[141], Volleyball became Chamberlain's new athletic passion. . "[158], Several NBA players and officials were saddened at the loss of a player they remembered as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. Crowds gathered to watch the latest match between two top center players: Chamberlain and Bill Russell. "[162] He was a scoring champion, all-time top rebounder, and accurate field goal shooter. [142] He played occasional matches for the IVA Seattle Smashers before the league folded in 1979. [82] After defeating the Cincinnati Royals led by his fellow All-American Robertson in the playoffs, the Sixers met Chamberlain's familiar rival, the Boston Celtics. 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. Chamberlain averaged 20.7 points, 18.2 rebounds, and 4.3 assists,[62] once again led the NBA in rebounding, and the Lakers won the Pacific Division title. 13 in ESPN's list "Top North American Athletes of the Century" in 1999. Winning the regular season with 66 wins, the Bucks were seen as favorites against the depleted Lakers; still, many pundits were looking forward to the matchup between the 34-year-old Chamberlain and the 24-year-old Alcindor. Retirement. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. [10][12][p] When Chamberlain left the Warriors, owner Franklin Mieuli said: "Chamberlain is not an easy man to love the fans in San Francisco never learned to love him. Russell never considered Chamberlain his rival and disliked the term, preferring competitors, and also said that they rarely talked about basketball when they were alone. I think he'll be remembered as a great man. . Subscribe to Stathead Basketball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Basketball Reference Database. Join us for a March Madness Webinar on Tuesday, March 7 at 8pm ET. Wilt is easy to hate people came to see him lose. When Greer attempted to inbound the ball to Walker, John Havlicek stole it to preserve the Celtics' lead. By season's end, Chamberlain racked up more than 4,000 pointsbecoming the first NBA player to do soscoring an average of 50.4 points per game. He spent his last year in basketball in a coaching position, due to a contractual issue. "[196] Swedish Olympic high jumper Annette Tnnander, who met him when he was 40 and she was 19, remembers him as a pick-up artist who was extremely confident yet respectful, saying: "I think Wilt hit on everything that moved he never was bad or rude. Chamberlain holds 72 NBA records, so many that it led former teammate Billy Cunningham to remark The NBA Guide reads like Wilt's personal diary." As his lawyer Seymour "Sy" Goldberg put it: "Some people collect stamps, Wilt collected women. [72] This also meant that the Warriors team broke apart, as Arizin chose to retire rather than move away from his family and his job at IBM in Philadelphia, Warrior coach McGuire chose to resign rather than move to the West Coast, and Gola was homesick, requesting a trade to the lowly New York Knicks halfway through the season. The matchup between Chamberlain and Abdul-Jabbar was hailed by Life as the greatest matchup in all of sports. [42], However, Russell and Chamberlain were friends in private life. In his first varsity game, Wilt scored 52 points and picked up 31 . [139] On October 10, 1973, the opening day of the Conquistadors season, a judge ruled that Chamberlain could coach the Conquistadors but could not play for any team other than the Lakers for 1973-74. Having lost lateral quickness due to his injury, Chamberlain was often too slow to block Reed's preferred high-post jump shots. [56][k] In Game 6, Heinsohn scored the decisive basket with a last-second tip-in,[56] as the Warriors lost the series 42. [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. (Wilt the Stilt, The Big Dipper, Dippy, Dip, The Load, Big Musty, The Record Book, Hook and Ladder, Wiltie, Whip, Whipper), Position: Bouncing elsewhere. Chamberlain often invited Russell over to Thanksgiving and visited Russell's place, where conversation mostly concerned Russell's electric trains. In his mid-forties, he was able to humble rookie Magic Johnson in practice,[146] and he flirted with making a comeback in the NBA in the 1980s. 6 in ESPN's list of the top 74 NBA players of all time in 2020, the third best center of all-time behind Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell. [195] In addition, he would often stay out late into the night and wake up at noon. After losing Clark and Gail Goodrich, who joined the Phoenix Suns after the 1968 NBA expansion draft, he said: "Egan gets murdered on defense because of his [lack of] size but if I don't play him, we look like a bunch of trucks. Jack Ramsay recalled that Chamberlain regularly took walks in downtown Philadelphia and acknowledged honking horns with the air of a man enjoying all the attention. . [f], In Chamberlain's junior season of 195758, the Jayhawks' matches were even more frustrating for him. "[86] In Game 3, he scored 31 points and 27 rebounds for the road win. John arrived home intoxicated and, according to testimony by Lorena, raped his wife. [69] Each team won their home games, so the series was split at three after six games. They were "his second set of parents" according to their son Mark. He was voted into the Hall of Fame back in 2011. He happened to make a living playing basketball, but he was more than that. Wilt Chamberlain claims that his vertical, during his prime, was "46 to 48 inches, easy. When did Wilt Chamberlain stop playing basketball? "[137] The players were split on Chamberlain, who was seen as competent but often indifferent and more occupied with promotion of his autobiography Wilt: Just Like Any Other 7-Foot Black Millionaire Who Lives Next Door than with coaching. [14] The Panthers comfortably won the Public League title after again beating Northeast in a game in which Chamberlain scored 40 points, and later won the city title by defeating South Catholic 7450. Chamberlain retired from the NBA after the 1973 season however he still remained very close to basketball. NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain at 43 years old, once played against a prime Magic Johnson and destroyed him in a pickup game. [62] Despite his individual success, the Warriors lost 49 of their 80 games and missed the playoffs. [1] He was a frail child, nearly dying of pneumonia in his early years and missing a whole year of school as a result. [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. Wilt didn't sleep the night before he scored 100. Milwaukee closed out the series at home with a 11698 victory in Game 5. [89] Cherry adds several personal reasons, among them Chamberlain felt he had grown too big for Philadelphia, sought the presence of fellow celebrities, which were plenty in Los Angeles, and finally also desired the opportunity to date white women, which was possible for a black man in Los Angeles but hard to imagine elsewhere back then. Wilt Chamberlain, the 7-foot-1-inch star of the . He chose to spend the next season performing with the Harlem Globetrotters before landing a spot with the Philadelphia Warriors. The young Lew Alcindor was soon allowed into his inner circle and quickly idolized the ten-year older Chamberlain. [163] During Chamberlain's time, defensive statistics like blocks and steals had not been recorded yet. While actively promoting the sport in 1982, Chamberlain said he was considering a return to athletic competition in masters athletics. Just Wilt Chamberlain and Pete Maravich share the honor to have their jersey retired by three different teams. [38] Leading a talented squad of starters, including Maurice King, Gene Elstun, John Parker, Ron Lonesky, and Lew Johnson, the Jayhawks went 131 until they lost a game 5654 versus the Oklahoma State Cowboys, a team holding the ball the last three and a half minutes without any intention of scoring a basket, which was still possible in the days before the shot clock (introduced 1984 in the NCAA). [13], In his second Overbrook season, Chamberlain continued his prolific scoring when he tallied a high-school record 71 points against Roxborough. 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. [12] When million-dollar contracts became common in the NBA, Chamberlain increasingly felt he had been underpaid during his career. He took the game so seriously that he threw up in the locker room before almost every game. 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. In 1982, the Sixers tried to lure 45-year-old Chamberlain out of retirement after he was out of the league for nine seasons. [142] As a testament to his importance, the IVA All-Star game was televised only because Chamberlain also played in it; he rose to the challenge and was named the game's MVP. 1936 '"[42] Quoting coach Alex Hannum's explanation of his situation, Chamberlain often said: "Nobody roots for Goliath. 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. 6 retired by the 76ers. Wilton Norman Chamberlain ( / tembrln /; August 21, 1936 - October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played at the center position. [73] With both secondary scorers gone, Chamberlain continued his array of statistical feats, averaging 44.8 points and 24.3 rebounds per game that year. Wilt Chamberlain won 2 championships. His fouls per 36 minutes (a statistic used to compare players that average vastly different minutes) was a remarkable 1.6 per game. [106], The loss meant that Chamberlain was 16 in playoff series against the Celtics. 2 in Slam's "Top 50 NBA Players of All-Time in NBA History" in 2009,[178] and No. Warriors finally retire Wilt's jersey. [62][10] In addition, the formerly egotistical Chamberlain began to praise his teammates, lauding hardworking Lucious Jackson as the "ultimate power forward", calling Greer a deadly jump-shooter, and Jones an excellent defender and outsider scorer. Do you have a blog? His impressive debut season netted him several prestigious honors, including the NBA Rookie of the Year and NBA Most Valuable Player awards. [53] On January 25, 1960, Chamberlain recorded a rare feat in the NBA, posting at least 50 points and 40 rebounds in an NBA game. After his . 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. [25], After his last Overbrook season, more than two hundred universities tried to recruit Chamberlain. The Big Dipper participated in pickup games regularly, going well into his 40s and played against many of the . [151] According to those close to him, he eventually began taking medication for his heart troubles. 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. "[173], For his feats, Chamberlain was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, named part of the NBA 35th Anniversary Team in 1980, one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996, and was ranked No. In 1978, Chamberlain was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Wilt Chamberlain last played in 1973. He died in Bel-Air, California, in 1999. Their relationship remained mostly strained until Chamberlain's death. Chamberlain changed the game in fundamental ways no other player did. All Rights Reserved. He needed only 56 games to score 2,102 points, which broke the all-time regular-season scoring record of Bob Pettit, who needed 72 games to score 2,101 points. Chamberlain's Lakers coach Bill Sharman said: "First he was a scorer. "[111] In spite of their earlier quarrels, Van Breda Kolff came to his defense, insisting the often-maligned Chamberlain hardly was able to move in the end. [62] His efficiency that season was reflected by a streak of 35 consecutive made field goals over the course of four games in February. Peterson felt that the assault was "creepier" because Chamberlain had been a personal friend.[215][216]. [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. [137] After the season, Chamberlain retired from professional basketball; in addition, he was displeased by the meager attendance, as crowds averaged 1,843, just over half of the team's small Golden Hall, a 3,200-seat sports arena. Stats: 50.4 PPG, 25.7 RPG, 2.4 APG. [104] Winning 62 games, the Sixers easily took the first seed of the playoffs. [137] Chamberlain claimed that at least part of the reason for leaving the Lakers was that he believed he had the right to renegotiate his contract after winning the 1971-72 NBA championship, and was upset that the Lakers did not contact him until September 1972, and in the meantime were trying to acquire UCLA star center Bill Walton, who ultimately decided to return to school for the 1972-73 season. [204], In response to public backlash regarding his promiscuity, Chamberlain later emphasized that "the point of using the number was to show that sex was a great part of my life as basketball was a great part of my life. [134] Chamberlain averaged 13.2 points and 18.6 rebounds, still enough to win the rebounding title for the 11th time in his career. Wilt Chamberlain averaged 30.1 points, 22.9 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game. [a] Chamberlain had a natural advantage against his peers; he soon was renowned for his scoring talent, his physical strength, and his shot-blocking abilities. He played on the school's varsity team for three years, scoring more than 2,200 points in total. [10][m] Chamberlain once again broke the 2,000-rebound barrier with 2,052. . "[110], Chamberlain experienced an often-frustrating season. Go back in time and learn about Wilt Chamberlain's early years growing up, and early years in the NBA.