[201], In Chamberlain's second book, A View from Above, he claimed to have had sex with twenty thousand women. [q] The team also featured an All-Rookie forward Billy Cunningham in the new sixth man role. Former teammate Billy Cunningham remarked The NBA Guide reads like Wilt's personal diary. 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. Wilt Chamberlain, the 7-foot-1-inch star of the . He died in Bel-Air, California, in 1999. Shaq never scored 100 points in a single game or averaged as many rebounds or assists as Chamberlain, but he did make 15 All-Star Teams (compared to Wilt's 13) and 14 All-NBA Teams (compared to Wilt's 10).Add to the fact Shaq won 2 more rings and 2 more Finals MVPs means he had a longer and better career than Wilt. Chamberlain said: "I've got to hit forty points or so, or this team is in trouble. . "[86] In Game 3, he scored 31 points and 27 rebounds for the road win. [41][u] Russell won 11 NBA titles in his career while Chamberlain won two. After his retirement, Chamberlain's records were kept intact by Hakeem Olajuwon . [10][11], Chamberlain led the team to two city championships, and over three seasons Overbrook logged a 563 win-loss record. "[121] In 1965, Chamberlain had consulted his father, who had seen Ali fight, and said no. [56] In Game 5, with his hand healthy, Chamberlain recorded 50 points and 35 rebounds in a 128107 win over the Celtics, extending the series to a Game 6. [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. Overbrook in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Draft: In Game 2, the Bucks won again despite Chamberlain scoring 26 points, four more than his Milwaukee counterpart. A feat matched only by fellow Hall-of-Famer. His impressive debut season netted him several prestigious honors, including the NBA Rookie of the Year and NBA Most Valuable Player awards. As his career progressed, he played at 275 pounds, adding more muscle, and eventually played at over 300 pounds. He was writing a screenplay about his life. "[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. [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. 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. With rookie Jim McMillian easing the scoring pressure, Chamberlain scored 24 points and grabbed 24 rebounds in a 118107 victory, but the Bucks defeated the Lakers 11794 in Game 4 to take a 31 series lead. [92] In Game 3, Chamberlain grabbed 41 rebounds and helped the Sixers win 115104. He was a Goliath. [151] According to those close to him, he eventually began taking medication for his heart troubles. Wilton Norman Chamberlain ( / tembrln /; August 21, 1936 - October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played at the center position. [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] KU won 7365 in overtime, after which police had to escort the Jayhawks out. [85], In the 196566 NBA season, the Sixers experienced tragedy when Ike Richman, the Sixers' co-owner as well as Chamberlain's confidant and lawyer, died of a heart attack while attending a road game in Boston. [207], Cherry says that although Chamberlain was an egotist, he had good relationships with many contemporaries and enjoyed a great deal of respect. . [5][163] Chamberlain is most remembered for his 100-point game,[164][165] which is widely considered one of basketball's greatest records. [126], Jazz composer Thad Jones named the music composition "Big Dipper" after Chamberlain. Chamberlain was one of the few players of his . Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. 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. [114] Game 3 saw West hit a 60-foot shot at the buzzer to tie the game at 102; however, the Knicks took the game 111108. "[122][206] Chamberlain also acknowledged that he never came close to marrying and had no intention of raising any children. Why did Wilt Chamberlain retire from the NBA? The first team to retire Chamberlain's No. For the tip-off, he sent his shortest player Tommy Kearns in order to rattle Chamberlain and the Tar Heels spent the rest of the night triple-teaming him, one defender in front, one behind, and a third arriving as soon as he got the ball. Remembering Just Fontaine and His World Cup Record, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads, Name: Wilt Chamberlain, Birth Year: 1936, Birth date: August 21, 1936, Birth State: Pennsylvania, Birth City: Philadelphia, Birth Country: United States. [77], In the summer of 1964, Chamberlain, one of the prominent participants at the famed Rucker Park basketball court in New York City,[78] made the acquaintance of a tall, talented 17-year-old who played there. [200], Although Chamberlain was shy and insecure as a teenager, he became well known for his womanizing when he was an adult. [10][m] Chamberlain once again broke the 2,000-rebound barrier with 2,052. "[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. Chamberlain often criticized Abdul-Jabbar for a perceived lack of scoring, rebounding, and defense. All rights reserved. In a physically tough matchup, the Sixers lost sixth man Cunningham with a broken hand, and Chamberlain, Greer, and Jackson were struggling with inflamed feet, bad knees, and pulled hamstrings, respectively. The next game against Oklahoma City was equally unpleasant, with KU winning 8161.[38]. [163], The comparison between the two is often simplified to a great player (Chamberlain) versus a player who makes his team great (Russell), an individualist against a team player. [111] In Game 5, Chamberlain scored 13 points and grabbed 31 rebounds, leading Los Angeles to a 117104 win. Wilt Chamberlain was born on August 21, 1936. We were spat on, pelted with debris, and subjected to the vilest racial epithets possible. 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. He published his autobiography, Wilt: Just Like Any Other 7-Foot Black Millionaire Who Lives Next Door, in 1973. All Rights Reserved. While actively promoting the sport in 1982, Chamberlain said he was considering a return to athletic competition in masters athletics. Before retiring, Chamberlain earned three MVP trophies, including Finals MVP and two NBA titles, in addition to MVP and Rookie of the Year. Chamberlain had a bad relationship with Allen's successor Dick Harp fueled by this disappointment. 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. [130] Chamberlain performed so well in the series that Time stated: "In the N.B.A. This angered the team, who preferred an early schedule to have the afternoon off, but Schayes just said: "There is no other way." [58] Chamberlain failed to convert his play into team success, this time bowing out against the Nationals in a three-game sweep. 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. [149] Chamberlain played a villainous warrior and counterpart of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1984 film Conan the Destroyer. [3] However, according to Chamberlain, "basketball was king in Philadelphia", so he eventually turned to the sport in 7th grade. Chamberlain was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978. In 1976, Chamberlain turned to his interest in movies, forming a film production and distribution company to make his first film, entitled Go For It. . [56] The teams split the first two games, but Chamberlain got fed up with Heinsohn and punched him during Game 3. The two would later develop an intense rivalry and personal antipathy. [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). Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. 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 his first NBA season, Chamberlain averaged 37.6 points and 27 rebounds, convincingly breaking the previous regular-season records as a rookie. In his defense, coach McGuire said that "Wilt has been simply super-human" and commented on how the Warriors lacked a consistent second scorer, a playmaker, and a second big man to take pressure off Chamberlain. [5][146][182] In basketball history, pundits have stated that the only other player who forced such a massive change of rules is 6'10" Minneapolis Lakers center George Mikan, who played a decade before Chamberlain and also caused many rule changes designed to thwart dominant centers, such as widening the lane and defensive goaltending. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Then with our great Laker team in 1972, he concentrated on the defensive end." Over a ten-day period, there were 23 checks in the book, which would be a rate of 2.3 women per day. Chamberlain was criticized as a non-factor in the series, getting neutralized by Russell with little effort. The Lakers won 60 games in the regular season and reached the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks, a franchise that featured a healthy team with a rejuvenated Reed, while the Lakers were now handicapped by several injuries. At the 1965 All-Star Weekend, Chamberlain was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. [103], For these feats, Chamberlain won his fourth and final MVP title. [111] Going into the NBA Finals as 3-to-1 favorites, the Lakers won the first two games but dropped the next two. [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. [146] He would continue to epitomize physical fitness for years to come, including participating in several marathons. [18] He has been retroactively honored as Mr. Basketball USA for 1955, the earliest such selection. [47], Despite his foul line woes, Chamberlain set the NBA record, later tied by Adrian Dantley, for most free throws made (28) using the underhand technique in a regular-season game in his 1962 100-point game. home/away, monthly, etc More Wilt Chamberlain Basketball Reference pages, Compare Wilt Chamberlain to other players. They were "his second set of parents" according to their son Mark. [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. Wilt Chamberlain. He was interested in world affairs, sometimes he'd call me up late at night and discuss philosophy. [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. [4], Chamberlain was 6ft 11in (2.11m) when he entered Philadelphia's Overbrook High School. "Wilt was one of the greatest ever, and we will never see another like him," said basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Just Wilt Chamberlain and Pete Maravich share the honor to have their jersey retired by three different teams. In addition to Chamberlain's regular-season accomplishments, he scored 42 points in the All-Star Game. [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. Sixers forward Walker testified that on several occasions, players had to pull Chamberlain and Hannum apart to prevent a fistfight. [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. On October 12, 1999, Chamberlain died at age63 at his home in Bel Air. Wilt the Stilt, The Big Dipper, Dippy, Dip, The Load, Big Musty, The Record Book, Hook and Ladder, Wiltie, Whip, Whipper are nicknames for Wilt Chamberlain. The Warriors got off to a terrible start to the season, and ran into financial trouble. Chamberlain would help lead the Lakers past Abdul-Jabbar and the Bucks in six games. John arrived home intoxicated and, according to testimony by Lorena, raped his wife. [157] Goldberg also said: "He was more inquisitive than anybody I ever knew. In 1978, Chamberlain was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. . The name was retained in one of Chamberlain's signature moves, the "dipper dunk". 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. 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.