Wilt the Stilt Chamberlain: Basketball’s Eighth Wonder of the World

The man who defined legend in modern day sport

Seven foot 1 inch Wilt Chamberlain was a sight to behold. As a center he was considered the greatest player in history of basketball before the emergence of Michael Jordan and U.S gambling news. In his 14 year career, Chamberlain played with the Philadelphia Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers. He holds records in scoring and rebounding, including the most points ever scored by a player in a game at 100.

• Chamberlain scored 100 points in a single game
• Chamberlain averaged 30 points and 20 rebounds over his whole career
• Chamberlain played for the famous Harlem Globetrotters for a year

Chamberlain also is the only player to average over 40 and 50 points in a season. With seven scoring, nine field goal percentage and eleven rebounding titles, Chamberlain’s numbers resemble a folk hero more than an actual athlete. Chamberlain remains the only player to average 30 points and 20 rebounds a game over his entire NBA career. Yet despite all these accolades, Chamberlain won only title championship titles.

Wilt’s early years in high school and university

Wilton Norman Chamberlain was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1936. Chamberlain’s mother was a domestic worker while his father William was a welder, custodian and handyman. Young Wilt was a rather weakly child who almost died of pneumonia. Not liking the game of basketball, Chamberlain preferred track and field events such as the high jump, broad jump and the shot put. He also excelled at running events.

Since basketball was immensely popular in Philadelphia, Wilt took to the sport. At age 10, Chamberlain was already six feet tall and proved to be a natural for basketball. By the time he entered Overbrook High School, Chamberlain towered at nearly seven feet and was an instant sensation. Averaging 31 points a game his first season, Wilt was able to lead his team to the championship game where he lost from being quadruple teamed.

The next year, Wilt had a 71 point game and ended up winning the title for a perfect season of 19-0. Working at a summer job at a hotel, Red Auerbach, coach of the Boston Celtics saw Chamberlain and had him play one on one with the current Kansas University star B.H. Born. After Chamberlain won, Auerbach tried to get Wilt to go to a New England College in order to get him unto the Celtics. Chamberlain never replied.

Nevertheless, 200 universities wanted to recruit Wilt as he was offered incentives such as an Hollywood role from UCLA and diamonds from University of Pennsylvania. Chamberlain chose the University of Kansas. On the freshman Jayhawk team, Wilt dominated but under regulations couldn’t join the varsity team until his second year. Once he joined the varsity, Chamberlain had a 52 point, 31 rebound debut. The Jayhawks success was a sure bet for any punter regardless of U.S gambling laws.

The next year, Kansas made the NCAA tournament and had to play in Dallas, Texas and Oklahoma City which overt racism proved challenging for the team. Although the team made it all the way to the final, they lost to the North Carolina Tarheels. Tired of being triple teamed constantly and not winning the championship, Chamberlain wrote his story, sold it for USD 10,000 and left college.

Chamberlain finds his way from the Globetrotters to the Pros

Since the NBA prohibited Chamberlain from entering the pros for not finishing college, he had to wait another year. In that time, he signed a one-year contract with the Harlem Globetrotters for USD 50,000. The World famous “performance basketball” team went to Russia and was greeted by General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev. When Chamberlain made his NBA debut in 1959 he was the highest paid player earning USD 30,000.

In his first season, Wilt averaged 37.5 points and 27 rebounds a game, broke eight NBA records, earned NBA MVP and Rookie of the Year titles. Later he would score over 2,000 points in 56 games. Although the Warriors made to the playoffs, they lost to his rival Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics. Chamberlain quickly tired of being seen by fans as an oddity who was mocked and negated by the media. Only the doubling of his salary kept him from retiring.

The next year Wilt broke more records including having 55 rebounds in a single game. In his third year, Wilt averaged 50.4 points a game, scored a 100 point game and became the only player to make over 4,000 points in a season. Once again they failed to get a title losing to Bob Cousy and Russell’s Celtics. After two years, Wilt was traded to a more talented Philadelphia 76ers team and led them to the playoffs to lose to the Celtics which resulted in an onslaught of public disgrace.

After two more seasons, a coach tough enough to handle Wilt, some adjustments to his game and some more excellent shooting talent, Chamberlain finally earned a championship title. For the next two years Chamberlain’s team would lead the league and become a force. Any punter using online sportsbooks in the U.S. could have earned money from Wilts performances. Wilt would even break a record for assists for a center in a season at 702.

Chamberlain finds his way from the Globetrotters to the Pros

In 1968, Chamberlain joined the Los Angeles Lakers with a cast which included Elgin Baylor and Jerry West. Wilt put up respectable numbers, but knee injuries kept him at bay form performing at his peak. He finally got another championship in at the end of the 1971-1972 season while he was team captain to a Lakers squad that won 33 consecutive games and 69 games overall. In the playoff, Chamberlain faced off again a Kareem Abdul Jabbar that was 11 years his junior and out-perform him advancing to the finals. The next season, LA made the NBA Finals and lost to New York.