Spencer Haywood on why Wilt Chamberlain was a better player than Michael Jordan: "Wilt used to walk out on the floor and intimidate an entire team"

Michael Jordan is considered by many as the best player ever in the history of basketball. His Airness won five MVP awards, six Finals MVP awards, and six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls. He was also a 10-time NBA scoring champion and is credited for taking the game to new heights.

But if you ask former NBA star Spencer Haywood , Jordan was not the best basketball player ever. That distinction belongs to legendary big man Wilt Chamberlain , who dominated the NBA for 14 seasons from 1958 to 1973.

"There is no comparison, " said Haywood. "Michael's game was made more fantastic in '85 with the advent of massive television coverage. His game was beautiful, but it was not going out there and scoring 100 points. It was not going out there and averaging 50 points and 35 rebounds. That's a whole another level man."

The TV coverage promoted Mike

Jordan mesmerized basketball fans with his high-flying moves and dazzling dunks. His incredible popularity helped propel the NBA to mainstream sports status. With that came TV deals that globalized the game. But impressive as Mike's feats are, so were Wilt's - only without the TV and media coverage.

Chamberlain was literally the NBA's biggest attraction during his era. Listed at 7-1 and 275 pounds, Wilt was a giant who possessed otherworldly athleticism and elite basketball talent. With those, he dominated his opponents and posted ridiculous stats night in and night out.

"People forget about Wilt and what he and Kareem were doing ," added Haywood. " They forget about what Oscar Robertson did…Wilt used to walk out on the floor and intimidate an entire team. How do you measure that? How do you measure Russell's eleven championships?"

Most Dominant Player ever

However, while Wilt's intimidation factor cannot be measured, his dominance can be quantified by statistics. And for all the NBA statistical records that he still holds, Shaquille O'Neal notwithstanding, one stat proves that he is the most dominant player in NBA history .

No one has led the NBA in any of the five major statistical categories ( points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks more times than Wilt's 19. Michael Jordan is the closest at 13 while John Stockton and Chris Paul are the only other players in league history to do so at least 10 times with 11 apiece. But what makes Chamberlain's feat even more impressive is that blocks and steals weren't officially recorded during his era.

Jordan's backers can say that his career scoring average of 30.12 PPG is slightly better than Wilt's 30.07 PPG. Other than that, however, Mike's numbers cannot hold a candle against Wilt's. If live TV and social media existed during Chamberlain's era, we might look at an entirely different GOAT picture.

Related: "It was a privilege for me" - When MJ got real on meeting Wilt Chamberlain for the first time