Wilt was pretty good...

Kobe Bryant, the Lakers guard, passed Wilt Chamberlain to move up to fourth place on the National Basketball Association’s all-time scoring list Saturday.

          That’s a tremendous accomplishment. Congratulations to Bryant.

          Truth be told, I’d have Bryant on the bench behind Magic Johnson and Jerry West on my all-time Lakers team (see an earlier blog on that question). Still, Bryant has a spot waiting for him in the pro basketball hall of fame and he’ll be voted in as soon as he is eligible.

          Those of us who saw Chamberlain play get a little steamed when we read some of the garbage on the internet today, written by some real “experts,” who downgrade Wilt’s accomplishments.

          Chamberlain, I read today, played in a league with no real competition in terms of size and talent at the post position.

          Kareem Abdul Jabbar is taller than Chamberlain and they played against each other during the second half of Wilt’s NBA career. Nate Thurmond, who played for the Warriors and other teams, was nearly as tall and every bit as tough.

Bill Russell? Not as tall as Chamberlain, true, but you’d have to say Russell was every bit the athlete that The Big Dipper was. Their rivalry is the stuff of legends.

Chamberlain played on championship teams with both the 76ers and the Lakers. He was an integral part of the Lakers team that won a record 33 straight games, a record recently threatened by the Miami Heat.

I read a column online this morning which said Kobe Bryant’s 81-point performance a few years ago is equal to the NBA-record 100 points Wilt scored against the Knicks one night in Pennsylvania.

Nothing against Bryant, but that’s just plain wrong. I checked with my wife, a retired second grade teacher, on something to be sure and my understanding is correct: 100 is greater than 81.

I guess the difference between those of us who saw Wilt play and those of us who were born too late to see Wilt play is that us old folks know what we saw. The rest of you don’t.

Wilt was terrific. Bryant is terrific. Let’s honor them both.

 

Thanks for reading.