Wilt Chamberlain

Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors (1959-1965)

Philadelphia 76ers (1965-1968)

Los Angeles Lakers (1968-1973)

4-time NBA MVP (’60, ’66, ’67, ’68)

2-time NBA Champion (’67, ’72)

1972 NBA Finals MVP

7-time All-NBA 1st Team (’60, ’61, ’62, ’64, ’66, ’67, ’68)

3-time All-NBA 2nd Team (’63, ’65, ’72)

2-time NBA All-Defensive 1st Team (’72, ’73)

1960 NBA Rookie of the Year

13-time NBA All-Star

1960 NBA All-Star Game MVP

7-time NBA scoring champion (’60, ’61, ’62, ’63, ’64, ’65, ’66)

11-time NBA rebounding leader (’60, ’61, ’62, ’63, ’66, ’67, ’68, ’69, ’71, ’72, ’73)

1968 NBA assists leader

One of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players (named in ’96)

Basketball Hall of Famer

Wilt Chamberlain was perhaps the most physically dominant basketball player to ever live. That is not to undermine the immense skill he possessed as a player, leading to seven NBA scoring titles and all kinds of scoring records. Wilt was also an excellent passer and shot blocker. After a season with the Harlem Globetrotters, Wilt spent the first six years of his NBA career with the Warriors franchise, where he racked up numerous accolades. In 1960 he was named league MVP and Rookie of the Year. In ’62 he put up utterly preposterous averages of 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds per game. That same year he scored an NBA record of 100 points in a single game. Following the ’62 season, the Warriors moved west to San Francisco, and Wilt made the move with the team. However, in 1965, Chamberlain was traded to a new (by way of Syracuse) Philadelphia franchise, the 76ers.

Chamberlain played three and a half seasons with the Sixers, where he won three straight MVP’s and led the team to the ’67 NBA title, the first of his career. Following the ’68 campaign, though, Wilt was again traded out west, this time to the Los Angeles Lakers. Wilt’s time with the Sixers and Lakers saw him become a better all around player. The Lakers made the Finals in four of the five seasons that Wilt was on the team and won it all in 1972. The ’72 Lakers were one of the greatest teams of all-time, as they ripped off an NBA record 33 straight wins during the regular season on their way to a 4-1 victory over the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals. The Lakers again played the Knicks in the Finals in ’73, but lost in five games, in what would prove to be Wilt Chamberlain’s final act as an NBA player.

Wilt Chamberlain is a hard player to rank on a list like this. There is an argument to be made that he should be #1, based on numbers alone. Yet, it is odd that despite being on some great teams and being so dominant as an individual he “only” won two NBA titles. That feels unfair for some reason. Some might punish him for the era he played in, saying he towered over everyone so of course he scored at will, but that isn’t fair to the other truly great players of his heyday. In the end, #5 felt just right. Wilt was a towering figure as a player and remains just that nearly 50 years after his playing days. He was a sheer force that should always be remembered in the basketball world.

Other accomplishments that didn’t factor into this ranking

His #13 is retired by the Golden State Warriors

His #13 is retired by the Philadelphia 76ers

His #13 is retired by the Los Angeles Lakers

1957 NCAA tournament Most Outstanding Player (Kansas)

2-time Consensus 1st Team All-American (’57, ’58, Kansas)

His #13 is retired by the University of Kansas