 For his feats , Chamberlain was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978 , named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History , ranked # 2 in SLAM Magazine 's Top 50 NBA Players of All @-@ Time and # 13 in the ESPN list " Top North American athletes of the century " and voted the second best center of All @-@ Time by ESPN behind Kareem Abdul @-@ Jabbar on March 6 , 2007 . During his career , Chamberlain competed against future Hall of Famers including Russell , Thurmond , Lucas , and Walt Bellamy . He later faced Unseld , Abdul @-@ Jabbar , Dave Cowens , and Elvin Hayes . 
