Are you an NBA fan? Does the name Wilton Norman Chamberlain sound familiar? Do you know of a team called the Philadelphia Warriors? Are you old enough to remember March 2, 1962? If you answered, “Yes,” you already know this bit of sports history.
Wilt Chamberlain was born on August 21, 1936, in Philadelphia. He was a good student at Overbrook High School and an accomplished athlete; first at track when as a fourth grader he participated in the 1946 Penn Relays.
After high school Wilt entered the University of Kansas where he continued to distinguish himself in the 100-yard dash, shot-put, the high jump.
Chamberlain had a terrible time in Kansas during his junior year; he wanted to be a professional, but at the time the NBA did not allow players in the league until after their college graduation. So, Wilt left college in 1958 and got paid $50,000 to play for the Harlem Globetrotters. In his memoirs he claimed that year to be the happiest time of his professional career.
Wilt Chamberlain stood 7 feet, one inch tall and played in the National Basketball Association for 14 seasons. He played his first NBA game on October 24, 1959, as a Philadelphia Warrior. His rookie contract paid him $30,000. Chamberlain’s most memorable years came between 1958 and 1973, but one night in March 1962 is the topic here.
Wilt Chamberlain was already a sensation in the NBA. He was the biggest of the big men of basketball. He was also considered one of the strongest, if not the strongest player in the game. And when it came to talent, many believed that Wilt had been given a double dose. All this had been obvious to basketball fans back when Wilt was in college in Kansas, but Philadelphia basketball fans knew all about him long before his college years. Wilt Chamberlain was a homegrown guy.
Philadelphia Warriors used the fact that Wilt was from Philadelphia to claim him for their team when he left college. So after his stint with the Globetrotters, Wilt, who had recently been dubbed “The Stilt” suited up with the Warriors.
March 2, 1962, was a cold, slushy day in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The team was at their off-season training facility where they played a few “home” games each year as a compliment to their out-of-town fans.
The game was not televised that day, so there is no lasting video recording of the event. According to his Warriors teammates, Wilt was destined to have a monster day on the court … he had already beaten his teammates at cards and had won every game of chance and skill at a local arcade. Another factor that contributed to the big day was the absence of Phil Jordan, the starting “center” for the New York Knicks. At 6 feet ten inches Jordan was one of the few NBA players who provided Chamberlain with serious competition. Jordan did watch the game from the sidelines due to an injury that left only David Imhoff with the impossible task of guarding the leading scorer in the league.
Wilt accumulated 23 points in the first quarter. For another player in the NBA, that would be a considerable goal. By halftime, he was up to 41. At that point in the day his Warriors teammates realized the potential of a high score and started feeding him the ball. During the third quarter, Wilt scored 21 points from the floor and an additional eight points from the free throw line, which shows it really was a special day, because the truth was that Wilt Chamberlain was lousy from the free throw line. His point total at the start of the fourth quarter was 69.
In the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, Wilt dunked three straight baskets. At that point, the crowd of only 4,124 fans who had braved the cold weather were not disappointed and began to chant, “Give it to Wilt.” Points number 99 and 100 came on one of Chamberlain’s trademark dunks with just 46 seconds remaining on the clock.
Pandemonium broke out in the arena. Wilt Chamberlain had just set a new NBA record. With the most points in one game surpassing the 78 points which was held by, who else, Wilt Chamberlain. The final score for Philadelphia was 169 – New York 147.
The 100-point score was just one of the many highlights in Wilt’s 1961-1962 season. He averaged a record of 54 points in each game that season and averaged 25 rebounds per game.
Some sports fans say the 100-point score will never be broken. They may be right; it has lasted 64 years – so far!
Wilt Chamberlain is the only player in the history of the NBA to top 4,000 points. In fact, only one other player – a fellow named Michael Jordan – has scored more than 3,000 points.