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Shaquille O'Neal vs. Wilt Chamberlain: both are the premier centers of their eras, but when they face off against each other, it's no contest

Basketball Digest,  Sept-Oct, 2004  by Rick Barry

<< Page 1  Continued from page 1.  Previous | Next

Another thing that's worth mentioning here is that Chamberlain never fouled out of a single NBA game. That is truly unbelievable. You might think it was favoritism on the part of referees, but that's not the case. Writ received few gifts from referees in his career; he was simply smart enough to adjust his defensive game when he got into foul trouble. O'Neal does that to some extent, but "playing smart" and "Shaquille O'Neal" are two things you don't often hear uttered in the same sentence.

It's unfortunate that they didn't record blocked shots back in Chamberlain's day. His totals would have dwarfed O'Neal's meager total of 2.6 bpg. I also must point out that many of Wilt's blocks came against the man he was guarding, not just when helping out his teammates.

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BALL-HANDLING/PASSING

(Wilt 9, Shaq 8)

Although the category includes ball-handling, I am going to limit my evaluation to passing. Both players are elite passers as big men. For crying out loud, Writ led the NBA in assists with 8.6 per game during the 1967-68 season. O'Neal is not the passer Wilt was, but he excelled in Phil Jackson's Triangle Offense, which relies heavily on passing ability out of the post. Both men demand attention when they get the ball inside and have proven to be capable of finding the open shooter on the perimeter.

DEFENSIVE REBOUNDING

(Wilt 10, Shaq 8)

This area is a no-brainer. Just look at the numbers registered by Wilt and compare them to Shaq. Wilt averaged 22.9 rpg for his career, with a season best of 27.2. Shaq's career average is 12.1. with a season best of 12.9. Then throw in the Dipper's 24.5 rpg for his 160 career playoff games and the Diesel's 12.9 average for his 158 and you should see the picture quite clearly. There is no way that Shaq comes close to being the force on the boards that Wilt was for his careen You can attempt to justify the huge discrepancy in the totals, but 10-plus rpg just can't be explained.

OFFENSIVE REBOUNDING

(Wilt 10, Shaq 9)

Since offensive rebounds weren't kept back in Wilt's days on the court, you'll just have to take my word for it that there is no doubt Chamberlain averaged more than the 3.9 offensive boards accumulated per game by O'Neal. Or, if you don't believe me, ask Hall-of-Famer Nate Thurmond, who played both with and against The Stilt during his career. With an average of almost 23 boards per game, Wilt would certainly have gotten at least five or more of those on the offensive end, especially since he was such a dominant scorer and was usually around the basket. Because I don't have an accurate total, to be fair, I'll have to give Shaq only one point less than Writ in this category.

INTANGIBLES

(Wilt 10, Shaq 9)

In terms of durability--an important aspect of playing the center position effectively--Chamberlain was an iron man. In his ungodly season of 1961-62 (50.4 ppg, 25.7 rpg), Wilt averaged 48.5 mpg (for those of you keeping score at home, that's actually more than a full game, per game). This was no one-season fluke either, because Chamberlain led the league in minutes played in seven seasons. O'Neal's durability, as well as his dedication to training, are subject to some serious questions.

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