One day, Bill Walton remembered a heated exchange between Michael Jordan and Wilt…
One day, Bill Walton recounted a heated exchange between Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan. During the NBA’s 50th Anniversary Team meeting in 1996, Michael and Wilt got into a heated argument over who was the greatest player of all time while seated in the corner of the room. Walton remembered that Wilt and Michael just sat at a table and argued, while everyone else was having a great time and chatting merrily.
There are just fifty players in this one room. Michael Jordan and Wilt are over in the corner. And they are having a heated debate over who the best player of all time was while seated at a table. They are moving back and forth, and the intensity is at its peak. We are simply enjoying ourselves immensely. That is how amazing everything was—Bill Russell and Kareem are grinning, signing autographs, and posing for pictures. David Stern now enters the room and announces, “Alright everyone, it is time to leave.”
“Everyone begins to assemble and form a line. And here at this table, Wilt and Michael are still at it. “Come on, Wilt, Michael, we had to get going,” David finally says. So they get up, and the discussion is over. Wilt, who usually has the final say, then turned to face Michael and remarked, “Michael, keep in mind that when you played, the rules were adjusted to make it easier for you to dominate.” They altered every rule to make it more difficult for me to play. There was also no reply, no rejoinder. Wilt Chamberlain, I am very sorry.
“Everyone begins to assemble and form a line. And here at this table, Wilt and Michael are still at it. “Come on, Wilt, Michael, we had to get going,” David finally says. So they get up, and the discussion is over. Wilt, who usually has the final say, then turned to face Michael and remarked, “Michael, keep in mind that when you played, the rules were adjusted to make it easier for you to dominate.” They altered every rule to make it more difficult for me to play. There was also no reply, no rejoinder. Wilt Chamberlain, I am very sorry.
Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain are two of the greatest athletes in history. They were both well-known for their confidence in themselves, though. Therefore, it should come as no surprise at all that they would argue so fiercely about who was superior.
Jordan and Chamberlain had a robust back-and-forth conversation because they both had legitimate claims to be regarded as the best players of all time at the moment. This was made possible by their unwavering confidence and self-assurance.
