re: Settle a bar bet

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Shaq is unstoppable in his prime. He would push poor Wilt around.

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I dunno about that. Shaq was bigger but Wilt was stronger

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Put Lebron at point and Durant at SF and its a toss up

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Durant would get abused by Bird

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Shaq was bigger but Wilt was stronger

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Shaq was bigger but Wilt was stronger

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Wilt was stronger. For fun (after he retired) Chamberlain used to work out with Ahnold. Supposedly Ahnold said Wilt was the strongest period period that he ever worked out with. If Shaq had the interest in training and conditioning that Wilt enjoyed it might have been a different comparison - but fitness and Shaquille were not synonymous.

I love Shaq. Shaq was incredibly dominant at his peak and his raw size would have been a challenge to Wilt... but Wilt was stronger and more athletic by most accounts.

I liked what Bill Russell said when he was asked by a sideline reporter how he thought Shaq and Wilt compared (keep in mind this was around 2000 when Shaq was at his peak).

The reporter asked how he thought Wilt would have stacked up to Shaq (obviously expecting him to admit Shaq was better). His response was direct: "Wilt was better." "In what way?" the surprised reported followed up. "In every way." replied Russell.

some stuff on Wilt

LINK

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It's fashionable to say that Wilt had great God-given gifts, and while that's true, it's often overlooked how hard he worked to develop into the overwhelming force that he ultimately became. Chamberlain's first love was track and field, and he trained hard to compete in the shot put, high jump and varied distance races. He was not always the sculpted colossus he would become, at one time checking in at 6-11 and 202 pounds.

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"I had this thing about going out and becoming strong because I was always a skinny, skinny kid," Chamberlain said. "I could jump to the moon, I could run as fast as the wind, but I had this thing about wanting to be strong."

By the time he arrived at Kansas, Chamberlain was already stronger than most NBA players. Maurice King, a teammate of Wilt's at Kansas, and a retired executive of Hallmark Cards, called Wilt "absolutely the strongest man I ever met, and that was when he was just a kid of 18 or 19. Wilt was already doing conditioning things when he came to Kansas that we had not been allowed to do, things that are now routine training, like lifting weights. You heard people talk about how skinny Wilt was. I learned very quickly that power doesn't necessarily come with bulk. What an incredibly powerful man!"

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"One time, when I was with Boston and he was with the Lakers, Happy Hairston and I were about to get in a scrape," said Charlotte Hornets coach Paul Silas, who was a rugged, no-nonsense enforcer. "All of a sudden, I felt an enormous vise around me. I was 6-7, 235, and Wilt had picked me up and turned me around. He said, 'We're not going to have that stuff.' I said, 'Yes sir.'"

And former Celtics guard K.C. Jones remembered his casual run-in with Wilt. "He stopped me dead in my tracks with his arm, hugged me and lifted me off the floor with my feet dangling," Jones said. "It scared the hell out of me. When I went to the free-throw line, my legs were still shaking. Wilt was the strongest guy and best athlete ever to play the game."

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LINK

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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.

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"On the trip to Russia with the Harlem Globetrotters, we were in Lenin Stadium, and they assigned a dressing room to the team. The players were getting dressed for one of their games. They were in rather close quarters. Remember, these were young kids-Wilt was 23. The others were his age. They were like kittens. You bump me, i'll bump you back. And before you know it, two of the guys set on Wilt. They started playfully pushing and shoving him. And finally one of his teammates hit Wilt a little too hard. He took these two guys, twisted each of their shirts, and lifted both of them off the ground. Each of these guys weighed over 200 pounds. It looked like he had two little crackers in his hands. I thought he was going to hit their heads together. It was an amazing demonstration of strength".

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Regarding the strongest person I ever met was Wilt quote by Arnold I don't know if he really said it or it is urban myth. Because of his long arms (Wilt had ridiculously long arms even for a man of his height) I'd think he couldn't bench as much as a lot of people he had more raw strength than.

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Durant would get abused by Bird

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Not any worse than Durant would abuse Bird

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Not any worse than Durant would abuse Bird

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Bird is much stronger than Durant, he'd hold his own much better on D

I'm not saying Wilt wasn't strong. But he and Shaq are the same height yet Shaq outweighs Wilt by 50 pounds. And Shaq is one of the most athletic big men ever. I think Shaq would be able to handle Wilt (not manhandle, mind you) in the paint.

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But he and Shaq are the same height yet Shaq outweighs Wilt by 50 pounds. And Shaq is one of the most athletic big men ever. I think Shaq would be able to handle Wilt (not manhandle, mind you) in the paint.

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we're talking heavy Shaq (before he broke down) compared to bigger Wilt (say with the Lakers) then right?

Shaq was north of 350 pounds but Wilt was in teh 325 to 330 range. He obviously carried the weight better and was more athletic.

I love Shaq but I think you take Wilt in that matchup. He was stronger, almost as big, and much more athletic.