Yep I know. I only included one part of the famed Run TMC offense of the 80's 90's. However from a statistical standpoint and a technical one omitting wilt Chamberlain and putting in Tim Hardaway or Mitch Ritchmond would have been a joke. Wilt wasn't a Warrior for much long but the legacy and early fame he bought the team were spectacukar. He was even lucky to be part of the then Philadelphia Warriors because of a territorial pick despite Philadelphia being a considerable distance from Kansas where he spent his College days. Wilt was pretty much Rookie of the century putting up numbers NBA stars would only dream off 37.6 points 22 rebounds a game. He pretty much was a freak of nature and this was the main reason he demanded a trade in 1964 fustrated of the hard fouls and booing oppossing fans gave him. "Nobody loves Golliath" was one of his famous quotes. He was the MVP and Rookie of the year an achievement only equalled by Wes unseld and was named an All Star. The Warriors also reached the Eastern Conference finals but as was often in his career Chamberlain lost to the best Defensive player to play the game and the biggest winner in American Sports History Bill Russell. This rivalry was arguably bigger and better then Magic and Larry's one.
The next season Wilt showed a slight increase in stats 38.4 ppg and 27.2 rebounds per game and incredibly averaged 55 Rebounds in one game but Dolph Schayes and the Syracuse Nationals swept them meaning Wilt had to wait a longer for his championship. Chamberlain was mind boglging in his 3rd season just exploding going for 50.4 points and grabbing 25.7 rebounds per game. He even had the famous 100 point game at Hershey arena. It wasn't good enough however as the warriors lost in 7 to Bill Russsell's Celtics. After relocating to San Francisco Chamberlain still had the same consistent stats as last season and San Francisco averaged the highest gate no surprise's there. However even with a scoring title and Rebounding crown and a Western Championship Wilt couldn't win his ultimate goal an NBA title losing once gain to (you guessed it). At this time the Warriors were getting cash strapped for money so Wilt was traded back to Philadelphia for Paul Neumann, Connie Dierking, Lee Shaffer (who opted to retire rather than report to The Warriors), and $150,000.
After he was finished with the Warriors twice more he lost to Bill Russell and the Celtics (one was the famous Havlicek stole the ball call by Johnny Most) Wilt finally had his first title ironically beating the San Francisco Warriors in 1967. In 1968 even the most diehard Wilt fan would have to admit he choked. When the Sixers blew a 3-1 lead against the Celtics to go to game 7 Wilt didn't attempt a single second half shot. Perhaps it was because he was overwhelmed of the moment but when the Sixers lost Chamberlain was traded to LA. Two more NBA finals losses loomed but he did claim another Championship against Lou Alcindor's Bucks. befoire retiring. A history of heart trouble finally caught up with him and on October 12th 1999 he passed away. He will be part of warrior and Laker fans legacy for a long long time.
After Wilt Chamberlain became the final inductee here are some more that were it not for these 6 would defintely be in.
Honourable mentions
Tim Hardaway
Mitch Ritchmond
Don Nelson
World B Free
Gilbert Arenas
Latrell Sprewell
Manute Bol
Jason Richardson
Chris Webber
Tune in tommorow as I make a Hall Of Shame this time
No comments:
Post a Comment