That record still stands to this day and no one will come near it. Wilt was told that he would make more money if he passed the ball more so Wilt did what any good player would do in response and led the league in assists the following season. He then asked who was next and the guy said You are, Wilt. In an unusually modest conversation Chamberlain joins Charlie Rose to discuss his new book. Though Wilt Chamberlain mainly added value to his teams as a scorer, it looks like he wasn't much of a playoff scorer at all. How tall was Wilt Chamberlain? The pure speed he runs at, truly incredible athlete. And then there's Wilt Chamberlain. On Kindle books. 2. (Im 99% sure he meant backboards for a ten foot rim) That height is about 13.5 feet from the ground and Wilt could clear it. It was unimaginable to think someone could score 100 points in a single game. The great Boston Red Sox hitter Ted Williams used to say: When I walk down the street, I want people to point at me and say, `There goes the greatest hitter that ever lived., Wilt did not embrace the 100-point game for decades because he thought it fostered the notion that he was an individualist only interested in his own statistics. No player has had more than 26 rebounds since 1977, so Wilts playoff single-game record of 41 seems pretty safe as well. Stars like Bumpy Johnson, Sammy Davis Jr., Malcom X, Frank Lucas, Nicky Barnes, Willie Mays, Sonny Liston Langston Hughes, Muhammad Ali were all known to hang around Smalls Paradise. Not only did they both play two different sports each during their sports careers. Hall of fame coach Larry Brown retells the rest, Good Old Boys - Jason Williams & Randy Moss, 10 Greatest High School Basketball Teams of All Time, Best Playground Basketball Courts in America. No one had as much impact in professional sports as Wilt. Now, let's look at how efficient Wilt Chamberlain was in the playoffs. Our capsules show the matchups along with the Net Rating, Offensive Rating and Defensive Rating for each team. Wilt Chamberlain's age is 86. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. In which he out jumped all of Kansas current high jumpers. Just to name a few: Once Wilt got upset with me and dunked the ball so hard it went through the rim with such force that it broke my toe as it hit the floor. He made it! Ive had never seen Russell more distraught than that game when Wilt grabbed 55 rebounds. Chamberlains single-season scoring record is so out of reach that only one player Michael Jordan in 198687 has even come within 1,000 points of it. The NBA initiated offensive goaltending, in which players couldn't touch the ball going in a downward trajectory toward the hoop or flick the ball away when it was within the cylinder of the basket. Lets set the scene a little. He was a mammoth of a man, and as strong as a bull. I idolized him growing up as a kid in Philadelphia, his hometown. Incredible how fast he got down the court, takes like 12 steps to go the full length of the court. Legends profile: Wilt Chamberlain | NBA.com It also helped launch the legend of Wilt a superstar who would help establish the NBA at a time when its future seemed wobbly. Another rumor had it that Wilt Chamberlain challenged Muhammad Ali to an exhibition fight, but Ali's boxing manager, Jabir Herbert Muhammad, backed out due to the mere visual intimidation of Chamberlain, fearing an upset. Chamberlain spent the night before the game in New York, partying all night with a woman. The primary knock against Ayton is that he wants more. No player has come within 20 of Chamberlains regular season single-game record of 55 since Charles Oakley grabbed 35 boards in 1988. For the Suns to beat the Nuggets, let alone reach The Finals, they need Ayton to narrow his role - then thrive in it. Before you look away and start commenting, let me explain. Renamed Big Wilts Smalls Paradise, after Chamberlain purchased the club. The 86-year-old basketball player was born in Philadelphia, PA. Hall of fame coach Larry Brown retells the rest "Magic Johnson used to run the games and he called a couple of chintzy fouls and a goal tending on Wilt," Brown said. How does that change our relationship to the feat itself? 5 Things You Didn't Know About Wilt Chamberlain | Mental Floss Wilt Chamberlain started his own Track Club in the 1970s. Together we can reach 100% of WHYYs fiscal year goal. Schwarzenegger once remarked that "Wilt was the strongest Human being I have ever seen". There was a quota in the NBA that owners in the league limited the number of opportunities for Black players to just one or two per team initially, and then three [or] four. Chamberlain and Arnold also had several different encounters in the weight room. Tools and Resources Used by Real General Managers. A career 51 percent free throw shooter, Wilt made 28 of 32 attempts. Chamberlain triple jumped more than 50 feet and successfully won the Big 8 Conference high jumping competition three years in a row. Top notch work. Back then their was far more talent inside. I loved the way Chamberlain took charge of the game with one giant swat of the ball or one little fade away while balancing on one leg. Aside from being one of the strongest players in the league, Wilt was rumored to be one of the fastest men on the planet. I saw the team win a championship for the Philadelphia 76ers in 1967. If you are having difficulty accessing any content on this website, please visit our Accessibility page. Wilt played against a bevy of hall of fame big men. On Point is produced by WBUR for NPR. They met back up at the start of the second half and Wilt told Walter Okay, Walter. 11. In those head-to-head matchups, Wilt averaged 28.7 points and 28.7 rebounds while Russell posted averages of 14.5 and 23.7. You can spot Harvey courtside this season, jotting down stats. Legend has it that Wilt went up to the University of Kansas track coach and asked if he could compete. The Stilt burst onto the NBA scene in 195960 and not only set the rookie single-game record with 58 points, but matched it less than a month later. Chamberlain's presence brought enough attention to the league that the IVA's All-Star game was televised. "He would a tricep extesion, the biggest strongest guys would do 120 and he would come and do 150, 170 pounds.". This game was played in Hershey, Pennsylvania, between a team from New York and a team from Philadelphia. In the big 8 conference Chamberlain dominated, he ran the 100 yard dash in 10.9 seconds, shot-putted 56 feet and triple jumped more than 50 feet. He was reed-thin [and] no match for Chamberlain. The coach argued that without any practice their was no way he could be competitive. He beat the immortal NFL player, Jim Brown, in a race, when he played with the Harlem Globetrotters. Wilt played bigger than life. 1.Wilt s 100-point game (vs. New York Knicks, March 2, 1962, Hershey, Pa.) Harvey s Take: Wilt s 100-point game was part of his transcendent . 17 year old Wilt Chamberlain CATCHES a shot and runs the fast break Wilt Chamberlain Archive 69.6K subscribers Subscribe 45K 4.4M views 8 years ago This is a rebound, a blocked shot, and 3. Since then, only six rookies have cracked 50 in a game with Brandon Jennings being the last back in 2009. Wilt Chamberlain fastbreak sprint : r/nba - Reddit In Wilts rookie season, he not only led the league in scoring (37.6) and rebounds (27) but also in minutes per game (46.4), Harveys Take: I was at every one of those games and no matter what defenses they threw at Wilt, he either willed his way to the basket or dominated from mid range. Wilt Chamberlain is not the greatest basketball player ever, (he's my third best) but he is a better athlete than any man, woman, or demigod who has ever done what he did. Hannum was convinced it would have been the 180lb guard Al Attles but it turned out to be the (at the time 300lbs) Wilt Chamberlain, 4.6 40 (hand-timed by KC Chiefs coach Hank Stram, Wilt ran it barefooted, 290lbs at the time). Im trying to square those two things and picture what it would have felt like. Bill Russell may be considered the NBAs most influential player and Michael Jordan perhaps the greatest but what is undisputable: No one rewrote the record books like Wilt Chamberlain. Want a digest of WHYYs programs, events & stories? He and Chamberlain comprised an intimidating front court. Bernard King did it back to back 50s -- versus San Antonio and Dallas in 1984. So that meant that Wilt Chamberlain was matched against Darrall Imhoff. They cleaned the glass in the 60s at a level that has and never will be seen again. Legendary NBA center who was a 13-time All-Star, 4-time MVP, and 2-time NBA Champion; scored 100 points in a single game on March 2, 1962 while playing for the Philadelphia Warriors. This article will compare and contrast these things in order to try to determine who is the best QB of all time. " He would jump off the roof on top of the garage, or jump from one barn across to another. As told by K.C., During a game near the end of Wilts career against Boston, Paul Silas and Happy Hairston were about to get into a fight. Wilt won. While Chamberlain was indeed renowned as an incredible pick-up artist and ladies' man, for him to hit such a lofty number he would have needed to bed 1.2 women a day every single day from the age of 15 until he wrote the book. According to David M. Pomerantz's exquisite must-read Wilt, 1962, lifelong friend and confidante Lynda Huey thought that number sounded about right. The average center in Wilt's prime was taller and heavier than they are now. Chamberlain won 25-10; Born was so dejected that he gave up a promising NBA future and became a tractor engineer ("If there were high school kids that good, I figured I wasn't going to make it to the pros"). Or call 215-389-9761. Most people have short histories. 96 " scenarios in sports history. Alex Hannum, the great Sixers coach told Wilt that the team didnt need him to dominate with his scoring but to get his teammates more involved. Its a wonderful sports moment, and theres something about radio that TV cant touch. Sure, the big man got most of his buckets a few feet away from the basket so the shots werent exactly the most difficult, but there have been countless dominant big men since Kareem, Hakeem, Shaq and none of them even came close to this level of efficiency in a single game. Harveys Take: Everyone makes a big fuss out of a triple double. Little did we know that this game would be a precursor to his 100-point game only a few months later. Perhaps most impressive was Wilts proficiency from the free throw line that game. At Kutshers Wilt used his unique height as a bellhop to hand the suitcase and luggage from guests directly to the second story of the hotel, making it easier for other Bell boys to transfer for more click here. Kobe finished his with 60 points and Wilt finished with a massive double-double that was routine for him, but a career night for almost anyone else. Chamberlain immediately became the team's top draw; who wouldn't want to watch a seven-footer play shooting guard? For a player to score 100 points in an NBA game, he must not only want to do it, he must on, on a deeper level, need to do it.