Wilton Norman Chamberlain ( CHAYM-bər-lin; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player. Standing 7 feet 1 inch (2.16 m) tall, he played center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 seasons. He was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, and was elected to the NBA's 35th, 50th, and 75th anniversary teams. Chamberlain is widely considered to be one of the greatest basketball players of all time.
According to former teammate Billy Cunningham, "The NBA Guide reads like Wilt's personal diary." Chamberlain holds 72 NBA records, including several regular season records in scoring, rebounding, and durability; blocks were not counted during his career. He remains the only player to score 100 points in a single game. He also once gathered 55 rebounds, and never fouled out. Chamberlain is the only player to average 30 points and 20 rebounds per game in a season, a feat he accomplished seven times. He once averaged 50 points per game, as well as 48 minutes per game, in a season. Chamberlain ultimately won two NBA championships, four regular-season Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards, the Rookie of the Year, one Finals MVP, and one All-Star Game MVP; he was selected to thirteen All-Star Games and ten All-NBA Teams (seven First and three Second teams). He won seven scoring, eleven rebounding, nine durability, and nine field goal percentage titles.
While in college, Chamberlain played for the Kansas Jayhawks, and lost the national championship game to the North Carolina Tar Heels in triple overtime his sophomore year. He also played for the Harlem Globetrotters before joining the NBA, where he played for the Philadelphia / San Francisco Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, and Los Angeles Lakers. Chamberlain had an on-court rivalry with Boston Celtics' center Bill Russell, suffering a long string of losses before breaking through and winning the 1967 NBA Finals as a member of the 76ers. Chamberlain won his second championship as a member of the 1972 Lakers, a team which set a record with a 33-game winning streak. Following his professional basketball career, Chamberlain played volleyball in the short-lived International Volleyball Association (IVA). He served one term as league president and is enshrined in the IVA Hall of Fame.
Sportswriters had known Chamberlain by several nicknames during his playing career, calling attention to his height since his high school days. He disliked the ones that negatively portrayed his height, such as "Wilt the Stilt" and "Goliath", preferring "the Big Dipper", inspired by his friends who saw him dip his head as he walked through doorways. The name was retained in one of Chamberlain's signature moves, the "dipper dunk". He was one of the first players to make prominent use of shots like the fade away jump shot, and the finger roll. His success near the basket led to the widening of the lane, offensive goaltending rules, and the banning of inbound passes over the backboard. Chamberlain, who was always a poor free throw shooter, had the ability to dunk from the foul line, which led to the ruling that a free-throw shooter must keep his feet behind the line.
Early years
Wilton Norman Chamberlain was born on August 21, 1936, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the sixth of nine children to southerners Olivia Ruth (née Johnson), a domestic worker, and William Chamberlain, a welder and handyman. The family lived in a middle-class neighborhood in the Haddington section of West Philadelphia. Chamberlain was raised as a Baptist.
Chamberlain's first competitive sport was track. As a fourth grader, he ran the 300-yard shuttle in the 1946 Penn Relays among older teammates. Tall from an early age, he stood 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) by 10 years old. He nearly died of pneumonia in his early years and missed a whole year of school as a result. During early childhood, he was not interested in basketball, which he regarded as "a game for sissies". According to Chamberlain, however, "basketball was king in Philadelphia", so he eventually turned to the sport in seventh grade, while attending Shoemaker Junior High School.
High school career
Overbrook High School (1953–1955)
Chamberlain stood 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) when he entered Philadelphia's Overbrook High School. As an avid track and field athlete, he high jumped 6 feet, 6 inches, ran the 440 yards in 49.0 seconds and the 880 yards in 1:58.3, put the shot 53 feet, 4 inches, and long jumped 22 feet.
Chamberlain was the star player for the Overbrook Hilltoppers basketball team, wearing jersey number five. Chamberlain had a natural advantage against his peers; he became renowned for his scoring talent, physical strength, and shot-blocking abilities. According to ESPN journalist Hal Bock, Chamberlain was "scary, flat-out frightening ... before he came along, very few players at the center position possessed his level of athleticism, stature, and stamina. Chamberlain changed the game in fundamental ways no other player did." In this period of his life, his three lifelong nicknames "Wilt the Stilt", "Goliath", and "The Big Dipper"—his favorite—were coined.
Chamberlain led the team to two city championships over three seasons, with Overbrook logging a 56–3 win-loss record. He broke Hall of Fame guard Tom Gola's Philadelphia-high-school scoring record (2,222 points) and graduated with 2,252 points, averaging 37.4 points per game.
1953: city runner-up
Chamberlain averaged 31 points per game during his 1953 high-school season and led his team to a 71–62 win over the Northeast High School team of Hall of Fame guard Guy Rodgers. Chamberlain scored 34 points as Overbrook won the Philadelphia Public League title and gained a spot in the city championship game against West Catholic High School, the winner of the rival Catholic league. In that game, West Catholic quadruple-teamed Chamberlain throughout the game, and despite his 29 points, the Hilltoppers lost 54–42.
1954: city champions
In his second season, Chamberlain led Overbrook to a 19–0 season. He scored a high-school record 71 points against Roxborough. The Hilltoppers comfortably won the Public League title after again beating Northeast High, as Chamberlain scored 40 points. Overbrook then won the city title by defeating South Catholic 74–50. Chamberlain scored 32 points and Overbrook finished the season undefeated.
During his summer vacations, Chamberlain worked as a bellhop at Kutsher's Hotel. Owners Milton and Helen Kutsher maintained a lifelong friendship with Chamberlain. Red Auerbach, the coach of the NBA's Boston Celtics, was also athletic director of the summer basketball league at Kutscher's; Auerbach spotted Chamberlain playing there and had him play one-on-one against University of Kansas (KU) standout and national champion B. H. Born, elected NCAA Most Outstanding Player in 1953. Chamberlain won 25–10; Born was so dejected he gave up a promising NBA career and became a tractor engineer; according to Born, "If there were high school kids that good, I figured I wasn't going to make it to the pros". Auerbach wanted Chamberlain to go to a New England university so the Celtics could draft him as a territorial pick but Chamberlain did not respond.
1955: city champions
In Chamberlain's third and final Overbrook season, he continued his high scoring, logging 74, 78, and 90 points in three consecutive games. The Hilltoppers suffered just one loss, to Farrell High 59–58. Overbrook won the Public League a third time, beating West Philadelphia 78–60; in the city championship game, they again played West Catholic. Chamberlain scored 35 points and led Overbrook to an 83–42 victory. He was retroactively honored as Mr. Basketball USA for 1955, the earliest year for which such a selection was made.
Christian Street YMCA
In 1953, while still a sophomore in high school, Chamberlain won his first championship. He led Christian Street YMCA to the title in the national YMCA tournament in High Point, North Carolina, beating the local favorite and defending champion High Point team 85–79. Chamberlain was the youngest member of the team.
Pittsburgh Raiders and Quakertown Fays
On December 21, 1952, Chamberlain played for the Pittsburgh Raiders under the pseudonym of George Marcus in a professional game against the Cumberland Old Germans. At the ages of 16 and 17, Chamberlain, using the same pseudonym, played several games for the semi-professional team Quakertown Fays of Quakertown, Pennsylvania, during the 1954–55 season. The games were reported in local publications, but Chamberlain tried to keep them secret from the Amateur Athletic Union because they jeopardised his eligibility to play amateur basketball.
College career
After his last Overbrook season, more than 200 universities tried to recruit Chamberlain. Among others, UCLA offered Chamberlain the opportunity to become a movie star, the University of Pennsylvania wanted to buy him diamonds, and Cecil Mosenson, Chamberlain's coach at Overbrook, was offered a coaching position if he could persuade Chamberlain to accept an offer.
Chamberlain wished to experience life away from home, so he eliminated colleges from the East Coast; he also ruled out the South because of racial segregation and felt West Coast basketball was of a lower quality than in other regions. This left the Midwest as Chamberlain's probable choice. After visiting KU and talking with the school's coach, Phog Allen, Chamberlain announced he was going to play college basketball at Kansas.
University of Kansas (1956–1958)
In 1955, Chamberlain entered the University of Kansas (KU); he was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity and was president of his pledge class. As he had at Overbrook, Chamberlain displayed his diverse athletic talent at KU. He ran the 100-yard dash in 10.9 seconds, shot-putted fifty-six feet (17 m), triple jumped more than fifty feet (15 m), and won the high jump in the Big Eight Conference track-and-field championships in three consecutive years. Chamberlain allegedly dunked on an experimental 12-foot basket set up by Phog Allen.
Chamberlain's freshman team debut was highly anticipated; the freshman team played against the varsity, who were favored to win their conference that year. Chamberlain dominated his older college teammates by scoring 42 points (16–35 from the field, 10–12 on free throws), grabbing 29 rebounds, and registering 4 blocks.
Chamberlain was the catalyst for several 1956 NCAA basketball rule changes, including the requirement for a shooter to keep both feet behind the line during a free-throw attempt. He had a 50-inch (130 cm) vertical leap, and was capable of converting foul shots by dunking without a running start, beginning his movement just steps behind the top of the key. An inbounds pass over the backboard was banned because of Chamberlain. Offensive goaltending, also called basket interference, was introduced as a rule in 1956 after Bill Russell had exploited it at San Francisco and Chamberlain was soon to enter college play.
Chamberlain's prospects of playing under coach Allen ended when Allen turned 70 and retired shortly after in accordance with KU regulations. According to biographer Robert Cherry, it is doubtful Chamberlain would have chosen KU if he had known Allen was going to retire. Chamberlain had a poor relationship with Allen's successor, Dick Harp. For many years following Chamberlain's departure from KU, critics said he wanted to leave the Midwest or was embarrassed by not being able to win a championship. In 1998, Chamberlain returned to Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas, to participate in a jersey-retiring ceremony for his No. 13 jersey. He said, "There's been a lot of conversation ... that I have some dislike for the University of Kansas. That is totally ridiculous."
Sophomore season (1957): national runner-up to North Carolina
On December 3, 1956, Chamberlain made his varsity basketball debut as a center for the Kansas Jayhawks. In his first game, he scored 52 points and grabbed 31 rebounds, breaking both all-time Kansas records in an 87–69 win against the Northwestern Wildcats, a team with Chamberlain's future NBA teammate Joe Ruklick playing center. Chamberlain led a talented squad of starters, including Maurice King, Gene Elstun, John Parker, and Ron Loneski; the Jayhawks went 13–1 until they lost a game 56–54 against the Oklahoma State Cowboys, who held the ball for the last three-and-a -half minutes with no intention of scoring a basket, which was still possible in the days before the shot clock, introduced by the NCAA in 1984.
Kansas finished the regular season 21–2 and were Big Seven conference champions. Chamberlain was named first-team All-American. Teammate Monte Johnson stated Chamberlain had "unbelievable endurance and speed ... and was never tired. When he dunked, he was so fast that a lot of players got their fingers jammed [between Chamberlain's hand and the rim]." By this time, several aspects of Chamberlain's game, such as his finger roll, his fadeaway jump shot—which he could also make as a bank shot—his passing, and his shot-blocking, were already developed.
The Jayhawks were one of twenty-three teams selected to play in the 1957 NCAA basketball tournament. The Midwest Regional was held in Dallas, Texas, which at the time was segregated. In the first game, the Jayhawks played the all-white SMU Mustangs, and KU's John Parker later said: "The crowd was brutal. We were spat on, pelted with debris, and subjected to the vilest racial epithets possible." KU won 73–65 in overtime, and police had to escort the Jayhawks out. The next game against Oklahoma City was equally unpleasant, with KU winning 81–61.
In the semifinals, the Jayhawks defeated the two-time defending national champion San Francisco Dons 80–56; Chamberlain scored 32 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and had (at least) seven blocked shots. Chamberlain's performance led Kansas to an insurmountable lead, and he rested on the bench for the final three-and-three-quarter minutes of the game.
In the NCAA finals, the second-ranked Kansas Jayhawks played the top-ranked, undefeated North Carolina Tar Heels, led by All-American and National Player of the Year Lennie Rosenbluth. Tar Heels coach Frank McGuire used several unorthodox tactics to thwart Chamberlain. For the tip-off, he sent his shortest player Tommy Kearns to upset Chamberlain; and the Tar Heels spent the rest of the night triple-teaming him, one defender in front, one behind, and a third arriving as soon as he got the ball. With the Tar Heels' fixation on Chamberlain, the Jayhawks shot only 27% from the field in contrast with 64% for the Tar Heels, and trailed 22–29 at halftime. With 10 minutes to go, North Carolina led 40–37 and stalled the game as they passed the ball around with no intention of scoring a basket. After several Tar Heel turnovers, the game was tied at 46 at the end of regulation.
Each team scored two points in the first overtime; Kansas froze the ball in return during the second overtime, keeping the game tied at 48. In the third overtime, the Tar Heels scored two consecutive baskets but Chamberlain executed a three-point play, leaving KU trailing 52–51. After King scored a basket, Kansas was ahead by one point. With 10 seconds remaining, Tar Heels' center Joe Quigg pump faked then drove to the basket. Chamberlain blocked Quigg's shot but was also called for the foul. Quigg made his two foul shots to put the Tar Heels up 54–53. For the final play, Harp called for Ron Loneski to pass the ball into Chamberlain in the low post but Quigg tipped the pass and Kearns recovered it, and the Tar Heels won the game.
Despite the loss, Chamberlain, who scored 23 points and 14 rebounds, was elected the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. Chamberlain considered it the most painful loss of his life, the first time his team lost despite his impressive individual statistics. It is considered by sportswriters one of the sport's greatest games: North Carolina's first of six NCAA national titles, the first national final to go into overtime and still the only one to go into triple overtime.
Junior season (1958)
In Chamberlain's junior season of 1957–58, the Jayhawks' matches were increasingly frustrating for him. Knowing how good he was, opponents resorted to freeze-ball tactics and routinely used three or more players to guard him. Teammate Bob Billings commented, "It was not fun basketball ... we were just out chasing people throwing the basketball back and forth". Chamberlain averaged 30.1 points for the season and led the Jayhawks to an 18–5 record — three of the losses coming while he was out with a urinary infection. The Jayhawks' season ended because KU came in second in the league and only conference winners were invited to the NCAA tournament. Chamberlain was again named an All-American, along with future NBA Hall-of-Famers Elgin Baylor of Seattle University, Oscar Robertson of Cincinnati, and Guy Rodgers, who was now playing for Temple University.
Having lost enjoyment in NCAA basketball and wanting to earn money, Chamberlain left college and sold a story titled "Why I Am Leaving College" to Look magazine for $10,000, a large sum when NBA players earned $9,000 in a season. In two seasons at KU, he averaged 29.9 points and 18.3 rebounds per game while totaling 1,433 points and 877 rebounds. Despite only playing in 48 games and last playing in 1958, Chamberlain's 877 rebounds is still 8th all-time in Kansas history. By the time Chamberlain was 21 and not yet a professional, he had been featured in Time, Life, Look, and Newsweek.
Professional career
Harlem Globetrotters (1958–1959)
After his frustrating junior year, Chamberlain wanted to become a professional player. At that time, the NBA did not accept players until after their college graduating class had been completed; Chamberlain decided to play for the Harlem Globetrotters in 1958 for $50,000. The team enjoyed a sold-out tour of the Soviet Union in 1959; they were greeted by General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev prior to the start of a game at Moscow's Lenin Central Stadium. One Globetrotter skit involved Captain Meadowlark Lemon collapsing to the ground; instead of helping him up, Chamberlain threw him several feet into the air and caught him like a doll. Lemon, who at that time weighed 210 lb (95 kg), later said Chamberlain was "the strongest athlete who ever lived".
In later years, Chamberlain frequently joined the Globetrotters in the off-season and fondly recalled his time there because he was no longer jeered at or asked to break records, but was one of several artists who loved to entertain audiences. On March 9, 2000, the Globetrotters retired his No. 13 jersey.
Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors (1959–1965)
Chamberlain made his NBA debut on October 24, 1959, starting for the Philadelphia Warriors. He was listed as 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) tall and 258 lb (117 kg). He became the NBA's highest-paid player when he signed for $30,000 in his rookie contract. In comparison, the previous top earner was Bob Cousy of the Celtics with $25,000, the same sum Eddie Gottlieb used to buy the Warriors franchise in 1952.
1959–60 NBA season: MVP, All-Star Game MVP and Rookie of the Year
In the 1959–60 NBA season, Chamberlain joined a Philadelphia Warriors squad that was coached by Neil Johnston. All five starters were native Philadelphians: Chamberlain, Tom Gola, Guy Rodgers, Hall-of-Fame forward Paul Arizin, and Ernie Beck. In his first NBA game, played against the New York Knicks, Chamberlain scored 43 points and grabbed 28 rebounds. In his third game, Chamberlain recorded 41 points and a then-career-high 40 rebounds in a 124–113 win over the visiting Syracuse Nationals. In his fourth game, Philadelphia played the reigning champion Boston Celtics—who were coached by Auerbach, whose offer Chamberlain had rejected several years before—and Bill Russell, who was lauded as one of the best defensive pivots in the game.
In the first of many match-ups, Chamberlain outscored Russell with 30 points against Russell's 28 points, but Boston won the game and the Chamberlain–Russell rivalry would grow to become one of the NBA's greatest of all time. On November 10, 1959, Chamberlain posted 39 points and a new career-high 43 rebounds in a 126–125 win over the visiting Knicks. He recorded a rock n' roll record in January 1960, singing That's Easy to Say and By the River.
Chamberlain was selected to the Eastern Conference All-Star team, winning the All-Star Game and the All-Star Game MVP award with a 23-point, 25-rebound performance. On January 25, 1960, Chamberlain had 50 points and 40 rebounds in an NBA game, a rare occurrence. During the game against the Detroit Pistons, Chamberlain recorded 58 points, 42 rebounds, and 4 assists in a winning effort. His 58 points were a then-career-high, and he later tied that on February 21, when he recorded 58 points and 24 rebounds in a 131–121 win over the visiting Knicks.
In his first NBA season, Chamberlain averaged 37.6 points, 27.0 rebounds and 46.4 minutes played, breaking the previous regular-season records. To this day no other player has ever averaged more rebounds or minutes played in a season, and only one player, Elgin Baylor, has ever averaged more points in a season than Chamberlain did in his rookie year. He needed only 56 games to score 2,102 points, breaking the all-time regular-season scoring record of Bob Pettit, who needed 72 games to score 2,101 points. Chamberlain broke eight NBA records, and he was named both Rookie of the Year and MVP that season.
The Warriors entered the 1960 NBA playoffs and beat the Syracuse Nationals, setting up a game against the Eastern Division-champion Celtics. According to Cherry, Celtics coach Auerbach ordered his forward Tom Heinsohn to commit personal fouls on Chamberlain; whenever the Warriors took foul shots, Heinsohn grabbed and shoved Chamberlain to prevent him from running back quickly. Auerbach's intention was for the Celtics to throw the ball quickly enough to prevent Chamberlain, a prolific shot-blocker, from returning to his own basket in time, and Boston could score an easy fastbreak basket. The teams split the first two games but Chamberlain became annoyed with Heinsohn and punched him during Game 3. In the scuffle, Chamberlain injured his hand, and Philadelphia lost the next two games. In Game 5, with his hand healthy, Chamberlain recorded 50 points and 35 rebounds in a 128–107 win over the Celtics, extending the series to a Game 6. In Game 6, Heinsohn scored the decisive basket with a last-second tip-in, and the Warriors lost the series 4–2.
Chamberlain then shocked Warriors' fans by saying he was thinking of retiring. He was tired of being double-teamed or triple-teamed, and of teams executing hard personal fouls on him. He also expressed a constant fear that he might lose his temper one day. Celtics forward Heinsohn said, "Half the fouls against him were hard fouls ... he took the most brutal pounding of any player ever". Gottlieb coaxed Chamberlain back into the NBA with a salary increase to $65,000.
1960–61 NBA season: scoring, rebounding, durability, and field goal titles
Chamberlain's 1960–61 NBA season started with a 42-point and 31-rebound performance in a 133–123 road win against the Syracuse Nationals. On November 24, 1960, Chamberlain grabbed an NBA-record 55 rebounds, along with 34 points and 4 assists, in a 132–129 home loss against the Russell-led Boston Celtics. On November 29, Chamberlain recorded 44 points, 38 rebounds, and a then-career-high 7 assists in a 122–121 road win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Chamberlain exceeded his rookie-season statistics, averaging 38.4 points and 27.2 rebounds per game. He became the first player to score more than 3,000 points, and the first and still the only player to exceed 2,000 rebounds in a single season, grabbing 2,149 boards. Chamberlain won his first field-goal percentage title, scored almost 32% of his team's points, and collected 30.4% of their rebounds. Chamberlain failed to convert his play into team success, this time bowing out against the Nationals in a three-game sweep. According to Cherry, Chamberlain was "difficult" and did not respect coach Johnston, who was unable to handle him. In retrospect, Gottlieb said, "My mistake was not getting a strong-handed coach ... [Johnston] wasn't ready for big time".
1961–62 NBA season: 100-point game and 42-point All-Star Game record
In the 1961–62 NBA season, the Warriors were coached by Frank McGuire, who had masterminded Chamberlain's triple-overtime loss in the NCAA championship against the Tar Heels. In that year, Chamberlain set several all-time records which have since never been threatened; he averaged 50.4 points and grabbed 25.7 rebounds per game.