Wilt Chamberlain

When Wilton Norman Chamberlain stepped onto the court, the whole arena knew, and not just because he was 7'1" of pure muscle. "He is Babe Ruth all over again," stated Warriors owner and Basketball Hall of Famer Eddie Gottlieb.

Wilt attended Philadelphia Overbrook High School, where he once scored 90 points in a 30 minute game. From an early age on, opponents would take chep shots at him. However, in his 1,045 games in the NBA, he never fouled out. He credited this accomplishment to his church league coach. Once, in the 10th grade, a player started throwing elbows at Wilt. His coach called a timeout and said,"Wilt, you need to remember this forever. Teams will always send players after you to provoke you, because no one can play like you. They want you to foul, to fight, to get you out of the game. If they have to sacrifice a player to get into a fight and get ejected with you, that's fine with them. That guy who gerts thrown out with you isn't one-fifth the player you are. So we lose you and they lose nobody. This is just the beginning, you'll have to learn to deal with the cheap shots. Now, here's what you do. You put the ball in the basket that much harder. You score more points, get more rebounds. When he tries to score on you, you ram the ball down his throat. That is how you retaliate."

Dip, so called because of how he had to duck under doorways to enter rooms, attended the University of Kansas. There, Phog Allen made a bold preseason prediction,"We could win the Championship with Wilt, two sorority girls and two Phi Beta Kappas." However, Kansas lost the 1957 NCAA Chamionship game in triple-overtime to UNC. While at Kansas, Wilt averaged 29.9 ppg and 18.3 rpg. He was so dominating that 3 rules were changed to make things a little fairer.

After his outstanding 14-year NBA career, he held 43 records. Just how outstanding? He owns the single game record for most rebounds (55) and he did it against Bill Russell. He once scored 100 points in a single game, also an NBA record. An interesting footnote is the back then, there was one statician at the game. When with 46 seconds left Wilt scored 100, the statician went into the locker room to provide Wilt with a notecard with 100 written on it. He was not present when the final 46 seconds were played, so there are no stats for the last 46 seconds of the game. In 1968, he led the NBA in assists--the only time a center ever has done so. He once averaged 50.4 ppg in a season.

His physical strenth was remarkable. When a reporter asked NBA Hall of Famer Bob Lanier what the most memorable moment of his career was, he replied,"..when Wilt Chamberlain lifted me up and moved me like a coffee cup so he could get position." Lanier, by the way, is 6'10" and 270 lbs.

Yet, Wilt's negative remarks toward others, and his size made him a target. "Nobody roots for Goliath," he liked to say. Wilt recently died a very mortal death for a seemingly immortal being, and suddenly as people looked back at his career and moments, they realized..."Goliath, you weren't so bad after all."

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