I can’t stop watching Russell Westbrook play. He’s a human highlight reel; a factory of paranormal basketball activity; a gem that should not be taken for granted.
He could become the second player in NBA history to average a triple double for the season. If he wins MVP he will be the only player to average a triple double and win league MVP in the same season. He just surpassed the great Wilt Chamberlain for the most triple doubles in a season with thirty-two. Now there’s a guy with some stories.
Here are 16 true stories about Wilt Chamberlain:
100 Points
On March 2, 1962, Wilt scored 100 points against the Knicks, shooting 36 for 63 from the field and 28 of 32 from the foul line. It's an NBA record that will never be broken.
(Image source: Wikipedia)
The “Turtle Flash”
For all those moments you flash in to secure a kill and end up dying in the process - the Turtle Flash by any other name. Jason "WildTurtle" Tran has a tendency to go "wild" when he gets bored, flashing into the enemy base for 1 kill during the LCS with no way out.
Clyde Lovellette
"I do remember a story about Wilt getting in a fight with Clyde Lovellette, a huge hulking guy who was infamous as a hatchet man in the 1950s and 60s (he was like the Laimbeer of 30 years earlier). Lovellette was hacking Wilt, elbowing him in the back etc. etc and finally Wilt said 'F*ck this' and cold-cocked Lovellette (6-9 and about 300) with one punch."
(Image source: WIBW)
The “sOAZ Teleport”
Paul "sOAZ" Boyer is known as the Top Laner who cheats death - appreciated for his Teleport escapes (Most famous one being against SK Telecom T1 in 2015 World Championship semifinals).
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The “Xmithie”
A legacy the Counter Logic Gaming Jungler would rather not own. Jake "Xmithie" Puchero's Sejuani ultimates against Team Liquid in a crucial LCS match were so bad, he cost his team the entire game.
Strength
Several years after Wilt stopped playing, he toyed with the idea of a comeback. On the day he visited the Knicks' offices in Madison Square Garden, he talked to Red Holzman, then strode out to the elevator. When it opened, two deliverymen were struggling with a dolly piled high with boxes of office supplies, mostly letterheads and envelopes. The load was so heavy, the elevator had stopped maybe four inches below the floor level and now the deliverymen were huffing and puffing, but they couldn't raise the dolly high enough to get it on the floor level. After maybe two minutes of the deliverymen's huffing and puffing, Wilt, his biceps bulging in a tank top, peered down at them and intoned, "Gentlemen, maybe I can help." They stepped back, he stepped into the elevator, grabbed each end of the rope slung under the dolly and without much exertion, quickly lifted the dolly onto the floor level. Looking up in awe, the deliverymen said, "Thank you." Wilt said, "You're welcome." Wilt stepped into the elevator and rode down to the street level as another witness followed the two deliverymen toward the Knick offices and asked, "How much does all this weigh?" They quickly surveyed the stack of big boxes of office supplies. "Close to 600 pounds," one said.
(Image source: Inside Hoops)
Magic Johnson
On a summer day in the early 1980s, when Brown was coaching at UCLA, Chamberlain showed up at Pauley Pavilion to take part in one of the high-octane pickup games that the arena constantly attracted. "Magic Johnson used to run the games and he called a couple of chintzy fouls and a goaltending on Wilt. So Wilt said, 'There will be no more layups in this gym,' and he blocked every shot after that. That's the truth, I saw it. He didn't let one [of Johnson's] shots get to the rim." - Former UCLA coach Larry Brown
(Image source: Pinterest)
The “Brokenshard”
Ram "Brokenshard" Djemal is infamous for being executed as he attempted to take his red buff against Evil Geniuses. Now every time a Jungler dies to his own camps, players fondly recall Brokenshard's embarrassment.
The “xPeke Backdoor”
Perhaps the most watched moment in competitive League of Legends - the iconic moment from the then Fnatic Mid Laner is now the benchmark for players attempting to single-handedly end the game.
The “Cpt Jack QSS”
A devastating AD Carry in his prime, Kang "Cpt Jack" Hyung-woo will be best remembered for the precious timing on his cleanse abilities.
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Women
According to Rod Roddewig, a contemporary of Wilt's, the 20,000 number was created when he and Chamberlain were staying in Chamberlain's penthouse in Honolulu during the mid-1980s. He and Chamberlain stayed at the penthouse for 10 days, over the course of which he recorded everything on his Daytimer. For every time Chamberlain went to bed with a different girl he put a check in his daytimer. After those 10 days there were 23 checks in the book, which would be rate of 2.3 women per day. He divided that number in half, to be conservative and to correct for degrees of variation. He then multiplied that number by the number of days he had been alive at the time minus 15 years. That was how the 20,000 number came into existence.
(Image source: The Big Lead)
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Source: Twitter
Gus Johnson
"It was Gus against Wilt. Gus went in to dunk, and Wilt caught the ball, threw Gus to the floor, and they had to take Gus off the floor with a dislocated shoulder." - Billy Cunningham via The Philadelphia Enquirer
(Image source: ESPN)
Russell Westbrook is amazing to watch. But every time I watch him, I can’t stop thinking of someone else. He makes a killer move and I’m thinking of another killer. He wears something cutting edge and I can’t help thinking about someone else just as outlandish. Every time he makes a gas face I think of someone just as incredulous.
Watching Russell Westbrook makes me think of Allen Iverson. A less successful Allen Iverson.
Less successful? Westbrook? How so?
Quick! Name another player on the Philadelphia 76ers 2001 NBA Finals team?
Did you guess Dikembe Mutumbo? Probably not. Maybe you went with the less popular Speedy Claxton or Todd MacCulloch. Truth is, Allen Iverson was so good he brought a relatively boring roster to the NBA Finals. He didn’t win, but beating the Kobe/Shaq Lakers would have been difficult for anyone, even Superman.
Allen’s teams were always good. The Sixers were worse off than they are today when the Bubba Chuck showed up and started crossing everyone out of their undies, including Michael Jordan. He made Philadelphia basketball relevant again and brought the team into the playoffs, one dazzling show after another.
Allen and Russ have similar career stat lines, are explosive offensive players and garnered plenty of attention for what they do on the court and what they wear off the court. Allen had a finals appearance in his fifth year; Russ had one in his fourth. They were both members of the All-Rookie team and both are perennial All-Stars.
But Allen won Rookie of the Year and added a league MVP the same year he brought that boring roster to the NBA finals. Russ has yet to carry a load that heavy and go that far. He did make a finals appearance and lose to the Heat, but did it with two other MVP candidates on his team in Durant and Harden. Iverson did it with Theo Ratliff being the next leading scorer.
I know now why Allen thinks Russ should win the MVP – Allen said it himself.
When you’re doing something in this day and age that we’ve never thought we would see ever again; what Russ is doing is incredible. He’s not playing with superstars.
Allen Iverson on Russell Westbrook winning the MVP
Russ could still get it done. It’s not like it’s over for him. He’s really almost as good as Allen Iverson. But almost won’t be good enough.
No one can argue that Iverson was as ferocious a dunker as Westbrook. Where does Russ fit on the list of all-time great dunkers?
Vince Carter
Air Canada, Vinsanity, Half Man Half Amazing, whatever else you want to call him, just know that Vince Carter is the best dunker in NBA history, facts only. Is 2000 Dunk Contest performance was an iconic sports moment, but his greatest dunk came that same year in the Olympics when he literally jumped over a 7'0" dude from France. Love VC, and love to see him still doing it in the league. (Source: Twitter)
Dominique Wilkins
Here's a hot take to dummies out there, but people who know basketball know that Dominque was a better dunker than MJ. He was robbed in the 1988 Dunk Contest because it was in Chicago and they had to give it to Jordan. But besides all of that, the Human Highlight Film was an absolute beast. He literally created the Windmill (I think) which is one of my favorite dunks. (Source: Twitter)
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Clyde Drexler
Clyde The Glide (another sweet nickname by the way) was an awesome ball player, and a great dunker. Did he ever win a Dunk Contest? No he did not, but he would not hesitate to dunk all up in your face if you got in his way during a game. The only bad part of his career was getting sh-t on by Jordan in the 1992 NBA Finals, but he eventually won a championship with the Rockets, so I guess it's not too bad. (Source: Twitter)
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Kobe Bryant
I'm a Knicks fan, but Kobe is my all time favorite player. Ruthless competitor, and I love anyone who takes 100 shots a game and is a dick to his teammates. One of his manny accolades is a Dunk Contest win back in 1997, but he could also throw down a huge dunk during a game, like he did on that b-tch Dwight Howard. (Source: Twitter)
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Source: HLTV
Shawn Kemp
Kemp may not have had the career that people that he was going to have, and yes he got into some legal issues off the court, but the man was awesome with the Sonics in the 90s, and was just a disgusting dunker of the basketball. I can look past your mistakes Shawn Kemp, you're good by me, bruh. (Source: Twitter)
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