After attending the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr., Chamberlain called out to the angry rioters who were setting fires all over the country, stating Dr. King would not have approved. [45] Chamberlain broke eight NBA records, and was named NBA MVP and Rookie of the Year that season, a feat matched only by fellow Hall-of-Famer Wes Unseld in the 1968–69 NBA season. Chamberlain said, "I've got to hit forty points or so, or this team is in trouble. "[181] Celtics contemporary Bob Cousy even assumed that if Chamberlain had been less fixated on being popular, he would have been meaner and able to win more titles. He spent his final five campaigns in Los Angeles and helped the Lakers to the NBA Finals four times in those five seasons. He feared that if he played another season, he would be forced to retaliate, and that wasn’t something he wanted to do. Regardless of where you put The Big Dipper in the NBA pantheon, the fact of the matter is that he was a Hall of Famer, a four-time league MVP and … [56] In addition to Chamberlain's regular-season accomplishments, he scored 42 points in the 1962 NBA All-Star Game; a record that stood until broken by Anthony Davis in 2017. In a closely contested Game 7, Chamberlain tied the game at 107 with 16 seconds to go, but Celtics shooting guard Sam Jones hit a clutch shot with two seconds left to win the series for Boston. His lifelong on-court rival and personal friend Bill Russell stated "the fierceness of our competition bonded us together for eternity", and Celtics coach Red Auerbach praised Chamberlain as vital for the success of the entire NBA. [62], In the 1963–64 NBA season, Chamberlain got yet another new coach, Alex Hannum, and was joined by a promising rookie center, Nate Thurmond, who eventually entered the Hall of Fame. [27] Chamberlain's freshman debut was highly anticipated, and he delivered; the freshman squad was pitted against the varsity, who were favored to win their conference that year. The answer potentially lies with Jamal Murray whose development as a second star next to Nikola Jokic could determine the entire balance of power in the Western Conference. Image of Wilt Chamberlain making a dunk during a Los Angeles Lakers vs Milwaukee Bucks game, 1971. "[73] Irv Kosloff, who now owned the Sixers alone after Richman's death, pleaded to him to move to Philadelphia during the season, but he was turned down. [2][5][23] After his last Overbrook season, more than two hundred universities tried to recruit the basketball prodigy. [46] On the other hand, he committed surprisingly few fouls during his NBA career despite his rugged play in the post. Most are related to professional basketball, although a few notable nicknames from the U.S. college game are included. This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. He later tied that on February 21, as he recorded 58 points to go along with 24 rebounds in a 131-121 over the visiting Knicks. Cherry observed that Reed, a prolific midrange shooter, was a bad matchup for Chamberlain: having lost lateral quickness due to his injury, the Lakers center was often too slow to block Reed's preferred high post jump shots. Chamberlain trained with Cus d'Amato, but later backed out, withdrawing the much-publicized challenge,[98][23] by way of a contractual escape clause which predicated the Chamberlain-Ali match on Ali beating Joe Frazier in a fight scheduled for early 1971, which became Ali's first professional loss, enabling Chamberlain to legally withdraw from the bout. [5] Additionally, in an April 1965 issue of Sports Illustrated Chamberlain conducted an interview entitled "My Life in a Bush League" where he criticized his fellow players, coaches, and NBA administrators. Chamberlain often criticized Abdul-Jabbar for a perceived lack of scoring, rebounding, and defense. Despite the fact that Chamberlain had reportedly stayed out all night the previous evening, he obviously came ready to play against the Knicks. Chamberlain averaged 20.7 points, 18.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists,[52] once again led the NBA in rebounding and the Lakers won the Pacific Division title. "[144] Chamberlain's main weakness was his notoriously poor free throw shooting, where he has the third-lowest career free throw percentage in NBA history with 51.1% (based on a minimum of 1,200 attempts). During his career, his dominance precipitated many rules changes. 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. In return the Warriors received Paul Neumann, Connie Dierking, Lee Shaffer (who opted to retire rather than report to the Warriors), and $150,000[2][5] (equal to about $1.22 million today). "Wilt Chamberlain 1966-67 Game Log - Basketball-Reference.com", "Use Extension On Operating Table As Wilt Chamberlain Undergoes Tendon Surgery", "Achilles Heel Advertising: Repositioning the Competition", "5 Things You Didn't Know About Wilt Chamberlain", "Wilt spoke of regrets, women and Meadowlark", "Ali vs. Wilt Chamberlain: The Fight That Almost Was", "Jim Brown Talks Ali vs. Wilt Chamberlain // SiriusXM", "Chamberlain's feats the stuff of legend", "Flynn Robinson, 72, Scorer on Dominant N.B.A. [184], Chamberlain denounced the Black Panthers Party and other black nationalist movements in the late 1960s, and supported Republican Richard Nixon in the 1968 and 1972 presidential elections. “I look back and know that my last seven years in the league versus my first seven years were a joke in terms of scoring,” he told the Philadelphia Daily News. [152] Russell's Celtics won seven of eight playoff series against Chamberlain's Warriors, 76ers, and Lakers teams, and went 57–37 against them in the regular season and 29–20 in the playoffs. He scored 32 points and led Overbrook to a 19–0 season. [122] When million-dollar contracts became common in the NBA, Chamberlain increasingly felt he had been underpaid during his career. [32], For many years following Chamberlain's departure from the University of Kansas, critics claimed that he either wanted to leave the very white Midwest or was embarrassed by not being able to bring home the NCAA basketball tournament victory. Advertisement As Chamberlain often said, quoting coach Alex Hannum's explanation of his situation, "Nobody loves Goliath. In Game 4, the shorthanded Lakers were no match for New York, and in Game 5, the valiant, but injured West and Hairston had miserable games, and despite Chamberlain scoring 23 points and grabbing 21 rebounds, the Lakers lost 102–93 and the series. [23] Chamberlain likened his assist title to legendary home run hitter "Babe Ruth leading the league in sacrifice bunts", and he dispelled the myth that he could not and would not pass the ball. [5] Chamberlain was so dominant on the team that he scored almost 32% of his team's points and collected 30.4% of their rebounds. "[91] Ironically, Van Breda Kolff came to Chamberlain's defense, insisting the often-maligned Lakers center hardly was able to move in the end. [76] Greer, who was considered a consummate professional and often clashed with the center because of his attitude, spoke positively of the new Chamberlain: "You knew in a minute the Big Fella [Chamberlain] was ready to go ... and everybody would follow. Going ahead 3–2, the Sixers defeated the Knicks 115–97 in Game 6 after Chamberlain scored 25 points and 27 rebounds: he had a successful series in which he led both teams in points (153), rebounds (145) and assists (38). [91] Among others, Bill Russell didn't believe Chamberlain's injury was grave, and openly accused him of being a malingerer: "Any injury short of a broken leg or a broken back is not enough. [2], The rookie Chamberlain then shocked Warriors' fans by saying he was thinking of retiring. [183] But 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. [127][128] In 1999, his condition deteriorated rapidly. [28], On December 3, 1956, Chamberlain made his varsity debut as a center. It’s difficult to imagine now, with the seemingly continuing surge of bigger skilled players, the effect of playing against Chamberlain, who was not only taller and stronger than almost anyone he matched up against but remarkably coordinated as well. Soon after, Chamberlain was traded to the Lakers for Jerry Chambers, Archie Clark and Darrall Imhoff. [52] His efficiency that season was reflected by a streak of 35 consecutive made field goals over the course of four games in February. A Philadelphia sportswriter coined the nicknames during Chamberlain's high school days. [34] However, at that time, the NBA did not accept players until after their college graduating class had been completed. This conflict had been going along for a while: in 1965, Chamberlain asserted that he and the late Richman had worked out a deal which would give the center 25% of the franchise once he ended his career. [5] Barred from playing, Chamberlain mostly left the coaching duties to his assistant Stan Albeck, who recalled: "Chamberlain ... has a great feel for pro basketball ... [but] the day-to-day things that are an important part of basketball ... just bored him. "[107], In the post-season, the Lakers swept the Chicago Bulls, then went on to face the Milwaukee Bucks of young superstar center and regular-season MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (formerly Lew Alcindor). [19] During summer vacations, he worked as a bellhop in Kutsher's Hotel. [58] Each team won their home games, so the series was split at three after six games. [80] In Game 6, the Warriors were trailing 123–122 with 15 seconds left. He once skipped a game to sign autographs for the book. 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. [36] In later years, Chamberlain frequently joined the Globetrotters in the off-season and fondly recalled his time there, because he was no longer jeered at or asked to break records, but just one of several artists who loved to entertain the crowd. [65], In the summer of 1964, Chamberlain, one of the prominent participants at the famed Rucker Park basketball court in New York City,[66] made the acquaintance of a tall, talented 17-year-old who played there. [39] In what was the first of many Chamberlain-Russell match-ups, Chamberlain outscored Russell with 30 points versus 28 points, but Boston won the game. Was Wilt the greatest ever? [94], However, the hero of that Game 7 was Willis Reed. It was also during this time that one of his nicknames, “the Stilt,” was coined by a local newspaper writer. I must score—understand? That was how the 20,000 number came into existence. The man was 6-8 and weighed 220 pounds. [note 1], The following season, Chamberlain started it with a 42-point and 31-rebound performance in a 133-123 road win against the Syracuse Nationals. [91] After the game, many wondered why Chamberlain sat out the final six minutes. [5][45] Chamberlain capped off his rookie season by winning the 1960 NBA All-Star Game MVP award with a 23-point, 25-rebound performance for the East. [165] Frank Deford of ESPN said that Chamberlain was caught in a no-win situation: "If you win, everybody says, 'Well, look at him, he's that big.' The division finals saw the 76ers matched up against the Celtics — and Chamberlain matched up against Russell once again. [2][3] He played for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 1972–73 NBA season was to be Chamberlain's last, although he didn't know this at the time. [154] 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. He did not have the patience. Ex-soldier Hannum, who later entered the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach, was a crafty psychologist who emphasized defense and passing. The Celtics prevented a sweep by winning Game 4 with a 121–117 victory, but in Game 5, the Sixers simply overpowered the Celtics 140–116, which effectively ended Boston's historic run of eight consecutive NBA titles. "[23] Chamberlain himself often said: "Nobody roots for Goliath. Chamberlain was criticized as a non-factor in the series, getting neutralized by Bill Russell with little effort. [47] But in Game 6, Heinsohn got the last laugh, scoring the decisive basket with a last-second tip-in. [6] By the time Chamberlain was 21 (even before he turned professional), he had already been featured in Time, Life, Look, and Newsweek magazines. Chamberlain promoted the sport so effectively that he was named to the Volleyball Hall of Fame: he became one of the few athletes who were enshrined in different sports. [29] In the first overtime each team scored two points, and in the second overtime, Kansas froze the ball in return, keeping the game tied at 48. He retired as the all-time leader in career points with 31,419, which was later surpassed by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone and Michael Jordan. He passed the time by playing for the Harlem Globetrotters in 1958-59 for a salary reported to be around $50,000, an astronomical sum at the time. [121] "[108] Chamberlain performed so well in the series that Time magazine stated, "In the N.B.A. He was especially lauded for his good rapport with his fans, often providing tickets and signing autographs. In the scuffle, Wilt injured his hand, and Philadelphia lost the next two games. Chamberlain divided that number in half, to be conservative and to correct for degrees of variation. [162] When his dunks practically undermined the difficulty of a foul shot, both the NCAA[163] and the NBA banned his modus operandi. [58][59] In later years, Chamberlain was criticized for averaging 50 points, but not winning a title. [18] In that game, West Catholic quadruple-teamed Chamberlain the entire game, and despite the center's 29 points, the Panthers lost 54–42. [25] There were contemporary reports of the games[26] in Philadelphia publications but he tried to keep them secret from the Amateur Athletic Union. Although he failed to win the NBA scoring title for the first time in his career, averaging 24.1 points, Chamberlain recorded the league’s highest shooting percentage (.683), had the most rebounds (24.2 rpg), and was third in assists (7.8 apg). [52] The 76ers had the best record in the league for the third straight season. Retiring from the NBA at the end of the 1972-73 season, Chamberlain went on to demonstrate the full range of his talents. The NBA’s greatest ever is a not-so-great debate ... It’s possible The Big Dipper’s talent got in the way and forced him to believe he could and should accomplish victory largely on his own. In Game 1, the Sixers beat Boston 127–112, powered by Hal Greer's 39 points and Chamberlain's unofficial quadruple double, with 24 points, 32 rebounds, 13 assists and (unofficially counted) 12 blocks.