Wilt Chamberlain
Hakeem Olajuwon
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Wilt Chamberlain leads 2 of 3 categories. Our all-time ranking places Wilt Chamberlain at #6 and Hakeem Olajuwon at #12.
Head-to-head FAQ
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The case for Wilt Chamberlain
The most statistically dominant athlete any team sport has produced. Chamberlain's 1961–62 season — 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds per game, including the 100-point game in Hershey on March 2, 1962 — will never be approached; he averaged 48.5 minutes that season by playing overtimes on top of full games. He led the NBA in scoring seven straight times, in rebounding 11 times, and, after being criticized as selfish, led the league in total assists in 1967–68 — the only center ever to do so. His career marks of 30.1 points and a record 22.9 rebounds per game came with four MVPs and, contrary to the empty-stats caricature, two of the most dominant championship teams ever: the 68–13 Philadelphia 76ers of 1967 and the 69–13 Lakers of 1972, both of which broke the Celtics' grip. The honest case against him is Russell — a 1–7 head-to-head playoff series record and repeated Game 7 defeats — plus chronic free-throw shooting near 51 percent. But as a force of nature, no one else comes close.
The case for Hakeem Olajuwon
The most skilled defensive center ever and the owner of one of the sport's great individual peaks. In 1993–94 Olajuwon became the only player in NBA history to win regular-season MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and Finals MVP in the same season, then defended the title in 1995 as a sixth seed by beating four consecutive teams that had won at least 55 games, out-dueling David Robinson, Karl Malone and a young Shaquille O'Neal along the way. He is the all-time leader in blocked shots with 3,830, added a second Defensive Player of the Year award and nine All-Defensive selections, and paired that rim protection with the Dream Shake — the most refined post footwork the game has seen, so coveted that Kobe Bryant and LeBron James later sought his tutelage. Career figures of 21.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, 3.1 blocks and 1.7 steals describe a two-way completeness no center has matched. A Nigerian who did not play organized basketball until age 15, he stands as both a global pioneer and, at his 1994–95 apex, briefly the best player alive.