two. The NBA continued the rule changes when Wilt entered the league. Two best players of all time. Saw them play one another many times.
@@gdm49 www.nba.com/history/legends/profiles/wilt-chamberlain#:~:text=These%20rules%20changed%20included%20widening,the%20ball%20in%20the%20basket). You may check out any link you wish to see the rules changes forced by Chamberlain and NOT Russell in the NBA. I made no comments nor suggestions about anything in his college career, nor will I. This was strictly based on what the man did in the NBA and just how dominating he was.
Bill Russell changed the game deserves that respect for using his athleticism to dominate every aspect of the game he was like a point center there would be no “unicorn” without him
Fewer teams makes the league better, as the best players would be vying for fewer jobs! This was a great video! The top 6 centres in the 1960's could play in any era!
I saw Wilt play many times, on TV and in person, and there is no one in this day and age who would match up with him. NO ONE! Bill Russell has been said to be the dominant defensive center in history and Wilt AVERAGED over 40 against him. Wilt also grabbed his record 55 rebounds in a game against Russell! He was the best!
Saw him and Russ play sooo many times at Old convention Hall and the Spectrum a few times. Felt like I was at the Colluseum in Rome. Always supercharged event!
I've had guys tell me rhat Wilt dominated because he didn't play against "anyone". I've tried to explain that there were a lot of talented bigs back then. Don't forget the early 70's, he faced Kareem, Cowens and others...
@@johnnythekid4601Bronsexuals discredit the players of Jordan’s era as much as they discredit Wilt and Bill Russell’s competition. That’s why they are my least favorite fanbase in the NBA.
Having seen both Russell and Wilt play dozens of times against guys like Bellamy, Thurmond, Beaty, etc., I laugh when people make dumb claims about playing against short white guys. Basketball in the days of Wilt and Bill was a MAN'S game. You didn't have a bunch of skinny kids who are barely out of high school. You had men playing the game and it was so much more physical than today's game. Also with 8-10 teams, every team was deep and loaded. Wilt and Russell were incredible athletes, not just basketball players. Today's centers wouldn't have a prayer against either one, or Thurmon,d or Bellamy, etc.
As I recall, there was at least one team in the 1960s had *3* future Hall of Fame players - and didn't even make the playoffs. Lakers had West, Baylor, and Goodrich in 1966-1967 - and lost in the *1'st round* to a 76ers team that had *4* HOF players (and eventually beat a Celtics team with *5* HOF players) on Wilt's way to his first championship. Today, a 3 HOF team better be in the Finals and WIN and is considered "seriously stacked" - back then it was barely playoff material with *2* members of the 50 YEAR TEAM on it (West and Baylor are also on the new 75 Year team as well).
@@trollkenobi6727 As opposed to an earlier version of the Warriors, with Wilt - had 4 future Hall of Fame players and didn't even make the playoffs at all. That was the year after Wilt had his 50.4 PPG season - they ended up with a LOSING RECORD the following season. 1962-1963 season. Wilt, Tom Gola, Al Attles, Guy Rogers from that team are all in the Hall.
Phenomenal intro. Your videos are truly amazing. I wish you could just accompany me every where I go in case I get into a debate about Wilt and old school basketball.
I'll point out all the height data I was using to compare those players with modern players was based on their barefoot data (acquired through news archives) vs modern barefoot data from the draft. Not listed info - which tends to not be accurate or created equally.
Bill Russell 6'11 240 lbs and Wilt Chamberlain 7'2 285 lbs
and you believe LeBron is closer to 6'8 or 6'9 and Moses Malone 6'11 235 lbs but listed as 210 lbs no weight was right in this
Thank you bruh i needed this for the wilt era
Moses may have been 215-220 as a rook in Utah, but at Philly and beyond more like 250 -265.
Carlos Reid Chamberlain was 7'1" and while in the league played at weights ranging from 275-310 lbs from his rookie year to his final year. Weight isn't static and some players decided to go for different weights throughout their career.
Didn't know Lucas got to that, but maybe. Lanier, later on, may have been around 300. Some broadcasters were saying that. I remember for a while, probably as a rook, Tim Hardaway at 6 ft, was listed at 175. Doug Collins (color commentator) said he was at least 215. He didn't look wrong on that.
Wilt and Bill could play in any era. Period!!!!
Underworld Films both were better shot blocker than anybody today
Right;
250txc wilt was superman strong and bill Russell was an underrated scorer
@@lloydkline7245 Both these great players stand at the top in many ways
@@lloydkline7245 And better rebounders and passers.
Great video! It should be noted that while in the ABA, Zelmo Beaty had a loose piece of cartlidge in his knee. The doctors said that he could either shut it down for the year by going through surgery to remove the cartlidge or play through the intense pain and wait for the cartlidge to detach so a doctor could remove it through an easy, albeit painful procedure. Beaty decided to play through the pain. During a game he felt something weird in his knee, so he went back to the locker room and the trainer said that the cartlidge did in fact detach. Instead of taking the rest of the night off and getting it done by a doctor he had the team's trainer take a pair or tweezers, go INTO his knee, dig around and pull the cartlidge out. He had no painkillers and apparently it took 20 minutes but the trainer finally dug out the piece of cartlidge and pulled it out. Then they stitched up the hole and slapped a band aid on it so Zelmo could finish the game. That was what was left of the cartlidge in his knee and Beatty not only finished the game but won an ABA championship that year with Utah despite having zero cartlidge left in one of his knees.
Say what you want about his lack of vertical, but Zelmo Beatty was a great ballplayer and a warrior.
Marquis de Suave lmao *slapped a band-aid*
99.9% of fans have never heard of this great player. A real shame.
My favorite after Wilt. As the film said Zelmo could do it all. I just couldn't understand why Atlanta got no further than they did. One of the NBA Teams that never made it to the NBA Finals.
The St. Louis Hawks won an NBA Championship, the Atlanta Hawks has never done that, never got close in Atlanta.
@@sirrjazz734 - Once the Celtic Dynasty of the 60s was formed, only Wilt's '67 Sixers could get past them. Russell was truly great, but those were team championships. During the decade the Celtics never had fewer than 5 future hall-of-famers on their roster, and 1 year had as many as 9.
Oh my God, imagine someone did that today you would never stop hearing about it, thats insane
Another thing people never mention, those rims had no forgiveness. They were just bolted to the backboard, there was no springs in them. These guys had great accuracy and touch to put up the scoring numbers they did, there was no "shooters role" like they have on the soft rims now. It also hurt to dunk on those rims, they would leave bruises on your wrists and forearms, no forgiveness at all.
Trueee
Well written..those rims were rough
Amen. If you saw a guy with wristbands halfway up his forearms, you'd better be ready to box out.
This channel has to be one of the best on UA-cam, I love it. Keep it going man! Oh, and Michael Rapaport really needs to educate himself, it's just embarrassing listening to him speak.
Great video and conclusions. To show just how tough the league was in 1965, the guards that sat on the Laker's bench (Jim King, Walt Hazzard and Gail Goodrich) became all-stars after expansion.
Super point, Johnny J.
Gail is in the Hall, and was the #2 option for the Lakers in the late 1960s/early 1970s behind West - and AHEAD of Wilt or McMillan.
I think Walt is also in the Hall, not 100% sure there though.
Don't remember Jim, pretty sure he's not in the Hall.
@@VictorLionsTV Bill made a similar point to MJ at least once, about a guy that won a championship for the Bills on a last-minute shot.
I forget the exact quote, but Bill pointed out that early in his time, there were only 90 openings for players in the league - and the player that made that shot doesn't even make a team and MJ doesn't win that championship.
@@bricefleckenstein9666 Bill Russell was talking about John Paxon
Willis Reed was a GREAT and SMART offensive player. Imagine a fast, quick, and agile Zach Randolph at Randolph's APEX with a hint of David Robinson's face-up game.
That's a great comparison bruh. He's arguably a better big man than Ewing, too.
The average height of a NBA player today is 6'7" and the average height of a player of the 60s was 6'6"
People act like he played against 6'0" centers or something
Morons who refuse to give Bill and Wilt their due.
@@Amick44 Agreed. These young know it all fans probably think Gehrig and Ruth batted against college all-star pitchers whos' fastball could be timed with an hour glass! Gimme a break. People who think these guys couldn't play in the "modern" NBA don't think, period!! I remember Henry Finkle, another 7 footer. And 7 foot Reggie Harding. What tremendous potential Reggie had. I noted the statement "No other footage of Harding exists". How sad......
I spent 2 years around Wilt's college teammate and roommate. Ron Loneski was the Power Forward and our HS Varsity Coach starting my 10th Grade Year. Dude was a HORSE! At 42, Coach Loneski was still running 2 miles per day. When Andrew Bynum entered the league in 2005 he couldn't run a mile straight!!! LOL!!! So how well would Andrew Bynum have done back then!!! Those guys all ran Cross Country during the Fall Season. EVERY HIGH SCHOOL COACH REQUIRED IT!!! LOL!!!
They were also measured barefooted which would make the heights the same as today.
These are same nitwits who claim Mike Tyson would knockout prime Ali and Foreman.
If I saw a young 62 Wilt and a young 89 MJ I'm taking Wilt to start my team.
Asher Lee p
I'd take a young LeBron
Wilt
Same here
You know that's an interesting question , I don't know who I'd take. I'd salivate at thought of picking Wilt over Jordan though.
Chris Lee big wilt was very special physically
As Wilt told MJ , when you came into the league they changed the rules so that you could dominate, when I came into the league they changed the rules so that I couldn’t dominate.
💯
Same with Curry
That's true. Period. Says a lot.
Thank you so much for educating the kids. I'm 67 and grew up watching these guys, and it gets really tiresome to hear the ignorance and arrogance of these kids judging something they know nothing about. You took on most all of their talking points and the clips clearly show the quickness and athleticism of these great players.
Yes im not omd but i still can understand that great people would still be great in any era its like they think ali could not win a boxing match today cause "people are stronger now" or whatever shit are in their head idk
Kids think Shaq is better than Bill Russell. LOL.
@@juicethreetwo Hakeem gave Shaq fits.
Bill was a BETTER jumper than Hakeem (ranked #7 high jumper in the WORLD at one point), about the same quickness and agility, and THOUGHT more.
People need to be educated about the real greats. These old timers played for the "love of the game" and not "money." They did all that they accomplished without a training table, weight rooms, personal trainers, sports psychologist, et Al. Stars today mirror these players, just don't know it. Look at Dr. J, then look at Mike.
They don't know..they were not born..clueless
Dude, all these centers have badass scoring skills. You can't find 6 centers with a variety of moves to score by themselves in nba today.
Chris No. Embiid has to stay on the floor for an entire season.
Kristaps is nice. We need to see a revolution of big men, instead of just one or the other dominating it needs to be both. Tim Duncan and Tony Parker/Ginobili, Shaq and Kobe, Stockton and Malone. 80s and 90s had the best balance imo.
1. Anthony Davis
2. DeMarcus Cousins
3. KarlAnthony-Towns
4. Joel Embiid
5. Blake Griffin
6. Kristaps Porizingis
7. Marc Gasol
8. Pau Gasol
9. Dirk Nowitzki
10. Giannis Antetokounmpo
Did you 4 better ;)
Antony Taylor centres hey?
Jesus Shuttlesworth Forgot Cousins
The biggest factor IMO is the arrival of high-quality film and video footage of NBA games in 1968-70.
Prior to that most footage is blurry and flickering BW film from the 1960s which looks very much like it was shot in prehistoric times. Camera angles were different (lower) so the games looked very different (i.e. like high school games).
Thing is, many of the early-60s centers (Wilt, Bellamy) were still active in the early 70s when we started to get (limited) NFL-Films quality game footage, along with higher definition video, and all of sudden they looked more like modern players.
Note that there were only 9 NBA teams in the 61-62 season in which Wilt AVERAGED 50ppg. This resulted in him playing Russell
a whopping 12 times in the regular season.
ua-cam.com/video/46RutBTe-as/v-deo.html for Bill's full comment about that - you're mostly correct about the quote but incomplete.
J bill Russell was injured twice and didn’t play in 2 of those games
And this is what people don't get when they say such nonsense. Fewer teams _concentrates_ talent, and more teams dilute it. Wilt and Russell played against HOF centers for the majority of their careers.
@@kingofnewyork7765 Are you trying to make an argument out of 2 games in one season because the video is talking about the decade of the 60’s
@@Fantline wilts average dropped in 8/8 series he played against Russell, his efficiency dropped 7/8 times even though Wolts team had the best record in the league from 1966-1968, and much better team in 69 with the lakers but still choked
Idiots don't realize that you're only as good as your competition. The game changes and rules change. Different eras but same effort.
ksd3434 couldnt have said it better
ksd3434 I think there are very few people who could still be elite in any era
NO ! Same effort =YES ! Same competition= NO !!!
Brian well done on completely missing the point genius.
Pure Luminous nah theres alot.
Mj, Lbj, wilt, Kobe, hakeem, bird, magic, duncan, Shaq, The admiral, wade, kg, dirk, kareem, Russel, westbrook, tmac, rose, kd, ray allen, pierce, ewing, carter, clyde, melo, Klay Thompson, ben wallace, ron artest, scottie Pip, chris paul, jason kidd, barkely, Blake Griffin, stockton, Karl Malone, ect..ect. There os so many players who would be elite in any era u put them in
History is easily forgotten.
Daplayazclub Courtesy of the Jordan era.
Or never known.
@@najeenixon1834 Ditto
Daplayazclub yeah, look at how favorable socialism is today. Did today’s youth forget about the Soviet Union? Oh wait, they did not live to experience it.
Especially when you don’t want to remember
thank you very much. I'm sick of all these statements about how easy the 60s were. When i take notes for the greatests ever i start counting from 1960
And that is a pretty good place to start. West and Robertson join the league that year, Wilt the year before. Russell came in 56', Pettit 54', Baylor 58'. So right around 1960, maybe a tad before is where some true superstars arrived and set the stage for a relatively modern style of play. Of course, subsequent stars have expanded on what they did, but about that time is when the game took off.
Don't forget Maurice Stokes. He came I believe a year before Russell. In his brief time he also help set the stage for modern basketball.
@@rileymrr1 Poor Maurice. Nobody today knows much about him, or what happened to him......
Milo Janis
Yea the history of the NBA may have been changed if MS had lived. He was on that level with Baylor, Petitt and others. Can you imagine the Royals with Stokes, Twyman, Lucas, Embry, Big O, Adrian Smith. That would have been major competition with the Celtics in the East.
I would start from 1955, the year the shot clock was invented.
Good summary.Willis Reed was one of the most underrated centers in history.If he were playing today,He would teach the players a thing or two about body positioning.
Thank you for making this video. I'm so sick of arguing with people in comment sections about this subject. People think that Russel and Chamberlain played against plumbers and farmers. I subscribed, great job educating the unknowing .
The fact is Bill and Wilt played against several excellent centers. The other 4 primarily featured here are ALL legit HOF ers.
Thank you for this wonderful footage. So tired of trying to tell the young folks about the players from my childhood and how great they were. This was long overdue.
That guy watching Kareem play and not knowing basically sums up those guys who say Wilt and Russell played against bums. Complete ignorance.
Don't get too mad, 😂 his names Troydan and that video wasn't fully serious (atleast I hope not) he was doing it for a joke.
@@ninjaturtleR8871 true but he didn’t recognize Kareem anyway so that doesn’t appease his case
Kareem better kneel down to allah & thank him he never had to face Russell or Wilt in their primes!
He's probably a dumb joo like Rappaport
@@morrisparrish76Puhleeze
I wish all current NBA "fans" would watch this
No, they would find something bad say about it, love watching 1950s,1960s,1970s, 1980s nba basketball
They'd just act like they never saw it and continue with what they want to believe. It's not that people don't know, it's that they don't want to know. Honesty even with things as trivial as sports is frowned upon nowadays
They aren’t real fans of the game. Mostly the hype, the star power, the spectacle
I wish all the current NBA fans would GTF up!
GREAT DECADE OF GREAT HOF CENTERS...
Walt Bellamy, great nba center
I have been through the situation of defending the reputation of old great players so many times and it is often very frustrating. It seems like people are starting to disregard any footage or any players pre-1986. Michael Jordan was great but his greatness seems to have skewed the perception of the modern NBA fan to thinking anything before his time is now illegitimate. Hopefully, videos like this can help educate people about the greats that are still great and helped make lay the foundation for the NBA's extremely prosperous history.
Joe Slater
Works both ways. Many old schoolers are discrediting newer players for no reason.
And many youngters are discrediting older players. But, I feel like old heads are tougher towards LeBron James & Coe than the other way around.
Legend33Larry that is true, it would be wonderfull if everone could understand each other better.
Joe Slater I totally agree with you brother Joe . But when we have a closed mind to what we don't know or understand I don't that a change will come
@@Legend33Larry players from the 60s hardly ever say anything bad about players
@@Legend33Larry 60s players don’t say anything negative about todays players. When have you heard Russell say anything bad about todays players?
I saw him play,nobody and I mean nobody in the history of the NBA was as dominating as this true great player past or present or future.Just amazing.One of a kind superstar
GREAT VIDEO!!!
I'm sooo glad you finished up it up with the comment about how FREQUENTLY these guys played each other. Smaller league means more concentrated talent. Anyone remember the diluted talent during the era when the Heat, Timberwolves, Hornets, and Magic came into the league?
GREAT INFO!!! I'm 38 going on 39 in October💜♎🌀 so naturally I grew up watching the entire decades of 80s and 90s Centers. My favorite position in basketball. PFs next on my list. THE BIGS!!! I love ALL of those Centers. Man Wayne Embry was a MONSTER THOUGH!!!
On both sides of the spectrum, we have old schoolers saying today's players can't play the game of basketball. Which is a blatant disregard towards them. Because, players always been learning from the past, they copied their favorite players moves and tried to replicate them on the hardwood.
Just like coaches. The strategies & the mentalities we're witnessing in today's game has been changing because rules have been modified in order to appeal the casual fans.
Furthermore, players are dedicated to the gym. They are lifting weights and run intervals like I've never seen before : players had the luxury to have a strength coach, a nutritionist, a team doctor, a shooting coaches, etc.
Way before the NBA was brought on television with colors, Bill Russell refused to lift iron, because he claimed it wouldn't make him a better player. If he was born in the 1990s, he would benefit from those advantages.
Different time period.
On the other side, we have newer fan stating old school players can't play. They don't understand that their equipments (shoes, court) were rudimentary; facilities weren't as develop as today (gym, cafeteria, transport); rules and strategies were obviously different. As an example, players were staying longer on the court, because coaches and medical stafff weren't aware that more stress on your body can cause more injuries.
Sorry for the log text. But, I am tired of this war. I was raised in the 80s before Jordan was even a "thing", and since that time, it's the same war : Old vs New.
BTW, sorry for my poor sentences, I am not a native English speaker.
Dave Toussaint Yeah, I hate that argument. We don't know how good past players would've been with modern day training.
Dave Toussaint great point. Because of that you have to compare players for what they did in their era rather than their actual game because the players of today have many more advantages than someone from the late 50s would have had.
C L
It's depend. Yes and no. You can't simply took PPG, TRB, AST and compared players from different time period and extrapolating.
For instance, for the 1962 season, the league average was 118.8 PPG (no three-point line), 71.4 TRB, 24 AST/G.
How is it fair to compared that to a player, let's say, Karl Malone playing in the 1999 season?
91.6 PPG, 41.7 TRB, 20.7 AST/G. Pace was at his lowest in the NBA history (shot clock era)...
Now, if you are still tempted to compare players from different era, you have to use advance metrics (TRB%, TS%, etc.)
As the premise demonstrated earlier, who could be possibly the best rebounder ever? No one really knows because Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell & let's say Rodman didn't played each other. Knowing, there were more rebounds available in the past, you can't use TRB/G to compare.
But, when you looked at the TRB% (or estimated TRB% for pre-merger athletes), you understand the impact Dennis Rodman had the board. And it's not even close :
skepticalsports.com/the-case-for-dennis-rodman-guide/
Is he better? Possibly. But, you can't hold his era against him.
Dave Toussaint I understand that many stats can't be compared throughout eras case in point Wilts 62 season could most likely never happen again. But when adjusted to pace of play you can compare players from different eras based off of what they each did in comparison to their peers at the time they did play.
It's not that they can't play, it is a 2-3 passes then kick it out to the 3pt line for a long, usually wide-open shot, game
Wow.... who woke up the giant. WCA is not playing!! Keep it coming and tell um!!
Your channel is going to blow up. Huuuuuuge production value, so I appreciate the compliment. You ever want reference material or aid in fact-checking on Wilt era topics feel free to contact me - my email should be posted on my channel
Thank you! i absolutely will be contacting you
Could you imagine Shaq or any big man for that matter, especially one that is 7'3 in his sneakers running the 440, winning the high jump, triple jump, Kansas shot put record at the same time dominating basketball. his stamina was unreal. One year he played every minute of every game. 48 minutes a game, never fouling out or taking a rest.
As great as Russell was, Wilt scored 60 points on him, and also had a 55 rebound game against him. Wilt would measure 7'2 1/2 in today's game. As athletic and mobile and strong as he was as well as stamina and could run like a horse in the 60's. With the academy's and the different training and diet etc etc, I could only imagine how good he would be today.
This moron talking about there were only 10 teams when Wilt came to the NBA. But that would make it harder, every team would have the top ten most dominant centers in the world at the time, no breaks, every game Wilt had to be on his game. He AVERAGED 50 points a game at GS, against a good center almost every game. Put Lebron in college right now, he would obviously dominate, but no way 50 a game.
This an awesome great video !!!! You cannot discredit these athletes of the 60s!!!!! Wilt and Bill will always be the best centers of all time then Kareem!
Bill Russell and wilt greatest shot blocker a d rebounder ever
In Wilt's 50 ppg season in 1961-62, it looks like he played against:
Bill Russell 12 times: Averaged 41.7 points and 27.9 rebounds
Walt Bellamy 10 times: Averaged 52.7 points and 24.9 rebounds
Bob Pettit 9 times: Averaged 54.2 points and 22.6 rebounds
That's almost 40% of his games against HOF centers/PFs and still put up those numbers.
Wilt was unstoppable that year, give wilt the ball then move out the way
But do note that Bill at least slowed Wilt down some.
Of Wilt's 4 worst games that year, 26 28 30 and 31 points - ALL of them were against Bill, and Wilt only averaged an "above average game" ONCE (61 points IIRC) out of the 12.
@@bricefleckenstein9666 Here's the problem, Mr. Russell didn't guard Wilt 1on1. When comparing head to head matchups people either forget or don't know the C's would auto triple Wilt like everyone else.
@@johnhenry2903 Wilt got double, much less triple, teamed QUITE A BIT LESS by the Celtics than by any other team.
The Celtics KNEW Wilt was going to "get his points" most of the time, relied a lot more on Bill to play roadbump, while shutting down (as much as possible) the REST of the Wilt's team players for the win.
I'm not saying it didn't happen, especially when Wilt was with the Warriors and didn't have a LOT of help - but it was pretty obvious in his 76ers seasons and even his early Lakers seasons before Bill retired.
@@bricefleckenstein9666 I generally don't even count his Laker days when talking about his dominance since he only played 1 season with them before blowing out his knee. However, if you watch his match-ups against the C's as a Warrior & 76er you'll find he was doubled frequently. Now I'll say the C's were far more disciplined and varied about when they were coming, but they nonetheless did it frequently.
This video needs more views! So many good points. I’m sick of hearing how the old nba was filled with “plumbers and doormen” or whatever bull talking heads want to parrot. Assuming that wide of a talent discrepancy between the ‘modern’ nba and ‘pre-modern’ nba is a common fallacy of understanding the past: what, those athletes didn’t compete to get as good as possible at their craft? They were somehow shorter, smaller, uncoordinated? Please, watch old games. Video footage of Russell gliding through the air would have sold a lot of converse in today’s nba!
I believe that the NBA integrating in the 1950’s makes the case that these athletes were competing against the best America had to offer, which is unlike the early days of baseball and slow integration of football. So, how come we don’t hold Babe Ruth to the same diminishing standards? After all he never faced one of the best pitchers ever in Satchel Paige!
Wilt Chamberlain is number one.
No, he was #2. Russell beat him like a drum and even Wilt, a great friend of Russell's admitted it saying that Russell did things that made his team win better than anyone else.
@@gdm49 nope wilt always destroyed russel 1 0n 1 and russel had a better team also a better coach wilt got 55 rebounds on russel and 34 pounts but lost cuz russel team was better
Imagine wilt with bills work ethic
Imagine Wilt if he and his teams got the calls by referees the Celtics got.
If you go by best player, it is Wilt. But one factor Russell had over Wilt was he hated losing. Both put out their best every minute of every game. But that difference in mentality is an edge that Russell enjoyed and capitalized on.
I literally just subscribed to this channel a few hours ago and I made a great decision.
PrezSteej welcome to great content
Like if Wilt is the Goat
Alm1ghty oakinW Wilt wasn't even hardly human
Ahhh, apples and oranges , though. Not fair to compare C's to wing players. Different games.
lol that clip at 1:30 of Wilt shaking his head is from the 1997 All Star Game when Glen Rice broke his record for most points in a half....I'll always remember that
If anyone thinks five Jordans or five LeBrons on the court are going to beat a team of five Wilts then they're out of their mind.
Wilt had to because his teams were that bad. For his first 7 years in the league his teammates never shot higher than .382% in the playoffs combined. He was also their only hope of rebounds and defense. He didn't ask play 48 minutes a game, his coaches did. If he is a "stat padding loser" then what about Elgin Baylor? He averaged more shot attempts than anyone in history (more than Wilt) and went 0 for 8 in the Finals. Why doesn't he get ever the same negative treatment Wilt does?
Bill Russell was great in college. He was better offensively than people think. He made his teammates better. Great defensively and great at getting the ball into a fast break. Wilt was the greatest athlete ever to play center in my opinion.
he ran the floor like a sprinter, great finisher on the break, had a few good low post moves, and from what I saw could hit an open 15 footer. underrated on the offensive end.
I have a throwback jersey of Russell from his college of San Francisco.
The centers of the 60's would destroy the centers of today!
good video men , wilt would be proud of your work .
This may well be the best thing you've ever put together!
Finally someone who knows his stuff about basketball. I've always said the best years for centers in the NBA were the 60s and 70s.
I remember seeing the 50 greatest players at the nba halftime thing and I just couldn’t believe how little Shaq looked next to an old Wilt Chamberlain. I was like whaaa 😲😲😲?
The sixth guy on this list would destroy today's best centers by many orders of magnitude.
How mean did you see those moves 3:28 ? 😳
I didn’t expect that. Wow.
A good center in today’s NBA like Andre Drummond couldn’t do this things.
10:59 wilt literally almost doing the splits in mid air on that block......insane. What an amazing athlete and generational talent.
Quite possibly the most knowledgeable and highest quality basketball channels I have ever watched. Subbed
Thanks for this masterpiece, you know, people will always be ignorant about stuff like history of the game, i am so grateful that there are so many of us that wanna learn about the game and appreciate each era by its own meassure. Keep it up.
Thanks for clearing up the misinformation. Gotta respect the greats!
Do not forget to mention these great centers were shortly to be followed by the likes of Unseld, Hayes, Gilmore, Laneir , Jabbar so these others carried into the seventies early eighties then we added Moses Malone and others
I saw Wilt play many times and there was no one, not even Russell, who could stop him. Wilt's all time record of 55 rebounds in one game was against Russell and the Celtics. Wilt regularly scored over 40 against Russell, who many said was the greatest defensive center ever. He couldn't stop Wilt!
He couldn't stop Wilt, but he knew how to beat Wilt -- over and over again. Even Wilt said he believed Russell was the greatest center of all-time because he always won. Reason: Russell had the incredible work ethic and was by far the smartest center who could psych out his opponents with regularity. Wilt said he chose Russell because Bill made everyone around him better and he (Wilt) was more of an individual player. They played each other 142 times. Russell won 88, Wilt won 54.
He couldn't stop him for 48 minutes but he could beat him like a drum. Russell was the smartest player of all time and psyched out his opponents. He was as fast as Wilt and could jump as high. It was his defense and creativity that led to him winning with regularity.
@@gdm49 You obviously have Wilt mixed up with someone else! Russell only dreamed of being able to handle Wilt. The only thing that made Russell successful was that he had a better TEAM than Wilt, at least until 1967 when Wilt finally got some good teammates and led his team to arguably the best team ever! Oh, and by the way, did Russell ever touch the top of the backboard? I doubt it! Wilt did many times. Russell couldn't make a good pimple on Big Wilt's butt!
@@davehill7257 They faced each other 142 times during the 10 years of their rivalry. Russell's Celtics won 85 while Wilt, who was with the Warriors, 76ers and Lakers during that period, was on the winning side 57 times. As to seeing Russell flick a coin off the top of the backboard, I saw him do it in person at Kezar Pavilion when he was at USF. Russell won nine championships to Wilt's one. The argument will rage on forever: Did Wilt just not know how to win, or did he lack the supporting cast that Russell enjoyed?
Take the night he scored the 62. The Celtics won the game, 145-136. The Celtics led by 31 in the fourth quarter. Wilt scored 42 in the second half, but his team was never in the game. Russell fans say that was an all-too-familiar scenario when these two played, especially in the first five or six years of their duels. Wilt would score many points during garbage time when the game was out of reach. Wilt was the greatest offensive weapon of all time, but Bill was the greatest PLAYER of all-time. The goal is to win and nobody won like Bill Russell. You belittle Russell's jumping ability but he was the #3 ranked high jumper in the world and his best jump of 6'10", was 4 " better than Wilt's 6'6". Just keeping it real.
@@gdm49 I DO appreciate your reply but the more talented of the two was indeed Wilt. He could do it all! When it was said he was only a scorer he went out and led the league in assists. Of course we both know he was the best rebounder of all time and one of his records is 55 in one game and against Russell and the Celts. You say he scored a lot in garbage time but perhaps even though the game was out of reach due to less talented members with Wilt, he just wouldn't give up. He was without a doubt the most dominant man to ever play in the NBA. Take away Pippen and some of the other Bulls and what does Jordan do? When you compare Wilt's teams with Russell's teams it's the difference between night and day. Until 1967 when Philly finally got Wilt some help look at the difference. Cousy, Heinson, Sharman, Russell, Sanders, later Havlicek! What did Philly have? Only Wilt! It wasn't Wilt that kept them from winning and it wasn't Bill only who kept the
Celts winning. If I was starting a team of all timers Wilt would be my first choice.
Look at the beautiful form & nice touch on Willis Reed! 6'10" + rock hard & shooting like that?
Many young fans think Wilt's competition was sub-par because they look small compared to him. Most modern players would look small compared to him too. In the "measured in shoes" era, Wilt would be shown as 7-3 on the team roster.
many young fans don't recognize the fact that if wilt's competition was sub par, then he would have won more than 2 championships. He played 14 years and won only 2 championships. If his competition was subpar then he would have won 14.
SHAQ MADE MOST PLAYERS LOOK SMALL BUT NO ONE MENTIONS THAT
@@doitall36 In the many photos of Wilt and Shaq together, Wilt makes Shaq look small too!
I'd love to know who was speaking during the video that played against them. It's amazing when so-called experts like BIll SImmons or Colin are clueless about the greatness of players in the 60's. Baylor and Connie Hawkins were Dr. J, before Dr. J, and the centers of that era were beyond belief. Gilmore, Lanier, Beatty, Reed, Thurmond Bellamy aren't even discussed in best ever discussions because Kareem, Wilt and Russelll even eclipsed those incredible centers. Kareem, Wilt and Russell were playing against a Hall of Fame lineup of big men in the 60's and 70's.
A lot of testimony throughout the video. Darrall Imhoff, Richie Guerrin, Rick Barry, Bob Pettit, a little bit of Phil Jackson and Jerry West, plus former coaches Fred Schauss and Alex Hannum, and "superstat" Harvey Pollack also Philly bball legend Sonny Hill
Yes, the big 3 you mentioned (and they are THE big 3) had plenty of tough competition.
@@WiltChamberlainArchive He came a little later, but Dave Cowens deserves mention. He played against most of the guys mentioned in this video and won two rings with the Celtics.
Them shots swishing with the best accuracy I’ve ever seen in my life , I love old school basketball , grew up watching hardwood classics , I’d definitely blaze up to that shit nowadays
He said the evolution of man. Like evolution happens every 20 years. Unreal.
Rapapport has proven to be ignorant on many subjects in recent years, nicely bolstered by the obnoxious volume of his idiotic verbal diarrhea.
Well written! What about Wes Unseld. Maybe 70’s?
Those six centers were incredible. Those critics simply want media attention. The speaker is excellent and accurate.
THANKS!
SUPER GREAT VIDEO SIR....WE NEED TO HAVE A PODCAST OR SOMETHING
Thank you for this entertaining and important video. This is so very important for the history of this great game. We tend to glorify the players we grow up watching and the older players begin to fade in our collective minds.
NO. FUCKING. IDEA Willis Reed was THAT skilled offensively!!! Wtf lol. Those fundamentals are insane
Darrel Be basketball player deluxe at 6'10 He gave Jabber and Wilt fits. You see how he ran the floor and could spot up 15ft away on a fast break and knock it down he did this repeatedly when I watched him play. Show me 1 center in the NBA now that can do tbat.
Britt Courville demarcus cousins karl anthony towns anthony davis nikola jokic marc gasol brook lopez lamarcus aldridge thon maker joel embid
not gonna lie the best centers right now are bad but there is a huge wave of potentially great centers coming. Cousins, Towns, Davis, Jokic, Maker, and Embiid are the future of the C
Willis really was amazing in the 60s. In a lot of ways he was a new breed of center who could play both high and low post as well as step outside and drill the jumper. As you pointed out, he was a tremendously sound offensive player. He could rebound and play great defense too. He wasn't on the same level as Wilt or Russell (or Nate Thurmond, who I think is criminally underrated), but I think there's a good argument for placing him ahead of Beaty or Bellamy.
We will see.
I was an acquaintance of Walt Bellamy, a son of his went to the same high school that I did.
He was a very nice gentleman, who was also a great basketball player in the decade of the 60's, who doesn't receive the credit he deserves for being the caliber of center that he was.
In my most humble opinion, only Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell were better in the 60's than Walt Bellamy at the center position, certainly nothing to be ashamed of, may he R.I.P. eternally...
Nate Thurmond can argue the point, but Walt is definitely in the conversation.
Mike Rapaport is a knucklehead. Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Walt Bellamy, and Nate Thurmond were all better than any NBA centers playing today.
Couldn't agree more, he needs to #stfu
Reed was better than Bellamy & Thurmond.
I believe you have to consider this. Every one of these guys would have come into the league today with the same background as modern players. Weightlifting. Year round hoops. Money. Diet. Three point shot. A great player is a great player. They would all have been great today too.
Woah bill russel was so fast 9:22 lol. Wth was that? And he jump really high and a textbook form. What a highlight. He looks like a point center.
BILL Russell and Wilt Chamberlain were college track and field all Americans.
Excellent video and does a great job of summarizing all this fine centers. I've been watching the NBA since 1965 and to this day Russell and Chamberlain are the two best centers I've seen. Ever. Russell is one of the two most intense competitors I've ever seen, the other being Michael Jordan. The thing you have to remember what a fire lived inside Russell. He had this "I am NOT going to lose" attitude that was by far the main reason the Celtics dominated. I hated Russell, mainly because Baylor and West were my two favorite players. As great as they were, they simply couldn't get past Russell. When the game was on the line Russell would either score a key basket, draw a foul, threw a pass, stole the ball, blocked a shot, or snagged the key rebound to win the game. There is absolutely no question in my mind that Bill Russell is the all time MVP. Chamberlain was the better athlete and more gifted performer, but Russell possessed more of the intangibles than anyone I've ever seen. I lived in Chicago during all of Jordan's career, and Michael had the same kind of fire in him that Russell had. The game he played against Utah when he had the flu was exactly the kind of thing that Russell would have done. Russell won more than Chamberlain in part because he had a better surrounding cast - maybe not superstars like Baylor and West and Robertson (except Cousy at the end of his career; Havlicek was with Russell for years, but I think of him more as the ultimate sixth man rather than a superstar, though he definitely deserved his induction into the HoF), but he also won because he played as if his life hinged on winning it all.
What a lot of people don't grasp is that most of today's pros wouldn't even have made an NBA roster.There were only eight teams for much of the sixties, which meant that there weren't that many slots available. There are starters in the NBA today who couldn't have won back up jobs back then. The ignorance that exists about the NBA in the sixties is mind boggling. Even the fifties gets short changed. The three best players from the fifties - Bob Pettit, Bob Cousy, and George Mikan - would all be stars today. Mikan would be a power forward instead of a center, but he would be one of the toughest competitors in the league. He was a brawler and would easily be considered one of the hardest nosed players around. Bob Pettit is unquestionably the greatest forgotten player in the history of the NBA. Even people who dismiss the sixties will still grant the greatness of Baylor, West, Chamberlain, Robertson, and Russell. Bob Pettit was as good as those guys. He overlapped with this for several seasons and during that time averaged close to 20 rebounds a game. He was the first person to score 20,000 points in a career. People either forget or ignore the fact that if they were to be magically transferred to today, they would lift weights like today's players do. Pettit could easily have carried another 25 or 30 pounds and as tough as he was playing at a lighter weight, he'd have been incredibly tough today. Pettit would play today at around 250 of muscle, instead of a lean 225.
Real quick on Wilt palming a basketball: there is actually a photography of Chamberlain palming two sixteen pound bowling balls, holding his arms straight out in both directions, holding them out as if they were basketballs. In the 1960s Chamberlain would go on talk shows and he would often pick up the host. I mean, he would simply stick out his arms, and pick up the host as if he were a little kid. Just an enormously powerful man.
Great insight. I loved West and Baylor as well. And Pettit was brilliant and often overlooked.
Zelmo Beaty was elite but not many people know him
Luke you are right..Zelmo was superb....I saw him in both the ABA and NBA...I am glad he finally made it into the hall...should have been years earlier.....
Apparently those “many” people don’t know a lot of things!
Well done! You make well-reasoned points with some fine footage to back it up.
NEEDS TO GO VIRAL
You omitted Jabbar. Kareem came into the league the year after Russell retired so we never saw them go head to head, but he played against Wilt , Willis and Thurmond. Kareem is the final answer to kids who claim how weak the centers were when Wilt and Russ dominated. Also going forward he played 20 years and never played anyone that came lose to the level of Wilt et al, except for Bill Walton who outplayed him in the regular season as well as the playoffs. My first game was game 7 when Havlicek stole the ball.
But thanks, great, great great video.
Kareem by his own admission says that Nate Thurmond is the greatest defender he ever faced. Yet millennials these days claim Wilt couldn't score against long strong defenders.
Do you have a Wilt vs Knicks footage? I thought Simmons didn't tell the truth and it doesn't exist. How much of footage does really exist? I think it would be nice to make separate video about this performance. Of course only with enough footage.
BTW, this is one of your better projects. Amazing display of talent of the 1960s centers. Although I would have Nate over Bells :)
Thee is a special about the 100 point game. As with almost all games then, it was not televised. There is no film. The radio broadcast still exists.
Fred Kruse I don't talk about 100 point game. WCA mentioned here that he saw Wilt 73 points game footage in 1962 against Knicks. He also showed here some sample of highlights from that game. That's why I asked if there is more footage from that game.
For years I have heard a conspiracy theory against Wilt Chamberlain that many decades ago somebody at the NBA archives wiped away the broadcast footage of almost all of Wilt Chamberlains greatest performances as some sort of bias against him, and only preserved some of his worst performances and upsets (1969 Game 7, 1970 Game 7) The only broadcast footage that exists from the 1966-67 Sixers, one of the most dominant teams of all time, is a LOSS against Boston. And the 1972 first championship for the LA Lakers, only the first 3 quarters exist, not the final minutes or championship celebration.
Bells was good, Reed too, but Thurmond was more dominant. Especially in the paint.
@@Amick44 I'm a Nate Thurmond fan his skills as a center gets lost when talking about the Wilt and Russell during the golden age of center play during the 1960's.
Thank you Sir it is appreciated that you do these educational pieces
BILL WILT AND THATS THE END G.O.A.T.S
I agree with all of your points and it's a great video, to see how skilled players were back then, more skilled than most players today. The league is more athletic and less skilled nowadays.
Respect to the old generation
Zelmo Beaty, frustrated that he couldn't do anything against Wilt, yanked Wilt's shorts down. Wilt lashed out and Zelmo slid across the floor as if shot out of a cannon. Ref. Mendy Rudolph rushed over to Zelmo and said "For God's sake stay down, man. Don't even twitch a muscle!" Wilt was not someone you wanted to anger.
& he (zelmo) knew it!
You have outdone yourself! This is by far the best visual display of NBA basketball talent outlining the physical, athletic and basketball skills that clearly dispels the idea that the best players of the 1960s era could not compete against what many believe were the best Centers from the 1980s/1990s (Olajuwon, Ewing, Robinson, Shaquille, Sampson, Smits, etc. and even against today's players like DeMarcus Cousins, Joel Embiid, Karl Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond, DeAndre Jordan and the new kid Deandre Ayton! Keep up the great work. Maybe you can do something on the positions like point guard, shooting guard, small forward and power forward. I would love to learn and see more about Sam Jones, Jerry West, Bob Pettit, Oscar Roberston, Hal Greer, Jerry Lucas, Elgin Baylor, Dick Barnett, Chet Walker, and others.
9:39 idk if anyone else noticed, but after getting scored on by Bill Russell Wilt Chamberlain slaps his butt. Great sportsmanship from both legendary giants.
Great video. Thank you. I am glad somebody finally published what a lot of us older fans already knew. The 60s to the mid 70s was loaded with great, big, and strong centers, as well as great players at all of the positions. No plumbers or taxi drivers in the bunch, as far as I can remember. I enjoyed the 80s a little more, because it was easier to find and watch NBA games on TV, but the early, mid 60s to the mid 70s had some great watches, when you could find them. Buy the way; we can thank Wilt, first, then Russell, and the other great centers and other players like Oscar, Earl, West, Frazier, and others, for getting big TV contracts and exposure for the NBA. Wilt was the reason for TV interest, to start with. He was the one people wanted to watch, whether at live games, or on TV.
Far too many people think Wilt played against 6 6 guys. Thanks for this video to show there were some really big men playing prior to the espn, Bird Magic era.
Those “far too many” people see what they want to see! (You know who you are!)
They players then were only an inch or less shorter than today. In reality in shoes their average heights would be about the same.
Outstanding footage. The gap between eras really isn't that wide, the game just evolved.
This validates Kobe's all-time starting five of WILT RUSSELL BIRD JORDAN MAGIC.
Pretty much
Thank you for the many great Wilt Chamberlain videos!
Huge Laker fan 1966.
I thought about it a long time and I just now figured out 2020 Bill Russell is the G.O.A.T. Chamberlain made him great.
These dudes could move! Damn. Now that’s a high paced game.
The NBA changed the rules to make it harder on Wilt but easier on Mike. And, regardless of the argument the man STILL holds 90 NBA records. GOAT, period.
THANK YOU!
The NBA actually began changing the rules when Russell entered the league which was before Wilt came aboard.
@@gdm49 I would suggest that before you post, please check your information. The NBA changed THREE rules DUE to WILT. If you do not know what those were, google is your friend.
@@chuckgraham1695 I would suggest that before you post you know what the hell you are talking about. Bill Russell was so dominant in college that after his performance for USF at the 1955 NCAA tournament two rule changes were enacted in college basketball, not the NBA: (1) The lane was widened from 6 to 12 feet to make it more difficult to pack in offensively, post up, etc. and (2) offensive goaltending or basket interference. This was to lessen his impact on rebounding which he totally dominated. Wilt was a great athlete but no better than Bill whose dominance over Wilt in the win column was the difference between the two. The NBA continued the rule changes when Wilt entered the league. Two best players of all time. Saw them play one another many times.
@@gdm49 www.nba.com/history/legends/profiles/wilt-chamberlain#:~:text=These%20rules%20changed%20included%20widening,the%20ball%20in%20the%20basket). You may check out any link you wish to see the rules changes forced by Chamberlain and NOT Russell in the NBA. I made no comments nor suggestions about anything in his college career, nor will I. This was strictly based on what the man did in the NBA and just how dominating he was.
What an outstanding job!. I commend you for taking the time to research, create, and present your videos. Thank you!
Everyone of these Centers would dominate the NBA today easier than they did when they played. Like Bill Russell said, "I'll kick your ass!"
& they said of wilt “he could have killed us all “!
Bill Russell changed the game deserves that respect for using his athleticism to dominate every aspect of the game he was like a point center there would be no “unicorn” without him
Later in the 60's, Wes Unseld.
Another Hall of Fame NBA center.
Fewer teams makes the league better, as the best players would be vying for fewer jobs! This was a great video! The top 6 centres in the 1960's could play in any era!
Such a great video. Thank you for this
What’s the background track at the end of the video? It’s so peaceful and vibey I wanna trip to it.
Great video! Good job! Congrats & Thanks...
Damn this was a mad good video kudos my guy
I never knew these guys were wilts comp and it’s even harder to believe that wilt balled out on these guys
I saw Wilt play many times, on TV and in person, and there is no one in this day and age who would match up with him. NO ONE! Bill Russell has been said to be the dominant defensive center in history and Wilt AVERAGED over 40 against him. Wilt also grabbed his record 55 rebounds in a game against Russell! He was the best!
Saw him and Russ play sooo many times at Old convention Hall and the Spectrum a few times. Felt like I was at the Colluseum in Rome. Always supercharged event!
I'd put the centers in the 60s up against
the centers in any other era. Those were
great players.
I would too. While Bill and Wilt are at the head of the class, they were hardly alone as excellent centers in their day.
Is there no footage of Reggie Harding when he briefly played for the Pacers in the ABA?
I've had guys tell me rhat Wilt dominated because he didn't play against "anyone". I've tried to explain that there were a lot of talented bigs back then. Don't forget the early 70's, he faced Kareem, Cowens and others...
But of course the bronsexuals would say no way wilt does any of what he did against the "superior" athlete of today
@@johnnythekid4601Bronsexuals discredit the players of Jordan’s era as much as they discredit Wilt and Bill Russell’s competition. That’s why they are my least favorite fanbase in the NBA.
Great video its rare to find a video about old players nice content 👍🏻
did you see bill russel layup from just inside the free throw line while avoiding the middle off the glass from the side?
Another GREAT video!! Thanks for teaching young kids about these true basketball legends!!
Having seen both Russell and Wilt play dozens of times against guys like Bellamy, Thurmond, Beaty, etc., I laugh when people make dumb claims about playing against short white guys. Basketball in the days of Wilt and Bill was a MAN'S game. You didn't have a bunch of skinny kids who are barely out of high school. You had men playing the game and it was so much more physical than today's game. Also with 8-10 teams, every team was deep and loaded. Wilt and Russell were incredible athletes, not just basketball players. Today's centers wouldn't have a prayer against either one, or Thurmon,d or Bellamy, etc.
As I recall, there was at least one team in the 1960s had *3* future Hall of Fame players - and didn't even make the playoffs.
Lakers had West, Baylor, and Goodrich in 1966-1967 - and lost in the *1'st round* to a 76ers team that had *4* HOF players (and eventually beat a Celtics team with *5* HOF players) on Wilt's way to his first championship.
Today, a 3 HOF team better be in the Finals and WIN and is considered "seriously stacked" - back then it was barely playoff material with *2* members of the 50 YEAR TEAM on it (West and Baylor are also on the new 75 Year team as well).
@@bricefleckenstein9666 I think the Lakers got swept by Barry and THurmond
@@trollkenobi6727 As opposed to an earlier version of the Warriors, with Wilt - had 4 future Hall of Fame players and didn't even make the playoffs at all.
That was the year after Wilt had his 50.4 PPG season - they ended up with a LOSING RECORD the following season.
1962-1963 season. Wilt, Tom Gola, Al Attles, Guy Rogers from that team are all in the Hall.
Phenomenal intro. Your videos are truly amazing. I wish you could just accompany me every where I go in case I get into a debate about Wilt and old school basketball.