Has LeBron James outperformed Wilt Chamberlain during his Lakers career?
After five seasons in Los Angeles, where does LeBron James rank among Lakers greats like Wilt Chamberlain?
When I first considered a Wilt Chamberlain vs. LeBron James discussion, my first thought was obviously LeBron. However, the fact that LeBron and Wilt have only played 10 more regular season games each makes this a highly suitable topic because it’s simple to draw comparisons.
LeBron is superior statistically almost everywhere. Wilt has an effective field goal percentage that is roughly three percentage points higher and averages more rebounds. Both have one championship and one MVP award from the Finals, but LeBron has made more All-NBA teams and Wilt has made more All-Defense teams in terms of accomplishments. Thus, everything is essentially equal in that regard.
And what about non-statistical data? Well, LeBron was definitely The Guy in the title he won. While he did pull down a ton of rebounds in the 1972 Finals, Wilt finished third on the team in scoring that season.
I believe Wilt’s time in Los Angeles is somewhat overlooked since, for the most part, he was Jerry West’s or Elgin Baylor’s second or third fiddle. However, the Lakers have struggled much more while LeBron has been a member of the team. To what extent does that land at his feet?
Currently, I believe Wilt has a better chance because of his overall performance, despite playing in a far inferior NBA in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Now, it seems simple to choose a Lakers all-time starting five.
PG: Magic Johnson (it makes sense)
SG: Without a doubt, Kobe Bryant
PF – Pau Gasol C – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar SF – Elgin Baylor
Pau Gasol is the only true power forward in franchise history, unless you really like the twelve games Dennis Rodman played.
The central spot is crowded with men. And Shaq was the most dominant player in league history when he played for the Lakers. But, dude, Kareem is just Kareem.
Finally, thinking back on the Shaq deal, it was definitely a bad move given who Shaq was at the time.
Even though things had gotten worse between Shaq and the Lakers, the 31-year-old was still averaging 21.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, 2.5 blocks, and 58.4% field goal shooting as he was battling Kobe for the ball.
That was then, however, a different era. That person is fetching you a king’s ransom in the modern day. In the past, the Lakers selected Caron Butler, Brian Grant, Lamar Odom, Jordan Farmar in the first round of the 2006 NBA Draft, and Ronalddas Seibutis in the second round of the 2007 NBA Draft.
Before Kwame Brown was mysteriously moved for Butler, who had a fantastic season, it was one of the most terrible trades in team history. As a Laker, Grant did virtually little and served mostly as salary ballast in this deal.
Odom turned out to be the jewel; he was crucial to the teams that won the championship. Farmar had a successful bench guard career with the Lakers as well. In the end, Butler’s contribution was significant because, if you want to play the transitive game, the Lakers ultimately acquired Pau. However, by today’s standards, it wasn’t a very good trade in a vacuum.
You might request another first round choice in, say, 2008, if you’re searching for an entertaining hypothetical scenario. The Heat had a terrible season that year and selected Michael Beasley with the No. 2 pick. However, things may have transpired in a far more intriguing manner if O.J. Mayo, Kevin Love, and Russell Westbrook had all been available.