He had played in 1,045 games and achieved an average of 30.1 points per gamethe NBA points-per-game record until Michael Jordan broke it in 1998. [6], He was the star player for the Overbrook Panthers basketball team, wearing jersey number 5. According to Sixers general manager Jack Ramsay, "Harvey [Pollack] said he used to tell one of his statisticians to keep track of Wilt's blocks in big games. [132] In that game, he fell on his right hand and was said to have sprained it but it was actually broken. He spent his last year in basketball in a coaching position, due to a contractual issue. Prior to Game 5, Chamberlain skipped practice and was non-accessible. Wilt had long since retired when Jordan emerged, but he alluded to a much-ballyhooed one-on-one clash in the 1980s between 7-foot-1 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the 6-7 Julius Erving. [41] Another landmark was his 25,000th point, making him the first-ever player to score that many points; he gave the ball to his team physician Stan Lorber. Peterson had stated that she had blamed herself and was almost "convinced that I was a very bad person for letting that happen", until the Me Too movement made her rethink the experience. Because Schayes did not want to risk angering his best player, he scheduled the daily workout at 4 pm. As his career progressed, he played at 275 pounds, adding more muscle, and eventually played at over 300 pounds. [149] Chamberlain played a villainous warrior and counterpart of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1984 film Conan the Destroyer. He helped the Lakers win the 1972 NBA championship, triumphing over the New York Knicks in five straight games, and was named the NBA Finals MVP. [71], In the 196263 NBA season, Gottlieb sold the Warriors franchise for $850,000,[o] to a group of businessmen led by Franklin Mieuli from San Francisco and the team relocated to become the San Francisco Warriors under new coach Bob Feerick. [142] As a testament to his importance, the IVA All-Star game was televised only because Chamberlain also played in it; he rose to the challenge and was named the game's MVP. [137] After the season, Chamberlain retired from professional basketball; in addition, he was displeased by the meager attendance, as crowds averaged 1,843, just over half of the team's small Golden Hall, a 3,200-seat sports arena. [199], Following his death in 1999, Chamberlain's estate was valued at $25 million. [10] Celtics forward Heinsohn said: "Half the fouls against him were hard fouls he took the most brutal pounding of any player ever. [62], The Lakers again charged through the playoffs, reaching the NBA Finals, where they were pitted against the New York Knicks, loaded with future Hall-of-Famers Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere, Bill Bradley, and Walt Frazier. The Warriors were led by two future Hall-of-Famers in star forward Rick Barry and Chamberlain's one-time backup and center Nate Thurmond. [133] Chamberlain's all-around performance helped the Lakers win their first championship in Los Angeles with a decisive 114100 win. [10][m] Chamberlain once again broke the 2,000-rebound barrier with 2,052. There's a reason why one of Wilt Chamberlain's many nicknames was "The Record Book". [13], In his second Overbrook season, Chamberlain continued his prolific scoring when he tallied a high-school record 71 points against Roxborough. His ability to leap from the foul line led to the rule that a free throw shooter must keep his feet behind the line. In 19601961, when Chamberlain averaged 50.4 points per game, he said that Boston did not rely on Russell's scoring, and he could concentrate on defense and rebounding. [107] Chamberlain then asked for a trade and Sixers general manager Jack Ramsay traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers for Darrall Imhoff, Archie Clark, and Jerry Chambers. [114] The Lakers lost 107100 in what was called one of the greatest comebacks in NBA Finals history. Just Wilt Chamberlain and Pete Maravich share the honor to have their jersey retired by three different teams. Chamberlain would help lead the Lakers past Abdul-Jabbar and the Bucks in six games. [111] Among others, Russell did not believe Chamberlain's injury was grave and accused him of being a malingerer, stating: "Any injury short of a broken leg or a broken back is not enough. For Abdul-Jabbar, 75, the hubbub over his pursuit of Wilt Chamberlain's scoring record nearly 39 years ago was little more than a distraction in the final weeks of the 1983-84 regular season . Continuing to excel, he made the all-America and all-conference teams the following season. [n] In the playoffs, the Warriors again met the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Division Finals, and this season was called by both Cousy and Russell the greatest Celtics team of all time. "[162] He was a scoring champion, all-time top rebounder, and accurate field goal shooter. Wilt Chamberlain averaged 30.1 points, 22.9 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game. He is also the only one to average 50 points in a season, or to gather 55 rebounds in a game. In Game 4, the shorthanded Lakers were no match for New York. [18] The Panthers suffered just one loss, to Farrell High 5958. The young Lew Alcindor was soon allowed into his inner circle and quickly idolized the ten-year older Chamberlain. [62], Chamberlain's 4,029 regular-season points made him the only player to break the 4,000-point barrier. "[110], Chamberlain experienced an often-frustrating season. [111], Game 7 featured a surreal scene because Cooke put up thousands of balloons in the rafters of the Forum in Los Angeles in anticipation of a Lakers win. "[121] In 1965, Chamberlain had consulted his father, who had seen Ali fight, and said no. [211], Chamberlain denounced the Black Panthers Party and other black nationalist movements in the late 1960s, and he supported Republican Richard Nixon in the 1968 and 1972 presidential elections. [26], In 1955, Chamberlain entered University of Kansas (KU). The 15-round bout would have taken place on July 26, 1971, in the Houston Astrodome. [38], Twenty-three teams were selected to play in the 1957 NCAA basketball tournament. [14], During summer vacations, Chamberlain worked as a bellhop at Kutsher's Hotel. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. [112] During the ninth game, he had a serious knee injury, suffering a total rupture of the patellar tendon at the base of his right kneecap,[113] and he missed the next several months before appearing in the final three games of the 82-game regular season, the first season in which he failed to reach 20 rebounds per game. [47], In 2015, a man named Aaron Levi came forward claiming to be Chamberlain's son based on non-identifying papers from his adoption and information from his biological mother. [184] As the championship count became increasingly lopsided, the relationship got strained and turned hostile after Russell accused Chamberlain of "copping out" in the notorious Game 7 of the 1969 NBA Finals. "[47], After losing Baylor to an Achilles tendon rupture that effectively ended his career, and especially after losing West after a knee injury, the handicapped Lakers were seen as underdogs in the playoffs against the Milwaukee Bucks of Alcindor, freshly crowned MVP, and the veteran Hall-of-Fame guard Robertson, whom they faced in the Western Conference Finals. He ran the 100-yard dash in 10.9 seconds, shot-putted 56 feet, triple jumped more than 50 feet, and won the high jump in the Big Eight Conference track and field championships three straight years. [192] Chamberlain even once stated that he intentionally missed free throws so a teammate could get the rebound and score two points instead of one. Every time Chamberlain went to bed with a different woman, he put a check in his Day-Timer. The Warriors got off to a terrible start to the season, and ran into financial trouble. Join our linker program. ", "Toronto Raptors vs. Los Angeles Lakers recap", "ESPN's 'SportsCentury' Goes Back-Back-Back", "Top N. American athletes of the century", "Daily Dime: Special Edition The game's greatest giants ever", "Ranking the top 74 NBA players of all time: Nos. Chamberlain often criticized Abdul-Jabbar for a perceived lack of scoring, rebounding, and defense. He did not care for the Sixers' coach Dolph Schayes because in his view Schayes had made several disrespectful remarks when they were rival players. 2 in Slam's "Top 50 NBA Players of All-Time in NBA History" in 2009,[178] and No. Standing at 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest . [138] The Lakers sued their former star and successfully prevented him from actually playing because he still owed them the option year of his contract. [62] He later acknowledged that he was a "psycho case" in this matter. Now, over 20 years after his death in 1999 and almost 50 years since the end of his playing career in 1973, we're still trying to unravel the myths from the truth. Wilt Chamberlain retired in 1973. [111] In Game 5, Chamberlain scored 13 points and grabbed 31 rebounds, leading Los Angeles to a 117104 win. [10] According to Chamberlain, that was the time that people started calling him a loser. [202][203] According to his contemporary Rod Roddewig, Chamberlain documented his love life using a Day-Timer. [62] Future Georgetown coach John Thompson, then a rookie for the Boston Celtics, elbowed Chamberlain in the face and broke his nose, causing him to wear a face mask in several games. Allen's age was no surprise, of course, but most people . [86] In Game 5, Chamberlain scored 46 points and grabbed 34 rebounds, but the Celtics won the game 120112 and the series. Bill Russell, byname of William Felton Russell, (born February 12, 1934, Monroe, Louisiana, U.S.died July 31, 2022), American basketball player who was the first outstanding defensive centre in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and one of the sport's greatest icons. [i] In comparison, the previous top earner was Bob Cousy of the Celtics with $25,000, the same figure Eddie Gottlieb used to buy the Warriors franchise in 1952. Russell regularly feared being embarrassed by Chamberlain,[43] and Walt Frazier called his dominance on the court "comical". [51], In what was the first of many match-ups, Chamberlain outscored Russell with 30 points versus 28 points but Boston won the game, and the ChamberlainRussell rivalry (see below) would grow to become one of the NBA's greatest of all time. What age did Wilt Chamberlain retire? When did Wilt Chamberlain retire. [q] The team also featured an All-Rookie forward Billy Cunningham in the new sixth man role. It was also the first national final to go into overtime; and is still the only one to go into triple overtime. All Rights Reserved. Wilton Norman Chamberlain (/tembrln/; August 21, 1936 October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played at the center position. His 76ers went 68-13 (in only an 81-game season then), and then his Lakers team broke it with 69-13 (as the NBA had added one game to make it 82 games a season), including a st. Best Known For: Wilt Chamberlain was the first NBA player to score more than 30,000 cumulative points over his career, and the first and only player to score 100 points in a single game. "[111] The greatest problem was his tense relationship with Van Breda Kolff. [Wilt Chamberlain] and I will be friends through eternity. 13. Chamberlain divided that number in half, to be conservative and to correct for degrees of variation. [83] The two teams split the first six games and the last game was held in the Celtics' Boston Garden because of the better season record. [10], The rookie Chamberlain then shocked Warriors' fans by saying he was thinking of retiring. [89] Jerry West called him a "complex very nice person",[208] and NBA rival Jack McMahon even said: "The best thing that happened to the NBA is that God made Wilt a nice person he could have killed us all with his left hand. 2 in Slam ' s top 500 NBA players of all time in 2011, In honor of Chamberlain, his jerseys have been retired six times, by Overbrook High . Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? Abdul-Jabbar accused Chamberlain of being a traitor to the black race for his Republican political leanings, support of Richard Nixon, and relationships with white women. Wilton Norman Chamberlain was born on August 21, 1936, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. Chamberlain entered the league in 1959 at the age of 21 years old. He continued to play well, averaging more than 44 points per game for the 1962-63 season and almost 37 points per game for the 1963-64 season. Van Breda Kolff benched him several times, which never happened in his career before; in mid-season, Chamberlain, a perennial scoring champion, had two games in which he scored only six and then only two points. Subscribe to Stathead Basketball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Basketball Reference Database. [204], In response to public backlash regarding his promiscuity, Chamberlain later emphasized that "the point of using the number was to show that sex was a great part of my life as basketball was a great part of my life. According to sportswriter Roland Lazenby, a journalist close to the Lakers, Chamberlain was angry at Kosloff for breaking the alleged ChamberlainRichman deal. [124] In 1967, retired NFL star Jim Brown acted as Chamberlain's manager; Ali's manager Jabir Herbert Muhammad backed out of the AliChamberlain match, which was slated to take place at Madison Square Garden. Crowds gathered to watch the latest match between two top center players: Chamberlain and Bill Russell. He led the Christian Street YMCA to the title in the national YMCA tournament in High Point, North Carolina, beating the local favorite and defending champion High Point team 8579. His performance led Kansas to an insurmountable lead, and he rested on the bench for the final 3:45 remaining in the game. Yes, Wilt Chamberlain won a championship. [28][d], Chamberlain's freshman team debut was highly anticipated; the freshman squad was pitted against the varsity, a team favored to win their conference that year. In addition, Chamberlain drove a Ferrari, a Bentley, and had a Le Mans-style car called Searcher One designed and built at a cost of $750,000 in 1996. [10][11], Chamberlain led the team to two city championships, and over three seasons Overbrook logged a 563 win-loss record. Wilt Chamberlain won 2 championships. He published his autobiography, Wilt: Just Like Any Other 7-Foot Black Millionaire Who Lives Next Door, in 1973. Chamberlain holds 72 NBA records, so many that it led former teammate Billy Cunningham to remark The NBA Guide reads like Wilt's personal diary." Pejoratively calling the new recruit "The Load", he later complained that Chamberlain was egotistical, never respected him, too often slacked off in practice, and focused too much on his own statistics. Therein lies the tie to Chamberlain. Winning the regular season with 66 wins, the Bucks were seen as favorites against the depleted Lakers; still, many pundits were looking forward to the matchup between the 34-year-old Chamberlain and the 24-year-old Alcindor. He played on the school's varsity team for three years, scoring more than 2,200 points in total. During his two championship seasons, Chamberlain led the league in rebounding, while his scoring decreased. [86], In the playoffs, the Sixers again met the Boston Celtics and had home-court advantage for the first time. . . Standing at 7ft 1in (2.16m) tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the sport's history. "[43], Despite some reluctance, after the trade, Chamberlain found himself on a promising Sixers team that included veteran shooting guard Hal Greer, a future Hall-of-Famer, and talented role players in point guard Larry Costello, small forward Chet Walker, and centers Johnny "Red" Kerr and Lucious Jackson. Jones. Jackson forced a jump ball on the rebound, and the Sixers won the championship. Chamberlain blocked Quigg's shot but was also called for the foul. In all, he claimed 60 athletes with aspirations of expanding to 100. Chamberlain was also a lifelong bachelor and became notorious for his statement of having had sexual relations with as many as 20,000 women. It had a 2,200-pound pivot as a front door and contained great displays of luxury. Chamberlain spent the night before the game in New York, partying all night with a woman. A feat matched only by fellow Hall-of-Famer. In that year, Chamberlain set several all-time records which have never been threatened, as he averaged 50.4 points and grabbed 25.7 rebounds per game. [130] Chamberlain performed so well in the series that Time stated: "In the N.B.A. . In his recently published book, "A View From Above," the 7-foot-1 Chamberlain claims that the Lakers tried to coax him out of retirement in . One night, they got up to 25. [34] Offensive goaltending, or basket interference, was also introduced as a rule in 1956, after Bill Russell had exploited it at San Francisco and Chamberlain was soon to enter college play. This caused sports journalist Joe McGinnis to comment: "The Celtics played like champions and the Sixers just played. [j] Chamberlain capped off his rookie season with a selection to the Eastern Conference All-Star team, winning the All-Star Game and the All-Star Game MVP award with a 23-point, 25-rebound performance. All rights reserved. Who was better Shaq or Wilt Chamberlain? [132], The 197273 NBA season was to be Chamberlain's last, although he did not know this at the time. He also holds the record for most points in a single game (aiming for a double-double), with 50. Prior to Game 3, things became even worse for the Lakers when Erickson, West's stand-in, had an appendectomy and was out for the season. Chamberlain broke Tom Gola's Philadelphia high school scoring record and graduated with 2,252 points, averaging 37.4 points per game. Center Learn more and register. Chamberlain was known to sportswriters by several nicknames during his playing career, calling attention to his great height since his high school days. Knowing how good he was, the opponents resorted to freeze-ball tactics and routinely used three or more players to guard him. In his mid-forties, he was able to humble rookie Magic Johnson in practice,[146] and he flirted with making a comeback in the NBA in the 1980s. Cherry describes his house as a miniature Playboy Mansion, where he regularly held parties and lived out his later-notorious sex life. He is the only player to score 100 points in a single NBA game as well. [50], In the 195960 NBA season, Chamberlain joined a Philadelphia Warriors squad that was coached by Neil Johnston and included Hall-of-Famers guard Tom Gola and forward "Pitchin'" Paul Arizin, plus Ernie Beck and Guy Rodgers; remarkably, all five starters were Philadelphians. [42], After his frustrating junior year, Chamberlain wanted to become a professional player. He was writing a screenplay about his life. Wilt Chamberlain retired in 1973, at the end of the '72-'73 season, to pursue other interests. [43] According to Ramsay, Chamberlain threatened to jump to the ABA after Hannum left and forced the trade. [42] Chamberlain likened his assist title to legendary home-run hitter Babe Ruth leading the league in sacrifice bunts, and felt he dispelled the myth that he could not and would not pass the ball. Chamberlain had a bad relationship with Allen's successor Dick Harp fueled by this disappointment. Russell's teams won all four series-deciding seventh games against Chamberlain's; by a combined margin of nine points. [41][u] Russell won 11 NBA titles in his career while Chamberlain won two. "[209] Celtics contemporary Bob Cousy assumed that if Chamberlain had been less fixated on being popular, he would have been meaner and able to win more titles. [126] Furthermore, he told Chamberlain to use his rebounding and passing skills to quickly initiate fastbreaks to his teammates. He won seven scoring, eleven rebounding, nine durability, and nine field goal percentage titles; and he once led the league in assists. [53] On January 25, 1960, Chamberlain recorded a rare feat in the NBA, posting at least 50 points and 40 rebounds in an NBA game. Chamberlain stayed with the Warriors as they moved out to San Francisco in 1962. Wilt Chamberlain talks about playing basketball at the University of Kansas during a news conference Friday, Jan. 16, 1998, in Lawrence, Kan. Chamberlain returns to Kansas for the retirement of . College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com, Scores from any date in BAA/NBA or ABA history, Frequently Asked Questions about the NBA, WNBA and Basketball, Basketball-Reference.com Blog and Articles, Subscribe to Stathead Basketball: Get your first month FREE. Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 4:50AM. [157] Goldberg also said: "He was more inquisitive than anybody I ever knew. In his first game, he scored 52 points and grabbed 31 rebounds, breaking both all-time Kansas records in an 8769 win against the Northwestern Wildcats, a team having Chamberlain's future NBA teammate Joe Ruklick. Chamberlain had other plans, however, pursuing interests outside of basketball. . He needed only 56 games to score 2,102 points, which broke the all-time regular-season scoring record of Bob Pettit, who needed 72 games to score 2,101 points. [30] He reportedly had a 50-inch (130cm) vertical leap,[31] and was capable of converting foul shots by dunking, without a running start, beginning his movement just steps behind the top of the key. "[93] In Game 5, the Sixers overpowered the Celtics 140116, ending Boston's historic run of eight consecutive NBA titles. Now, we have got the complete detailed explanation and answer for everyone, who is interested! [185] Chamberlain was named All-NBA First Team seven times to Russell's three, but Russell was named the NBA MVPthen selected by players and not the pressfive times against Chamberlain's four. (Wilt the Stilt, The Big Dipper, Dippy, Dip, The Load, Big Musty, The Record Book, Hook and Ladder, Wiltie, Whip, Whipper), Position: OAKLAND, Calif. -- The first NBA team that Wilt Chamberlain ever played for honored the late basketball great Wednesday night, retiring his No. [158], Chamberlain is holder of numerous official NBA all-time records. [74], In the 196364 NBA season, Chamberlain got yet another new coach in Alex Hannum and was joined by promising rookie center Nate Thurmond, who eventually entered the Hall of Fame. [83], In the final minute, Chamberlain hit two clutch free throws and slam dunked on Russell, bringing Boston's lead down to 110109 with five seconds left. He retired in 1969 and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame six years later. . In that Game 7, Chamberlain scored 30 points and 32 rebounds, while Russell logged 16 points, 27 rebounds, and eight assists. I try to do them all, best I can, but scoring comes first. [38] With 10 minutes to go, North Carolina led 4037 and stalled the game, as they passed the ball around without any intention of scoring a basket. [1] He was a frail child, nearly dying of pneumonia in his early years and missing a whole year of school as a result. [127] While no longer being the main scorer, Chamberlain was named the new captain of the Lakers. He led the NBA in scoring seven times, field goal percentage nine times, minutes played eight times, rebounding eleven times, and assists once.
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