Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are unarguably among the top ten players in NBA history and two of the greatest centers of all time. However, when their careers intersected at different stages, not only were they at opposite ends of their journey.
Wilt was considered an aging star, whereas Cap was hailed as the league’s next face - but the animosity between them was evident for all to see. Moreover, this difference in perception led the six-time MVP to downplay the credentials of ‘Wilt The Stil,’ who responded by delivering his ‘greatest game as a Laker’ to silence his younger rival.
Kareem and Wilt’s battle in the 1972 WC Finals
The 1972 Western Conference Finals pitted the 35-year-old Chamberlain, in the twilight of his career with the LA Lakers , against the 24-year-old Kareem, the reigning MVP, Finals MVP, and scoring champion of the Milwaukee Bucks .
The contrast between the two centers was stark and evident - with the series tied at two apiece, Abdul-Jabbar averaged 34 points per game in the first four games, whereas ‘The Big Dipper’ averaged merely 8 points on 15-of-46 shooting from the charity stripe in that span.
Having established his supremacy over Wilt, Kareem confidently asserted how the 7’1” center was ‘washed up’ after winning Game 4 by 26 points.
"He tried to come up on me now," Abdul-Jabbar said . "Of course, that isn't very successful."
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Wilt responded like a champion
This insinuation fueled Chamberlain's competitive fire. In Game 5, he scored 12 points and grabbed 26 rebounds while limiting the 20-time All-Star to 13-of-33 shooting from the field as the Purple and Gold blew out the Bucks with a resounding 25-point victory.
Witnessing Wilt's double-double masterpiece, former Lakers general manager Fred Schaus labeled it his ' greatest game as a Laker. '
Similarly, in Game 6, Chamberlain produced his best performance, scoring 20 points on 66.7% shooting from the field and 24 rebounds to lead his team to a nail-biting 104-100 win.
Certainly, Wilt was in the twilight of his career. However, by eliminating the Bucks in six games and then averaging 19.4 points and 23.2 rebounds in the championship round to lead the Purple and Gold to a title, he proved to Kareem and the entire basketball world that he could still perform at an exceptionally high level.
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