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The NBA did not start counting blocked shots as a stat until the 1974 season. However, NBA historian Harvey Pollack claims he counted a game in the playoffs where Wilt blocked 25 shots.

If anyone out there does not believe that happened, than you will have to accept 23 blocks as a career high for Wilt, because he blocked 23 shots on a nationally televised game on Christmas Day in 1968, while playing for the Los Angeles Lakers vs the Phoenix Suns. Wilt had just joined the Lakers in 1968.

Of all his memories of Wilt Chamberlain, the one that stood out for Larry Brown happened long after Chamberlain's professional career was over.

On a summer day in the early 1980s at the Men's Gym on the UCLA campus, Chamberlain showed up to take part in one of the high-octane pickup games that the arena constantly attracted. Brown was the coach of the Bruins back then, and Chamberlain often drove to UCLA from his home in Bel Air, Calif.

"Magic Johnson used to run the games," Brown recalled Tuesday after hearing that Chamberlain, his friend, had died at the age of 63, "and he called a couple of chintzy fouls and a goaltending on Wilt.

"So Wilt said: 'There will be no more layups in this gym,' and he blocked every shot after that. That's the truth, I saw it. He didn't let one (of Johnson's) shots get to the rim."
Chamberlain would have been in his mid-40s at the time, a decade removed from one of the greatest careers any basketball player ever produced. But the advancing years meant little to Chamberlain in terms of physical conditioning.

co_laper wrote:Did nba have goaltending back then? A lot of those blocks in that clip are clear goaltendings.

RayBan-Sematra wrote:Not sure about the goal-tending issue (could be legit) but I think it was much easier for C's to rack up blocks back then (especially athletic freaks like Wilt & Russell) because perimeter players were generally far less athletic and the run & gun style of that era encouraged players to take bad quick shots.
Offenses obviously advanced over the years & decades.

Some people say Wilt averaged 8bpg back then but he certainly wouldn't be anywhere near that in this era.
3-4 would probably be a realistic max for him.
Even the best shot blockers of this generation like Hakeem & Robinson generally maxed around around 4 and I don't see Wilt being any better then them in that regard let alone significantly better.

Is it possible Wilt blocked 26 shots in a game? Considering the era I think it is possible.
Shaq once blocked 15 shots in a game.

RSCD3_ wrote:Everyone talking about embiids fluidity while wilt was even more fluid, explosive and quicker. Wilt nowadays would be a beast, I actually think while his stats might have been higher back then, he could have been a more effective player to a championship later on.

I think when he came out, coaches didnt have that much power over their stars while later on, he wouldnt be so worried about stats and he could have developed better habits

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Roscoe Sheed wrote:You could make a good argument that Wilt was the best player ever. A very strong argument in fact. What an outright freak. However, for some reason people always want to degrade legends of yesteryear. Quite shameful actually.

old rem wrote:

RSCD3_ wrote:Everyone talking about embiids fluidity while wilt was even more fluid, explosive and quicker. Wilt nowadays would be a beast, I actually think while his stats might have been higher back then, he could have been a more effective player to a championship later on.

I think when he came out, coaches didnt have that much power over their stars while later on, he wouldnt be so worried about stats and he could have developed better habits

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Being an old fart..I saw Wilt often on TV..and once live from a close up seat. What mostly got me was his huge,amazing hands. The way he'd catch or handle the ball...one hand was like it was a grapefruit. He had long legs, quite a stride and could sort of cil up, then cover a lot of ground with one dribble and a giant step.

Wilt had a great sense of timing, quite a wingspan. When he started..there were NOT a lot of real good guys who were close to 7ft. He had a sense...instincts. Wilt pretty much INVENTED the post moves big men used afterward. Nothing much would surprise me. Hell... he OFTEN had 30+ pt, 20+ rebounds and ...had blocks been an "official" stat...likely 10+ blocks too. There was a season where he played EVERY minute... every game...including overtimes. Wilt never fouled out of a game. Pretty rare stuff.

Sign5 wrote:Why do people keep saying he'd dominate today's game as if there's any doubt? Dude was basically a taller, more fluid, skilled and athletic version of Dwight. Of course he'd be unstoppable.