| Thursday, October 21
By David Aldridge
Special to ESPN.com |
|
The numbers, the numbers. Always with Wilt Chamberlain, it seemed to be
about the numbers.
Odd for basketball. The sport certainly has its heralded numbers, but
it doesn't seem to be part of the game's mythology, like baseball. Does
anybody know how many points Michael Jordan scored in his career? But with Chamberlain, the numbers were always close by, easy to reach.
|  | | Chamberlain's numbers are the most memorable in NBA history, writes Aldridge. |
Sixty-nine and thirteen.
One hundred points.
Fifty point-four points per game.
Twenty-seven rebounds per game.
Twenty-thousand women.
The last a matter of some conjecture, to be sure.
But that was Chamberlain, as far as I can tell. The numbers, so
astronomical as to defy belief. And yet, there are other numbers held
against him. Like 11 Celtics titles in 13 Bill Russell seasons. (Leaving
aside the question of exactly who else beat the Celtics during Chamberlain's
era.)
Like "only" two championships during Chamberlain's career.
The following is a brief list of NBA players, many of whom you've
heard of, who would have loved to win "only" one title: Bob Lanier, Alex
English, Pete Maravich, Sidney Moncrief, George Gervin, Dave Bing, Kevin
Johnson, Bernard King, Nate Thurmond. Think Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing,
Karl Malone and John Stockton would like "only" one title before they go?
Oscar Robertson, Bob Pettit, Moses Malone, Rick Barry, Earl Monroe, Tiny
Archibald, Wes Unseld, Elgin Baylor and, um, Jerry West won "only" one. (And I'm giving Baylor the benefit of the doubt; he retired nine games into the Lakers' 1972-73 championship season.)
How come no one thinks of them as losers? Only Chamberlain, who won
more championships than they did? Whose two title teams posted the two best regular season records in league history until Jordan's 72-10 Bulls came
along?
Because, I guess, very few of them were 7-1, skilled, dominant freaks
of nature.
And because Chamberlain's lack of team success seemed, I guess, to
repudiate his individual achievements. It is the dogma of basketball
cognoscenti: the team triumphs over the individual. But this is the same
drivel that dogged Jordan for seven years and dogs Shaquille O'Neal now. A
title is your only validation. Even though the vast majority of athletes
never win one.
All I know is they changed the rules because Wilt Chamberlain was so
dominant. All I know is his numbers are so far out there, so unattainable,
that it seems he must have been playing a different game, with different
rules. That they will never be challenged is hardly the point; the game is
different now and wouldn't allow such numbers to be amassed. The point is he achieved them in the first place.
He played the game the right way. He was an innovator, who lifted
weights long before it became fashionable, who lived a life that put him at
odds with many of his generation and color. He did so without apologies. In
many ways, he was the first man of his size to truly be an athlete, capable
of playing and excelling at many different sports. And in that sense, he
really was ahead of his time.
Later in his life, he seemed to be available at the drop of a hat to
disparage anyone who played his position. His on-again, off-again dealings
with Russell were well known, though both insisted at the NBA's 50th season kickoff two years ago that they'd been a lot closer than anyone realized. And this, at least, makes some sense; they were the modern NBA's first superstars, somewhat intertwined.
Seems to me that Wilt Chamberlain had earned the right to defend his
place in history. No one else seemed to be doing it.
He is on Mount Rushmore, the most powerful force the game has ever
known.
Keeping Pace
Last year, the Indiana Pacers were everybody's pick to get to the Finals out of
the East. They had practiced together during the lockout; they'd taken the
Bulls to seven games in the eastern finals the year before. And then, thud.
They're still not sure what happened against the Knicks. But it made
for a long, hot summer.
"I was down all summer, and I'm sure these guys were, too," coach Larry Bird said
the other day. "They had their best opportunity to get there, and it didn't
happen."
Then, last draft night, the Pacers traded perhaps their most
irreplaceable player, Antonio Davis, to Toronto for 18-year-old Jonathan
Bender -- whose talents are immense, but who is green as grass. Then, Bird
confirmed what everyone suspected -- that this year will be his last as head
coach. But there's still the matter of this season.
You wonder if the Pacers, after four trips to the Eastern finals in the
past six years without a breakthrough, can gear it up again for one more
assault on the mountain. They have to depend on Rik Smits's balky
feet more than ever, without Davis there to back him up.
"No question, we're going to miss Antonio," Reggie Miller said. "He was such a big part of the team. He played two positions, and predominately he was in
there when Rik got in foul trouble playing five, with the Davis and (Dale) Davis combo. It was hard going down the lane, and people knew that. But other guys are gonna have to step up. No question, that's a big spot to fill. But unfortunately, we had to do it."
"Bender is going to be a great player in the league," says Jalen Rose,
"but he can't give us today what Antonio Davis is gonna give Toronto."
You wonder if the Pacers will keep Mark Jackson around all season,
since he's in the final year of his contract -- like Miller, Chris Mullin and
Jalen Rose -- and since Bird would like very much to play Rose in the backcourt, instead of at the three ahead of Mullin.
"Well, I've always wanted Jalen at point, but it's been very tough with
Mark and Travis (Best)," Bird said. "Hopefully this year he'll get to play a
little bit more. But if he doesn't play point, he's gonna be at the three.
He's got to be on the court. He's got to play more minutes."
Jackson is realistic.
"We have to have the same mission going into this season that we've had
the last two, and that's to win the whole thing," he says. "Not because it's
coach's last year, because quite frankly, it might be somebody else's last
year here, but we just didn't hold a press conference."
Miller is hopeful.
"Well, moving into a new arena, I really don't think they're gonna tear
down everything and get rid of everyone," he said. "Especially players who
have helped rejuvenate the city and help build the city up. If they do that,
then something's wrong with the organization."
The Pacers say they won't tune Bird out, even though he's a lame duck.
There will be no valedictory for him. "He's still Larry Bird," Rose says.
"If Larry Bird is telling you you're doing a good job, you don't have to
pick up the newspaper or hear what others have to say about you."
And the Pacers do have a vastly improved Al Harrington, ready to roll
in his second season. They have Mullin coming off the bench willingly. They
have old, smart guys and young, athletic guys. They're thinking the mix is
enough to get through.
"Well, you know, we're a nice Mercedes Benz car right now that's been
on the road for a while," Miller says. "You never really want to
trade a Mercedes in, but you want to take it to the auto body shop and get
it tinkered with a little. And I think that's what we're doing right now."
Perhaps you ignore the Pacers at your own peril.
Around the league
Doc Rivers is trying to psych his young Orlando troops into action. "I
told them that I read in some magazine that if we win 20 games this year, I
should be coach of the year," Rivers said. "And I told them that if I were
them, I'd be insulted" ... Latrell Sprewell says he won't press the Knicks for
a contract extension before the start of the season. His teammates say he's
talked to them about why he skipped all of training camp on his
cross-country drive. "I think if he had it to do over again, he would have
called," Marcus Camby said. And Allan Houston was honest enough to
acknowledge that Sprewell's October absence could be a problem later in the
season ... Look for Anthony Mason to wind up beating out Derrick Coleman in
Charlotte for the starting power forward spot. From a basketball standpoint,
the Hornets would rather bring Mase off the bench, but they know his
reaction could be toxic. So they'll likely make DC the reserve. "I see
myself playing four, I see myself playing five, I see myself even playing a
little three," Coleman says. For his part, Mason says everyone will get
plenty of minutes if the Hornets get out and run like they have been. And,
he says, he was a starter before he missed last season with a torn biceps. "If I come to camp and I don't play well, I don't mind coming off the
bench," he said. "But I used to come off the bench when I was with the
Knicks, and I worked and worked until I became a starter. Just 'cause you
get hurt, you don't wanna end up coming off the bench. If you don't play
well in camp and you don't earn a spot, so be it. But I don't worry about
that. I come in 100 percent and I play hard, and it takes a lot to compete
with me."
Quote of the week
"Five-oh is five-oh. You gotta handle five-oh a little differently. You
know, five-oh practices when he wants to. If he misses a little shot, or
can't bend down and catch the ball, you just bear with all of those things
in October, because if you remember last June, he was probably one of the
best defensive players in the Finals that we've ever seen."
--Spurs guard Avery Johnson, noted David Robinsonologist, on David
"Five-Oh" Robinson. |  |
Aldridge: Rules changes not ful-Phil-ing
