It is no surprise that analysts and pundits covering basketball call the NBA record book 'The Autobiography of Wilt Chamberlain.' I've examined all of Wilt's footage that is available to the general public at the moment and collected data, as well as numerous clips that showcase what I believe to be a very underrated aspect of his game on the defensive end. He just happened to come up 67 points short of his opponent. This performance played a big role in how he's perceived by fans to this day. In those seasons, he grabbed 19.4 percent of available boards when he was on the floor. Russell Westbrook has made the triple-double look easy. He also holds the record for most points in a single game (aiming for a double-double), with 50. So many more shots meant so many more rebounds, especially when combined with factor no. Subscribe to Stathead Basketball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Basketball Reference Database. Chamberlain finally bested his nemesis in 1967, when his Philadelphia 76ers put together a remarkably strong team, and he was persuaded to pass the ball more. Wilt Chamberlain steals per game data with additional film breakdown. From 1956 to 1969, only twice did they fail to clinch a championship 1958 and 1967. His is a name I know, although I have never followed basketball. Anthony Davis and Jusuf Nurkic posted quintuple-nickels (five each of points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks) just six weeks apart. Join our linker program. If this is all just based on newspaper reports the stats are not trustworthy at all. He had also lost 50 pounds in the last month following oral surgery. His basketball battles against his own personal . Those arent trivial totals; theyre the precise pace needed to reach 40 boards in a game. Every guy in human history has been turned down by a woman at some point. Due to the schedules forboth teams, he went on to play the Pistons' remaining 53 games and ended up with 88. If this is a representative sample, using the blocked shot numbers: "If I walk outside somebody might just hit me with their car, or say anything negative to me. The reasons for their failure may have been inherent to the whole project. Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 4:50AM. A year later he joined his hometown Philadelphia Warriors in the National Basketball Association. Chamberlain entered the league in 1959 at the age of 21 years old. For much of this Celtics' dynasty, the leaguehad aroundeight teams. For his career. current record for most consecutive games played. It was Russell with around 3.5 steals and Wilt with 1.5 steals on around 100 games. Or write about sports? Do you have a sports website? Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic both had 40-point games after the Sixers loss against the Mavs. Off the court, he embodied Hugh Hefner's 60s "Playboy philosophy"; a hipster who owned a popular jazz club, Smalls, he made no bones about romancing women of all races. John Stockton's career totals for assists and steals. And later on, there is discussion of whether or not double-dipping is an acceptable way to eat! None of the others created nearly the stir and controversy as his 1991 book, A View From Above. Given the taxing weighton every player for a single game with travel, media commitments and so on, it doesn't seem likely that this record of 33 straight wins will ever be bettered. That puts Wilt at 7'4". "His dominance, power, demeanor and the rivalry with Bill Russell says it all." Chamberlain starred in the NBA from 1959 through 1973, when he played for the Philadelphia (later the San Francisco) Warriors, 76ers and Lakers. James Harden cant stop climbing historical leaderboards. Jordan Greer is an NBA content producer for The Sporting News. Ultimately, while Drummond might expect to be on the court for about 60 rebound opportunities in the average 2019 game, his half-century-ago predecessor would have expected to be on court for about 110. Born in Philadelphia, one of 10 children, Wilt began attracting attention after growing five inches the summer he entered high school. But the time factor is an interesting point. Do you have a blog? Wilton Norman Chamberlain (Wilt the Stilt, The Big Dipper, Dippy, Dip, The Load, Big Musty, The Record Book, Hook and Ladder, Wiltie, Whip, Whipper) Position: Center Shoots: Right More bio, uniform, draft, salary info Hall of Fame 13x All Star 7x Scoring Champ 11x TRB Champ 1967-68 AST Champ 2x NBA Champ 10x All-NBA 1959-60 AS MVP 4x MVP That's quite the margin between Nos. So, for the sake of missing games and financially,every player is incentivitized to ensure that they are called for less than 16 technicals in theregular season. The Knicks tried fouling other Philadelphia players to keep the ball away from Chamberlain, but the Warriors countered by committing fouls of their own to get the ball back. A lot of Chamberlain's records will be difficult to break. Imhoffstruggled with foul trouble throughout the game, leaving 6-9 rookie Cleveland Buckner to battle Chamberlain, and as everyone now knows, that didn't go well. ", I have Bird #19 and Kobe #20 on my all-time list and both guys will probably get passed by Jokic by the end of this season, Jonathan Isaac Out For Season Following Adductor Surgery, Norm Powell To Be Re-Evaluated In One Week Due To Shoulder Injury, Bucks Emerge As Favorites For Goran Dragic, Stephen Curry Targeting Return From Leg Injury Sunday At Lakers, The Lottery Pick Gleam Still On Kris Dunn, The 2023 Title Contenders Are Already Here, Six Biggest X-Factors After The All-Star Break, Ty Lue Says Clippers Need 'To Be Tougher', Spurs Claim And Convert Sandro Mamukelashvili, Waive Isaiah Roby, Thunder Sign Jared Butler To Two-Way Contract. Most people use statistics like a drunk man uses a lamppost; more for support than illumination, Andrew Lang. However, it's highly unlikely that this record will be broken simply because of a rule change that was enforced in 2006. Prior to the 2006-07 season, the NBA announced that after 16 technical fouls in a season, an NBA player would be suspended for the next game without pay. Even more than his 50.4 points per game, Chamberlains most unbreakable single-season record might be his minutes-per-game mark: 48.5 in 1961-62. Additionally, he did have a six-month schedule, for 14 seasons, of playing professional basketball. One can only wonder at Wilt's rejections probably extremely few, to manage that 20,000 record. Please enter a valid email and try again. We, Yahoo, are part of the Yahoo family of brands. All 4 are legit hall of fame players and are well deserving. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? Heres why. It's safe to say we won't see any NBA players eclipsing those season numbers anytime soon. He holds dozens of unbreakable basketball records. Wilt Chamberlain is one of the most dominant players in NBA history. Chamberlain finished with 100 points on36-of-63 shooting from the field (57.1 percent) and 28-of-32 shooting from the free throw line (87.5 percent). Chamberlain tallied 25 separate 30-rebound games in his rookie season. Only one player has even eclipsed the 80-point threshold since Chamberlain's historic night the late Kobe Bryant poured in 81 against the Raptors on Jan. 22, 2006. That works out to roughly 1.4 women a day. That's exactly what the Warriors did, feeding Chamberlain at every opportunity in the fourth quarter. Neutral site games were not all that uncommon, but the scheduledid present achallenge for players. Wilt Chamberlain On March 2, 1962, Wilt Chamberlain set the NBA single-game scoring record by tallying 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors in a 169-147 victory over the New York Knicks. Jordan did it three times. Give Naatu Naatu Best Original Song. Wilt Chamberlain claimed that he slept with 20,000 women. Which players will have the most active markets? In an era when a black sportsman's success was inevitably attributed to "natural" talent, Chamberlain was an intelligent, articulate black man cursed with an unmistakable natural attribute. Learn more and register, Scores from any date in BAA/NBA or ABA history, Frequently Asked Questions about the NBA, WNBA and Basketball, Basketball-Reference.com Blog and Articles, Subscribe to Stathead Basketball: Get your first month FREE. So why are rebounds seemingly immune to other sorts of statistical inflation? Drummond himself has done it 11 times. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. No team has averaged 55 rebounds per game since 1972-73which was Chamberlains last season. So if Wilt (or anyone else from that era) wear's Dwight Howard's shoes, add 2" (two inches). They were a massive disappointment, yes, but also so transcendent for brief moments. Luckily, we can tinker with some available data from earlier in Wilts run. In his legendary career, Chamberlain scored 31,419 points, including the unbelievable time he actually scored 100 points in one game. In his legendary career, Chamberlain scored 31,419 points, including the unbelievable. The guy I've noticed getting a lot of poke aways and steals was actually Russell. In recent times, only a handful of playersplay all 82 games each season, let alone multiple consecutive seasons. (And you guys complain about Russell Westbrook chasing triple-doubles.). Fittingly, Chamberlain has been named to the NBA's 35th, 50th and 75th Anniversary teams. If Drummond sought to claim the single-game rebounding record in 2019, three main factors would stand in his way. There are caveats, of course: Wilts rebounding percentages would have improved if he hadnt had to pace himself for 48 minutes, and he wouldve grabbed even more rebounds had the court been dominated by guards and wings instead of fellow bigs who he had to fight for boards. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. the official stats partner of the NBA, NHL and MLB. They would obviously not average anything close to that today, but they are still some of the most "transportable" vintage all time greats. Either way, winning 11 out of a possible 13 is difficult in any professional sport. No team has averaged even 50 rebounds per game since 1977-78. Could James Harden Potentially Return to Houston After the Season? Is Golden State a sleeping giant? Whats different about the Sixers this year? Wilt Chamberlain played 14 seasons for the Lakers, Warriors and 76ers. Copyright 2023 Sporting News Holdings Limited. Head to Head: Wilt Chamberlain vs. Bill Russell. Chamberlain spent the last five seasons of his career with the LA Lakers from 1968-1973. Not so in 2019. All the pieces fell perfectly into place. Let alone the best depth too. We are not making it all up in our heads, thinking well of Kris Dunn because we want to: he has real talents to bring, and a body that for the time being will allow him to use them. Which NBA players could break Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point record? But his playoff averages significantly dropped. Please logout and login again. His dominance was such that nearly every scoring or rebounding recordof hiswould remainuntouched. Check out Wilt Chamberlain career offensive and defensive statistics (Per Game)including PPG, Rebounds, Assists, Steals and Blocks as part of WhatIfSports Free SimMatchup Basketball! More than 7 feet (2.1 metres) tall, Chamberlain was an outstanding centre . Wilt Chamberlain: 118: 2: Michael Jordan: 31: 3: Kobe Bryant: 25: 4: James Harden: 23: 5: Elgin Baylor . 1 and 2. That Wilt Chamberlain passed away in 1999 without ever marrying is understandable. March 4, 2015, 4:00 PM. Visit site . But Chamberlain's enduring legacy is his series of losses to the Boston Celtics. The single-game record is 55, courtesy of Wilt in November 1960, which is so absurd from a modern vantage that it might as well be a million. Despite not winning the MVP that year, his 1961-62 is one of the greatest ever with his insurmountable season averages of50.4 points and 48.5 minutes. Oops. In 1960-61, that was the averagewhich means that teams went higher than 109 shots half the time; the night Wilt tallied 55 boards, his team took 128 field goals and 41 free throws. Everyone gets sick once in a while, which would have cost Chamberlain precious time during those 37 to 40 sexually active years. When Wilt grabbed a record 55 rebounds in one game against Russell, the Celtics still won. Be the first one to comment on this story. How The Sporting News covered Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game, SN 50: Chamberlain's 1961-62 season set list of unbreakable records. 2 in Wilts favor versus Drummond: Teams in 2019 dont miss enough shots. It was well known at the time the Lakers coach was not getting along well with Wilt. Fifty years ago, Wilt Chamberlain grabbed 42 rebounds (not a typo) against the Celtics. It may never be emulated again. Klay Thompson set a record by sinking 14 3s in a game, just two years after teammate Steph Curry set the record with 13. Are the Lakers dead? Duality underpins practically everything about the brief existence of the KD, Harden and Kyrie Nets. And considering he never had any children, I would suggest that he could have been infertile from an STD he caught early in his career. He had a reputation as having many partners. The modern game has caused records to fall and statistical outliers to erupt at the same frenetic pace as its games are played. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Whiteside is averaging 10.7% in the first 7 games. The secret of Wilts extraordinary rebound totals is that compared to modern centers, he wasnt actually an extraordinary rebounder. The 76ers came away with a 158128 win. The man was 6-foot-8 and weighed 220 pounds. I've (also) found out that having one woman a thousand different times is more satisfying.". Thats barely more than Drummonds average now. Aside from the fact that Chamberlain hittriple-digits, what do you really know about the game? The first one that comes to mindis obviously the100-point gameagainst the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962. Chamberlain scored 41 points in the first half, not all that surprising considering he averaged 50.4 points per game over the entire season. If Chamberlain started having sex at the age of 15, from then up to the age of 55 (when the book was published) he would have had 40 years to sleep with 20,000 women, or 500 different women a yeareasy math. For all records held by Chamberlain, click here. Wilt collected 55 of 149 total rebounds in his record game. His skills revolutionised the game, yet his own prowess seemed to bore him, and he played best answering internal challenges. Wilt's ascension as a . The publicity turned the book into a bestseller. Chamberlains besting of Bill Russell on the boards wasnt just the most recent 40-rebound game; it was the last. But it is believed that Chamberlain achieved a quintuple-double in that game. Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game & more . In 2018-19, 11 qualifying players boast a higher mark, and that group includes Embiid, who lauds Wilt as superior to Michael Jordan specifically because of records like these. Answer: I read up on Wilt. On one it says "Blocked 9 shots and nicked at least a dozen more" and it's just tallied as 21 blocks. On November 24, 1960, Philadelphia Warrior Wilt Chamberlain snags 55 rebounds in a game against the Boston Celtics and sets an NBA record for the most rebounds in a single game. Before Chamberlain, basketball's lumbering giants mostly set immobile screens for more skilled shooters. Let it Disturbing perimeter, on ball defence; Wilt was a rim standing guy like Eaton,Mutombo or Shaq. --------------------------------------------------------------------, Or more likely, newspapers only reported on the number of blocks when Wilt and Russell had an unusually high number of them. Yes, he averaged more than a regulation game. But the 42 boards he gobbled up 50 years ago Thursday in an overtime win over the Boston Celtics represent his most relevant rebounding feat viewed from todays context. More broadly, last season, the leagues top 10 rebounders averaged 32 minutes per game, the lowest on record. It's not easy being Goliath. Wilt would have encountered even more, given his workload. Or, view "Trailers" for Season Field Goal Pct, or Career . To put that number in perspective, in the past decade, just four teams have taken 109 or more shots in a non-overtime game (and three of those four hit 109 exactly). As Simmons wrote in The Book of Basketball about the pace-inspired wonkiness of this era, Compare the numbers from [then to now] again. To succeed in the NFL, hell need to be an outlier among outliers. We are not making it all up in our heads, thinking well of Kris Dunn because we want to: he has real talents to bring, and a body that for the time being will allow him to use them. Report: Wilt Chamberlain may have fathered a child in 1964. Wilt Chamberlain steals per game data with additional film breakdown. Miss only one extrafree throw, and he's stuck on99. The Biggest Questions About the Seasons Stretch Run, KDs Suns Debut, Load Management, and Five-Year Anniversary of the Rockets-Clippers Tunnel Debacle. All rights reserved. Or, at least he was extraordinary in a different way. But it is believed that Chamberlain achieved a quintuple-double in that game. However, the only NBA player in history to allegedly record a quintuple-double is Wilt Chamberlain. Who could be a value signing? Since 1971when the Lakers set the benchmark for most consecutive wins, only a couple of teams have had their sights on it or even come close to tying it or breaking it the Miami Heat in 2012-13 (27) and the Golden State Warriors in 2014-15 (24). He would have a lot more steals if every opposing big took the challenge of playing him 1 on 1 as Kareem does here: https://twitter.com/bullsmanguy/status/1379037412291084288, https://twitter.com/bullsmanguy/status/1379037446818594825. Boston's Russell, at 6ft 9ins, was a consummate competitor, who recognised that Chamberlain lacked the killer instinct. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. The Knicks finished as the worst team in the Eastern Division that year, and they didn't have their full frontcourt to challenge Chamberlain in the paint. In it, the basketball great claimed to have slept with 20,000 different women during his life. At 7'1", Wilt Chamberlain may have been the most dominating and amazing basketball player of all time. After losing in the national collegiate final in his third year, he left Kansas to join the Harlem Globetrotters, where his skills made him a huge attraction. Regular season: PTS, FG, FT, 3P complete all-time. Moderators: trex_8063, Doctor MJ, PaulieWal, Quotatious, Clyde Frazier, penbeast0, Post#1 by coastalmarker99 Tue Apr 6, 2021 1:46 am, Post#2 by coastalmarker99 Tue Apr 6, 2021 1:53 am, Post#3 by penbeast0 Tue Apr 6, 2021 5:50 am, Post#4 by coastalmarker99 Tue Apr 6, 2021 10:11 am, Post#5 by penbeast0 Tue Apr 6, 2021 11:05 am, Post#6 by ty 4191 Tue Apr 6, 2021 10:28 pm, Post#7 by feyki Wed Apr 7, 2021 9:15 am, Post#8 by 70sFan Wed Apr 7, 2021 9:38 am, Post#9 by feyki Wed Apr 7, 2021 9:45 am, Post#10 by BullsFan45 Wed Apr 7, 2021 10:44 am, Post#11 by DCasey91 Wed Apr 7, 2021 10:55 am, Post#12 by 70sFan Wed Apr 7, 2021 10:57 am. Find out more. Of course this is all s. Drummond hit that mark in a game this season. Go back in time and learn about Wilt Chamberlain's early years growing up, and early years in the NBA. RRR Deserves to Make Oscar History. Rules were changed to help teams cope with Wilt's skills; the same thing would happen when he turned professional. So in addition to the advantage prior-generation players had because of their eras pace, and in addition to the advantage prior-generation players had because of their eras field goal inaccuracies, prior-generation players were also allowed to play more.