Would Wilt Chamberlain be the best center in the NBA today?

Chamberlain was great but he had a contemporary in Bill Russel who pretty much had his number every time they played. Russell was the #7 high jumper in world while in college even though his primary focus was basketball by that time.

Chamberlain was a better scorer but Russell had a big edge defensively and could score when needed to and is top 35 all-time in triple doubles. Russell won 5 MVPs to Chamberlain’s 4.

Ultimately Chamberlain rules the day on his stats. Given Wilt and Bill’s athleticism I think both would stack up well against any contemporary center. They would adapt to changes in the game whether perimeter shooting or more muscular players / focus in conditioning.

18Rabbit. Can't blame you at this point that you didn't watch the games. They were long ago, but the box scores for the 94 games Wilt and Russell played against one another are very readable in 2022. Russell not only did not have have a "big edge" defensively, but that was actually Russell's biggest weakness in those matchups. He was exposed as unable to stop Wilt. Russell's second biggest weakness in those matchups was that he was not able to get his shot off, at all. He shot only 37% against Wilt from the field in those 94 games, awful for a big man. Russell was not a bad shooter, but it was Wilt that was the superior defender when the two played one another.

I think Russell would be a starter in today's NBA but it's unclear that he would be a center. If so, he would be the shortest starting center and one of the lightest. Sure, many decades later, if he were coming up now, he would have spent more time in the weight room, etc and be a bigger man. Wilt was already that guy, so his adaptation may have been a three, but I am doubtful of that given his issues/mental block at the free throw line.

Of course, if the greats had played against one another, perhaps they would have fewer faults. Young Shaq may not have ever become fat Shaq if he had Wilt or even Embiid outplaying him every minute and pushing him to be greater. Wilt might also have been shooting threes at today's version of Overbook High and making free throws from a young age when it was a known thing that such a weakness would be crucial when he made the NBA. As a kid in 1955, nobody was making that sort of planning for him. If he were a kid in 2015, his development would have been different.

Touch is its own thing and Embiid stands out among all time strong big men for that, although Moses Malone was similar, strong inside and nice touch at the free throw line. Russell was also relatively weak at the free throw line, just not awful as Chamberlain was. Russell was not a great shooter per se part of why he developed his role as a defender, which he was in the 1950s-1960s NBA, even though not at all a competent defender of Wilt.

Hey, Russell held Wilt to 29 points a game

I'd be really curious what Wilt and Kareem's stats would have been if they could have started at age 18/19 like Kobe and Lebron; Wilt missed 5 seasons; Kareem 4 (comparatively speaking) ... as well as blocked shots for Wilt's career.

And if Jordan hadn't done the silly baseball thing for three years ...

Russ did NOT have Chamberlain's number. Wilt dominated the individual matchup.

Russ did NOT have a big edge defensively over Wilt.

MVPs--not the best stat to use to compare players as there have been some highly questionable selections over the years. Like 61-62 when Wilt averaged 50 pts and 25 rebounds while Oscar Robertson averaged a triple double and yet Russ won the MVP despite averaging "only" 23.6 points, 18.9 reb and 4.5 assists