Polled Experts Get to Center of the Issue, Pick Wilt No. 1

The greatest center in NBA history? The Philadelphia Daily News polled 28 experts, mainly coaches, and the winner was Wilt Chamberlain.

Chamberlain had 84 points, followed by Bill Russell with 78 1/2 and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with 72 1/2. The only other vote-getters were George Mikan and Bill Walton with three points each, and Moses Malone with one.

Alex Hannum, who coached Chamberlain at Philadelphia, said: “Kareem scored more career points, but his average isn’t even close to Wilt’s, he just lasted longer. Kareem earned every accolade, but to me, Wilt was the best ever.”

Mike Gminski of the Philadelphia 76ers, on Abdul-Jabbar: “I’ll always think of him, with 20 years, as the greatest athlete of the centers who played. I’ll think of him the way I think of Jack Nicklaus in golf, being at a high level for so long.”

Tom Heinsohn, on Russell, a teammate with the Boston Celtics: “We won 11 titles in 13 years.”

Add Russell: Asked once by a reporter how he thought he would have fared against Abdul-Jabbar, Russell said: “Young man, I think you have the question backward.”

Trivia time: Why are players in baseball’s All-Star game easier to identify than those in the football, basketball and hockey All-Star games?

Golden oldies: Warren Spahn, after watching Nolan Ryan shut out the Angels Thursday night, told SportsChannel: “He’s a better pitcher today than he ever was.”

Ryan still won’t be able to match the figures Spahn posted when he was 42. In 1963 at Milwaukee, he had a 23-7 record with an earned-run average of 2.60. He had 22 complete games, tops in the league.

Now-it-can-be-told Dept.: When 49er tight end John Frank said he was quitting football to attend medical school, Will McDonough of the Boston Globe said: “If Frank’s football career is indeed ended, his last act in a San Francisco uniform will live on in team folklore.

“In the jubilation following their last-minute win in the Super Bowl, the very strong Frank lifted owner Eddie DeBartolo and was toting him around the locker room, only to get carried away and accidentally run DeBartolo into a row of lockers. The owner was dazed for a few minutes.”

43 years ago today: On July 9, 1946, Boston’s Ted Williams, playing on his home field, Fenway Park, had the greatest day by a hitter in All-Star history as the American League routed the National League, 12-0. Williams went four for four, including two home runs. He knocked in five runs and scored four. He got his second homer off a blooper pitch by Pittsburgh’s Rip Sewell.

“He’s the only man ever to hit a home run off the blooper,” said Sewell.

Trivia answer: The baseball players are the only ones to wear their own uniforms. The others wear all-star uniforms.

Quotebook: NBC announcer Bud Collins, on Britain’s Fred Perry, a three-time Wimbledon champion who turned 80 this week: “He looks great--better than any British player playing today.”