“People say my ego is grand,” Wilt Chamberlain said. “I think it’s in proportion to me.”
Grand. That is one word to describe the 7-foot-1 giant Wilt Chamberlain. Grand would also be the right word to describe all the feats he accomplished during his time playing basketball.
“Wilt the Stilt” was born on Aug. 21, 1936 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During his high school years, already at the astounding height of 6-feet-11 inches, he stood out among his teammates at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia. Not only did he play on the team for three years, but he scored more than 2,200 points while on the team.
Eventually, Chamberlain grew to the height of 7-feet-1-inch. It was due to his towering height he gained the nickname “Wilt the Stilt.” Though he loathed that nickname, he received another one from his friends, “The Big Dipper,” because he had to duck his head to fit under doorways.
It was no surprise when the top colleges from all over the country vied for Chamberlain’s attention. He decided to attend Kansas University in 1956 and play basketball for the Jayhawks.
The next year, Chamberlain helped his team advance into the NCAA finals. Even though the Jayhawks were eventually defeated by North Carolina, Chamberlain was chosen as the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.
When Chamberlain graduated from college in 1958, he had to wait one year before entering the NBA, during which he performed with the Harlem Globetrotters.
Afterward, he began playing with the Philadelphia Warriors.
His first year playing in the NBA won him the titles of NBA Rookie of the Year and NBA Most Valuable Player.
Chamberlain is most famous for his 1962 season. On Mar. 2 of that season, the Warriors took on the New York Knicks and won by a score of 169-147. The most amazing part of the game was that Chamberlain scored 100 points.
“Scoring 100 points is a lot,” Chamberlain said. “But I maybe could have scored 140 if they had played straight-up basketball.”
At the end of that season, Chamberlain scored 4,000 points in all, the very first player in the NBA to do so. He was also chosen for the all-NBA first team from the years 1960-62.
In 1965, Chamberlain joined the Philadelphia 76ers and helped them to an NBA Championship. He was then traded in 1968 to the Los Angeles Lakers. He took the Lakers to the 1972 Championship and was named the Finals MVP.
Chamberlain retired in the year 1973, playing in a total of 1,045 games in his career. He is the record holder for the most number of points scored during a game and is also known for never fouling out of an NBA game.
“The Big Dipper” passed away on Oct. 12, 1999 in Los Angeles. He dominated the game of basketball and is hailed as one of the greatest players of all times.
“Wilt was one of the greatest ever,” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said. “And we will never see another like him.”
