Wilt Chamberlain stands alone as Philly’s champion in greatest pro athlete poll

We posed the question: “Who is Philly’s greatest pro athlete of all-time? Our readers answered in a big way by making round-by-round selections in the Inquirer’s 64-player interactive bracket.

Wilt Chamberlain received 1,219 first-place votes in our readers’ completed brackets to win the Philly championship game. Mike Schmidt (642 votes), Bobby Clarke (305), Julius Erving (211), and Brian Dawkins (196) rounded out the top five pro athletes by total votes.

All of the No. 1 seeds (Chamberlain, Clarke, Schmidt, and Reggie White) held their spots in the final voting, as each was atop the balloting in the most polls for their respective teams to advance to the Final Four.

White ranked as the least-favorite pick to win the Philly championship round among the No. 1 seeds. Dawkins, ranked the fourth-best Eagles player of all-time, finished as the bracket’s top sleeper pick. The Eagles Hall of Famer was the highest seed to finish in the top five.

Sixers players made up three of the top six selections, according to readers, with No. 3-seed Allen Iverson earning 145 votes.

Player rankings were provided by Inquirer beat reporters Les Bowen (Eagles), Keith Pompey (Sixers), Scott Lauber (Phillies), and Sam Carchidi (Flyers).

1. Wilt Chamberlain - 1,219 votes (37.7%)

2. Mike Schmidt - 642 votes (19.9%)

3. Bobby Clarke - 305 votes (9.4%)

4. Julius Erving - 211 votes (6.5%)

5. Brian Dawkins - 196 votes (6.1%)

6. Allen Iverson - 145 votes (4.5%)

7. Reggie White - 110 votes (3.4%)

8. Chuck Bednarik - 104 votes (3.2%)

9. Bernie Parent - 74 votes (2.3%)

10. Steve Carlton - 61 votes (1.9%)