The era of Shaquille O’Neal was perhaps the end of the glorious era of centers. He was the last one from a long dynasty of big men dominating the sport. Since him, there has not really been a center as dominant or ruthless as him. However, in the past, before the dawn of the Big Aristotle, the league had a few names that matched Shaq’s level of dominance.
Advertisement
There was, although, one athlete, who was arguably considered an even better player than the monstrous Shaquille O’Neal. Wilt Chamberlain ruled the league in the 60s. If not for the Celtics and the Lakers, Wilt Chamberlain might have just been the most successful player in history. A 7-time scoring champ and 4-time MVP, the Big Dipper still remains a memorable name in the history of the NBA.
Wilt’s dominance had been so absolute that people even in the 90s remembered what he had done. So, when Shaquille began to dominate the league upon his arrival, it was only natural for fans and pundits to compare Wilt and him.
Wilt Chamberlain proclaimed Shaquille O’Neal useless in his era
The curiosity of these debates reached even the doors of Conan O’Brien. So, while interviewing the Big Dipper, O’Neal couldn’t hold his curiosity and ended up asking Wilt about who was better among them. At first, Wilt praised Shaquille O’Neal for his strength and size. However, he then went on to claim that the 7ft 1″ giant wouldn’t have been able to play against him or the players of his era.
Wilt: “Yeah, because we’re both terrible foul shooters, but other than that, Shaquille and I is like comparing me with like Clark Gable. In this case, I’m Clark Gable and he’s me. He plays an entirely different type of basketball game than I do. He uses his physicality, and he’s a big strong young man, and that works well in today’s game. If he was facing me and other guys on my of time, not so good. I’m a guy bench pressing around 600 lbs.”
Clearly, Wilt wasn’t too fond of humility as a concept. He was cocky right from the start. In fact, even his praise for O’Neal seemed more like fodder for the crucifying that came later. However, it certainly makes you think, was Wilt really that strong to not be afraid of O’Neal?
Chamberlain once dislocated an opponent’s shoulder just by blocking the shot
Wilt was one of the strongest players in history. While Shaq broke rings, Wilt did something far more vicious. During a game against the Bullets, a strong 6ft 6″ forward by the name of Gus Johnson dunked on Chamberlain. Later in the game, Gus got the ball again and had another one-on-one face-off with Chamberlain.
So, naturally, Gus went straight for the dunk. But Wilt rose up to meet him in the air and blocked the shot. The block was so strong that Gus dislocated his shoulder. There is hardly any case similar to this one. No other player in history can boast of blocking a shot hard enough to dislocate a player’s shoulder. So, certainly, it’s hard to imagine Wilt being afraid of Shaq’s style of play. But whether he was better than Shaq or not is an entirely different conversation.
Also read: 51 y/o Shaquille O’Neal Flexes $400 Million Fortune by Using own Brand For Mass Birthday Celebration
