With Tiger’s Masters win today, Twatter is asking if he’s the greatest athlete ever. This poll asks: name you greatest athlete you’ve seen. (So Jim Brown, Babe Ruth, Jesse Owens etc all off the table)
Use whatever criteria you wish. Can only pick one. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Prison Bitch:
Make sure you either list the criteria or, as I did,say it’s undefined
I'm thinking that it could be a good head to head where we list a number of events and have two athletes face off in each one. The one with the highest score (system to be determined) would then move to the next round. So we'd need to come up with a list of athletes (which this thread could supply) and a list of events that, in combination, define a good athlete. [Reply]
After really studying Wilt Chamberlain's history, I don't know how anyone could legitimately argue it wasn't him. He owns over half of the NBA stats records by himself. They changed the rules of the game because of him. It is said during the 50th Anniversary celebration where they honored the Top 50 players of all time, MJ and Wilt got into a heated argument over who was the best of all time. It went back and forth with neither giving an inch. It was time to go out onto the court and just before they did, Wilt says:
"Keep one thing in mind. They changed the rules of the game to make it harder for me to score. They changed the rules of the game to make it easier for you to score."
In addition to the NBA Hall of Fame, he played professional volleyball and was named to their Hall of Fame.
He beat Jim Brown in a race when he played for the Harlem Globetrotters
He was scheduled to a promotional boxing match with Ali, but Ali backed out after going through a measurements showcase
He also played and excelled in polo, tennis, paddle ball and waterskiing
His raw physical strength was so legendary that Arnold Schwarzenegger used to be in awe of it.
The Kansas City Chiefs drafted him as a Tight End.
People that think he was dominant just because he was tall do not understand his athleticism. He never came out of game and he never fouled out. He lead the League in assists one year because someone criticized him that he couldn't do it. There's lots of videos on Youtube about these things. Watch him run and then say he was dominant just because he was tall!He suffers from the lack of TV coverage in his era and because the NBA began to focus on stats for "the modern game" only.
Its Wilt, and its not really close unless your criteria is number of championships won. [Reply]
Originally Posted by PAChiefsGuy:
Wilt was a stat passer who played against a bunch of whiteboys and he couldnt shoot FTs. He wouldnt dominate nearly as much as he did back then today.
Bill Russell was the better player. Didnt care about stats he cared about winnimg. 11 championships
Just pulled that out of your ass? Bill Russell had the better surrounding team and coach. Wilt was a stat monster because his teams needed him to be a stat monster. Wilt and Bill were actually really good friends and Wilt would stay at his place with Bill's mom when he was in town to play. Bill's mom would always admonish Wilt before they left, "Now, you take it easy on my boy tonight!"
The question was about athleticism. When I think about athleticism, I think strength, agility, coordination and speed. You can't be a stat monster and not possess those things.
I really don't go for best athlete because talent is compartmentalized. Jordan Gretzky MontanaJeff Prescott We may be seeing a new name to the list in a guy known as Patrick. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Rain Man:
I'm thinking that it could be a good head to head where we list a number of events and have two athletes face off in each one. The one with the highest score (system to be determined) would then move to the next round. So we'd need to come up with a list of athletes (which this thread could supply) and a list of events that, in combination, define a good athlete.
One way to idiot-proof it would be to put all local yokels (wilt, mahomes, bo etc) in one quad so it won’t be a bunch of homers. [Reply]