If Wilt and Kareem had both gotten rings in 64 and 74 which one do you think gets the bigger legacy boost nowadays

coastalmarker99 · Post #1 » by **coastalmarker99** » Sat Sep 3, 2022 8:54 pm

I think Kareem nowadays would get the bigger legacy boost in the Goat debate nowadays had he won in 1974 as 7 rings and 3 finals MVPs to go along with 6 MVPS would be tough to argue against.

As for Wilt's legacy, I do think winning in 1964 would ensure that people would include him more in the Goat debate as he would have won 3 rings on different teams all the while completely playing different styles on each of them.

falcolombardi · Post #2 » by **falcolombardi** » Sat Sep 3, 2022 8:57 pm

I think wilt tbh,it would put his "floor raiser" seasons in a more positive light if he could pull a upset on the peak russel celtics

Post #3 » by **penbeast0** » Sat Sep 3, 2022 9:39 pm

Yes, Wilt has the whole Russell whammy thing that Kareem doesn't and it's a key part of his legacy.

falcolombardi · Post #4 » by **falcolombardi** » Sat Sep 3, 2022 9:51 pm

Would warriors 64 be the biggest "floor raiser"/carry job upset title ever?

It would be up there with 95 hakeem or 2003 duncan i have to imagine?

70sFan · Post #5 » by **70sFan** » Sun Sep 4, 2022 5:56 am

Wilt winning in 1964 wasn't realistic, his team wasn't good enough. 1965 would be a better choice for this hypothetical. Or even 1962.

Kareem could have won the title in 1974. It was one of the greatest postseason runs ever.

70sFan · Post #6 » by **70sFan** » Sun Sep 4, 2022 5:57 am

falcolombardi wrote:Would warriors 64 be the biggest "floor raiser"/carry job upset title ever?

It would be up there with 95 hakeem or 2003 duncan i have to imagine?

I think it would have been even bigger than these. Warriors team was significantly worse than 2003 Spurs on offense, let alone 1995 Rockets (did you mean 1994?).

Dutchball97 · Post #7 » by **Dutchball97** » Sun Sep 4, 2022 7:34 am

Neither of these rings would really change much for my rankings. It would probably do a bit more for Wilt though. Kareem's issue of his individual peak not lining up with his team success still remains even if he wins in 74. Winning the title and then missing the post-season twice in a row might even hurt his case to some. He's firmly 3rd all-time for me. Wilt would get a win over the Celtics at their best with a pretty weak supporting cast. It could change the perspective that Wilt-centered basketball was not winning basketball. I have him 6th now but could move him up to 5th in this case since he's already close to Duncan on my list, I still don't think he'd have a strong argument over Russell all-time though.

No-more-rings · Post #8 » by **No-more-rings** » Sun Sep 4, 2022 7:02 pm

If you're asking how different it would be on this board, it's hard to say. My feeling is that Wilt would get the bigger boost, Wilt just has more of a negative stigma attached to him than Kareem, and beating Russell twice in his prime instead of once would likely make a big difference for the detractors. For Kareem it would just be another title and FMVP added onto an already loaded resume. I'm not saying it wouldn't help him, but it's hard to go up much further when you're already a consensus top 3-4 player by a large majority here. For those who think Jordan or Lebron were just plain better players, I doubt that changes with one more title, or if it's ring total you care about Russell is still well ahead. Wilt with 3 rings, would probably more commonly get the nod over Shaq and Duncan in comparisons.