Jeff Teague is stepping outside the usual Michael Jordan-versus-LeBron James debate and making a different choice for the greatest player in NBA history: Wilt Chamberlain.
During a recent podcast discussion, Teague pointed to Chamberlain’s unprecedented statistical production, extraordinary durability and overwhelming athletic ability. He highlighted Chamberlain’s MVP award as a rookie, his 50-point scoring average and the remarkable season in which he averaged more minutes per game than an NBA regulation game lasts.
Some of Teague’s numbers were blended together, but the larger point remains powerful. Chamberlain did win both Rookie of the Year and league MVP during the 1959-60 season, averaging 37.6 points and 27.0 rebounds per game for the Philadelphia Warriors. He remains one of only two rookies to be named NBA MVP.
Jeff Teague says he’s going out on a limb that Wilt Chamberlain is the best player ever:
“He is the best ever, man. He got MVP his rookie year…. Averaging 50 points, bro. He played 48 minutes a game, he never came out. He never came out, bro. He’s the greatest athlete ever,… pic.twitter.com/upbo0Y2dHh
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) July 30, 2026
Chamberlain’s legendary 50.4-point average came two seasons later, in 1961-62. He played all 80 games and averaged an almost unbelievable 48.5 minutes per contest because of the additional time created by overtime periods. He reportedly missed only eight minutes during the entire regular season after being ejected from one game.
He followed that historic campaign by averaging 44.8 points the next season. Teague jokingly suggested Chamberlain’s scoring declined because he was exhausted from never leaving the floor, but even the supposed drop remains the second-highest single-season scoring average in NBA history.
The argument for Chamberlain goes far beyond those two seasons. He scored an NBA-record 100 points in one game, grabbed a record 55 rebounds in another and became the only player to surpass 4,000 points in a season. His combination of size, strength, speed, stamina and production created records that remain almost impossible to compare with the modern game.
Critics will point to his era, his competition and the fact that Bill Russell achieved greater team success. Chamberlain won two championships, while Russell’s Boston Celtics repeatedly stood between him and additional titles. That keeps Wilt outside many conventional greatest-of-all-time selections.
Teague, however, is judging the total physical phenomenon rather than championships alone. Chamberlain entered the league as its best individual player, produced statistical seasons that have never been approached and carried workloads that would be unthinkable today.
Calling Wilt Chamberlain the greatest ever may qualify as going out on a limb in the modern debate. Calling him the most physically dominant and statistically outrageous player basketball has ever seen is much harder to dispute.
