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-His rivalry with Bill Russell. Kareem never really had a "rival" like that. The Chamberlain - Russell rivalry became epic. And people still talk about it 40-50 years later.
-His AVERAGES, were ridiculous. Averaged over 48 minutes a season one year. Lead the league in assists one year. The rebounding numbers were crazy.
I would say he changed the game more than Kareem. He also had a bigger personality and more interesting reputation off the court (i.e. sleeping with 10,000 women, lol, or so the story goes).
To me, the biggest reason why Wilt usually gets the edge over Kareem in most people's minds is that Chamberlain was a much more dominant rebounder and shot blocker than Kareem. Kareem had the single-greatest shot in terms of effectiveness in NBA history, but he could be passive on the boards, especially as his career went along.
Incidentally, Kareem's six titles are reduced in stature somewhat by the fact that Magic Johnson was playing with him for five of those titles (though IMO Kareem was more important player than Magic on the 1980, 1982, and 1985 Lakers; Magic was clearly a better player than Kareem in 1987 and 1988).
Yes, I kind of figured that the numbers from Wilt's first 7 seasons would really have a "sticking out" effect. Also, after looking closer, I did see Wilt's better overall numbers in terms of blocking & rebounding, and a center leading the league in assists, are you kidding me? It also later occurred to me after posting, and before reading the replies, that 5 out of Kareem's 6 rings came as a teammate of Magic Johnson, which would dramatically improve one's chances of winning a title.
I myself tend to think of Wilt as the greatest center ever, the one I'd have in my all-time "pickup team" (Magic, Michael, Dr J, Karl Malone, Wilt), I simply after realizing Kareem's numbers started to question my thinking. It's definitely a luxurious position to be in, in terms of arguing one vs the other, to have these 2 to pick from. Even if you picked the "wrong" one, you still could hardly go wrong; it sure wouldn't be like Portland picking Greg Oden over Kevin Durant, for instance.
Someone mentioned Shaq--yes, at his peak, Shaq was just a mess. Who wouldn't love to see a prime Shaq matched up against a prime Wilt? That would be something to watch. I really miss "real" post play, I would love to see a center as great as Shaq, or even (say) David Robinson or Hakeem etc, enter the league and FORCE teams to start properly utilizing post-play again. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate what guys like Rasheed Wallace and Dirk Nowitzki could do in terms of their versatility, and how great LeBron James is, but if you're dealing with a 7 footer who can play well in the post, why nag him about also being able to shoot fade-away jumpers? Let him operate in the post exclusively and dominate there, I say, and leave the fade-aways to the guards and small forwards.
^ I miss classic post play too, those mid 90s battles when you had Shaq, Hakeem, Admiral, Ewing, Mourning, Mutombo all battling down low was great stuff. I'd like to see a return to that too, but the game has been pushed outside leading to a generation of bigmen developing more 'perimeter-oriented' skills.
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