I've finally understood Wilt Chamberlain's strength

[DaRkJaWs42]

I like the post both by NeilsCeltics and TME. Good posts.

[Phil Jackson]

I spoke to a source by phone that used to work out with him in the same facility in LA back in the 90s. I asked this source whether Wilt could bench 500 lbs, he said no and told me he didn't believe to the best of his recollection that Wilt's bench was anything special(and that it wasn't his type of workout), so then I asked, not even 450? He said, nah nah, with relative certainty, but he could be wrong...I just need to find a source at either Stanford University gymnasium or even Arnold S. himself. Anyhow, so then the question arose to me, why was Wilt seen as such a dominant creature at the time?

The answer lies with his wrist curling ability. According to this same source(who worked out heavily and who could himself bench 525 pounds at one time), he was absolutely in awe with how much Wilt could curl. He said that he could "easily" curl 125 lbs, and that he could probably do more. This explains a lot of things. 1)why anyone who tried to dunk his hand through the basket NEVER COULD, 2)how he could easily maneuver people out of his way with his hand/wrist strength alone, 3)how he could slam the ball so hard and cause it to bounce with such ferociousness, and how he dislocated a player's shoulder in 1967 by blocking his shot and sending him to the floor(still the only time someone has ever had his shoulder dislocated by a block), etc etc. In fact, he would purposedly slam the ball down gently most of the time because he was afraid he would break someone's wrist eventually. I could go on, but I think you all get the picture. I always assumed it was in his arms, which hell, there may have been that too, but his wrist strength really brings me to understand why people feared him so much. And don't get me wrong, he still had a lot of upper body strength.

So my question arises, does Shaq or any other bball player have the wrist strength Wilt had? If Shaq didn't and still doesn't, who would manhandle who? Someone with a lot more weight on his body like Shaq, or someone who would easily be able to block shaq and prevent him from ever getting a shot off?

The answer to your question is Kobe Bryant. He has more, actually.

[DaRkJaWs42]

The answer to your question is Kobe Bryant. He has more, actually.

Wrong. Kobe easily gets the ball stripped from him, indicating his wrist strength. His hands are also smaller than Jordan's, which was smaller than Chamberlains.

Plus, Chamberlain has been on record to have EASILY palmed bowling balls.

[Blackfyre]

The answer to your question is Kobe Bryant. He has more, actually.

Wrong. Kobe easily gets the ball stripped from him, indicating his wrist strength. His hands are also smaller than Jordan's, which was smaller than Chamberlains.

Plus, Chamberlain has been on record to have EASILY palmed bowling balls.

It makes me laugh when people take seriously what this user Phil Jackson says.

[Burnt_Face_Man]

I too, have finally come to understand Wilt Chamberlain's strength. This is a story that my father's uncle always tells me, although he is 98 years old and thinks he is a panda bear, I trust his word. One day Wilt was standing in a train station in Philadelphia when he noticed a solemn looking man staring at the departing trains. "Why are you so solemn looking" asked Wilt and the man replied "I am stranded here in Philadelphia and am going to miss the birth of my son, I have no money to buy a train ticket and I am deathly afraid of dying in a fiery fifteen car pileup so I cannot drive. Wilt looked down kindly at the man, "Where is your son going to be born?" he asked. "In Chicago" the man replied and with that Wilt picked the up and with a flick of wrist threw him from Philadelphia to Chicago. The man died immediately upon impact, but it was the thought that counted, the thought.

[writerman]

Well, I see the kiddie corps is out in all its ignorant glory....

TrueLAFan has it about right...just because you've never seen anyone like Wilt doesn't mean he couldn't do and didn't do the things he did...and in general against better opposition at the 5 than he would see today.

Wilt was an athletic outlier of the LeBron James mold, but even more extreme. Jerry West--who played both against and with Wilt, and knows al ittle bit about the game--
said playing today in his prime Wilt would lead the league in scoring, rebounding, and blocked shots every year. I'll accewpt his assessment over a kid like PimpOrlando (just what are HIS credntials for making judgments about Wilt, or anyone else, for that matter?) everytime...

[MagicFan32]

How do I get banned from the general board but people like netsforce, the kobe and lebron fanboys+jaws do not....

[Devilzsidewalk]

I too, have finally come to understand Wilt Chamberlain's strength. This is a story that my father's uncle always tells me, although he is 98 years old and thinks he is a panda bear, I trust his word. One day Wilt was standing in a train station in Philadelphia when he noticed a solemn looking man staring at the departing trains. "Why are you so solemn looking" asked Wilt and the man replied "I am stranded here in Philadelphia and am going to miss the birth of my son, I have no money to buy a train ticket and I am deathly afraid of dying in a fiery fifteen car pileup so I cannot drive. Wilt looked down kindly at the man, "Where is your son going to be born?" he asked. "In Chicago" the man replied and with that Wilt picked the up and with a flick of wrist threw him from Philadelphia to Chicago. The man died immediately upon impact, but it was the thought that counted, the thought.

you had me at "although he is 98 years old and thinks he is a panda bear"

[Dr Positivity]

Clearly Wilt's wrists are the secret to his success with women as well!

[Burnt_Face_Man]

Wilt's wrists are so strong that one time he flicked his wrist and shot a 17 foots jump shot that went through the net with such force that it hit Benjamin "Lefty" Floyd and broke his spine.

[The Main Event]

Wilt's wrists are so strong that one time he flicked his wrist and shot a 17 foots jump shot that went through the net with such force that it hit Benjamin "Lefty" Floyd and broke his spine.

What's funny is that you think that you're funny.

[Burnt_Face_Man]

I'm not sure how I can even carry on living after that kind of E-lashing.

[The Main Event]

Wilt's wrists are so strong that one time he flicked his wrist and shot a 17 foots jump shot that went through the net with such force that it hit Benjamin "Lefty" Floyd and broke his spine.

TrueLAFan -

The problem with Wilt is that he was so far beyond normal that it's easy to dismiss what is said. Some people are trying to do that. But things like Wilt picking pennies off backboards...Wilt did that with the Globies. Literally hundreds of thousands of people saw it. Johnny Kerr's broken toe--that was a well-documented play too. So was Wilt dislocating Gus Johnson shoulder by blocking his shot. Wilt playing in a pickup game in 1980 and getting mad about the cheap fouls and, literally, rejecting every shot after that...Magic was in that game, and he was blown away. Larry Brown was there. Wilt was in his mid-40s at the time. And, of course, my favorite...the free throws. Jordan and Dr. J are famous for their dunks where they took off behind the free throw line. When Wilt went to Kansas, his coach said he make every free throw because he shot them all that way. Think about that. If it was one or two stories, you'd dismiss them. But there are too many, and too many are well documented.

The things...the stories don;'t make Wilt a better ball player. They make him more cartoonish, and easier to (foolishly) put down...as Lakers05 and Silver Bullet have attempted to do. Lying about statistics and claiming that guy who was universally known as the strongest guy and fastest guy in the league only had "long legs" is somewhere between silly and pathetic. They're the equivalent of people who think Wilt would score 80 or 90 a game now because of the less violent interior play and the lack of quality big men. They're the extremists

[Guy986]

I too, have finally come to understand Wilt Chamberlain's strength. This is a story that my father's uncle always tells me, although he is 98 years old and thinks he is a panda bear, I trust his word. One day Wilt was standing in a train station in Philadelphia when he noticed a solemn looking man staring at the departing trains. "Why are you so solemn looking" asked Wilt and the man replied "I am stranded here in Philadelphia and am going to miss the birth of my son, I have no money to buy a train ticket and I am deathly afraid of dying in a fiery fifteen car pileup so I cannot drive. Wilt looked down kindly at the man, "Where is your son going to be born?" he asked. "In Chicago" the man replied and with that Wilt picked the up and with a flick of wrist threw him from Philadelphia to Chicago. The man died immediately upon impact, but it was the thought that counted, the thought.

This is a HOF post.

[Guy986]

The problem with Wilt is that he was so far beyond normal that it's easy to dismiss what is said. Some people are trying to do that. But things like Wilt picking pennies off backboards...Wilt did that with the Globies. Literally hundreds of thousands of people saw it. Johnny Kerr's broken toe--that was a well-documented play too. So was Wilt dislocating Gus Johnson shoulder by blocking his shot. Wilt playing in a pickup game in 1980 and getting mad about the cheap fouls and, literally, rejecting every shot after that...Magic was in that game, and he was blown away. Larry Brown was there. Wilt was in his mid-40s at the time. And, of course, my favorite...the free throws. Jordan and Dr. J are famous for their dunks where they took off behind the free throw line. When Wilt went to Kansas, his coach said he make every free throw because he shot them all that way. Think about that. If it was one or two stories, you'd dismiss them. But there are too many, and too many are well documented.

Human mind is the most fickled and fragile of things. If you keep repeating the same lies over and over, some people will believe it. If the event is that well documented please provide link, video, pictures, etc. but saying my brother's uncle's neighbor's sister in law told me doesn't count.

[215paperboy]

The problem with Wilt is that he was so far beyond normal that it's easy to dismiss what is said. Some people are trying to do that. But things like Wilt picking pennies off backboards...Wilt did that with the Globies. Literally hundreds of thousands of people saw it. Johnny Kerr's broken toe--that was a well-documented play too. So was Wilt dislocating Gus Johnson shoulder by blocking his shot. Wilt playing in a pickup game in 1980 and getting mad about the cheap fouls and, literally, rejecting every shot after that...Magic was in that game, and he was blown away. Larry Brown was there. Wilt was in his mid-40s at the time. And, of course, my favorite...the free throws. Jordan and Dr. J are famous for their dunks where they took off behind the free throw line. When Wilt went to Kansas, his coach said he make every free throw because he shot them all that way. Think about that. If it was one or two stories, you'd dismiss them. But there are too many, and too many are well documented.

Human mind is the most fickled and fragile of things. If you keep repeating the same lies over and over, some people will believe it. If the event is that well documented please provide link, video, pictures, etc. but saying my brother's uncle's neighbor's sister in law told me doesn't count.

those stories are absolutely true. wilt is the reason you can't inbound the ball over the basket because his teammates would throw alley oops and he'd catch them at the top of the backboard. he also almost did the same thing to walt bellamy that he did to gus johnson. btw, wilt was able to dunk from the free throw line without taking any steps. that's how he used to shoot his free throws until the nba banned it. don't just take my word for it here's the link on the nba's official website documenting such cases:
http://www.nba.com/history/players/chamberlain_bio.html
here's a link that mentions wilt being a high jump champ at ku and his bench press which was on record:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0150219/bio
not to mention, he's in the volley ball hall of fame too. he was an amazing athlete.end of story.
if earl boykins can bench 300 lbs., why is it so far fetched that wilt can do 450+ ?
respect the legend that is wilt, chump.

[jaypo]

Hey, guys. Just my $00.02- I am about 6'00 and 201 lbs. I'm a personal trainer. I never benched over 315lbs because I'm not very strong in my chest. However, to say that Wilt was a behemoth because he curled 125lbs is ridiculous. I curl 135. Take a 45lb bench press bar and put a 45lb plate on each side, and voila, 135. I call it "Ty fighters", because it looks like a ty fighter from star wars. I do struggle on a few reps, but I can curl 125 lbs pretty easily. And I'm not 7'00 and 250lbs. My friend is about 185lbs, former gymnast, and he warms up with 315lbs (3 plates on each side), and I've seen him bench over 500 lbs.

One thing I found interesting in an article was this :

"Chamberlain, who was not only taller and stronger than almost anyone he matched up against"

So he towered above all competition, but people get mad when someone points out that Wilt would not dominate as much in today's game. Now, 7 ftrs grow on trees. He'd still be great, but not 50ppg great.

[DaRkJaWs42]

We're not talking about Bicep Curls, we're talking about wrist curls.

[jaypo]

Now that's a different story. I do admit that 125 is more difficult for a wrist curl, but I can do that as well. It's difficult for me, but again, I'm not 2600lbs either. So I'm not very impressed by that. Now if he would have been doing 225, I'd be impressed.

[DaRkJaWs42]

You still don't get it. He could do 125 with each hand, meaning 250 total.