Most of us are too young to remember the nasty feud between Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, two of the best big men to ever play the game of basketball.
It can all be traced back to the 1971 Western Conference Finals, when the two players faced off on the NBA’s biggest stage. Wilt was on the backend of his storied career just as Kareem was beginning his ascent into superstardom. The Bucks handled L.A. pretty easily in the series and then went on to win the whole thing.
The very next season, Wilt would get his revenge by beating Kareem and then winning the title himself.
Unfortunately, that was the last playoff battle saw between the two. Wilt went to the Finals and lost to the Knicks in five games in ’73, marking the end of his career with just a single Finals series win to his name.
But the rivalry didn’t stop there, of course. Following his retirement, Chamberlain routinely laid into Abdul-Jabbar, constantly criticizing his game and accusing him of not doing enough to help his teams win. At one point, Wilt even called for Kareem’s retirement after he broke one of his records.
It all reached a boiling point when K.A.J. responded in an open letter back in 1990. After his career ended, he wrote an autobiography called “Giant Steps,” which included an entire section dedicated to slamming Wilt for all those years of slander.
Here is the letter, in all of its uncensored glory…
‘It’s been several years now, Wilt, that you have been criticizing my career with your friends in the press. Since this pattern does not seem to have any end in sight, I feel that I might as well have my say about the situation.
It would seem that someone who achieved as much as you did would be satisfied with his career. After all, some of the things you did in your time were quite admirable and have given us an enduring set of records for the books. So why all the jealousy and envy? In trying to figure this out, I started to look for what you would be jealous of, and that’s when the picture started to become clear. Many remember how frustrated you were when your team couldn’t win the NCAA tournament. Your talent and abilities were so great that everyone assumed the NCAA was all yours. But after a terrific triple-overtime game, Kansas lost. You complained about the officiating, your teammates and other things, and then quit, leaving college early to tour with the Globetrotters. That seemed to set a pattern for you. After any tough test in which you didn’t do well, you blamed those around you and quit.
In professional basketball, Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics gave you a yearly lesson in real competitive competence and teamwork. All you could say was that your teammates stunk and that you had done all you could, and besides, the refs never gave you a break. Poor Wilt.
In 1967, your team finally broke through. That 76er team established records that are still standing today. But the following year, the Sixers lost and, predictable as ever, you quit. You came out to L.A. and got with a dream team. The only lack that team had was leadership at the center position. Bill and the Celts took one from you in ’69, and the Knicks followed suit in ’70. People are still trying to figure out where you disappeared to in that series. True to form, after the Knicks beat the Lakers in the world championship in 1973, you quit and haven’t been seen on the court since.
Of course, you came out every so often to take a cheap shot at me. During the sixth game of the world championship series in 1988, you stated, “Kareem should have retired five years ago.” I can now see why you said that. If I had quit at the time you suggested, it would have been right after a disappointing loss to the 76ers. And it would have been typical of one of your retreats. But after that loss, I decided that I had more to give. I believed in myself and in the Lakers and stuck with it. We went on to win three out of four world championships between ’85 and ’88. The two teams you played on that won world championships, in ’67 and ’72, never repeated. They never showed the consistency that the Lakers of the ‘80s have shown. And you didn’t want me to be part of that. Given your jealousy, I can understand that. So, now that I have left, one thing will be part of my legacy: People will remember that I worked with my teammates and helped us win. You will be remembered as a whining crybaby and a quitter, stats and all.’
Ouch, that’s a serious roast that seems to be a summary of Kareem’s thoughts over the years.
Of course, some of his points are valid. Wilt only won one Championship in 1972 with the Los Angeles Lakers. He retired just two years later after his team was unable to repeat as Champions.
Nobody really knows why Wilt wasn’t able to win more titles. Bill Russell and the Celtics are obviously partly to blame, but is it something about Wilt himself that limited the success he was able to achieve with his teams?
We’ll never really know for sure.
But in regards to his feud with Kareem, it’s fair to say he probably took the L on that one, even despite Wilt’s own spectacular career. Besides the lengthy open letter, Abdul-Jabbar retired as a 6x MVP, 19x All-Star, 6x NBA Champion, and as the NBA’s All-Time leading scorer.
That’s pretty hard for anyone to beat.
(Credit for correction note: Jaime San Miguel)
