Wilt Chamberlain and company seem larger than life to Kevin Durant as the 60s superstars live on as borderline myths.
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Hearing about what guys like Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell did back in the 1960s is quite the trip for any NBA fan. Everything from Russell earning himself 11 championships in the span of 13 seasons to Chamberlain averaging 37 points in his rookie season, guys from that era feel like people from a completely other world.
The difference in talent between a superstar and an average player was much greater then than it is nowadays. The difference in skill between Wilt Chamberlain and the average player was much greater than say, the difference between Kevin Durant and Chris Boucher of the Toronto Raptors.
The fact that guys like Wilt and Russell achieved such Herculean feats, coupled with how long ago they played basketball results in a certain level of mythologizing taking place from superstars of those eras.
Even players like Bob Cousy, Elgin Baylor, and Jerry West, amongst several others, are looked at as basketball gods by players of today. Rightfully so as they paved for future generations to come after them.
Kevin Durant on Wilt Chamberlain and others from that era.
Despite being a top-20 player of all-time, Kevin Durant is still fascinated by guys who came before, with Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell being a few of these guys. He took to the ‘Icons Club’ podcast and opened up about his thoughts regarding guys from the past to Jackie MacMullan.
“You hear someone score 100 points in a game and you never feel like that’s attainable. As much as we got confidence in ourselves, 100 points is a lot of points to score in a regulation game. It’s like hearing Zeus, it’s that legend, that myth around those guys.”
With numbers like 50 point averages in a season and multiple 70+ point games in the same season, it’s safe to say that mythologizing those guys makes more than just a little bit of sense.
