1966: The Year of the Big Man

1966 was a great year for the NBA. Let by All-World Bill Russell, the Celtics continue their league dominance winning a 7-game finals against the Lakers. The 76ers' Wilt Chamberlain wins a long overdue MVP award averaging 33 points, 24 rebounds, 5 assists, and an mind-boggling 47 minutes per game. Rick Barry says "Hello" to the league with nearly 26 ppg and 11 rpg, taking Rookie of the Year honors. And the ABA won't play its first game for another two years - I loved the ABA, but they sure gave the NBA fits!

The year 1966, however, was more important to basketball than any of these individual or team accomplishments, because this was perhaps the greatest ever "Year of the Big Man". Today's basketball experts, journalists, and fans would do well to revisit 1966 from time to time before proclaiming how superior today's players are. No disrespect intended to the incredible athletes who pound the parque today, but sometimes we forget just how much talent fans could watch play in any NBA city on any given night.

Imagine for a moment that you are Wilt Chamberlain - 7'1" tall, the most prolific player of all time (forget 100 points in a game, what center ever led the league in assists ... and what player ever averaged MORE than 48 minutes per game in a season?!). What does your road to an MVP look like in 1966? Who besides maybe that Russell character is going to stop you? Let's take a look at who's playing the pivot!

Your road through the Eastern Division starts with Bill Russell and the Celtics - we all know that story. The Knicks have a young center named Willis Reed (Hall of Famer), and eight games into the season, they add Walt Bellamy (Hall of Famer). The Royals front line is anchored by Wayne Embry (coming off of five straight All Star appearances) and Jerry Lucas (Hall of Famer), who plays both center and forward. Hmmm ... every team is anchored by future Hall of Famers in the pivot. No rest for the weary in the East. Let's go West.

The Western Division gives you (Wilt) a bit of a breather - you don't have to match up against Hall of Famers EVERY night. Bob Pettit did you a favor and took his 22 ppg / 12 rpg averages from the year before into retirement. So the Hawks acquired Zelmo Beatty whose 20 ppg / 13 rpg averages will earn him an All Star appearance. Ray Scott of the Pistons can't crack the All Star lineup despite his 18 and 10, because Nate Thurmond (Hall of Famer) is sitting in San Francisco collecting 18 boards a night. The Bullets traded Bellamy to the Knicks early in the season (I still don't get that) and the Lakers are a strong team but have nobody in the pivot to challenge Wilt. So I guess these are the two teams where Wilt can either "take it easy" or "pad his stats", depending on his mood.

Wow! Let's recap. In 1966, the nine-team NBA boast seven future Hall of Fame centers - six if consider Lucas a forward more than center. Night in, night out, as great as Wilt and Russell were, perhaps their greatness is better defined by the quality of their opponents than by the incredible stats they would post that year (and every year, for that matter) or the championships they would win. At the end of the year, three players would average 20+ rebounds per game - Wilt, Russell, and Lucas. And Russell would be relegated to second team All NBA.

Now, let's fast forward to the late 1990s/early 2000s for some added perspective. The best center in the league is Shaq. He's young, strong, averaging 27+ ppg and 12+ rpg. The experts agree that he's unstoppable. Who is his competition? Where does his road to a championship go through? Are there Hall of Fame centers in the way? The answer is "yes ... a few". David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon and possibly Patrick Ewing will make the Hall. Dikembe Mutombo, Ben Wallace and Alonzo Mourning won't, but they are frequent All Stars who make Shaq earn his money. In 2000, Shaq deserves and wins the MVP. Playing against 28 other teams, he faces just three potential Hall of Famer centers, plus a few other regular All Stars. In other words, two-thirds of Wilt's match-ups are against future Hall of Famers, compared to barely 10% for Shaq.

Hmmm .... makes you think, doesn't it?