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Big Wilt. No one completely took over a game like that monster. His book was an interesting read as well.

I am a fan, definitely... but you should read Simmons' The Book of Basketball - some interesting stats there too.
And I tend to agree: it's hard to think of Wilt as one of the best ever when Russell so thoroughly dominated that period of time.


For me, Magic Johnson and Kareem. Magic's career was (wrongly) cut short... and Kareem's the best basketballer of all time (factoring in HS, college and NBA careers).

Wait wait wait. I thought the topic was personal favorite player, not best player ever. If it was, Wilt would not be my answer. Wilt is my favorite player.

Real Laker fans don't read Simmons (kidding)

Last edited by buzzerbeatme at 3/2/2011 9:55:35 PM

Hahahaha... nah, I gotcha. However - I used to REALLY like Wilt. Now... not so much.
Reading Simmons is - at times (as a Laker-fan) - a chore. I can only do it in bits 'n' pieces. Some of the 'edits' he's written in his column since the book are MUCH fairer to LA.

As I said: my favourite two are Magic and Kareem.

Last edited by malice at 3/2/2011 10:13:28 PM

I like Simmons, I think he is a good sports writer and has a good sense of humor. However, his Celtic Pride gets to be a little too much for me. Imagine being a Red Sox fan and every day reading a sportswriter who did nothing but talk about how great the Yankees were.

This is why I love TJ Simers. He basically does Simmons job for the LA times. The big difference is he is ultra critical of all LA teams and players. He routinely insults Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant while still being a die hard Laker fan. He got Garrett Anderson so riled when he was with the Angels that the guy actually almost snapped on him in an interview. Just about every LA sports figure just hates the guy, yet somehow you still know he is a huge LA sports fan he just doesnt think these guys are good enough to call themselves LA or something like that. He refers to Frank McCourt, owner of the Dodgers as 'The Parking Lot Attendant" because he made much of his fortune owning parking garages. Phil Jackson is the only person I have ever heard that could turn it on Simers and actually get Simers mad. Good stuff.

I guess if I had to choose I would rather hear bad things about teams I like than good things about team I dislike.

To unhijack......I also loved to watch Manute Bol play. Not because he was anything special at all, but because I knew if I watched long enough eventually he would break in half. Look up the term skin and bones and the response is....see Manute Bol

Last edited by buzzerbeatme at 3/2/2011 11:56:29 PM

the greatest guy ever to play was Maravich.

Ummmm... from HS through to the NBA - the greatest is Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

Kareem is the third best big man of all time, I'll give you that.

Kareem is the third best big man of all time, I'll give you that.

THIRD best? How so?
6 Championships to go alongside 6 MVPs. 19 All Stars (back when it meant something). 10 NBA 1st teams, 6 2nd teams. RoY.
Most total points in NBA. 3rd most rebounds. 34th in Assists.
3 NCAA Championships. 3 NCAA Tournament MOPs. 3 All-American teams. 2 College PoY Awards.
Lead Power Memorial Academy to 3 straight NYC Catholic Ch'ships, 71 consecutive games won, and a 79-2 record whilst there.

Russell only played 13 years and he won 11 titles, was an all-star 12 times, and the MVP 5 times. They didn't record blocked shots when he played or he would be the all time leader. He is second all time in rebounds. He won two NCAA titles playing, not at UCLA, but at tiny unheard of USF. He was an Olympic gold medalist.

Wilt scored 100 in agame, averaged 50 ppg for an entire season (!), is the NBA all time leading rebounder, was 56-3 in high school, slept with 20k women, and so totally dominated the league that not one but two rule changes were made because of him. The first is that you can't go over the free throw line when shooting a FT because Wilt used to run and jump and drop it in the bucket. The second is that you can't score by shooting over the backboard because Wilt could jump up and drop it over the top of the glass into the hoop.

And while I loved Kareem and think he had the single most dominant shot ever, you have to admit the last three of his 18 (not 19) all-star appearances were not actually because of his on-court performance. He's the all time points leader, but he's also the all time minutes played leader, so that's understandable. He's also, by the way, the all time fouls leader.

"Greatest" player is obviously a subjective thing. Kareem was great. I think Wilt and Russell were better- one in team success and the other in individual prowess.

So... you should penalize Kareem for having longevity, and playing at a good school? That's a crock man...
They CHANGED THE RULES OF NCAA BASKETBALL to stop the impact Kareem did (no dunks allowed). And read about the "stall games"... terrible stuff!

I am not entirely sure on your info on Chamberlain... I have always read that Wilt would jump from behind the FT line and be close enough to have a very near shot. He didn't dunk it. Secondly, I have never ever heard of Wilt jumping and being able to drop the ball OVER the backboard. That would mean he's reaching about 15 feet high on his jumps.
Gonna call "myth" on that too.

And attributing Kareem's points total to mere longevity is pretty unfair too. He played for 20 years - that of itself is completely amazing, and should not be held against him - and scored an incredible 38,387 points.
To put that in perspective, Kobe Bryant - I'm sure we can agree he's a prolific scorer. He is now 7th on that list, and is in his 15th season. He has 27,344 points. More than 10,000 to go to catch Kareem!
You think he can do that in 5 years?

Russell never had the ability that Kareem had, and Wilt never had the drive. Kareem had both.

Last edited by malice at 3/4/2011 2:38:23 AM

I always have a tough time believing that these NBA stars from the 50s and 60s could excell today as they did then. The level of talent and athleticism in the game then compared to now is like apples and oranges. I honestly believe that if you put together an all star team from some point in the 60s and put them up against a team from today, the old timers would get embarrased. It's the old Babe Ruth debate. If hard drinking, hard partying, cigar smoking out of shape Ruth faced Halladay, Lee, Sabathia, Lincecum, etc....would he still be the legendary hitter he is considered to be?

I think many of these legendary players were great players who get better in tale as years go by.

Last edited by buzzerbeatme at 3/4/2011 3:17:29 AM