Numbers Add Up to One for Chamberlain

The Baltimore Sun’s Milton Kent wrote recently that Magic Johnson’s return refuels the argument “over which player, Johnson or Michael Jordan, is the greatest to lace up a pair of basketball sneakers.”

Kent presents arguments for each as being the game’s greatest player.

Hold on, Milt.

Did either guy ever:

--Score 4,000 points in a season?

--Score 100 points in a game?

--Average 50 points a game for a season?

--Score 50 or more points in a game 118 times?

--Score 40 or more points in a game 271 times?

--Lead the NBA in shooting percentage nine times?

--Shoot 72.7% for a season?

Wilt Chamberlain did.

Please, Milt, let’s not forget Wilt. And that’s not even mentioning Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Bob Cousy . . .

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Add Kent: “Dick Stockton, the NBA announcer, related a conversation he once had with former Boston forward Kevin McHale about the relative contributions of Michael Jordan and Larry Bird, who was a McHale teammate on those 1980s Celtics teams.

“McHale said, ‘If you had Larry Bird taking only 10 shots, he could still contribute,’ ” said Stockton. ‘If Michael Jordan was limited to 10 shots, he wouldn’t be a factor in the game.’ ”

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Trivia time: Who is the NBA’s single-season free-throw percentage leader?

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Bum of the month: From Ron Borges of the Boston Globe:

“How about the bum in Seattle who owns the Seahawks?

“Behring says it will cost $90 million to fortify the Kingdome against earthquakes. . . . The last significant earthquake there was 30 years ago.

” . . . that’s like Lamar Hunt claiming he has no stadium protection in Kansas City against a cavalry charge.”

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Take that! Two weeks ago, Seattle SuperSonic Coach George Karl said Dallas’ Jason Kidd wasn’t in the same class as John Stockton or Gary Payton.

Someone sent the quote to Kidd, who taped it to his locker.

When the SuperSonics visited Dallas recently, Kidd scored 36 points and had eight assists, nine rebounds and four steals in a 103-100 victory.

“One game does not prove anything in this league,” Karl said.

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Claim to fame: Thomas Tisell, an entrant in the U.S. Olympic marathon trial at Charlotte, N.C., Feb. 17, was named “most athletic” by his high school classmates at North Fort Myers High in Fort Myers, Fla., in 1986.

The runner-up? Deion Sanders.

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Super sign: Sign at Los Angeles High: “Super Bowl MVP Larry Brown, class of ’87.”

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Seat sale: It’s possible Boston Garden may be worth more as a relic than when it was built.

The old arena’s most sought-after items are its 14,000-plus seats. There reportedly are 4,300 interested buyers who will pay at least $250 each.

Also to be auctioned: the Garden’s scoreboard, doors, signs and trash barrels.

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Trivia answer: Calvin Murphy, 95.8%. He made 206 of 215 free throws for the Houston Rockets in 1980-81.

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Quotebook: The Sporting News’ Dave Kindred, on Magic Johnson: “He’s the oldest guy in the National Basketball Assn. who isn’t a backup center.”