tsherkin wrote:Shaq had more basketball power than Wilt IMO, more lower base power coupled with superior and more consistent aggression
Yeah, several contemporaries have gone on record saying that as well:
Rod Thorn, who played nine seasons in the NBA from 1963-64 to 1970-71, said, “For the time (Chamberlain) played, Wilt was bigger, stronger and quicker than every player who was near his size. Shaq is bigger and stronger than Wilt” (May 10, 2001).
Bill Bertka, who was assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers in 1971-72, when Wilt Chamberlain led the Lakers to a 69-13 record and 33-game winning streak, said, “Shaq’s the biggest, strongest, quickest center ever to play the game” (Jun 16, 2001).
In his 2011 autobiography
West by West,
Jerry West, in describing his Dream All-Star Game, wrote, “when Shaquille and Wilt are out there, power againt power, I wonder how Shaquille will stop Wilt’s fadeaway jump shot. With all the lobs and plays designed just for Wilt, how will Shaquille stop him? And yet, I remind myself that while Wilt was the strongest player in the league when he played, that he just intimidated and scared the hell out of people, Shaquille was in another category altogether; he was so powerful it was ridiculous. He would absolutely destroy other teams, mentally destroy them so that they were beat before the game even started” (Jerry West and Jonathan Coleman,
West by West, p. 283).
Nate Thurmond, who played a season and a half with Chamberlain with the San Francisco Warriors in 1963-64 and ’64-65, and played against him for eight seasons until Chamberlain’s retirement in 1972-73, said, “Shaq is the most powerful person to ever play the position. He comes to the basket; Wilt faded” (Jun 4, 2011).
And Wilt himself conceded the latter:
Roy Firestone: Shaq. They are saying he’s the new Wilt. That he may be, before it’s over, greater than Wilt.
Wilt Chamberlain: He is worthy of all the accolades.
Firestone: Okay.
Chamberlain: And he sh—
Firestone (interrupting): So you think he’s going to be another Wilt—maybe better than you.
Chamberlain: Maybe, yeah. I think, I think—
Firestone (interrupting): You do?
Chamberlain: Yeah, ’cause he’s already doin’ some things that I’ve never done. First of all—
Firestone: Wait a minute!
Chamberlain: Yeah.
Firestone: Wait a minute, I, I gotta stop you here, Wilt, hold the phone here. You’re tellin’ me—Wilt Chamberlain is tellin’ me—that he thinks someone is gonna be better than he is.
Chamberlain: Mmm. (nods)
Firestone: Right now you think that he’s got all the potential to be better than you.
Chamberlain: Yeah.
Firestone: You’re saying that?
Chamberlain: Yeah. I’m sayin’ that because he already has a drive in an area that I didn’t have.
Firestone: Which is?
Chamberlain: Goin’ to the basket. Uh, durin’ my career—and mainly in my early days when I was scorin’ all those points—I-I had this thing in my head that I wanted to show people I was a complete basketball player. Y’ understand? And by doing that I developed the fadeaway jump shot, and the fingerroll and the hook shot, and all the tools that on offense basketball players had. When maybe... Wilt Chamberlain should’ve been goin’ to the basket and breaking guys’ hands off, y’ understand? And that would’ve made me... even more devastating. He’s doin’ that already.
tsherkin wrote:but while it's quite likely that Diesel would remain better than Wilt offensively in this era, the rebounding, defense and durability you get out of Wilt make any comparison between the two very, very interesting and close.
Wilt certainly took better care of himself than Shaq did, and had teams interested in him long after his retirement. He only had the one year he missed a significant amount of time his whole career despite playing all those minutes.
