“I would average 70 points in the 1990s”: When Wilt Chamberlain confidently claimed he would destroy guys like Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon

Wilt Chamberlain claimed that he would easily average 70 points a game in the 1990s against talent like Michael Jordan and Hakeem. 

The legend of Wilt Chamberlain continues to be passed down from generation to generation and frankly; how could it not be? The things that are written about the 7 footer in basketball archives are unheard of on NBA hardwood. The statlines he’s put up against questionable defenses in the 60s are still immensely impressive. 

He’s the only player to have ever averaged 30+ points and 20+ rebounds on a season and he’s done this 7 times in his career, all while getting back on the other end of the floor and swatting away shots with the use of his 2.34m long wingspan.

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Though debates on who the ‘GOAT’ is are centered around Michael Jordan and LeBron James at the moment, many believe guys like Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar should be right up there due to the former’s inordinate athletic ability. 

Wilt Chamberlain believes he could average around 70 points a game in the 1990s. 

Along with being the most dominant force in the NBA for nearly a decade, Wilt Chamberlain was supremely confident in the notion that his skills would translate perfectly in an era of basketball that took place 30 years down the line. 

In an interview alongside his Celtics rival from the 60s, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain let Ahmad Rashad know that he’d be dominant no matter the era the decade he suited up in. “I could maybe get 30 points a game right now. I’m telling you that. But at 30, I could probably average 60 or 70. Period. The game would best suit me.”

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With the amount of hype that revolves around defenses in the 1990s, things might not have played out the way Wilt Chamberlain predicted they would. Some may argue that David Robinson dropped 71 in a game but that game was fueled by Robinson’s spite for Shaq and wanting to claim the scoring title that season from the Lakers center. 

As if Chamberlain claiming he’d average 70 wasn’t enough, the 2x champion let out a borderline, paradoxical comparison between himself and the Rockets’ 2x Finals MVP, Hakeem Olajuwon, saying, “It would be a joke. Olajuwon is quicker than me but I’m faster than him.”