The Bill Russell "Problem"
The problem here isn't 8-14 teams signaling a "weak era". Just think about it. If you made the league 8 teams today, that would only make all-stars and starters making rosters, with a few great bench players scraping a roster spot. As a matter of fact, that drives up competition, not reduces it. If you think about it, you have to face the elite players more and more if teams shrink. This should answer any "weak era" propaganda. Even if you don't believe this: West, Robertson, Russell, Cousy, Sharman, Havlicek, Pettit, Hudson, Baylor, Lucas, Reed, Frazier, you get the point.
Also the argument "Wilt didn't overcome the Celtics" is completely false, I don't know where this casual got his evidence from. Wilt Chamberlain defeated Bill Russell's Boston Celtics in the 1967 Eastern Conference Finals with the Philadelphia 76ers, winning the series 4-1 to break the Celtics' streak of 8 consecutive titles. Keep in mind this is when he had an actual team (not a superteam, but just an actual capable one- Cunningham wasn't Cunningham yet, and Greer and Walker were starting caliber, but not the engine) and wasn't carrying dudes like Guy Rodgers (35% shooting 🤮). Wilt was, in fact, an unstoppable force.
He had his 55 rebound game against none other than Bill RUSSELL HIMSELF, by the way. He had 62 on Russell's head. He also had 30, 28, and 4 vs Russell in their regular season matchups (94). Don't listen to him blabber on about how Wilt couldn't do anything against Russell.
Since he talked about Jordan- Sleepy Floyd has a winning record against Jordan. I PROMISE YOU, no one is saying Floyd > Jordan.
Besides, ring culture might be the slowest thing to exist in history- Satch Sanders and Robert Horry have more rings than Dirk, KG, and LeBron COMBINED. They have more than Kareem, Jordan, Bron, Kobe, Shaq, Bird, basically all the legends you can think of sans Russell. Does that make them better? NO!
Besides, Russell had generational help. He routinely played with 8 HOFers his entire career- Cousy, Sharman, Hondo, Heinsohn, Howell, Nelson (not a HOFer, but a critical contributor to those teams), KC Jones, Sam Jones, Frank Ramsey. If you say that they weren't All-Stars, well, that is because the league had so much more depth as well. Besides, the Celtics played team basketball- the GOAT coach Red Auerbach's scheme. Just imagine the 2014 Spurs but on crack and cocaine their entire careers, and you have the Celtics of the 60s.
I can continue this in his idiotic claim that is number 2:
Wilt’s scoring dropped significantly in the playoffs.
This is one of the major arguments against Wilt, and I am here to disprove this thing completely.
Wilt still averaged 52% in the playoffs from 54%, which really isn't a significant difference to note. His points dropped because all the other teams were triple teaming the man. It's just called good basketball IQ if he doesn't jack up low-quality shots, not the other way around. And, again, that is why he couldn't win too much, cause his teammates couldn't do anything with the basketball once it was out of their savior's hands. With the Sixers, he had teammates he could dish to- hence why he led the league in assists in '68 and became the first offensive engine in the entire league. In addition, his RPG spiked from 23 to 25 in the playoffs, and his assist # stayed the same, proving he wasn't a choker. Including this: in 23 ELIMINATION GAMES, he averaged 31, 26, and 3 on 55% shooting. He stepped up when it mattered at the end of the day.
Continuing from #1, the theory he was "shut down" by Russell is just false. He averaged 28, 26, and 4 against Russell.
LeBron, KD, Curry, Giannis? Give it a break. Giannis won 1 less ring than Wilt (and before you say, but Giannis and Wilt have the same FMVPS- Wilt would've won regardless in '68 if it existed). Curry had KD and a stacked team his entire career outside of '22- I'll give him credit for the latter. But still, Curry had a ton less MVPs than Wilt did at the end of the day as well. They built a system around Curry- that is the effort of how great Kerr is of a coach and the owners willing to empty them pockets. Bron had Wade and Bosh, Kyrie and Love, and AD for those championships. Until Wilt got to the Lakers, he just never had a teammate nearly on that level. Dudes just act like he didn't exist before the Lakers lmfao. KD backpacked with Curry and his Warriors, a glorified Carmelo Anthony at BEST. STOP CALLING HIM LEGENDARY GODDAMN IT!
The Pace of the 1960s
Volume: Pushing the pace does not automatically mean offensive success. The 60s had an average of a 40%. Wilt averaged 54%. He was far and away the best in his generation. You can think about this logically too. It would be far better to have a set offense and get a quality look rather than jack up a contested look from Yucatan. That is also the brilliance of Cousy and Auerbach- teams tend to be copycats, and copied Cousy and Auerbach cause that was the winning formula. Not to mention, Wilt never had anything near a top-tier facilitator his entire career. West was a good passer, but he's like a Steph in that regard. Guy Rodgers's stats were inflated so much, I bet I COULD GET 8 APG if I had the WILT on my team.
You also can't punish Wilt for getting a ton of rebounds. At least he got them. He'd still average 16 rpg today. Besides, who's to say his playstyle just becomes different? The dude was a beast- 4.4 40-yard dash, 48 inch vert, benched 600, etc. He could absolutely outmuscle everyone and get a sh!t ton of boards today too.
Minutes: You're punishing him for being so durable? I don't even need to say anything here, but forget it, I am.
You say, if a dude could average as many minutes, he'd put up the same stats. Then why hasn't anyone? No one has or had the endurance Wilt had, plain and simple. They just can't average that many minutes without getting injured or gassed. Plus, we have MODERN TECHNOLOGY TODAY, and that still happens. Just imagine Wilt today, he'd be something DIFFERENT with that tech.
Your argument literally also just says- they had Billy Cunningham. Gandu, that was one team! With the Warriors, he was dragging literal bums to the finals! (And, no, don't even try to use Nate Thurmond- Wilt played with him 1 season as a rookie before Wilt got shipped off to the 76ers). And even there with the Sixers, same thing. Billy wasn't Billy just yet, and Chet and Greer were starters, the latter an All-Star, but a lack of depth. You're telling me that because he played minutes and carried his team to victory day in and day out, he should be punished? SMH.
Reputation as a pain in the ass Unlike Jordan or Magic Johnson, who were known for elevating the culture of their teams, Wilt was often traded while still in his prime. This bastard is supposed to be the GOAT but he's getting TRADED IN HIS PRIME?
First, your argument for being the NBA GOAT is that he wasn't a good teammate? HUH?
Dude, Magic literally wanted out of the team in '82 because of his coach! Jordan was known for being a terrible teammate again, he literally punched a teammate in the face, gambled, smoked, drank. Is THAT being good for the culture? NO!!!
Also, Wilt was far from selfish. He led the league in efficiency 9 out of 13 times. He was far from a chucker- he was the league's most efficient one. At the end of the day, he was the best player on every team he played on, and everyone was simply jealous. Why do you think he missed out on the '62 MVP when he averaged 50? Jealousy. Remember, at the time MVP voting was made from the players themselves, not the fans.
So, uh, yeah. Your argument is the stupidest thing I've seen all day. Wilt is absolutely the GOAT and if you don't believe so, at the very least, he is top 5 and absolutely has a path to the throne. You just don't know basketball. You aren't qualified to talk about it at the end of the day.
Wilt out.