Retired 18 Years, Wilt Claims He’s Ready to Rebound

A couple of years ago, the burning question for the Lakers was this: Who will replace Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?

Would you believe Wilt Chamberlain, 53 at the time?

In his recently published book, “A View From Above,” the 7-foot-1 Chamberlain claims that the Lakers tried to coax him out of retirement in 1989.

Laker owner Jerry Buss confirmed that he had once offered Chamberlain a lucrative contract to come out of retirement but told the Associated Press it was “seven, eight or nine years ago in Phoenix.”

Chamberlain said he remembered that meeting but added: “He talked to me a number of times since then. We’ve crossed paths socially. It might have been 1988 at the latest.”

Chamberlain said that in the last 15 years, at least a half-dozen teams have tried to sign him.

But could Chamberlain, now 55, still play--18 years after retiring?

“Yeah, it’s not a hard thing to fathom,” he told AP. “I know what I’m capable of doing.

“It wouldn’t be what I did in the ‘60s, but I could go out and get 10, 11 rebounds today. Those are league-leading numbers.”

Add Chamberlain on Abdul-Jabbar: Excluding himself, Chamberlain believes that Bill Russell was the best NBA center, followed by Bill Walton, Abdul-Jabbar, George Mikan and Robert Parish.

But don’t be fooled by the high rating Chamberlain gives Abdul-Jabbar, the man who broke his career scoring record. Chamberlain is still not about to overlook what he considers Abdul-Jabbar’s shortcomings.

“I feel sorry for Kareem,” Chamberlain said. “One thing for sure--he was blessed with a magnificent body and magnificent talent. Not to say he loafed, but he never pushed himself to the limit.

“I’m not here to chastise Kareem. He was the greatest offensive force I ever faced on a basketball court--by far. The only time I ever saw him really push himself was against me.”

Second add Chamberlain on Abdul-Jabbar: Chamberlain used to have a Great Dane he named Careem, because, he said, the dog was cream color. People assumed he had named if after Abdul-Jabbar.

“It came off that way,” Chamberlain told PhillySport magazine last year. “It really wasn’t. (Abdul-Jabbar) should have been so lucky if he’d had the properties of that dog--this dog was quite an animal. He was quite a stud.”

Trivia time: When Chamberlain signed with the Philadelphia Warriors for the 1959-60 season, he received the highest amount ever paid to an NBA player up to then. How much was it?

Postscript Chamberlain on Abdul-Jabbar: “They give you that thing about 700-plus games he’s had in double figures,” Chamberlain told PhillySport. “I mean what is that supposed to mean? I went through a whole career in double figures. . . . So Kareem scores 10 points. I’d never seen a center cherry-picking for a basket in my life until I saw Kareem. . . . They gave Kareem a $65,000 Mercedes (for setting the scoring record). . . . I didn’t get nothing when I did it. I mean, if this record was so sensational--nobody could even tell what the record was while I had it. . . . I mean, I never even got a card from anybody about holding the record, you understand?”

Trivia Answer: $65,000.

Quotebook: Bill Russell, when informed that All-Star teams with both him and Chamberlain in the lineup had only played .500 ball: “It tells me that Wilt didn’t know how to play forward.”