If Chamberlain played in the modern era would he be considered the GOAT

[SelfishPlayer]

No. MJ and LeBron are outright superior basketball players.

I'm honestly not convinced Wilt would be better than Jokic in today's NBA.

Okay, but it's not as if post defense has increased. Gobert is at 71% FG this season. Wilt would probably be at 80%FG for 40ppg and change the game AGAIN. Wilt is a game changer. Steph Curry, game changer. Jordan game changer...

[NZB2323]

If Wilt refused to practice before noon today he'd get way more crap for it.

[Coxy]

Who knows how he would have adjusted to the modern athlete's young life/social media/training/nutrition/spotlight/big man adjustment to shooting, passing, screening, etc, etc. Would he have gone to college, if so, where? What would have booster money have done to him, as he loved the ladies and may have been tempted to party? Would he have been a good boy in the modern day? What program would he have been in and coached towards being? With Shaq in the league and dominating, it's likely that a guy of that size and natural aptitude, colleges would have seen him as anew Shaq, and the media would have pumped that up.

If he was obviously a gifted big man, where would he have been drafted? If he was in the 1999 draft, would he have been considered over Elton Brand at the #1 pick? Maybe the Vancouver Grizzlies take him at #2 over Francis, and he becomes Canada's champion? If he's drafted in 2000, does he go at #1 over Kenyon Martin? That draft was one of the worst of all time, so let's say he does, how does he do in New Jersey? He'd be playing alongside a headstrong and ball dominant Stephon Marbury, how does that go? The Nets won 26 games in 2000/01, pretty terrible. In 2000, the bigs in the league were Shaq, Duncan, Mourning, Mutombo, Garnett, Robinson, Webber, Ewing, Rasheed, Dirk, how does he adjust to playing so many different players nightly?

Also, how does he develop in his FT shooting? His %'s look worse than Shaq's in a good year, and that is over the course of his entire career. Is he even playable late in the 4th quarter? Could he have developed a legit shooting form?

At the very worst with his freak athletics, I can see him being a top defensive C and supreme rebounder that could work in the pick and roll going towards the basket to finish. Could he have been Shaq-like on offence? I don't think so. I do think he could have been the best defensive player of that generation though, over Dikembe, Mourning, Dwight and Ben Wallace.

[KembaWalker]

"we have 50 years of advancement in nutrition and training over Wilts time!"

50 years of advancement in nutrition and training:

[SkyBill40]

"we have 50 years of advancement in nutrition and training over Wilts time!"

50 years of advancement in nutrition and training:

You can't hold his genetics against him. He's sure to fill out as he's barely 19 years old at this point.

[70sFan]

Plucking him out of the past and puttib. Him on a modern roster, he’d be an average starting center.

So average starting center is 7'1 290 lbs with 78 inches reach and unreal athletic ability?

[BK_2020]

Daniel Theis, but more swag.

[picko]

If he wasn't the consensus GOAT of his own era - and he wasn't - then I can't see any reason that he'd be the GOAT today.

All-Star? Sure. All-NBA? I can see that. GOAT? Nope.

[alebaba]

He would get expose, and wouldn't be able to put up those insane stats like he did in the 60s.

There is a black and white video of Wilt doing a finesse move that no one today would pull off. He was on the left block, about 17 feet, near the baseline and made a turnaround fadeaway jump shot turning over his right shoulder, off the backboard! People forget that Wilt was a Globetrotter, so his level of creativity was at the top of the profession.

easy to do those moves, when you're going against bums. I look like a 5 star recruits playing in my local pick up games, but I know ill get lit up if I play against tougher competition.

[xdrta+]

He would get expose, and wouldn't be able to put up those insane stats like he did in the 60s.

Nah, he'd put up bigger stats nowadays.

[chilluminati]

He would still be great, but his impact would be lessened due to drastic rule changes. And by "lessened" I mean he'll probably average actual earthly numbers in todays NBA.

[SelfishPlayer]

He would get expose, and wouldn't be able to put up those insane stats like he did in the 60s.

There is a black and white video of Wilt doing a finesse move that no one today would pull off. He was on the left block, about 17 feet, near the baseline and made a turnaround fadeaway jump shot turning over his right shoulder, off the backboard! People forget that Wilt was a Globetrotter, so his level of creativity was at the top of the profession.

easy to do those moves, when you're going against bums. I look like a 5 star recruits playing in my local pick up games, but I know ill get lit up if I play against tougher competition.

Life doesn't work like that in this scenario. Wilt went against the best. If better existed, Wilt would have been gotten BETTER. Wilt didn't exploit a loophole, he advanced the game. He was a game changer. That is his role in basketball in all eras. When Wilt went to bed at night, he didn't dream about working hard to have a career better than Michael Jordan like LeBron and Kobe. Wilt set the standard without benefit of having one to chase. A young Wilt would crush all records and do so with a great personality having more wit than Shaq and Barkley while being an intellectual.

[OdomFan]

Well if he played in the modern era he wouldn't be the same Wilt, so we wouldn't know what his goat case or case in general would be like. He'd have to come into the league and earn it, and it would be tough going up against Prime Shaq in his rookie year and the years moving forward. I'd love to see it.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

Assuming modern nutrition, training, AAU routing, the value of learning from more advanced players coming before him, etc.

He’d be dominant.

Plucking him out of the past and puttib. Him on a modern roster, he’d be an average starting center.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

AAU basketball hasn't produced a great big man in years, the most skilled American big (KAT) didn't even play much AAU ball.



If he grew up today he'd be used as a PnR rollman on the AAU circuit like pretty much every other young American big man. The best bigs are all from outside the US.

[SelfishPlayer]

He would still be great, but his impact would be lessened due to drastic rule changes. And by "lessened" I mean he'll probably average actual earthly numbers in todays NBA.

Did the rule change make it harder to score in the paint? I see guards scoring in the paint all of the time with teams routinely playing people 6'7" at center throughout the game. Post players today just aren't dominant enough around the basket. Jokic and Embiid aren't even good lob threats. Wilt as a single player would get probably all of the lobs "Lob City" got as a group per game.

[SelfishPlayer]

Assuming modern nutrition, training, AAU routing, the value of learning from more advanced players coming before him, etc.

He’d be dominant.

Plucking him out of the past and puttib. Him on a modern roster, he’d be an average starting center.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

AAU basketball hasn't produced a great big man in years, the most skilled American big (KAT) didn't even play much AAU ball.



If he grew up today he'd be used as a PnR rollman on the AAU circuit like pretty much every other young American big man. The best bigs are all from outside the US.

Are you saying that the system produced Wilt? Wilt is self made. He was back then and he would be today. He would probably create a style of post play never seen. James Harden has created moves. Think about that. Wilt was a Globetrotter.

[Calamity_Cometh]

It's getting really hard to separate the myth from the man as someone who wasn't around when he was playing.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

Assuming modern nutrition, training, AAU routing, the value of learning from more advanced players coming before him, etc.

He’d be dominant.

Plucking him out of the past and puttib. Him on a modern roster, he’d be an average starting center.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

AAU basketball hasn't produced a great big man in years, the most skilled American big (KAT) didn't even play much AAU ball.



If he grew up today he'd be used as a PnR rollman on the AAU circuit like pretty much every other young American big man. The best bigs are all from outside the US.

Are you saying that the system produced Wilt? Wilt is self made. He was back then and he would be today. He would probably create a style of post play never seen. James Harden has created moves. Think about that. Wilt was a Globetrotter.

You guys go so overboard with the Wilt hyperbole.

[Statlanta]

No he wouldn't. Even if he benefitted from the increased knowledge/coaching of today he still had stubborness and some statpad tendencies.

[SelfishPlayer]

AAU basketball hasn't produced a great big man in years, the most skilled American big (KAT) didn't even play much AAU ball.



If he grew up today he'd be used as a PnR rollman on the AAU circuit like pretty much every other young American big man. The best bigs are all from outside the US.

Are you saying that the system produced Wilt? Wilt is self made. He was back then and he would be today. He would probably create a style of post play never seen. James Harden has created moves. Think about that. Wilt was a Globetrotter.

You guys go so overboard with the Wilt hyperbole.

Watch on YouTube

1:02 minute mark
Wilt in this video dribbles at full speed in transition up court and makes a behind the back pass off the dribble. That to me equates today to being Giannis in transition with the passing of LeBron.