Wilt Chamberlain in 1969/70 without injury

[70sFan]

After feuding up with coach the year before, new coach decided that Wilt would play more optimal way for him. In first 9 games Wilt averaged him usual prime numbers:

45.4 mpg, 32.2 ppg, 20.6 rpg, 3.4 apg on 58% FG, 45.7% FT and 56.5% TS

His averages would likely be higher because he was on pace to make another ATG scoring performance against Suns but he got injured (33 points on 13/14 FG in 28 min). Lakers were 5-3 without counting this game that Wilt didn't finish.

He didn't reduce West and Baylor averages either - Baylor averaged 19.9 ppg in these 9 games, West finished with 30.8 ppg in that period. Do you think that this was the moment when for the first time Wilt saw reasonable offensive role with good volume for him that wouldn't limit West's effectiveness? How would Lakers finish this season with healthy Wilt?

I think that Joe Mullaney did nice job, but the sample of size is limited. I think that he tried the same in 1970 playoffs and next season, but after injury Wilt just wasn't the same anymore and Sharman style worked better for him at this point.

[Cavsfansince84]

I'm not really sure what is actually being asked in this thread. Just hypothesizing about what could have been? I'd say Wilt probably would have had one of his best 4 seasons that year and maybe he wins another ring. Probably a reasonably high chance that he is both mvp and fmvp that year.

[70sFan]

I'm not really sure what is actually being asked in this thread. Just hypothesizing about what could have been? I'd say Wilt probably would have had one of his best 4 seasons that year and maybe he wins another ring. Probably a reasonably high chance that he is both mvp and fmvp that year.

Yeah, just hypothetical scenario, what if Wilt didn't get injury.

[Odinn21]

The NBA Finals would be even more competitive if Wilt and Reed weren't injured at different times. Well, at least on the C position.
Before his injury, Reed was great against Kareem and Wilt even though Wilt wasn't at his 100% surely in this particular playoffs.

With a healthy Wilt, the Lakers would've won 55+ games, easily. My guess is 57 wins. I'm not so sure if he'd get the MVP award over Reed.
It's very hard to speculate/talk about the NBA Finals though. Wilt and the Lakers had his best performance in the series when Reed didn't play. The Lakers won game 6 by 22 points which is the biggest victory in the series and Wilt had a 45/27/3 game on .741 fg, .679 ts.
In games 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7 (the games Reed played more than 24 minutes), Wilt played with 19.2/24.6/4.4 on .562 fg, .520 ts. Very different than what he had in game 6.

I am not comfortable with saying Wilt would be the MVP and the FMVP because this one just too hazy. His chance would have increased greatly definitely, but I'm not sure about its extent.

[70sFan]

The NBA Finals would be even more competitive if Wilt and Reed weren't injured at different times. Well, at least on the C position.
Before his injury, Reed was great against Kareem and Wilt even though Wilt wasn't at his 100% surely in this particular playoffs.

With a healthy Wilt, the Lakers would've won 55+ games, easily. My guess is 57 wins. I'm not so sure if he'd get the MVP award over Reed.
It's very hard to speculate/talk about the NBA Finals though. Wilt and the Lakers had his best performance in the series when Reed didn't play. The Lakers won game 6 by 22 points which is the biggest victory in the series and Wilt had a 45/27/3 game on .741 fg, .679 ts.
In games 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7 (the games Reed played more than 24 minutes), Wilt played with 19.2/24.6/4.4 on .562 fg, .520 ts. Very different than what he had in game 6.

I am not comfortable with saying Wilt would be the MVP and the FMVP because this one just too hazy. His chance would have increased greatly definitely, but I'm not sure about its extent.

Well, healthy Wilt would definitely fare better against Willis Reed. You need quickness and athleticism to defend Willis and Chamberlain was clearly limited in these aspects when you watch him.

I don't see Wilt winning MVP, Lakers would likely finish lower than Knicks in RS and Willis had outstanding season.

[Jiminy Glick]

Well the question is how much the injury effected his play. I am guessing it reduced his athletcism quite a bit but also he was leaving his prime however his 1969 and 1971 seasons had similar stats. So if he scored a little more in 1970 he perhaps could have done that in other seasons like in 71,72, and 73. The thing though is that his field goal attempts decreased.

You're basically asking if he could have kept taking about 19 shots a game and kept his efficiency at a respectabl level for the rest of his career. I think yes he could have.

[70sFan]

Well the question is how much the injury effected his play. I am guessing it reduced his athletcism quite a bit but also he was leaving his prime however his 1969 and 1971 seasons had similar stats. So if he scored a little more in 1970 he perhaps could have done that in other seasons like in 71,72, and 73. The thing though is that his field goal attempts decreased.

You're basically asking if he could have kept taking about 19 shots a game and kept his efficiency at a respectabl level for the rest of his career. I think yes he could have.

There is huge difference in Wilt's scoring capabilites between 1969 and 1971-73 though. He played in a team that didn't wanted him scoring points, but he could still average 30 ppg easily in 1969 (he had that two ridiculous 60 point games on 70% or something in that season). I don't think that's something he could have done after injury. He could be 20+ppg scorer until the end of his career, but not 30+, that's too much for old Wilt.

When you watch his Lakers footage pre- and post-injury, it's clear that he lost a lot of quickness.

[Jiminy Glick]

Well the question is how much the injury effected his play. I am guessing it reduced his athletcism quite a bit but also he was leaving his prime however his 1969 and 1971 seasons had similar stats. So if he scored a little more in 1970 he perhaps could have done that in other seasons like in 71,72, and 73. The thing though is that his field goal attempts decreased.

You're basically asking if he could have kept taking about 19 shots a game and kept his efficiency at a respectabl level for the rest of his career. I think yes he could have.

There is huge difference in Wilt's scoring capabilites between 1969 and 1971-73 though. He played in a team that didn't wanted him scoring points, but he could still average 30 ppg easily in 1969 (he had that two ridiculous 60 point games on 70% or something in that season). I don't think that's something he could have done after injury. He could be 20+ppg scorer until the end of his career, but not 30+, that's too much for old Wilt.

When you watch his Lakers footage pre- and post-injury, it's clear that he lost a lot of quickness.

Without the injury scoring 24-27 on >50% fg% seems very reasonable if he wanted to be aggressive with scoring.

[coastalmarker99]

Wilt and Kareem’s first matchup.

(Oct 24, 1969)

Read on Twitter

After this game, these were their averages:

Wilt:
30.6 PPG
21.4 RPG
3.4 APG
56.4 FG%
(20.2 FGA)

Jabbar:
26.8 PPG
15.5 RPG
4.0 APG
51.1 FG%
(22.0 FGA)


It is a flat out shame that Wilt’s knee injury robbed us of Jabbar vs Wilt matchups.

where Wilt actually tries to score, instead of just playing defence.


As those battles between the two would have been even more awesome than they already were.