Todays NBA: Kevin Garnett vs Wilt Chamberlain

[Matt15]

Which player would you rather build a team around in todays NBA?

[SlimShady83]

Wilt and It's not even close, It's just the same as having Shaq In today's game and I don't even care about the 3 point line

Wilt much like Shaq would draw double and triple teams and just pass It out to open man, for shot and extra passes etc

[D.Brasco]

A young propect Wilt today? I'd take him over any player in the league with the possible exception of Wemby.

Factoring his wingspan his proportions weren't that far off of Wemby's.

[SNPA]

A young propect Wilt today? I'd take him over any player in the league with the possible exception of Wemby.

Factoring his wingspan his proportions weren't that far off of Wemby's.

Great side by side photos. Excellent choice.

[Ol Roy]

Garnett would be perfectly optimized today, but Chamberlain is probably the greatest specimen ever.

I think the question with Wilt has always been whether he was willing and/or capable of playing high IQ basketball.

[70sFan]

Wilt would much more fun to watch for me and he's absolutely a generational talent. Some off-court concerns are not enough to ignore him.

[One_and_Done]

KG easily.

[wafflzgod]

Shooting and defensive versatility are two traits that are more important than ever in today's game, both of which Garnett is much better than Wilt

[tsherkin]

Oooh.

Wilt had some frail-ego issues in his day which helped keep him from maximizing his style of play and which helped make him a little stubborn and challenging to coach... but dude was one of the greatest physical talents in league history. He'd be an absolute monster today. Blew chunks at the line and didn't really have any range, which would be a problem, but he'd be pretty unguardable in close, coupled to high-end rebounding and rim protection. He would be a proper monster in today's game, especially with today's coaching. Him on the roll out of a screen is horrifying. Spacing around him? Yikes.

I have to take Wilt here. I like KG's mobility and all that, but Wilt was a demon.

[Hair Jordan]

The gap between Wilt and KG is about as large as the gap between our Sun and the next closest star. Wilt is the only answer.

[eminence]

KG - advantage between the ears.

Wilt being slightly more of an outlier athlete doesn't close that gap.

[TheGOATRises007]

KG - advantage between the ears.

Wilt being slightly more of an outlier athlete doesn't close that gap.

That's putting it lightly.

[eminence]

KG - advantage between the ears.

Wilt being slightly more of an outlier athlete doesn't close that gap.

That's putting it lightly.

It's really not.

KG is a top shelf athlete, above even young Wilt in the horizontal plane which matters more in the modern game than ever before. The amalgamation Wilt that was the biggest/quickest/strongest/fastest all at once never existed.

[Hair Jordan]

I’ve always claimed that KG is the most historically overrated player on this planet and even more so on RealGM. This poll is proving my point. Insanity

[EmpireFalls]

Could you imagine Wilt with Instagram, Tinder, Raya, escort services etc? Are we sure he’d even make it to the arena for games?

[tsherkin]

I’ve always claimed that KG is the most historically overrated player on this planet and even more so on RealGM. This poll is proving my point. Insanity

While I think the point is a little hyperbolic, I think it's true that people aren't giving Wilt his laurels in voting so readily for KG, for sure.

[Colbinii]

KG - advantage between the ears.

Wilt being slightly more of an outlier athlete doesn't close that gap.

That's putting it lightly.

Not really. KG is a 99 percentile athlete.

[tsherkin]

KG - advantage between the ears.

Wilt being slightly more of an outlier athlete doesn't close that gap.

That's putting it lightly.

Not really. KG is a 99 percentile athlete.

I think it's a pretty rough understatement.

KG was very mobile, particularly for his size. This is true.

Wilt was very mobile, EXCEPTIONALLY strong, taller, longer and had pogo-stick legs. He was a considerably larger outlier in terms of physical tools than was KG. We have seen a fairly large number of guys with proportions and physical tools to Garnett over the past 30 years or so. We haven't really seen anything similar to Wilt outside of Shaq.

[penbeast0]

KG - advantage between the ears.

Wilt being slightly more of an outlier athlete doesn't close that gap.

If Wilt was "slightly" more of an outlier athlete, that would be true. But he's the most outlier athlete in NBA history (Shaq is the other possibility) and an incredibly intelligent and reasonably skilled player to boot.

KG is great, Wilt is probably the GOAT individual (as opposed to team) talent to ever play.

[tsherkin]

incredibly intelligent and reasonably skilled player to boot.

I don't know that intelligence is the angle for Wilt.

Like, he was a smart man, for sure, but he often let emotion intercede where intellect was better-served as far as how he conducted himself on the court.