Big O: West, Chamberlain, Russell, Baylor Would Beat ’92 Dream Team

Oh word

nbk, Oscar shot better than 50% from the field 3 times and 48.5% for his career. That’s better than a majority of so-called superstar perimeter players walking around today.

Mr. Triple Double has clout… most of you have none. (besides here) …To say the old timers have no chance is like saying Barry Sanders wouldn’t still cut people up of Jim Brown couldn’t still take it to the house. Like Ted Williams couldn’t still bat like .340 or whatever or Babe Ruth wouldn’t be able to hit 40 homers a year. Players come and go but the game remains the same. Wilt and Big O will ALWAYS get theirs, any era. Russ would STILL change the game, every game. Baylor is still a top 5 wing all time (Jordan, Kobe, Dr. J, LeBron, Baylor) <—- can't wait for ppl to hate on that one. Jerry West isn't just as good as John Stockton was? Tough call guys.

weezy you do realize football hasnt changed much since sanders played and baseball even less. Basketball has changed leaps and bounds compared to the other sports you mentioned. never said the game wouldnt be competitive, just cant see the old timers match up with the versatility of the 92 team, also the 92 team was a proven commodity; how the old timers would play together is questionable, could russel and wilt share the lane? could big O defer to West? also the fact that there would be a 3 point line is big stockton, mullin and bird were lights out from the long 3-point line, just too many variables to just say these old-timers would wipe the floor with them

excuse me… Lew Alcindor

Weezy, I salute you. Seems like you’re the only one on here that still respects old school greats.

Oscar said “they wouldn’t lose. How could they?” – I never said the dream team would just wipe the floor with them or anything like that. They are just the better team. For Oscar to act like it wouldn’t even be a contest is absurd and false. It shows his age – and illustrates a basic human trait, everything/one was better in our respective “hey-day” – JTaylor, we aren’t talking about “so-called superstars today” we are talkig about Oscar Robertson, in the 60s and 70s against horrid defenses, shooting under 50%. Compared to say Michael Jordan, and his ridiculous efficiency in a much stronger defensive era. It’s whatever though, nobody knows for sure. I just think what Big O said is absurd, like they were somehow ultra advanced compare to those who played 40 years later in a much much much further evolved and more global era in the sport.

WTF. I typed out a long a** reply and it isn’t showing up. Bet this nonsense shows up.

Oscar said they would wipe the floor with them, its in the article. I think it would be an epic battle but the Dream Team also had the advantage of seeing these guys play and adapting it into their game, your talking about 2-3 generational gap (if Doc followed O and MJ followed Doc)also the change that the game went from being played under the rim to over the rim, we take it for granted but it would play a significant role in determining a winner, its part of what made O great and Doc an Icon and MJ his airness @jtaylor look through your comment by hitting back and edit any curses or such.

Watch Wilt Chamberlain highlights. Dude was dominant…against 0 defense. Defense in the 80s and 90s was the best in NBA history I think. The players were very athletic and they were allowed to be very physical. Them old cats would have been shut down. Respect to what they did in their time, but the game, and players have evolved since then. Just saying that Dwight would dominate Wilt defensively.

Sorry but Wilt = D.Howard, no real other big men to compete against, more powerful than the opposition.The 90s is where the battle of the big men era belonged, Shaq, Hakeem, Ewing, D-Rob, Mutumbo, Alonzo. To be the best you have to play the best.Dwight would have scored 100 back then. That being said i rank Kareem Abdul Jabaar as the best C ever.
Height, power,hands,defense,skill, footwork,speed, IQ,leadership,post moves,touch and a decent shot.

As is such, Chamberlain is overrated. Always has been…
Shaq was better.
Olajuwon was better.
Robinson was better.
Kareem is the greatest center of all time.
And quite possibly, the greatest player who has ever played in the NBA.

For sake of all BBall players you would hope, they as players, are improving over time. Learning from past players etc

You may not be able to compare Wilt v Hakeem, Wilt v D-Rob but there is conceivable evidence that if for example Hakeem played in the 60s or 70s he would have produced similar stats that Wilt did.

Keep tellin’ y’all Wilt’s overrated…

@ lisa I see your score prediction would imply a high level of defense, a very astute analysis,well done! I too agree with Philo(but stop the Long..Live..the..King posts ever other day )Points would be hard to come by, considering the high talent levels on each team.. their respective coaches would play a major role. Still 92 is the most complete sports “TEAM” ever assembled, absolutely zero weaknesses.

I co-sign everything NBK writes here – this is just crazy talk – the defense back in those days was absolutely shocking, just imagine what a prime-Jordan would have done to them. I’d even go as far to say Ewing would have held his own very well against Wilt; the speed, strength and knowledge of players had increased so much by the time the Dream Team smashed through everyone.

Hakeem would kill most of the centre of that generation, look at what he did to a young Shaq, Robinson and Ewing. It’s not even funny how much time Wilt spent planting himself in the paint, he would’ve been called for offensive 3 seconds and his turnover ratio would be sky high. It’s also funny that Wilt was the only centre that was 7’1 that generation, everyone else was like 5 inches shorter. The Dream Team would’ve ran the Big O and their generations off the floor with their athleticism.

Boy, when you get old, you really get delirious. They wouldnt stand a chance against the dream team!!!!!!!

The only argument is Wilt and Russell in the middle. But I would ask the Big O what the freakin’ h*ll David Robinson would have done to 1960′s/70′s defenses, or their offenses, to be honest. (20-25 boards, 7 blocks likely not out of the question, and he would have left Wilt for dust in a foot race) Oscar could not have stopped Magic. You would have to put Baylor on Jordan to stop him destroying you to pieces, which leaves jerry west on Larry Bird?! Or put Russell on Bird, which leaves you with west marking Barkley or Malone?? This is nonsense. absolute nonsense.

@jimmer your wrong about Drob beating wilt in a foot race, Wilt was a track star, and as good as Drob was he was never the fastest center in the league.

Some of you need to learn your history, for one the pace of the game back then was so much faster. Thats why rebounding numbers are out of wack. If you ever watched a game from the 60/70 era(before the 3pt line) it was all about working the ball down low. With no 3 point line to keep defenses honest they all collasped the paint. So spreading the floor and throwing it to your center was the easiest way to score. The Big O is a hall of famer for a reason, he was really the first guy to dominate the game as a guard, a big guard at that. He didnt just avg a triple double one year, he avg it for his first FIVE years. The three point line is really what changed the NBA and made it a more perimeter game. To say the 60′s team would have had the floor wiped with them is asinine. To say the Dream Team would have gotten smoked is equally so. The best players could have played in any era. To me the difference is Wilt, you guys dont understand Wilt was 7 foot 1. 275 lbs. And had more skill with the ball around the basket than anyone currently in the league today. The 50 point year is because the lane was 4 feet skinnier than it is now, they changed it that off season and he was still avg like 35 and 17. Jerry West and Oscar could pull up off the dribble and hit from ANYWHERE, them two with a 3pt line?? Along with Pistol Pete?? Plz. The Big O was 6’5 225 and faster and quicker than almost everyone out there.

First of all, you don’t even know who was on the dream team. (Hakeem, not on the team) And you have almost no sense of when these players actually played. Pete Maravich came into the NBA when Oscar was 32. The Big O was 6’5 225 and faster and quicker then almost everyone…..in the 60s and 70s. You know how many teams were even in the league for the majority of Oscar Robertson’s career? I bet you don’t have any clue. THe answer is 9. There were a grand total of 9 teams. Pretty easy to dominate the same 9 teams over and over again or 82 games. It’s also easy to look like a super athletically advanced monster in those years. Are you aware that the VAST MAJORITY of NBA players before the mid-late 70s had off-season jobs? There was no training like there is today. Wilt looked like an extra skilled sooper giant human being because he was an olympic level athlete playing against guys who worked at Gas Stations in the off-season. And Oscar Robertson would not have been a threat from the modern 3pt line. He was not a spot up shooter / jumper shooter in any sense of the word. He was a huge guard who backed his opponent to about 15 feet and did his damage from there.

LOL, this is a joke. Wilt is the only ATHLETE of that era who could compete in today’s game, but he couldn’t do so skill-wise. do you see clips of him going left but finishing right-handed? it’s ugly. what part of Jerry West could handle ANYTHING MJ decides to throw at him? Does anyone REALLY think Jerry West, the guy who is supposed to be your slasher, (the athletic equal of Steve Kerr) could get buckets on Money? HA!

@philosopher is explaining the main weakness of this team facing the 92 dream team. Wilt is mad overrated. I feel like anyone who is comparing these eras hasn’t read the Book of Basketball. And acknowledging the fact that the 92 team wouldn’t even need a timeout to wrap up this team. Defensively none of these 60′s era players can cover the whole floor as well as the dream team. Nevermind that they can’t stop the starting line, what do they do when Chuck steps on the floor? They have no answer for Mike and with Bird and Magic there directing the offense the 60′s guys cannot dictate what to allow. Also Wilt is being highly overrated here again. The dream team has more rings combined than almost anyone except for Bill. It’s a wrap.However the Big O is psycho thinking he could win it all. That’s why he’s the Big O.