Would Wilt Chamberlain dominate in today’s NBA ?
That’s a legitimate and interesting question that is worth asking, Unfortunately most people who ask it do so with an attitude that assumes the answer is “No. Definately not, and that should be abvious to us too. All we have to do is take time to actually ask it.
And the people those numbskulls as that question of are sure the answer is “Obviously yes,” and we like to assume we have done enough work figuring it out to know for sure.
Most of us have not actually done that work.
So would Wilt dominate in the modern NBA ?
My anser is “Well, that depends….”
My perspective….
Once upon a time major baseball went through the so-called “dead ball era”. That was a long long time ago. The oldest players at the very beginiing of the dead ball era remembered the Civil War because they actually fought in it. You most likely did not have running water or indoor plumbing unless you were affluent and lived in the heart of a big city. Nobody had electicity except Michael Faraday and the other scientists who were trying to understand what was, at the time, a giant mystery.
Things were very very different back then. Baseball was a very very different game, -far more different than the modern NBA is compared to the sixties when Wilt played. If a baseball player from the dead ball era could dominate in the modern major leagues, then it should be obvious that Wilt could dominate today.
Pretty much the undisputed GOAT of dead balle era baseball is Ty Cobb. Ty Cobb suddenly became the second best player in the league as soon as Babe Ruth figured out that bunting for a single and then trying to steal bases all the way to home plate was not the most effective way to score runs anymore. The game had changed.
Guess what ? Ty Cobb was still the second best player in baseball even though he kept on playing dead ball era ball. Cobb was still dominant, -just not as dominant and not the most dominant anymore.
But that’s not good enough because baseball has changed a a great deal since 1927. So did any players play dead ball era style baseball in modern times dominate ?
Well I saw Pete Rose lead the Reds to a World series victory in the 1970’s. Charlie Hustle still holds the record for most hits in a MLB career; that record seems unbreakable to many; and he broke that record by playing dead ball era style baseball.
But I would not call Pete Rose “dominant”. I would call him a superstar. If Pete Rose could be a superstar playing daad ball era style baseball, then Wilt could be a superstar in today’s NBA. But that’s not the question. Wilt in the sixties was more than a superstar. He dominated. Pete Rose did not dominate.
Who else ? Ichiro Suzuki played dead ball era style baseball and for a time, was probably the best hitter and maybe the best player in the league. I do not think Suzuki was dominant but I can tell you who was.
I saw with my own eyes Ricky Henderson completely dominate an important World Series game on two walks and an infield single and he did it by playing dead ball era style baseball.
Practically every single team in modern baseball wants at least one dead ball era style player on their team as their lead-off hitter; -the guy who bats first so their modern era players can score two points with a single home run instead of just one. Every major league hitter is expected to know how to bunt. Dead ball era baseball never went away. It is still a fundamental part of the game and probably always will be. It just faded in importance. Dead ball era baseball used to be everything.
Ricky Henderson played dead ball era style baseball and set unbreakable records in the modern era while dominating multiple games. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility…. -unanimously and that hardly ever happens. For all I know, it never has happened to anybody else.
There are baseball fans who think Ricky Henderson is the best to ever play the game, major league baseball’s GOAT. There are not many of them and I think they are probably wrong but they have a reasonable case and sound arguments. Ricky Henderson played dead ball era style baseball in modern times and he definitely dominated.
If dead ball era style baseball could dominate in the eighties and nineeties, sixties style basketball could still dominate today. Players just have to be that much better at it. Most dead ball era players would be specialists riding the bench but they would also be the go-to guy in certain situations. In other words, a role player but an important role player. Ty Cobb was not an average dead ball era player and Wilt Chamberlain was not average in his era either.
Wilt Chamberlain COULD dominate in the modern NBA but that’s not quite exactly the question we are asking. COULD is not WOULD and the question is “Would Wilt Chamberlain dominate in today’s NBA ?”
Basketball is very different from baseball. Cooperative team play is a much bigger part of the game. All five players are constantly working together in the flow of games as they are happening. There is no break for a one-on-one duel between pitcher and batter.
Would Wilt dominate today ? Put him on the right team with the right teammates implementing a game plan and systems that take full advantage of 1960’s Wilt’s abilities and yes. Wilt would definitely dominate just like Ty Cobb remained dominant as the second best pleyer in the early days of live ball baseball and Ricky Henderson dominated in during his far more modern career. Put Wilt Chamberlain on typical modern team with no adjustments to their game plan and then what ?
At best Wilt would be like Pete Rose or Ichiro Suzuki. Those guys did not exactly dominate but they were pretty damn good.
At worst Wilt would be a role player, -but not just any back-up held in reserve. Wilt would be the go-to guy in any situation where you need unstoppable interior scoring and/or a guy who can block any shot more than you needed a center who could drain 3-pointers and defend the whole court. Not only that, Wilt would also be the go-to guy when your offense isnt working well enough to win games and a different strategy like playing inside-out with a center passing it to cutters or kicking it out for an open three just like Wilt did for Jerry West back when those shots were only worth two.
The absolute worst case scenario has Wilt as the best back-up in the game, playing significant minutes and a substantial role while winning Sixth Man of the Year trophies year after year after year.
Most importantly, if that worst-case senario really is true, it is 100% completely due to changes in the game and has absolutely zero relevance to any perceived deficiency in Wilt’s capabilities.
Today’s game is different; not better. The average sixties baller would probably sit near the bottom of the bench but, like Ty Cobb in ’20’s and Ricky Henderson later, -the best sixties players would still dominate if they played on teams that were good fits for them.
