I think its totally unfair to compare Shaquille with me. Orlando was the first stop of his career, as he was their first overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. George grew up on the North Side of Chicago. Both were gargantuans compared to the rest of the league during their primes, but which player had a greater competitive advantage over his peers? Biedenbach is optimistically cautious. He arrived on campus with storyboards of movie ideas; he has written several short stories and screenplays and said he would like to produce films. The holder of many long-standing NBA records and a player who many considered Superman amongst mere mortals, Chamberlain had a transformative effect on a . But of course wed like to get him the ball more.. Wilt never broke a rim in an NBA game as far as I know. Our capsules show the matchups along with the Net Rating, Offensive Rating and Defensive Rating for each team. Our games are very, very different, especially when I came into the league. And as Shaq revealed on the "NBA on TNT" earlier this year, he got to nearly 400 pounds during his time with the Lakers. He was a track sprinter and high jumper. That was a mere four years before he passed away. But since hes gotten healthy, he is. The league really didn't know how to handle Wilt, and subconsciously, the refs let the little guys get away with murder. He hit the floor, and when they examined him, he became the first and only player ever to suffer a dislocated shoulder on a blocked shot. MCDONOUGH, GEORGIA APRIL 07: Shaquille ONeal speaks during Pepsi Stronger Today's centers wouldn't give him any problems. His athleticism was unheard of for a guy his size in that day, and that's how he averaged 50 ppg for a couple seasons. Together and CTG Foundation Atlanta Law Enforcement Press Conference on April 194 comments. But when ONeal was in Oakland last Saturday I asked him how he feels when he hears people compare him with Chamberlain, who played his last NBA game when Shaq was 1 year old. He was about . Comparing Shaq the rookie with Wilt the rookie (1959), is equally absurd. 4, then who's to argue with him? Shaq is good, but he ain't Wilt Chamberlain. George and North Carolina-Asheville face No. Aside from being a 7-foot tall giant, his body mass was insane too. There were no sissy flagrant or hand-check fouls during that time. But if thats the highest accolade, how come when they talk about who the best big man of all time is, they throw four or five other names in there? The NBA record books are fondly called the personal record books of Wil Chamberlain, as when Wilt retired, he held most of the NBA records. He could bench press 550lbs back in college. After getting into an argument with Jim Brown about who was faster he raced him twice and beat him both times. And is clearly taller than both. Fourth, he'd lead the league in free throws tried. He'd average 18. Its really unfair to compare Shaquille ONeal with Wilt Chamberlain. He had a perfect 45 degree angle toward the basket to try for the slam. Johnson was listed at about 6'6" and about 230 lbs, but he didn't have as much fat on him as Barkley did.Anyway, one day, late in the 1967 season (the year Wilt's76erswon the NBA title and went 68-13 in the regular season), Gus Johnson (who was playing for the Bullets), drove to the basket and was able to dunk over Wilt, which not a lot of guys could do. And if he's content to bill himself at No. Died: October 12, 1999 (age 63) People like to think of me as doing that throughout my career, but that was not how I played basketball. Today's game runs less now than it did in the 60s, and Wilt was a better athlete than anyone now. Legendary center Shaquille ONeal is one of the greatest players ever to have played the game of basketball. [CDATA[ amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0"; amzn_assoc_search_bar = "false"; amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "plus2clothing-20"; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; amzn_assoc_region = "US"; amzn_assoc_title = "Andr the Giant Flicks"; amzn_assoc_linkid = "9a0710c7d6609f1c99f244bc7b3a8192"; amzn_assoc_asins = "0156035219,B000MLWQ7W,B00B361IU6,B00B361IRY"; amzn_assoc_size = "autoxauto"; // ]]> Move over Ian Thorpe, Matthew McGrory is listed in the Guinness World Records as having the largestshoe size at a whopping 29. Sharpe also conceded Shaq could have been higher on the list perhaps even the best player ever if the big man had maintained a more dedicated mindset in the offseason. Along with being the NBA all-time leading scorer, Kareem also has an impressive film resume, with over 20 film/TV roles to date including a role in Stephen Kings mini-series The Stand. Wilt understood the geometry of the game, and he always attacked the ball, not the defender. George said he hoped to play professional basketball, but he has other interests including graphic design, animation, comic books and cartoons. Andre would go on to become one of the most famous WWF wrestlers to date. Thanks to his physique, Shaq dominated both ends of the court for his team. He mentioned an instance from the last quarter of the game to illustrate the point. Nirjhar Sharma is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. He grabbed it and hung on and Chamberlain just lifted him and ball right up towards the rim. Secondly, the 60's era in which Wilt played, was a more physical era. I dont know who would be better qualified to help him. When, he, Dwyane Wade and the Heat won the championship a season later, Shaq said he weighed about 325 pounds. Kareem's main advantage over Wilt during the years they played against each other (1971, 1972, and 1973, Wilt was injured for just about all of Kareem's rookie 1970 season) was age. But when I was scoring points, everyone double and triple-teamed me.. This season, George wears braces on both knees as a preventative measure and says his joints have not caused any problems. I've grown a quarter of an inch since coming into the pros. //