[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. "[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. That is totally ridiculous. [128] Chamberlain accepted his new roles and posted an all-time low 14.8 points per game but also won the rebound crown with 19.2 rebounds per game and led the league with a .649 field goal percentage. Russell never considered Chamberlain his rival and disliked the term, preferring competitors, and also said that they rarely talked about basketball when they were alone. [Johnston] wasn't ready for big time. Cherry criticizes his performance, saying that if "Chamberlain had come up big and put up a normal 30 point scoring night", the Lakers would have probably won their first championship at Los Angeles. He was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, and elected to the NBA's 35th, 50th, and 75th anniversary teams. He had a history of heart problems, and a fire department . Crazy. [8] According to ESPN journalist Hal Bock, Chamberlain was "scary, flat-out frightening before he came along, very few players at the center position possessed his level of athleticism, stature, and stamina. [35], Chamberlain's prospects of playing under Allen ended when the coach turned 70 shortly after and retired in accordance with KU regulations. [132] In Game 5, Chamberlain recorded 24 points, 29 rebounds, 8 assists, and 8 blocked shots, as announcer Keith Jackson counted the blocks during the broadcast. [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. Chamberlain won his second championship as a member of the 1972 Lakers, a team which set a record with a 33-game winning streak. In the 198081 NBA season, coach Larry Brown recalled that the 45-year-old Chamberlain had received an offer from the Cleveland Cavaliers. He said: "There's been a lot of conversationthat I have some dislike for the University of Kansas. By conventional wisdom, Chamberlain now should have dominated against little-used Knicks backup centers Nate Bowman and Bill Hosket Jr., or forwards Bradley and DeBusschere, who gave up more than half a foot against him. [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. Sixers forward Walker testified that on several occasions, players had to pull Chamberlain and Hannum apart to prevent a fistfight. Chamberlain, who had a history . But the main headliner was Chamberlain. [106] In Game 2, Philadelphia evened the series with a 115106 victory, and won Games 3 and 4, with Chamberlain suspiciously often played by Celtics backup center Wayne Embry, causing the press to speculate Russell was worn down. It was believed that he had multiple affairs with women. Coach Schayes called timeout and decided it would be unwise to pass the ball to Chamberlain, because he feared the Celtics would intentionally foul him. Renowned for his strength, he appeared as the antagonist in the 1984 Arnold Schwarzenegger film Conan the Destroyer. Chamberlain was criticized for his inability to dominate his injured counterpart but Cherry says that his feat, coming back from a career-threatening injury, was too quickly forgotten. 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. [51] In his third game, Chamberlain recorded 41 points and a then-career-high 40 rebounds in a 124113 win over the visiting Syracuse Nationals. Cherry says that Reed, a prolific mid-range shooter, was a bad matchup for Chamberlain. "That house was the personification of Wilt," said attorney Sy Goldberg, an old friend of Chamberlain's and executor of his estate. [21][22] Chamberlain was the youngest member of the team. Russell regularly feared being embarrassed by Chamberlain,[43] and Walt Frazier called his dominance on the court "comical". [88] Off the court, Chamberlain invited the team to restaurants and paid the entire bill, knowing he earned ten times more than all the others. Chamberlain said: "I've got to hit forty points or so, or this team is in trouble. [106] On April 4, national tragedy struck with the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. With eight of the ten starting players on the Sixers and Celtics being African-American, both teams were in deep shock, and there were calls to cancel the series. [19] Overbrook won the Public League a third time, beating West Philadelphia 7860; in the city championship game, they met West Catholic once again. [13], In his second Overbrook season, Chamberlain continued his prolific scoring when he tallied a high-school record 71 points against Roxborough. Chamberlain had a history of cardiovascular disease, and was briefly hospitalized in 1992 for an irregular heartbeat. [191] Chamberlain later said that he was too embarrassed by the underhand technique to continue using it, even though it consistently gave him better results. Wilt Chamberlain was born on August 21, 1936, in Philadelphia. He also did not say where in Florida he died, but Jones had been living in the Orlando area. [174] [175][176] He was voted the second best center of all time by ESPN behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 2007,[177] and was ranked No. He scored 34 points as Overbrook won the Philadelphia Public League title and gained a berth in the city championship game against the winner of the rival Catholic league, the West Catholic High School. As of 2019, he is the first and the only player in NBA history to record 50 points and 35 rebounds in an NBA playoff game. I try to do them all, best I can, but scoring comes first. His ability to leap from the foul line led to the rule that a free throw shooter must keep his feet behind the line. 2 in Slam's "Top 50 NBA Players of All-Time in NBA History" in 2009,[178] and No. Is it even possible to sleep with 20,000 women in 40 years? There is no way you can compare him to a pro like a Bill Russell or a Jerry Westthese are clutch competitors.[190], Chamberlain's main weakness was his notoriously poor free-throw shooting, a .511 career average, the third lowest in NBA history, with a low of .380 over the 196768 season. Chamberlain had an on-court rivalry with Boston Celtics' center Bill Russell, suffering a long string of losses. [199], Following his death in 1999, Chamberlain's estate was valued at $25 million. He stood 7 feet 1. The closest any player has gotten to 100 points was the Lakers', Rick Barry, Confessions of a Basketball Gypsy: The Rick Barry Story, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, List of career achievements by Wilt Chamberlain, List of basketball players who have scored 100 points in a single game, List of National Basketball Association annual field goal percentage leaders, List of National Basketball Association annual minutes leaders, List of National Basketball Association annual rebounding leaders, List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders, List of National Basketball Association career minutes played leaders, List of National Basketball Association career triple-double leaders, List of National Basketball Association career playoff free throw scoring leaders, List of National Basketball Association career playoff rebounding leaders, List of National Basketball Association career playoff scoring leaders, List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders, List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders, List of National Basketball Association franchise career scoring leaders, List of National Basketball Association longest winning streaks, List of National Basketball Association rookie single-season rebounding leaders, List of National Basketball Association rookie single-season scoring leaders, List of National Basketball Association single-game assists leaders, List of National Basketball Association single-game playoff scoring leaders, List of National Basketball Association single-game rebounding leaders, List of National Basketball Association single-game scoring leaders, List of National Basketball Association single-season rebounding leaders, List of National Basketball Association single-season scoring leaders, List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 30 or more rebounds in a game, "Chamberlain, Wilt(on) Norman Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures-HighBeam Research", "Chamberlain rated greatest in court game", "Overbrook and Its Greatest Get Back Together", "Helen Kutsher, Pampering Matriarch of a Grand Borscht Belt Resort, Dies at 89", "Farrell defeats Overbrook and Chamberlain", "Mr. Basketball USA winners: ESPNHS national player of the year honorees date back to 1955", "Christian Street YMCA unveils its Wall of Fame", "Another forgotten accomplishment Worthy of Recognition Today", "At the foul line, where Wilt's myth and reality meet | Frank's Place", "Triple OT: The 50th Anniversary of 1957 Championship | KUsports.com", "Syracuse Nationals at Philadelphia Warriors Box Score, November 4, 1959", "New York Knicks at Philadelphia Warriors Box Score, November 10, 1959", "Philadelphia Warriors vs Detroit Pistons Box Score, January 25, 1960", "New York Knicks at Philadelphia Warriors Box Score, February 25, 1960", "Players to have recorded 50 points and 30 rebounds in the playoffs", "Philadelphia Warriors at Syracuse Nationals Box Score, October 22, 1960", "Boston Celtics at Philadelphia Warriors Box Score, November 24, 1960", "Philadelphia Warriors vs Los Angeles Lakers Box Score, November 29, 1960", "Chamberlain's 100-point game proves some things better with age", "Anthony Davis breaks Wilt's All-Star scoring record, earns MVP honors", "NBA's Greatest Moments 'Havlicek Stole the Ball! 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. He is also the only player in history to have averaged more than 30 points and 20 rebounds per game per season. Chamberlain was regarded as one of. A feat matched only by fellow Hall-of-Famer. "[40] Chamberlain averaged 30.1 points for the season and led the Jayhawks to an 185 record, with three of the losses coming while he was out with a urinary infection. 1999, he died of a heart attack at his home in Los Angeles. [86], In the playoffs, the Sixers again met the Boston Celtics and had home-court advantage for the first time. In the 1967 NBA Finals, the Sixers were pitted against Chamberlain's old team, the San Francisco Warriors. The revelation made him fodder for comedians and turned the NBA Hall of Famer into a reference for sexual braggadocio. [5][163] Chamberlain is most remembered for his 100-point game,[164][165] which is widely considered one of basketball's greatest records. Red Kerr set a pick on Sam Jones to free Chet Walker. [60] On November 29, Chamberlain recorded 44 points, 38 rebounds, and a then-career-high 7 assists in a 122121 road win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Chamberlain was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, where he was the president of his pledge class. [196] Designed according to his preferences, the house was constructed with no right angles, and had an X-rated room with mirrored walls and a fur-covered waterbed. Wilt Chamberlain, whose size, strength and intimidation made him probably the most dominant player in basketball history, and whose 100-point game stands as one of the towering records in. Kosloff and Chamberlain worked out a truce, and later signed a one-year, $250,000 contract. Chamberlain played in college for the Kansas Jayhawks, and led Kansas to the national championship game, but lost to the North Carolina Tar Heels in triple overtime. That means he had to sleep with 500 different women every year from ages 15-55 to reach the massive number he claimed. [135][136], In 1973, the San Diego Conquistadors of the NBA rival league ABA signed Chamberlain as a player-coach for a $600,000 salary. [197] Chamberlain lived alone,[198] relying on a great deal of automated gadgets, with two cats named Zip and Zap and several Great Dane dogs as company. [122][123] Cooke had offered Chamberlain a record-setting contract on the condition that he agreed to give up what Cooke termed "this boxing foolishness". LOS ANGELES -- The claim was so shocking as to be unbelievable: Wilt Chamberlain said he had sex with 20,000 women. Wilt Chamberlain did nothing in a small way. [106] In the second half of Game 7, Chamberlain did not attempt a single shot from the field. [45], On October 24, 1959, Chamberlain made his NBA debut, starting for the Philadelphia Warriors. It was a small consolation that he was again named an All-American, along with future NBA Hall-of-Famers Elgin Baylor of Seattle University and Oscar Robertson of Cincinnati, plus Chamberlain's old rival Guy Rodgers, now playing for Temple University. ", "Greatness Revisited: Why Wilt Chamberlain Was the Greatest NBA Player Ever", "11 Memorable Wilt Chamberlain Performances", "Are all sports records made to be broken? [43][110] Erickson commented that "Butch catered to Elgin and Jerry and that is not a good way to get on Wilt's side that relationship was doomed from the start. Cherry describes his house as a miniature Playboy Mansion, where he regularly held parties and lived out his later-notorious sex life. [186] Russell's Celtics won seven of eight playoff series against Chamberlain's Warriors, 76ers, and Lakers teams, and went 5737 against them in the regular season and 2920 in the playoffs. Imagine playing vs Wilt in Highschool. Each team scored two points in the first overtime, while Kansas froze the ball in return, keeping the game tied at 48, in the second overtime. Over a ten-day period, there were 23 checks in the book, which would be a rate of 2.3 women per day. [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. "[196] Los Angeles Times columnist David Shaw alleged that Chamberlain was "rude and sexist toward his own date, as he usually was", during a dinner with Shaw and his wife; he added that at one point Chamberlain left the table to get the phone number of an attractive woman at a nearby table. [40] Teammate Bob Billings commented: "It was not fun basketball we were just out chasing people throwing the basketball back and forth. "[131], In the NBA Finals, the Lakers again met the New York Knicks, a team that was shorthanded after losing the 6'9" Reed to injury, and undersized 6'8" Jerry Lucas had the task to defend against the 7'1" Chamberlain. [134] In that series, the Lakers started off with a 115112 win, but the Knicks won Games 2 and 3; things worsened when West again injured his hamstring. Coach Hannum once suggested he shoot his famous fadeaway jumper as a free throw, but Chamberlain feared drawing more attention to his one great failing. He was a Goliath. Sophomore season (1957): National runner-up to North Carolina, Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors (19591965), 195960 NBA season: MVP, All-Star Game MVP and Rookie of the Year, 196061 NBA season: Scoring, rebounding, durability, and field goal titles, 196162 NBA season: 100-point game and 42-point All-Star Game record, 196263 NBA season: Individual success, move to San Francisco, and playoff miss, 196364 NBA season: First NBA Finals loss to the Celtics, 196465 NBA season: Trade to the 76ers, Division Finals loss to the Celtics, 196566 NBA season: MVP and second Division Finals loss to the Celtics, 196667 NBA season: Back-to-back MVP and first NBA title, 196768 NBA season: Third straight MVP and assist champion, 196869 NBA season: Second NBA Finals loss to the Celtics, 196970 NBA season: First NBA Finals loss to the Knicks, 197071 NBA season: Conference Finals loss and challenge to Muhammad Ali, 197172 NBA season: Finals MVP and second NBA title, 197273 NBA season: Second NBA Finals loss to the Knicks, Overbrook had previously produced star basketball players like. "[122][206] Chamberlain also acknowledged that he never came close to marrying and had no intention of raising any children. [147] A result of this resentment was the 1997 book Who's Running the Asylum? He boasted that he made love with 20,000 women. [184] The 1969 NBA Finals is arguably the biggest stain on Chamberlain's career, as supporters of Chamberlain held Russell won more only because he had better teammates; however, in this finals, Chamberlain's team was favored and lost. [12] With the Tar Heels' fixation on Chamberlain, the Jayhawks shot only 27% from the field, as opposed to 64% of the Tar Heels, and trailed 2229 at halftime. and "The tree will fall! "[121] In 1965, Chamberlain had consulted his father, who had seen Ali fight, and said no. [92] Philadelphia fans chanted "Boston is dead! Sharman introduced morning shoot-arounds, in which the perennial latecomer Chamberlain regularly participated, in contrast to earlier years with Schayes, and transformed him into a defensive-minded, low-scoring post defender in the mold of his old rival Russell. After King scored a basket, Kansas was ahead by one point. [211] When Abdul-Jabbar broke his all-time scoring record in 1984, Chamberlain criticized his game and called on him to retire. [58] Chamberlain failed to convert his play into team success, this time bowing out against the Nationals in a three-game sweep. This display of arrogance motivated the Celtics. He was basketball's first player to earn at least $100,000 a year and earned an unprecedented $1.5 million during his Lakers years. [12][89] Kerr was traded to the Baltimore Bullets for point guard Wali Jones, and shooting guard Matt Guokas was selected in the first round of the 1966 NBA Draft. At the time, he stated he had only been beaten in the high jump once, by Olympic champion Charles Dumas, and that he had never been beaten in the shot put, including beating Olympic legend Al Oerter. As his career progressed, he played at 275 pounds, adding more muscle, and eventually played at over 300 pounds. [38], Chamberlain was named first-team All-American. 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. Wilt Chamberlain, one of the most dominant players in the history of basketball and the only one to score 100 points in an NBA game, died Tuesday at 63. . [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. [88] When emotions cooled off, Hannum said to Chamberlain that he was on the same page in trying to win a title but Chamberlain had to "act like a man" both on and off the court to pull this off. [48][h] Chamberlain became the NBA's highest paid player when he signed for $30,000, in his rookie contract. [92] In Game 6, the Warriors were trailing 123122 with 15 seconds left. In 1965, Chamberlain said that he and the late Richman had worked out a deal which would give him 25% of the franchise once he ended his career. "[37], On December 3, 1956, Chamberlain made his varsity basketball debut as a center for the Kansas Jayhawks. [2] Chamberlain was always very tall, already measuring 6ft 0in (1.83m) at age 10. [193], Chamberlain was the first big earner of basketball; he immediately became the highest-paid player upon entering the NBA. [62] Because Chamberlain played in overtime games, he averaged more minutes per game than the regulation 48 and would have reached the 3,890-minute mark if he had not been ejected in one game after picking up a second technical foul with eight minutes left to play.[66]. [5] As an avid track and field athlete, Chamberlain high jumped 6 feet, 6 inches, ran the 440 yards in 49.0 seconds and the 880 yards in 1:58.3, put the shot 53 feet, 4 inches, and long jumped 22 feet. Chamberlain dominated his older college teammates by scoring 42 points (1635 from the field, 1012 on free throws), grabbing 29 rebounds, and registering 4 blocks. During his first championship season, his assists also increased, recording two back-to-back seasons with eight assists per game, and winning one assist title. [184] The two reconciled after two decades, but Chamberlain maintained a level of bitterness, regretted that he had not been "more physical" with Russell in their games, and privately continued accusing his rival for intellectualizing basketball in a negative way. In November 1998, he signed with Ian Ng Cheng Hin, CEO of Northern Cinema House Entertainment, to do his own bio-pic, wanting to tell his life story his way. [13] In that game, West Catholic quadruple-teamed Chamberlain the entire game, and despite his 29 points, the Panthers lost 5442. [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. [59] On November 24, 1960, Chamberlain grabbed an NBA-record 55 rebounds,[12] along with 34 points and 4 assists, in a 132129 home loss against the Russell-led Boston Celtics. Chamberlain was born on August 21, 1936, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, into a family of nine children, the son of Olivia Ruth Johnson, a domestic worker and homemaker, and William Chamberlain, a welder, custodian, and handyman. [47], Chamberlain also sponsored his personal professional volleyball and track and field teams, and also provided high-level teams for girls and women in basketball, track, volleyball, and softball. In addition to Chamberlain's regular-season accomplishments, he scored 42 points in the All-Star Game. They were greeted by General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev prior to the start of a game at Moscow's Lenin Central Stadium. He was interested in world affairs, sometimes he'd call me up late at night and discuss philosophy. Then with our great Laker team in 1972, he concentrated on the defensive end." [106] Chamberlain later blamed coach Hannum for the lack of touches, a point that was conceded by Hannum. It was North Carolina's first of six NCAA national titles. [106], In Game 7, 15,202 stunned Philadelphia fans witnessed a 10096 defeat for the Sixers, making it the first time in NBA history that a team lost a series after leading 31. [90][91] For these feats, Chamberlain earned his third MVP award. [17], In Chamberlain's third and final Overbrook season, he continued his high scoring, logging 74, 78, and 90 points in three consecutive games. [111] Playing through his problems, Chamberlain averaged 20.5 points and 21.1 rebounds a game that season. Initially, Sharman wanted Chamberlain and West to share this duty, but West declined, stating he was injury-prone and wanted to solely concentrate on the game. When he dunked, he was so fast that a lot of players got their fingers jammed [between Chamberlain's hand and the rim]." [111], In the playoffs, the Lakers dispatched 42 Chamberlain's old club, the San Francisco Warriors, after losing the first two games, and then defeated the Atlanta Hawks, and met Chamberlain's familiar rivals, Russell's Boston Celtics. Chamberlain died on 27 February 1878. He was at his home in L.A. when he suffered a heart . But beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Peterson felt that the assault was "creepier" because Chamberlain had been a friend.[215][216]. Wilton Norman Chamberlain (/tembrln/; August 21, 1936 October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played at the center position. Basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain, one of the greatest centers to ever play the game, has died at the age of 63, his friends and former teammates said on Tuesday. "[86] In Game 3, he scored 31 points and 27 rebounds for the road win. [80], Statistically, Chamberlain was again outstanding, posting 34.7 points and 22.9 rebounds per game overall for the season. [127] While no longer being the main scorer, Chamberlain was named the new captain of the Lakers. [42], After his frustrating junior year, Chamberlain wanted to become a professional player. [40], Having lost the enjoyment from NCAA basketball and wanting to earn money, he left college and sold the story named "Why I Am Leaving College" to Look for $10,000, a large sum when NBA players earned $9,000 in a whole season. For his part, Ali refused to be intimidated at this potentially formidable opponent and instead played psychological games to weaken Chamberlain's confidence with public boasts of "Timber!" In that Game 7, Chamberlain scored 30 points and 32 rebounds, while Russell logged 16 points, 27 rebounds, and eight assists. When it comes down to the closing minutes of a tough game, an important game, he doesnt want the ball, he doesnt want any part of the pressure. He told teammate Joe Rucklik that he drove from Los Angeles to Philadelphia in 20 . 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. [114] The Lakers lost 107100 in what was called one of the greatest comebacks in NBA Finals history.
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