Counting Wilt Chamberlain's Steals, Blocks, and Turnovers

Basketball Reference has started listing some game totals for steals, and blocks before they became official NBA statistics.  They actually list Wilt Chamberlain as having 446 blocks for the 1972-73 season.  How accurate is that total?  I can't watch footage from that regular season to know how accurate it is, but I can get some footage from throughout his career to try and see how often he got those stats that weren't kept by the NBA during his career. How often did Chamberlain get steals, or blocks?  How often did he turn the ball over?  I don't want to see highlights.  I want full games.  

There are numerous problems that I ran into.  Finding full games from his career is tough.  I settled on a full quarter for 1 game, and a full half for more than 1.  Another game shows the first 3 quarters, but doesn't show the full 4th quarter.  When it came estimating how much time in a game was shown, or how much Chamberlain played in the footage, one issue was the lack of an onscreen clock.  It was rare for them to put the time remaining on the screen back then, so I found myself depending on the announcer to say how much time was left in a quarter.   I can't see everything, especially with the lower quality of the footage.  In Game 5 of the 1973 Finals, Wilt was given credit for 8 blocks.  While the ending of the game isn't shown, a graphic says that he has 6 blocks, and he picks up another on in the game footage I have, so that would be 7 blocks in the estimated 43 minutes of game time shown, but I only count him as having 4.  I went back, and watched it again, and I still have him with 4 blocks.  I wonder how did they have him with 7 blocks up to that point in the game.  What were the unwritten rules for counting blocks before the NBA made them an official stat?  Only one of these games is from the regular season, so these stats probably don't represent what did in the regular season.  This shows more of what he did in the playoffs against quality opposition.  Playoff game also tend to be played at a slower pace than regular season game. Below I have links for videos, and time stamps.  This video usually come from late in career, while he was with the Lakers.  I still think that relevant since Basketball Reference list Chamberlain with 446 blocks in the 1971-72 season.

1969 NBA Finals game 7  4th quarter    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnu5vMfPtbw&t=1690s

7 minutes (estimated)   0 steals   0 blocks  0 turnovers

1973 NBA Finals game 5     Several minutes missing    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wlSbTu0rFQ

Estimated 43 minutes shown   2 steals 2 blocks 8 turnovers

Turnover  (3 second violation) 8:47

Block 22:22

Turnover 23:24

Turnover 26:48

Possible block (not likely). 32:34

Steal 32:27

Block 32:50 

Turnover 39:43 

Turnover 57:52

Turnover 1:06:34

Turnover 1:08:45

Turnover 1:12:03

Possible block 1:23:23

Possible steal 1:27:29

Steal 1:29:25

1971  WCSF  Game 6    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrnGh16z18k

48 minutes   1 steal  4 blocks  1  Possible block   3 turnovers  1 possible turnover

Block  12:35

Block   30:36 (Could have been called goaltending)

Block   56:39

Turnover   57:58

Possible turnover  1:00:07  

Possible block  1:00:46

Turnover  1:08:32

Block  1:22:40

Turnover  1:27:19

Steal  1:31:49

1967  EDF  Game 5   2nd Half  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsYos18Esdo    

24 minutes  1 steal  4 blocks   1 turnover

Turnover   9:31

Block   21:30

Block   30:34

Block   30:36

Block   41:07

Steal   45:27

1973. WCSF. Game 6.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEd5nil-Op0.   48 min 

0 steals 3 blocks 6 turnover

Turnover 23:24

Block 30:37

Turnover 33:55

Turnover 34:11

Block 43:47

Turnover 46:40

Turnover 59:07

Block 1:19:53

Turnover 1:27:04

1972 Regular Season at Milwaukee   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J__Hnfnu8Fc&t=50s. 

48 minutes  3 steals 5 blocks 4 Turnover 1 possible turnover

4:22  West throws pass to high.  While Wilt stepped out of bounds with the ball, it's hard to blame him

Stl 6:25

Turnover 9:59

Block 12:10

Block 17:12

Possible Turnover 29:31

Turnover 39:12

Block 39:37 

Block 44:51

Block 52:27

53:27  Keith Jackson gives Wilt credit for a blocked shot that goes over his hand

Turnover 54:31

Steal 1:00:00

Turnover 1:08:43

Steal 1:13:41

Higher quality video of Milwaukee game.  Missing a small bit of the game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qe--XpXEp4y

1970 NBA Finals Game 7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiWzpL_bxKM

48 minutes  0 steals 1 block 5 turnovers

Turnover  19:17

Turnover 32:15

Turnover 39:55

Turnover 1:08:42

Turnover 1:23:32

Blk 1:26:42

1964  NBA Finals  Game 4    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRdwitKFw6Y

24 minutes   0 steals  0 blocks  2 Turnovers  1 possible block  1 possible turnover

Turnover 4:35

Turnover  6:07

Possible Block  16:36

Possible Turnover 17:55

1972 WCF Game 4  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnCme7Q-QZ8&t=1462s

(Bad quality, and missing several parts of the game)

Estimated 29 minutes  1 block  1 possible turnover

Block 10:20

Possible Turnover 38:03

Totals   319 minutes   7 steals   20 blocks  2 possible blocks   29 turnovers  4 possible turnovers

The thing that stands out to me are turnover numbers.  Most of the footage is from late in his career when he didn't touch the ball that much.  In his peak scoring years, he likely turned the ball over more than anyone else in NBA history.  He probably had numerous seasons with more turnovers that the official NBA record held by James Harden.  This is an ongoing project.  I would like to be able to look at other games. I may at some point try to come with estimates for steals, and blocks per 100 possessions in his footage.  I may also factor in field goals attempts, and assists to try to come up with an estimate for how often he would've turned the ball over.

 

Bill Belichick Not Voted Into Hall of Fame

 Bill Belichick seemed like a shoo-in first ballot Hall of Famer.  6 Super Bowl as head coach, and 2 as a defensive coordinator.  So many, including me, were shocked to find out that he won't get in Hall this year.  How is it that the man considered by many as the greatest coach of all time wasn't voted in?

There have seen several factors that have been brought up as to why.

The Post Tom Brady Narrative-This is interesting.  For years many tried to attribute Tom Brady's success to the fact that he was coach by Bill Belichick.  That narrative has turned around recently.  People have looked at the fact that Belichick has a losing record as a head coach without Brady.  Brady's Super Bowl win with Tampa Bay also added to the narrative. I don't think this is a good enough reason for him not to be voted in.  Brady was not a one man team, he had great players around him and Belichick has to be given a lot of credit for that.  Belichick also had some belief in Tom Brady, even if it took the Pats until the 6th round to draft him.  Bill also has two rings as a defensive coordinator, so he is a defensive genius.  

Robert Craft-It's no secret that Belichick and Robert Craft had a falling out.  There is some speculation that voters may have felt like they had to choose one or the other to prevent both being inducted the same year.  

SpyGate-DefelateGate-Here comes the controversy.  SpyGate, and DeflateGate were mentioned in a discussion among voters. https://www.upi.com/Sports_News/NFL/2026/01/28/sports-world-stunned-Bill-Belichick-snub-HOF/7201769601659/  Maybe some felt that they needed to send him a message, and make him pay for that.  Though I wonder would it be just Belichick who would pay for it.  I don't expect for Tom Brady not to get voted in on the first ballot due to DeflateGate.  

Hopefully he'll get in next year.