[Stardust]

Bob, these younger fellows greatly overestimate the skill sets of "modern" players, as well as their athleticism and importance of "length" (which was known as height in the olden days).

They forget that Charles Barkley, who entered the league in the same draft class as Michael Jordan, and who is widely acknowledged as one of the top power forwards of all time was, in fact, only 6'4" tall. They forget that Barkley managed to pull down 20+ rebounds in at least one playoff game when injuries literally prevented him from leaving the ground. If Barkley had the same stats and had played in the 60s, the same folks who disparage Wilt's stats would be arguing that Barkley would be too small to play forward in today's NBA.

Another thing that they constantly overlook is the fact that "length" inflation in the NBA is very common. Hakeem Olajawon, who although listed as a 7-footer throughout his career, was the same size as Bill Russell at 6'10." They forget the impact that a perennially out of shape, overweight Shaq had on the "modern" game against plethora of double and triple teams by players as tall as himself.

In Wilt's prime, one out of every seven games that he played was against Hall of Famer, an the best defensive center in the history of the game, Bill Russell. Those who quickly dismiss Wilt's stats because of the dearth of quality big men in the league, should recall all those great centers that played with Jordan on the Bull's championship teams. Guys like Will Perdue, Bill Cartwright, and Luc Longley. Do they really think that double teaming Chamberlain in his prime with such mediocre big men would have hindered his production?

People who are of the mind that today's players are just vastly superior in every way to those who played in the 60s and 70s overlook how few quality big men there are in the league today. Chamberlain was blocking shots on Kareem near the end of his career and still leading the league in rebounding.

Chamberlain once averaged 48.5 minutes per game for an entire season. At age 36, in his final season as a Laker, he played 43.2 minutes a game. Currently, Chicago's Jimmy Butler leads the league in playing time at 39.3 minutes/game. Shaq played an average of 34.7 minutes during his career, compared to Wilt's average of 45.8 minutes. Wilt's stamina and durability accounts for a big part of his Paul Bunyan-sized stats.

Teams were seriously trying to convince Wilt to come out of retirement just to play in the playoffs until he was 50 years old. He was not just ahead of his time, he was ahead of the current time. No center in the history of the game had the stamina that Chamberlain had, and no center currently playing the game even comes close.

We both know that Wilt would dominate today's NBA, Bob, and it is a shame that so many younger people have such an inflated opinion of today's NBA. Today's players are pampered like the players of Wilt's era never could have imagined. If Wilt had spent as much time on the bench as today's most durable centers do, the owners would have probably docked his pay. Today's generation just does not appreciate a great work ethic the way that those of us who grew up in the 60s and 70s do.

The "Younger" term does not work with me gentlemen :biggrin: I am YOUR age, by I on the other-hand am a realist and a progressive. Era's were era's, players dominated the competition that they had at that time. But even Ray Charles can tell you that if you plopped today's athletes into yesterday, the skill sets are dramatically different. The real debate comes from "what it", meaning if todays athletes did not have the same training, diet and strength that yesterdays athlete did, and on the flipside, give the same training of today to the old athletes. But when you take the players for what you know, not what you don't know, today's athletes are FAR superior.

As for the work ethic, I suggest that is NOT accurate! read about the off-seasons of every player from the 60's through the 70's. Money was good enough to not have to work a second job like the era's that preceded them, however, their off-season was an OFF period for them. Today's athletes are are 12 month per year athletes. There is no such thing as downtime for today's athletes, which causes far more injuries and fatigue, the kind of fatigue that comes from never letting the body rest - which equates to a far better work ethic of yesteryear!

It's progress gentlemen. The easiest way to equate the progress of today's sports are those sports that have comparisons that are equal over time! The 100 yard dash and the mile will always be eclipsed because the athletes are getting better.