NB70s: Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain (1972-73)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
- The 1972-73 NBA season was to be Chamberlain's last, although he did not know this at the time. In his last season, the Lakers lost substance, as Happy Hairston was injured, Robinson and LeRoy Ellis had left, and the veteran West struggled with injury. Chamberlain averaged 13.2 points and 18.6 rebounds, still enough to win the rebounding title for the 11th time in his career. In addition, he shot an NBA record 0.727 for the season, bettering his own mark of 0.683 from the 1966-67 season. It was the ninth time that Chamberlain would lead the league in field goal percentage. The Lakers won 60 games in the regular season and reached the 1973 NBA Finals against the New York Knicks, a franchise that featured a healthy team with a rejuvenated Reed, while the Lakers were now handicapped by several injuries. In that series, the Lakers started off with a 115-112 win, but the Knicks won Games 2 and 3; things worsened when West again injured his hamstring. In Game 4, the shorthanded Lakers were no match for New York. In Game 5, the valiant but injured West and Hairston had bad games, and the Lakers lost the game 102-93 and the series 3-2, despite Chamberlain scoring 23 points and grabbing 21 rebounds. After the Knicks finished off the game with a late flourish led by Phil Jackson and Earl Monroe, Chamberlain made a dunk with one second left, which turned out to be the last play of his NBA career.
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Although '72-73 was the Dipper's last season, he was still a dominant player in the paint. Wilt was suffering from the after effects a potentially career ending patellar tendon injury that hadn't fully healed yet from a couple years prior that limited his mobility and lateral movement but with that said, Dip was still very athletic relative to most players. He was still the strongest player in the league, his stamina allowed him to play over 43 minutes a game for all 82 games, Dip's straight ahead speed when he wanted to turn it on was eye popping, and Wilt still had surprising hops.
Wilt had a adopted a Bill Russell style game the year before at the behest of new coach and ex Celtic Bill Sharman so Dip wasn't taking many shots but that's not to say he wasn't dominant in other phases of the game. Wilt's rebounding at over 18 boards a game was still the best in the NBA and there was little doubt who was grabbing a rebound if Wilt was in the paint. As a shot blocker you could easily make an argument that Wilt was still the greatest ever. Wilt also didn't just block shots, he changed shots that he didn't block to a large degree. Because of his hops and extraordinary wingspan, Wilt wouldn't block the ball right after the player released the ball, he could wait and go up and get it which was a big advantage. The intimidation factor that Wilt provided was huge. Wilt's outlet passing was next level as well and he could still deliver the ball down the court on point anywhere. In the half court, Chamberlain was still one of the greatest passers ever from the center position and Dip could thread a behind the back pass for a score as well as anybody in history. Maybe Wilt wasn't putting up big scoring numbers like he was when he was in his prime but Wilt could score 25 plus points if he was motivated or got mad. Wilt was still a dominant force even though he was playing in his last NBA season.
The total package! Outlet passes, positioning, athleticism, rebounding and a touch of buckets when the Lakers needed them!
RIP WILT 🙏 ⚰, WHAT A CLASS ACT....GOAT....
Wilt was so dominant people tended to root against him, even when he exhibited all around ball player skills
Stunning
Wilton Norman Chamberlain is The Greatest Basketball Player of All Time = GOAT
noting how taped up his hands and wrists are, and that he rarely dunked even though he could have. I'm guessing his hands got really banged up from all the dunks.
Wilt and jordan the best players ever
Note: Wilt hated that nickname.