This is the best way to judge players of different eras.
No other way to do it, really. Ruth dominated in his day—whether he’d be able to do it against Bryan Abreu if you sent him back in a time machine isn’t all that meaningful.
It’s one way but is it the the best way? Put MJ in any other era and he is still going to dominate in the same way he did in his time. Same with LeBron. I can’t say that about Wilt with the same confidence.
If your only goal is compiling individual stats, then yes.
Otherwise, no way.
I think it is easier to make those comparisons in basketball than it is with baseball, and football. But not necessarily hockey or soccer.
If it’s close, count who has the most rings on their fingers.
That’s some of it, but if we want to say that Wilt dominated his era - Russell routinely owned his ass.
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Btw, I think the all-time starting 5 is pretty easy:
PG - Magic
SG - Jordan
SF - LeBron
PG - Duncan
C - Russell
Russell’s team certainly owned Chamberlain’s team, 57 - 37.
Head to head - Wilt’s points per game were 29.9 to 14.2 for Russell. Wilt FG% .488 to .370 for Russell. Wilt out rebounded Russell 28.1 to 22.9. Russell had 4.4 assists to Chamberlain’s 3.8 and had the edge in FT% .543 to .493. I wouldn’t call that an ass owning in Russell’s favor.
Did you ever watch them play? I did and agree with MM.
A PPG comparison with Russell? That’s funny. Russell’s role on that team was not scoring.
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I never said one was better than the other. I’ve never said that. Yes, I did watch them many times. Much more than MM did, probably not as much as you. But, did you ever watch them play without your green tinted glasses on? Russell had guys like Cousy, Havlicek, Heinsohn, The Joneses. A whole slew of hall of famers. Wilt had… uh… no one that comes to mind… wait, Hal Greer, Luke Jackson.
In head to head games, that means against each other, Wilt doubled Bill’s offense. Russell was also out rebounded by a large margin, but he did have a .6 assist advantage.
Again, I am not saying that one is better than the other or the GOAT. I am pointing out that when Chamberlain’s team faced Russell’s team, Bill’s team had the advantage in the only category that counts, winning. And that Russell, the greatest defender on the greatest team of his era, even as his team was dominating Wilt’s team, couldn’t contain Chamberlain.
Taking cues from their town mates the Angels whose headlines are often: Otani & Trout do something super human in Angels loss.
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Wilt’s lack of help is true. But while it does explain part of his W/L record, it also explains part of his individual stats.
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In a GOAT discussion would one fault him for that or do you give him credit for picking up the slack?
I don’t fault him for it, but it adds perspective. Similarly, Jordan’s scoring numbers gain perspective when realizing anything short of gunfire was legal on defense.
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PG - Magic
SG - Jordan
SF - LeBron
PG - Duncan
C - Russell Dream
Mine. (with my red tinted glasses on)
You made my point for me. Thank you. Using ppg to compare is meaningless because Russell was not asked to score.
I’m all about assists.
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Haha!
ETA: I also am not saying Russell was better. I am saying he was a more complete player and handled Chamberlain pretty well. Wilt was a far better scorer, of course, and usually did not have a lot of help.
Also, the career scoring record is not especially meaningful in the grand scheme of things. I mean, it couldn’t be if KarlMalone is third on the list, and in front on MJ.
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