The Sixers won the first two games, with Chamberlain and Greer taking credit for defense and clutch shooting, respectively, but San Francisco won two of the next three games, so Philadelphia was up 32 prior to Game 6. [96] Although there is no written proof for or against, Schayes and Sixers lawyer Alan Levitt assumed Chamberlain was correct. The Midwest Regional was held in Dallas, Texas, which at the time was segregated. His number 13 was retired by the Kansas Jayhawks, Harlem Globetrotters, Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, and Los Angeles Lakers. 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. [114] The Lakers lost 107100 in what was called one of the greatest comebacks in NBA Finals history. Away from the field of competition, Chamberlain had a gentle side best captured in a relationship he developed with the granddaughter of former teammate Paul Arizin. One night, they got up to 25. Cherry notes that there was a certain tension within the team, as Greer was the formerly undisputed leader and was not willing to give up his authority, and Jackson, a talented center, was now forced to play power forward because Chamberlain occupied the center spot; however, as the season progressed, the three began to mesh better. After that season, coach Hannum wanted to be closer to his family on the West Coast; he left the Sixers to coach the Oakland Oaks in the newly founded ABA. He had five seasons where he committed less than two fouls per game, with a career-low of 1.5 fouls during the 1962 season, in which he also averaged 50.4 points per game. His fouls per 36 minutes (a statistic used to compare players that average vastly different minutes) was a remarkable 1.6 per game. [106], The loss meant that Chamberlain was 16 in playoff series against the Celtics. Inside the Insane World of Sports Today, in which he criticized the NBA of the 1990s for being too disrespectful of players of the past.[148]. [210], During most of his NBA career, Chamberlain was good friends with Bill Russell. The NCAA finals thus pitted 2nd-ranked Kansas led by Chamberlain against the 1st-ranked, undefeated North Carolina Tar Heels, led by All-American and National Player of the Year Lennie Rosenbluth. [110], For the 196869 NBA season, Chamberlain joined a squad featuring his fellow former All-American, forward Elgin Baylor, and the Hall-of-Fame guard Jerry West, along with backup center Mel Counts, forwards Keith Erickson and Tom Hawkins, and talented 5'11" guard Johnny Egan. 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. The press called it an even matchup in all positions, even at center, where Russell was expected to give Chamberlain a tough battle. 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. [47] He appeared in ads for TWA, American Express, Volkswagen, Drexel Burnham, Le Tigre Clothing, and Foot Locker. [62] Chamberlain won his first field goal percentage title and was so dominant that he scored almost 32% of his team's points and collected 30.4% of their rebounds. 13. View this post on Instagram Steph Curry's Top 5 Of All Time Thanks for the tag @shaqfu_radio ? "[158], Several NBA players and officials were saddened at the loss of a player they remembered as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. [41] In that season, Chamberlain again dominated his opposition by recording 33.5 points and 24.6 rebounds a game, leading the league in both categories. 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 scuffle, Chamberlain injured his hand, and Philadelphia lost the next two games. With 10 seconds remaining, Tar Heels' center Joe Quigg pump faked then drove to the basket. 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. Teammate Monte Johnson stated that Chamberlain had "unbelievable endurance and speed and was never tired. [158] On-court rival and personal friend Bill Russell stated, "the fierceness of our competition bonded us together for eternity. We don't have much information about He's past relationship and any previous engaged. Chamberlain, always a poor free throw shooter, battled the "loser" label, before finally breaking through and winning the 1967 NBA Finals as a member of the 76ers. Levi may be living proof", "Elvira's Cassandra Peterson Accuses NBA Pro Wilt Chamberlain of Sexual Assault: 'I Kept That a Secret', "Elvira accuses basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain of sexual abuse", 4th-quarter radio broadcast of Chamberlain's 100-point game, How Chamberlain's 100-point game almost went unrecorded, Image of Chamberlain making a dunk during a Los Angeles Lakers vs. Milwaukee Bucks game in 1971, 1957 NCAA Men's Basketball Consensus All-Americans, 1958 NCAA Men's Basketball Consensus All-Americans, NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player, NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant Most Valuable Player Award, Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs, The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, Wayland Baptist Women's Teams (19481982), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wilt_Chamberlain&oldid=1152104051, All-American college men's basketball players, American Basketball Association announcers, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees, National Basketball Association All-Stars, National Basketball Association broadcasters, National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player Award winners, National Basketball Association players with retired numbers, Track and field athletes from Pennsylvania, Wikipedia pages semi-protected against vandalism, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Pages using Sister project links with hidden wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Career statistics and player information from, Career statistics and coach information from, This page was last edited on 28 April 2023, at 06:44. [126], Jazz composer Thad Jones named the music composition "Big Dipper" after Chamberlain. Wilt Chamberlain: Biography, Career, Net Worth, Top Stories for the NBA [76] Cherry says not only Chamberlain but Hannum in particular deserved much credit because he had basically had taken the bad 3149 squad of last year, plus Thurmond, and made it into an NBA Finals contender. Having lost lateral quickness due to his injury, Chamberlain was often too slow to block Reed's preferred high-post jump shots. [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. [62] Despite his individual success, the Warriors lost 49 of their 80 games and missed the playoffs. [2] Chamberlain was always very tall, already measuring 6ft 0in (1.83m) at age 10. [132], The 197273 NBA season was to be Chamberlain's last, although he did not know this at the time. [149] Chamberlain played a villainous warrior and counterpart of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1984 film Conan the Destroyer. He also led the league in rebounds (24.2), was third in assists (7.8), and played strong defense. 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. [106] In a game called "unreal" and "devoid of emotion", the Sixers lost 127118 on April 5. Red Kerr set a pick on Sam Jones to free Chet Walker. [141], Volleyball became Chamberlain's new athletic passion. [62] It was the ninth time that Chamberlain would lead the league in field goal percentage. Not only was he athletic, but he was also skilled at both ends of the court. On Jan. 9, 1972, the Bucks beat the Lakers, 120-104, snapping Los Angeles' historic 33-game winning streak that blew Milwaukee's record of 20 games (set in 1971) out of the water. Prior to the 196667 NBA season, Schayes was replaced by a familiar face, the more assertive Alex Hannum. [109] Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke gave Chamberlain an unprecedented contract, paying him $250,000 after taxes, or about $1.9 million in real value; in comparison, previous Lakers top earner Jerry West was paid $100,000 before taxes (about $780,000 in real value). When he became a Laker, Chamberlain built a million-dollar mansion in Bel-Air named after Ursa Major, as a play on his nickname "The Big Dipper". That was how the 20,000 number came into existence. Wilt didn't come from a race of giants as many thought. As his lawyer Seymour "Sy" Goldberg put it: "Some people collect stamps, Wilt collected women. [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. Wilton Norman Chamberlain was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Olivia Ruth (Johnson), a domestic worker, and William Chamberlain, a welder, custodian, and handyman. While blocked shots were not an official NBA statistic at that time and would not be officially counted until the season after Chamblerlain's retirement in 1973, reported data for blocked shots in 112 games played by Chamberlain in the 1970s shows he averaged 8.8 blocks per game. At the 1965 All-Star Weekend, Chamberlain was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. By the time Barry made his move, Walker recovered back to Barry, who was stuck in the air and botched the shot. His ability to leap from the foul line led to the rule that a free throw shooter must keep his feet behind the line. [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. [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. NAME SEASON TM GP AGE MPG PPG RPG APG SPG BPG TPG FGM FGA FG% 3PM 3PA 3P% FTM FTA FT% MIN PTS REB AST STL BLK TOV PF +/-Wilt Chamberlain: 1959-60: PHI. [69] Each team won their home games, so the series was split at three after six games. 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. [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. [6], He was the star player for the Overbrook Panthers basketball team, wearing jersey number 5. [14], During summer vacations, Chamberlain worked as a bellhop at Kutsher's Hotel. Despite the Sixers' injury woes, coach Hannum was confident to "take the Celtics in less than seven games", and he referenced the age of the Celtics, a team built around Russell and Jones, both 34. [86], Off the court, Chamberlain's commitment to the team was doubted, as Chamberlain was a late sleeper, lived in New York City, preferring to commute to Philadelphia rather than live there, and he was only available during the afternoon for training. [41][u] Russell won 11 NBA titles in his career while Chamberlain won two. Chamberlain wrote his book when he was 55 years old. On March 2, 1962, in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Chamberlain scored 100 points;[67] he shot 36 of 63 from the field and made 28 of 32 free throws against the New York Knicks. That is totally ridiculous. The Warriors entered the 1960 NBA playoffs and beat the Syracuse Nationals, setting up a meeting versus the Eastern Division champions, the Celtics. Dating & Relationship status He is currently single. Wilt Chamberlain passed away due to congestive heart failure at the age of 63 on October 12, 1999, in Bel Air, California, United States. [152][153] His condition deteriorated rapidly in 1999 and he lost fifty pounds (23kg). . According to Flynn Robinson, after the record-setting streak, Lakers owner Cooke sought to reward each of his players, who were expecting perhaps a trip to Hawaii, with a $5 pen set. 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. At 7-foot-1, 275 pounds, Chamberlain is the most athletically-gifted center to put on a uniform and may be the best athlete in NBA history. "[122][206] Chamberlain also acknowledged that he never came close to marrying and had no intention of raising any children. The Lakers mounted a comeback, but then Chamberlain twisted his knee after a rebound and had to be replaced by Counts. [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. [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. The only other player to break the 3,000-point barrier is. Chamberlain ultimately won two NBA championships, four regular-season Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards, the Rookie of the Year award, one Finals MVP award, and one All-Star Game MVP award, and he was selected to thirteen All-Star Games and ten All-NBA Teams (seven First and three Second teams).
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