Position : Center
Wilt Chamberlain , by his own reckoning , was the greatestbasketballplayer who ever lived .
He did n’t win the most NBA championships ; that record was established by his curse , Bill Russell . He did n’t vanish to the basketball hoop with the grace of Julius Erving or Michael Jordan , and he was n’t the most democratic player to come down the expressway . But no player could impact a game the style Wilt did .
When he retired in 1973 after 14 season in the NBA , Chamberlain had roll up 31,419 level , a record that tookKareem Abdul - Jabbar15 seasons to break . Wilt ’s 23,924 rebounds are still the league criterion . OnlyMichael Jordanhas averaged more points per game . Wilt once score 100 points in a contest , and he grabbed 55 rebounds in another . During the 1961 - 62 season , his third year in the league , he average 50.4 point and 25.7 rebounds per plot .
Neville Chamberlain may have been the best jock of his generation . He was a internal jibe put whiz at the University of Kansas and could have been a universe - class decathlete . He was incredibly durable , once playing 47 consecutive game without a minute of arc ’s rest . Arrangements were made and canceled for aboxingmatch with Muhammad Ali . The Kansas City Chiefs evaluate him as a broad receiver . After his retreat , Wilt became a renowned volleyball player . So confident was he in his strong-arm prowess that he talked of a comeback in his other 50s .
Chamberlain was the first of professional basketball ’s dominating seven - footers . At 7'1 " , 275 pound , he towered over the competition and could overpower most opponents near the basket . His foresightful , gamy - waisted eubstance made the byname " Wilt the Stilt " inevitable . Yet Wilt spiel a finesse game . He like to score with fadeaway jumper or with his trademark " dipper " shot – a soft , back - handed finger ringlet – rather than dunks .
Off the court , he was splashy , a fabled womanizer who loved bright light and big metropolis . When he played for thePhiladelphiaWarriors , he live inNew Yorkand commuted to Philly by power train . He possess racehorses , fast car , and a Harlem night club called Big Wilt ’s Small Paradise .
Born in Philadelphia on August 21 , 1936 , Wilt was an average - sized baby , but by geezerhood 14 he had sprouted to seven foot . By his senior year at Overbrook High , he was winning pick-me-up skirmish against professional participant . Kansas make headway a trigger-happy recruiting battle for his service of process , but then lost him after two seasons . Wilt exit in 1958 to move the world with the Harlem Globetrotters . He accede the NBA in 1959 and proceeded to win the MVP and Rookie of the Year Awards while averaging 37.6 point and 27.0 rebounds for the Warriors .
With Arthur Neville Chamberlain and shooting wizard such as Elgin Baylor and Jerry West make it in the NBA , the league ’s single - biz grading record was in danger of toppling on any present nighttime . Baylor scored 64 points in 1959 , breaking Joe Fulks ’s phonograph recording of 63 set in 1949 . In 1960 , Baylor established a new mark with 71 points against the New York Knicks . A twelvemonth later , in December 1961 , Chamberlain make 78 points against the Lakers . That set the microscope stage for Wilt ’s feat against New York on the night of March 2 , 1962 , in Hershey , Pennsylvania ( see sidebar ) .
But while Chamberlain deliver the goods scoring titles in each of his first seven season , theBostonCeltics won seven consecutive backing . Wilt was branded a nonstarter and roast in opposition arenas . " Nobody roots for Goliath , " he often enjoin .
Finally , Wilt broke through , leading the Philadelphia 76ers to the title in 1967 . They smashed Boston 4 - 1 in the Eastern Division final exam , with Wilt pile up 29 points , 36 repercussion , and 13 assist in the decisive game . They then circumvent theSan FranciscoWarriors , Wilt ’s former team , 4 - 2 in the NBA Finals . Earlier that time of year , Chamberlain attempted 35 consecutive field goals without a miss , a record that ’s never been challenged .
Despite his overwhelming talents , Chamberlain was trade doubly during his career . After the Philadelphia warrior moved to San Francisco , Wilt was swapped to the Philadelphia 76ers in 1965 for three lesser talent and Johnny Cash . In 1968 , the Sixers station him to theLos AngelesLakers for three nondescript players .
Chamberlain ’s scoring outturn diminished afterward in his career as he focused on other aspect of the game . Determined to prove his worth as a team player , he pass the NBA in help in 1967 - 68 . With Los Angeles in 1971 - 72 , he average just 14.8 points , but the Lakers advance a record 33 consecutive games and the championship . The next time of year , Wilt ’s last , he made 72.7 per centum of his field - destination attempt , a record that still stands . gratuitous - throw shot was the one sphere that he never mastered ; he made barely one-half of his attempts for his career .
After retirement , Wilt move in the south to coach theSan DiegoConquistadors of the American Basketball Association . He lasted one time of year , stake a 37 - 47 platter . Over the next 10 , NBA teams clamored for him to revert as a histrion . He decline , saying he no longer could give rooter their money ’s worth . He want to go out on top . He died in 1999 .
