A few decades ago, the best players in the league were usually centers. At the time, being tall and muscular was enough to dominate the NBA. But that doesn’t mean the players didn’t possess incredible skills.
The perfect example of it was the likes of Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The two big men weren’t just the two best players of their respective generations, they are considered as two of the best.
While Chamberlain was a freak of nature and relied on his incredible body to destroy opponents, Kareem was a lot more technically sound. In fact, Kareem invented a shot for himself known as ‘Skyhook.’
The Skyhook is definitely one of the most unique and unstoppable shots in NBA history. Abdul-Jabbar used it well to establish himself as one of the greatest players in the history of the league.
Wilt Chamberlain Dominated Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Although the two players were active in different eras, there was a short period of time when they faced off against each other. The two players were present in the NBA for four seasons and played 17 games against each other.
One of the most iconic duels between the two players came during Game 3 of the 1972 NBA Western Conference Finals. Although Kareem had overall great stats, Wilt flaunted his talents after blocking Kareem’s five shots in just a span of 12 minutes.
Via Sports Illustrated:
The next night Chamberlain took only three shots in the entire game as Goodrich (30 points) and McMillian (27) again led the Laker offense. And again the Bucks lost a slim lead in the closing minutes. But it was Chamberlain who turned the game to the Lakers’ favor. Chamberlain’s tactic of overplaying Jabbar to his left had not been effective in the first 18 minutes of play; the Buck center had scored 17 points. Wilt’s intent was to prevent Abdul-Jabbar from swinging leftward for his deadly hook shot, but Kareem had reacted by rolling to his right for short jumpers and several easy layups. But from 5:13 of the second period until 5:38 of the third, Wilt held Jabbar scoreless and blocked five of his shots, including a dunk and a layup in which Jabbar crashed into Wilt, knocking Chamberlain to the court in pain.
In the grand scheme of things, a young Kareem might have had more points, but Wilt and the Lakers ended up winning the series. Additionally, the Lakers also won the NBA Championship that season.
A few years later, Kareem ended up joining the Purple and Gold as well. He won five NBA Championships with the Lakers and established himself as truly one of the greatest basketball players to ever play in the league.
