Ranking the 30 best NBA seasons from players over 35 years old
The 30 best NBA seasons from players over 35 years old — 5. Wilt Chamberlain, 1971-72 (35)
For all of the historical criticism Wilt Chamberlain receives for his attitude or the pace-inflated nature of his statistics, the biggest knock on Chamberlain will always be that he could not translate pure athletic dominance into more titles. Coming into the 1971-72 season, Chamberlain had won just one title. Despite numerous trips to the NBA Finals, his teammate on the Lakers Jerry West had been denied, often by Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics, each time.
Something changed in 1971-72, when the Lakers finally coalesced as an offensive juggernaut. Players slid into their roles perfectly, and under the direction of head coach Bill Sharman the Lakers ripped off 33 wins in a row – still the NBA record – and finished with a 69-13 record.
Chamberlain’s days of scoring 50 per game were well behind him, but he fit into his role on this Lakers team perfectly. “The Big Dipper” scored 14.8 points per game, leading the league in field goal percentage, and pulled down 19.2 rebounds per game. Chamberlain finished second in win shares, tops in defensive win shares, and was the anchor on a defense tied for first in the league.
There was no doubt in the postseason that this Lakers’ team was different, as they swept the Chicago Bulls in the first round and defeated league MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then going by Lew Alcindor) and the Milwaukee Bucks in six. In the NBA Finals, the Lakers took on the New York Knicks, lead by Walt “Clyde” Frazier, and won in five.
Chamberlain took home Finals MVP for his work in that series, averaging an absurd 23.2 rebounds per game and sitting for just four total minutes in the entire series. It may have happened with Bill Russell retired, but West, Chamberlain and the Lakers finally broke through with a magical season that ended in an NBA championship.