The Tribune

By Inigo ‘Naughty’ Zenicazelaya

ONCE again a great sports debate erupted in the friendly confines of the barbershop. This time it revolved around scoring, and who was the greatest scorer all-time in the history of the NBA.

Very interesting topic I thought, and I waited patiently for the presentations of some of the usual barbershop intellectuals.

If you have a glance at the list below, almost every name in the ‘Top Ten’ was brought up more than once, each having carved out his place as one of the best in the history of basketball.

And I was entertained by the theories presented, especially several that had Kobe right behind Jordan as the best ‘scorer’ of all time.

Sadly, despite my admiration and respect for both Kobe and Jordan, I can’t let Kareem get thrown under the bus. There’s a reason why he’s still the No.1 NBA scorer of all time, and neither of those two aforementioned all-time NBA greats could ever surpass him.

The reason - The ‘Sky Hook’. It was a shot that added years to Kareem’s career and changed many facets of the game defensively.

One could go with anyone off the Top Ten list as the best scorer of all time. Personally I will have to go with No.5 on the list, Wilt Chamberlain.

Yes ‘Wilt the Stilt’ gets my vote as the greatest scorer of all time in the NBA - 31,419 career points, including a 100-point game, speaks for itself, but what speaks volumes is the ‘scoring’ off the court to go along with the scoring on it that Wilt managed to accomplish.

In addition to his accomplishments on the court, Wilt also authored four books. His 1991 book, ‘A View From Above’, caused quite the firestorm. In it, Wilt claimed to have slept with 20,000 different women in his life. He was attacked from all sides. America was in the midst of the AIDS crisis, and activists criticised Wilt for his promiscuity.

He also came under fire for promoting black racial stereotypes, while feminists resented his blatant sexism.

Wilt never denied his claims nor was it his intention to be a braggadocio. He said “I’m just laying out there for all who are curious.”

Speaking of curious, for those of you trying to do the math, here’s an FYI for you. If Wilt started when he was 15 and went until he was 55, his age when the book was published, that would give him 40 years to sleep with 20,000 women. That breaks down to 500 a year.

Believe it or not! One thing for sure, Wilt knew how to take it to the hole and finish strong.

• Naughty presents ‘Mischief and Mayhem in da AM’ from 6am to 10am, Monday to Friday and ‘The Press Box’ sports talk show on Sunday from 10am to 1pm, on KISS FM 96.1. Comments and questions to naughty@tribunemedia.net