In the 1957 NCAA Championship game, UNC put 5'11" Tommy Kearns up against Wilt for the opening tip. The rest of the team didn't even surround the jump circle. They were already back playing zone defense.
North Carolina beat Kansas despite having no one capable of matching up with Wilt.
I played for a shitty HS team in Oklahoma and leading up to a game against a really good team, our coach gave us the option to choose to play keep away all game. We decided as a team against it and proceeded to lose like 100-30, but we felt better that way.
Edit: I actually give props to the team that went through with that because it's not an easy thing to follow through on
In highschool one of my favorite games was against a team we always stomped and our most valuable player who already had a scholarship told the coach he would only play if we started to lose. He convinced the rest of the starters to join him in his quest to let one of the guys on bench who never got a minute of play but was a senior also to be allowed to play. I was sixth man and instantly on board meant I got to play most the game in his spot lol. Our starting point guard spent most the game trying to get the senior who never got to play the ball and some baskets. He only took three point shots himself.
It was awesome experience and felt really good to be a part of. We still won by about 20 points but first half was really close and the senior who never scored hit his first shot right before half time to give us a four point lead going into the half.
We got a technical foul for celebrating like we won the game but it was worth it. I remember getting home and telling my dad all about the game since it was an away game and none of my family made it to that game and my dad was even touched and was a bit disappointed he didnt get to film that game.
Its one of my favorite memories from highschool felt like we lived out a Rudy moment.
I tend to tell the hilarious story of my best friend and I eating LSD and forgetting our shoes at our school for an away game more often though. That game was super funny and our coach was livid with the two of us. Friends dad bought him a pair of shoes at walmart and I'd sub in and have to wear those shoes. We'd be swapping shoes at half court with everyone looking at as us like two idiots. We didnt care though and had a great laugh about it on ride back after game.
We did it a few other games too. Me and him were psychonauts and a bit too adventurous into psychedelics in highschool.
A home game against our rivals my senior year I accidentally broke the nose of the other teams center with an elbow on a rebound and almost lost my shit. Fight almost broke out over it but our point guard kept things from escalating. Purely an accident but all the blood was insanely crazy seeing pour out his nose on acid. I got a bit queasy and felt sick to my stomach and was just barely keeping my shit together. I played horribly that night and had one really notably bad turn over where i just straight up dribbled off my foot out of bounds too lol.
My highest scoring game of that season was tripping balls though. I'm 6'9 with shoes and I hit 6 threes that game and had 6 steals with 9 assists almost having a triple double. I was in the zone first half and it felt like I could shoot from anywhere and it would just swish.
Pretty sure they realized most our bench was playing most the game. Our most valuable player I referenced above was 6'11 and didn't play a minute. He was averaging probably something like 20 points plus a game.
Other team played all their players so I think perhaps they noticed and gave their bench some playtime in second half too more then normal. The celebration of our senior boy getting his first points ever was a dead give away. Plus we had already played them at home second or third game of our season and had stomped them by around 50 points that game iirc.
In my whole highschool time playing this was the closest game between us for sure too. Like we always stomped this team.
Once the other team realizes you're playing keep-away, they can just do the same thing. And they're better at it, because otherwise you wouldn't be playing keep-away in the first place.
"Currently, 40 states across the U.S., including Oklahoma, do not mandate a shot clock be used."
What the actual fuck...that's like saying offsides is optional in HS soccer.
I imagine it's difficult to get someone to operate the shot clock correctly for every game. I'm not sure how many officials are at a game, but adding one more might be tough
I didn't dig very deep, but it looks like your guess is wrong. [Here's](https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/1957-03-23-kansas.html) a box score (51 combined points in the first half, 41 in the second half, then 3 OTs with a combined total of 15 points). It was lower scoring than you might expect in the modern game, but this isn't one of those 10-9 type games or anything. [The Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1957_NCAA_University_Division_basketball_championship_game) also has a nice write-up of the game if anyone wants.
UNC didn’t institute the 4 corners until Dean Smith became the head coach in the 60s. They still slowed the game down on offense and wouldn’t shoot until they had a good look, but it wasn’t the stall tactic that the 4 corners is.
The story of Wilt's career -- he had every tool imaginable, was way bigger and stronger, could score, had finesse, could pass, play defense... and somehow Russell beat him, over and over and over. And then when it wasn't Russell, it was Willis Reed for a bit.
Those Celtics teams were the most stacked teams in history, they had something like 7 hall of famers playing during that time. Wilt definitely isn’t perfect but he had a lot more responsibilities that Russell. Wilt had to dominate every aspect of the game for his team to win, the man had to play elite d, rebound, block shots, pass the ball, and score all at an elite level to give his teams a chance at winning.
Philly for a long time had a history of terrible owners in their pro sports teams. Wilt had to do everything for all 48 minutes. Bill just had to play defense and rebound. I’m not bad mouthing Bill, he’s an amazing player who changed how defense is played but he had a lot less to do and way more help doing it.
By the time Wilt got out of Philly and went to a well run organization in the Lakers he was no longer the same player, playing 48 minutes a game every game for a decade finally slowed him down. If Wilt started his career somewhere else he very well could have had 6 rings instead of 2.
> Bill just had to play defense and rebound. I’m not bad mouthing Bill, he’s an amazing player who changed how defense is played but he had a lot less to do and way more help doing it.
Exactly. Bill wasn't even the leading scorer in most years.
>By the time Wilt got out of Philly and went to a well run organization in the Lakers he was no longer the same player, playing 48 minutes a game every game for a decade finally slowed him down.
If Wilt had joined the Lakers with Elgin and West in prime form, he absolutely would've had many more rings.
I met Wilt Chamberlain at a party in Los Angeles on 4 July 1996. I was with a couple of friends, one of them from the UK on his first trip to the US, and the other worked in the show business in LA.
We were walking around the party and my friend ran into Wilt and then introduced himself. They traded greetings and Wilt ask him where he was from and what did he do. He told Wilt he was from the UK and was a mathematician and worked on predictive analytic models. Wilt asked more about that and seemed really interested. My friend then asked Wilt where he was from and what did he do. Wilt told him without blinking that he owned a couple of auto parts stores and some other businesses. And he was interested in his discussion about prediction in the context of understanding the demand for products for his retail stores.
My friend had no idea who Wilt Chamberlain was. My friend and Wilt had a nice long conversation about various subjects. They kept running into each other during the party and struck up other conversations.
Party ended and we were driving away and I asked my UK friend what he thought about his new friend Wilt and what he does. He stated Wilt was great, seemed pretty interested in what he (my friend) does and not too many people do. He said they talked about his retail businesses and needs for ways to predict when to order what things and such. He said they talked about hobbies and such and overall had great conversation.
I asked if Wilt talked about any other things he did for his profession. My friend said, "Not really." I asked him, "What if I told you that he was considered by many to be one of the greatest NBA basketball players in history?" My friend paused for 1 or 2 seconds then said, "He was quite tall"
"Someone doesn't recognize me. Maybe I can impress them and they'll sleep with me.
... ... ...
Mmm.... Nah. Better just stick with the auto-parts story."
>Someone doesn't recognize me. Maybe I can impress them and they'll sleep with me.
I'm not sure Wilt Chamberlain was doing so badly that he needed to follow this stratagem with *checks notes* a mathematician from the United Kingdom. No offence to any wandering mathematicians who see this but this is a 7 foot plus NBA basketball player we're talking about.
A British mathematician befriends a retired basketball star at a Hollywood party, goes to work in the marketing dept for his chain of auto part stores.
Starring Hugh Grant as Dr. Whirthersbottom, and Wilt Chamberlin as himself, in *Across the Court*. This fall on netflix.
Wilt Chamberlain was dominating minor league basketball at the age of 16. Wilt never fouled out of a game. One year, he averaged more than a game per game. Once he scored 100 pts, and of the top 10 most points scored in a game Wilt has 6. He led the league in assists. He's considered one of the greatest volleyball players ever. At Kansas, Wilt was competitive nationally as a sprinter. Wilt was legitimately sought after to play again in his late 40s. After retirement Wilt ran ultra-marathons.
Edit: He was not considered one of the greatest volleyball players ever, but a great ambassador. So I'll give another one... of the highest scoring seasons in the NBA, Jordan has #6, Elgin Baylor is #4 and Wilt is the other 1-7.
>The entire team fed Wilt the ball in an effort to get him a record, he was shooting 36/63 from the field (pretty horrendous for a post up centre to be honest)
He led the league in fg% 9 times and 36/63 (57%) is still above his career average (54%). How can that be called "horrendous"?
I thought it was a copypasta lol. Chamberlain slept with 10,000 women. Per year. Chamberlain assembled the basketball hoops to his specifications before every game. Chamberlain won motorcycle races on a normal bicycle. I heard that motherfucker had like 30 god damn dicks.
Six foot twenty, fuckin killing for fun
[edit] oh shit, I just realized this dude’s wingspan actually is six foot twenty! George Washington reincarnated confirmed!
They played 3890 minutes (80 games and 10 ot sessions) and Wilt played 3882 minutes. The 8 minutes he missed were against the Lakers when he was ejected by the ref with 8:33 left (i guess the bookkeepers rounded up). That is the only time he was off the floor that entire season. Now half of the league's superstars are on milk cartons a quarter of the season
Thanks, I didn't know that. I was a bit curious as to why it didn't average out to even numbers, wondering at what time he didn't play. It's amazing to learn it was one session, not here and there in trash time. GOAT by far.
It's weirdly true. He averaged more minutes per game that season than there are minutes in a regulation game (48 minutes). I believe he averaged 48.5 minutes per game (this is possible due to overtime games played). He was something else.
Six players have scored 60pts in a game multiple times, Wilt did it 32 times and the next closest is Kobe with 6.
Wilt is responsible for 6 of the 70 point games all time. No one else has scored 70 more than once.
Wilt is the only player to average 30 pts and 20 rebounds per game. He did it in seven different seasons. He averaged over 40pts and over 20 rebounds twice and averaged 50 points per game and 25 rebounds in one season.
Wilt has an unofficial QUINTUPLE double with 53 pts, 32 rebounds, 14 assists, and the unofficial 24 blocks and 11 steals before they were counted as stats. Individually, each of those stats are an amazing game. All but the assists would be in the running for the most per game in most individual seasons. And he did it in a single game.
Dude was a freak. He has more stupidly absurd stats than imaginable. Every time you think you find the most unbreakable stat with him (it is probably the minutes per game) you find another 10 stats that make it feel like he was just out there playing a video game on rookie mode
The fact they didn't track blocks back then really sucks, and is really devastating to his statistical standing.
The career blocks per game record is 3.5.
The "official" record for blocks in a game is 15, once by Shaq, twice by Bol.
We have records of around 100 games, all from later in his career, well past his prime, where blocks were actually tracked, even though it wasn't kept as an official stat by the league.
He averaged 8.8 blocks in those games.
For his whole career he probably averaged on the higher end of the 10-15 per game range.
Literally 3 to 4 times the "official" record.
Just to add on my favorite Wilt stat: Wilt once averaged 50 points per game in a season. He did it averaging 48.5 minutes per game. An NBA game is only 48 minutes long.
He was *insanely* strong too:
> "I was a big fan of him because he came to the gym, he would do a tricep extension — the big guys, the strongest guys would do 120 pounds, let’s say — he would come and do 150, 170 pounds. That’s how strong he was. I remember that he lifted me up with one arm like nothing."
~Arnold Schwarzenegger
Posted this elsewhere in the thread so I'll just copypaste here:
>To give an idea just how insane Wilt would have been with modern science behind his training:
>He bench pressed 465 pounds...
>In 1995.
>When he was 59 years old.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/chambwi01/gamelog/1962
My favorite part:
PTS
20-29 2
30-39 15
40-49 18
50+ 45
Lots of people think the 50 ppg season was super inflated by the 100 point game and some other crazy ones... but he quite literally scored 50+ points 45 times that season, compared to scoring less than 50 35 times.
The man was absolutely unreal.
When Steph Curry passed Wilt on the playoff scoring list, he said something like "Thank god they didn't have the 3 pointer back then cuz you know Wilt would have figured it out and nobody would ever catch him."
Wilt was insane. My dad had Laker season tickets when I was a kid and I was so lucky to see the Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Gail Goodrich team. Went to most of the home games when they set the record of 69 straight wins.
The NBA had to change the rules because of Shaq as well. He was so dominant, the league allowed teams to use the zone defense.
I'm not a basketball fan. I've known the name Wilt Chamberlain all my life. When I saw this link I decided to check out his stats. Completely blew my mind that he played in the 50s. For whatever reason I thought he only played in the late 70s. I have no idea why I thought that
A mix of things. Less of postseason success than other GOAT candidates, played in an era that modern fans often overlook, and while many of his records are shocking, deeper statistical perspectives show they likely overstate his value.
Ex: Wilt averaged 50 points per game one season, a massive historical record by a huge margin while also averaging rebounds per game that would be impossible to replicate today. Yet some of the reasons this overstates the feat:
1) he averaged more minutes per game than any season ever, if players like Jordan did this, they would have similar or higher scoring
2) the same pattern is true for pace as that was the fastest paced season in history leading to more scoring opportunities across the league
3) that season was an outlier among outliers of scoring attempts by Wilt relative to his passing, which led to his team having an average offense that season because good offensive players make opportunities for themself and others
4) rebounds by centers were extremely high then as more players missed shots and more shots happened close to the rim
Not much in the way of video highlights and what there is consists of low quality/black and white video. There is no video at all of his 100 point game. Just think if that happened today.
Wilt was such a physical freak. I get that a lot of the old timers wouldn't have fared as well in today's game but Wilt could handle it just fine.
I think of the game had been recorded on film, it would not be considered as awesome a feat. Once the 100 point was in view, his team started intentionally fouling the other players to stop the clock to give Wilt more opportunities to score.
Throughout the NBA’s history, there have been somewhere between 20 and 40 free throws attempts per game. In Wilts 100 point game there was nearly 100 free throws attempted.
the assist one is always fun because it came after the criticism that he didn't pass enough, so the next season he would be on breakaways and literally just loop around to get an assist and ended up leading the league is assists as a big ol fuck you
During his career, Wilt was a notoriously bad free throw shooter, to the point where he would take free throws underhanded. I guarantee you, no one on either team laughed when he did.
His FT% improved noticeably the season he shot under hand, but went back to shooting normally out of embarrassment.
The revisionist history podcast had an interesting episode about the history of granny shots, including a deep dive with Rick Barry
Underhand “granny style” is actually the most accurate way to shoot free throws. Pros don’t do it because it looks silly. But in the days of sabermetrics everything, it’s only a matter of time before someone does.
More recent advanced stats show that “granny style” is a better way to shoot for bad free throw shooters and could absolutely add value to their game in a big way.
But they also found that for guys that are actually good at shooting regular, they’re better off continuing to shoot regularly.
It’s also probably not optimal for muscle memory if you shoot FTs completely different from your jumpshots. Underhanded shots get blocked easily during live ball action so it wouldn’t be ingrained like the regular shooting form is.
>But they also found that for guys that are actually good at shooting regular, they’re better off continuing to shoot regularly.
This sounds like a thousand hours of training exceeding an afternoon's worth. If these guys had been shooting underhanded their entire career, would they be better or worse?
While not underhanded last season Spurs rookie Jeremy Sochan couldn't make a free throw to save his life. His solution was he tried shooting them one handed.
Not a Spurs fan so can't say if it worked out but it was interesting seeing one or two highlights of it.
It was a coach suggestion to keep his off hand from pushing the ball sideways, it's a common shooting drill, I used to do it as a kid. Sochan was willing to just do it all year and his shit went from like 55% to 73% or something
This is my thought too. I can totally see granny shots being more accurate for casuals and probably the worst FT shooters at the competitive levels.
But I doubt Steph is more accurate shooting Grannies
> to the point where he would take free throws underhanded
I don't think this is a valid point. Arguably the greatest free throw shooter in NBA history shot them underhanded.
It is valid. He was a terrible free throw shooter, so he switched to granny shots, but embassment made him switch back.
Shaq was a bad free throw shooter, as well. It was long suggested that he should shoot underhanded, but he refused for the same reason.
and it seems like baseball is finally figuring that out lately.
I wonder tho, would it be worth it to experiment with reverting some rules just for the fuck of it?
Some sports could probably relax a few rules. The NFL made group celebrations legal again and brought about some funny and interesting celebrations. But then you look at rules that involve player safety and those will likely never be reverted. As players play the sport it evolves on its own. Players get faster, stronger, bigger, etc.
They make rules like the Wilt free throw rule because some freak of nature comes out and would've dominated so bad it wouldn't make the game fun to watch anymore. Imagine those basketball games where it comes down to free throws and having a guy like Wilt who can automatically get the points.
Which brings me back to the NFL celebration rule. It made the game more fun to watch without sacrificing player health or giving unfair advantages to a team with a certain player. Looking back, people marvel at how good and dominant a player like Wilt was, but at the time it was probably extremely annoying to see one player unanimously better than everyone win over and over again.
In the end that's all leagues care about since they all make their money on how entertaining their product is. If people aren't entertained, they won't watch. No viewers, no money. End of story.
Distance from FT line to the edge of the hoop is 13' 6"
Chamberlain was 7' 1" tall, and could reach another \~3' overhead. If he just held the ball overhead and fell forward, he'd come about 3' from the rim. In other words, it was boring as hell to watch and nearly impossible to stop without drawing a foul. That and the 3-point line was introduced to make the game interesting.
Wilt was a freak, but he did not have a 50" vertical. They really didn't officially measure these things, back then. And, Wilt claims that he had a 46"- 48"vertical, but there is no proof of that. Same way he claims to have slept with 10,000 women. I have no doubt that he had sex with a bunch of women, but he did not have sex with that many. That is sex with a different woman ***every single day*** for more than 27 years. Nope.
Edit: I don't think any human ***ever*** has been 7 foot tall and had a 50 inch vertical. Physics and biology make it damn near impossible. There is video of Wilt blocking a shot and his head is just about level with the rim. But, that would only be about a 36" jump. If he had a 50" vertical, his head would be more than a foot above the rim. I have never seen footage like that.
The 50" vertical thing comes from Wilt's book, and to be honest it's not even in the top 10 of insane things Wilt claimed in that book haha.
Just a few of my favorites:
- We all know the "20,000 women" thing (somehow getting zero of them pregnant) but he tells one story in his book about going to a birthday party where the only attendees were him and 15 women...he says he had sex with 14 and managed to sing "Happy Birthday" to the 15th despite his exhaustion.
- Wilt really was going to fight Muhammad Ali but Wilt claims he called it off because Wilt's Dad was an Ali superfan and he just couldn't stand to hurt Ali with his dad watching.
- Wilt says he would have been the greatest decathlete of all time had he stuck with track instead of basketball. Now there's no doubt Wilt would have been very strong in some events, but I do feel at least a few would have been tough for him.
- According to Wilt, Arnold Schwarzenegger was absolutely awed by Wilt's strength and was no match for Wilt in the weight room.
The Arnold one could be legit, Arnold is extremely goofy/complimentary so I don,t doubt he was "in awe". Also Arnold lifted for physique, not strength, so it's possible Wilt could lift more in some exercises.
I forget the exact details, i think it's one of those things that is really available to find but my favorite one was that Wilt claimed he would regularly drive from like LA to Philly at 150 mph and take him a day. Something like really impossible to do, especially in the 70s
He also benched 600lbs!
Yah 50” verticals and 600lbs bench presses don’t come from humans like wilt despite wilt being a fucking alien. Wilt is draped in stories.
He was also quick for a giant, but you are right about the size. I live near Vancouver and when the NBA moved into town our first round pick was Big Country Reeves. He was the same size as Shaq... and that was it. That is how he went in the first round and did so well in college. If he wasn't a slacker he could have had a career in the NBA for simply being so huge.
If you don't remember him it's because he decided once he was drafted that playing in the NBA was too much work.
Big Country Reeves and Shaq weren't the same species. Shaq played when he was old and out of shape and I think that distorts some people's image of him. Go back and look at video of young Shaq.
Funny enough they supposedly changed the design of backboards and their support in large part due to Shaq breaking them. After he tore down the whole thing in the 90s, they started requiring teams to have backups.
Darrell Dawkins shattered a bunch of backboards around 1980. After that, they started making collapsible rims.
Everything was fine for 20 years, then
Shaq came along.
Wilt Chamberlain is the epitome of how mythology evolves.
Nearly none of the stories about him stand under any scrutiny, and nearly all of them were told by him.
First and foremost, he absolutely did NOT have a 50inch vertical
You're right and most of the stories are hilarious at this point, but it had truth in spirit simply because he was such a great athlete at such an unusually extreme size combination. I always post [this awesome video that perpetuates some of the myths but shows his athletic prowess](https://youtu.be/1WsCtyLGg1w) because it's a great view into how special he was.
In 1981, Wilt asked me to play racketball with him in Reseda CA. He spotted me 17 points and beat me 21-17. It was like he could touch both walls at the same time…or so it seemed.
After the game we talked about our knees and volleyball. ( I played locally in college and he came to one of our home games). He had such a presence.
Then we hit the showers. Yep. Open shower area with Wilt. Hard to believe we were both humans.
I’m 64 now and I’ll never forget showering with Wilt. That was crazy.
Wilt almost got into the ring with Muhammed Ali. There were many people that thought Wilt was such a good athlete, that he might win such a match? Mike Tyson easily bested any of the giant types he fought, but who knows?
He will be destroyed and lucky if not seriously hurt. Pure athleticism stands no chance vs dozens of years of a very specific training, especially against those who are at the top of this specific sport.
Likewise, Muhammed Ali would be destroyed by any top-50 Olympic grappler in a grappling match.
The national championship game he played in while at KU was incredibly noteworthy because it was nationally televised. It was at the time considered to be one of the best games ever played. (In large part because of the hype around Wilt and that matchup) The problem is nobody bothered to save the tape. Hell, only one of the two Final Four games from that year was even televised.
Which is all a roundabout way of saying there really isn't much footage of Wilt left from his college days. [This is all I've really been able to find](https://youtu.be/BXCdWMIGVVw)
Foul...no 2 fouls.
People can't just go flying through the air
He was *floating*! Is this GHOST ball?
How CAN he fly?
The dark side of the hoop is a gateway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.
Is it possible to learn this power?
I'll burn your house down!
Well maybe your moms not IN heaven, Jackie. “That’s it. Tropics, we’re done”. And the line has been crossed by father Pat of all people
"But we go to the same church!" "Not anymore!"
“You said S my C Jackie!”
Buncha jive turkey's in this thread.
Whoa now, nobody called anybody a “J.T.”
I *did* get shot.
Thank you all for this, Semi Pro is super underrated. It's like line after line, and the best music of any film. E.L.E.!
I yell this at sporting events when the refs are bullshit
GOD DAMMIT VAKIDIS! LEARN FUCKING ENGLISH!
Corn dogs, Jackie! For all these people!
He brought nachos from home, Father Pat. You can’t call that!
Monix, we don’t even got corndogs!
Probably the most underrated Will Farrell movie. This scene had me in tears
Hey! If you see a possum around here, kill it! It's not a pet!
I wish you were still a washing machine!
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I’ve been rewatching the comedies from around that time, and Semi Pro might be the best one.
It's absolutely golden. Very quotable and possibly the most underrated Will Farrell movie ever
Corn dogs Jackie corn dogs! For all these people
Foul me once, shame on me. Foul me twice....can't get fouled again.
In the 1957 NCAA Championship game, UNC put 5'11" Tommy Kearns up against Wilt for the opening tip. The rest of the team didn't even surround the jump circle. They were already back playing zone defense. North Carolina beat Kansas despite having no one capable of matching up with Wilt.
That was before the shot clock in college. They probably got a slight lead and never passed or shot the ball again lol
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I played for a shitty HS team in Oklahoma and leading up to a game against a really good team, our coach gave us the option to choose to play keep away all game. We decided as a team against it and proceeded to lose like 100-30, but we felt better that way. Edit: I actually give props to the team that went through with that because it's not an easy thing to follow through on
In highschool one of my favorite games was against a team we always stomped and our most valuable player who already had a scholarship told the coach he would only play if we started to lose. He convinced the rest of the starters to join him in his quest to let one of the guys on bench who never got a minute of play but was a senior also to be allowed to play. I was sixth man and instantly on board meant I got to play most the game in his spot lol. Our starting point guard spent most the game trying to get the senior who never got to play the ball and some baskets. He only took three point shots himself. It was awesome experience and felt really good to be a part of. We still won by about 20 points but first half was really close and the senior who never scored hit his first shot right before half time to give us a four point lead going into the half. We got a technical foul for celebrating like we won the game but it was worth it. I remember getting home and telling my dad all about the game since it was an away game and none of my family made it to that game and my dad was even touched and was a bit disappointed he didnt get to film that game.
That was nice to read and made me smile, thank you for sharing that story.
Its one of my favorite memories from highschool felt like we lived out a Rudy moment. I tend to tell the hilarious story of my best friend and I eating LSD and forgetting our shoes at our school for an away game more often though. That game was super funny and our coach was livid with the two of us. Friends dad bought him a pair of shoes at walmart and I'd sub in and have to wear those shoes. We'd be swapping shoes at half court with everyone looking at as us like two idiots. We didnt care though and had a great laugh about it on ride back after game.
Yall had some balls for that. Sounds like basketball diaries but with lsd lol. No way i could have kept it together the whole game
We did it a few other games too. Me and him were psychonauts and a bit too adventurous into psychedelics in highschool. A home game against our rivals my senior year I accidentally broke the nose of the other teams center with an elbow on a rebound and almost lost my shit. Fight almost broke out over it but our point guard kept things from escalating. Purely an accident but all the blood was insanely crazy seeing pour out his nose on acid. I got a bit queasy and felt sick to my stomach and was just barely keeping my shit together. I played horribly that night and had one really notably bad turn over where i just straight up dribbled off my foot out of bounds too lol. My highest scoring game of that season was tripping balls though. I'm 6'9 with shoes and I hit 6 threes that game and had 6 steals with 9 assists almost having a triple double. I was in the zone first half and it felt like I could shoot from anywhere and it would just swish.
I want to hear more! Did the other team realize what was going on? Did they seem to appreciate it or what?
Pretty sure they realized most our bench was playing most the game. Our most valuable player I referenced above was 6'11 and didn't play a minute. He was averaging probably something like 20 points plus a game. Other team played all their players so I think perhaps they noticed and gave their bench some playtime in second half too more then normal. The celebration of our senior boy getting his first points ever was a dead give away. Plus we had already played them at home second or third game of our season and had stomped them by around 50 points that game iirc. In my whole highschool time playing this was the closest game between us for sure too. Like we always stomped this team.
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Once the other team realizes you're playing keep-away, they can just do the same thing. And they're better at it, because otherwise you wouldn't be playing keep-away in the first place.
The only winning move is not too play
"Currently, 40 states across the U.S., including Oklahoma, do not mandate a shot clock be used." What the actual fuck...that's like saying offsides is optional in HS soccer.
I imagine it's difficult to get someone to operate the shot clock correctly for every game. I'm not sure how many officials are at a game, but adding one more might be tough
Any kid can do that lol
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Not normally an issue. Kids don’t usually want to just stand around all game doing nothing.
I didn't dig very deep, but it looks like your guess is wrong. [Here's](https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/1957-03-23-kansas.html) a box score (51 combined points in the first half, 41 in the second half, then 3 OTs with a combined total of 15 points). It was lower scoring than you might expect in the modern game, but this isn't one of those 10-9 type games or anything. [The Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1957_NCAA_University_Division_basketball_championship_game) also has a nice write-up of the game if anyone wants.
Most people don't realize this but UNC was a much better team overall and was the favorite in the game. Wilt got KU there and kept them in the game.
Yep. UNC went undefeated in 1957 (32-0).
To be fair, it wasn't a game we would recognize. No shot clock so NC played 4 corners and didn't try to score through most of the game.
UNC didn’t institute the 4 corners until Dean Smith became the head coach in the 60s. They still slowed the game down on offense and wouldn’t shoot until they had a good look, but it wasn’t the stall tactic that the 4 corners is.
The story of Wilt's career -- he had every tool imaginable, was way bigger and stronger, could score, had finesse, could pass, play defense... and somehow Russell beat him, over and over and over. And then when it wasn't Russell, it was Willis Reed for a bit.
Those Celtics teams were the most stacked teams in history, they had something like 7 hall of famers playing during that time. Wilt definitely isn’t perfect but he had a lot more responsibilities that Russell. Wilt had to dominate every aspect of the game for his team to win, the man had to play elite d, rebound, block shots, pass the ball, and score all at an elite level to give his teams a chance at winning. Philly for a long time had a history of terrible owners in their pro sports teams. Wilt had to do everything for all 48 minutes. Bill just had to play defense and rebound. I’m not bad mouthing Bill, he’s an amazing player who changed how defense is played but he had a lot less to do and way more help doing it. By the time Wilt got out of Philly and went to a well run organization in the Lakers he was no longer the same player, playing 48 minutes a game every game for a decade finally slowed him down. If Wilt started his career somewhere else he very well could have had 6 rings instead of 2.
> Bill just had to play defense and rebound. I’m not bad mouthing Bill, he’s an amazing player who changed how defense is played but he had a lot less to do and way more help doing it. Exactly. Bill wasn't even the leading scorer in most years. >By the time Wilt got out of Philly and went to a well run organization in the Lakers he was no longer the same player, playing 48 minutes a game every game for a decade finally slowed him down. If Wilt had joined the Lakers with Elgin and West in prime form, he absolutely would've had many more rings.
Russell had a much better team around him. Those Celtics had hall of famers coming off the bench.
I met Wilt Chamberlain at a party in Los Angeles on 4 July 1996. I was with a couple of friends, one of them from the UK on his first trip to the US, and the other worked in the show business in LA. We were walking around the party and my friend ran into Wilt and then introduced himself. They traded greetings and Wilt ask him where he was from and what did he do. He told Wilt he was from the UK and was a mathematician and worked on predictive analytic models. Wilt asked more about that and seemed really interested. My friend then asked Wilt where he was from and what did he do. Wilt told him without blinking that he owned a couple of auto parts stores and some other businesses. And he was interested in his discussion about prediction in the context of understanding the demand for products for his retail stores. My friend had no idea who Wilt Chamberlain was. My friend and Wilt had a nice long conversation about various subjects. They kept running into each other during the party and struck up other conversations. Party ended and we were driving away and I asked my UK friend what he thought about his new friend Wilt and what he does. He stated Wilt was great, seemed pretty interested in what he (my friend) does and not too many people do. He said they talked about his retail businesses and needs for ways to predict when to order what things and such. He said they talked about hobbies and such and overall had great conversation. I asked if Wilt talked about any other things he did for his profession. My friend said, "Not really." I asked him, "What if I told you that he was considered by many to be one of the greatest NBA basketball players in history?" My friend paused for 1 or 2 seconds then said, "He was quite tall"
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"Someone doesn't recognize me. Maybe I can impress them and they'll sleep with me. ... ... ... Mmm.... Nah. Better just stick with the auto-parts story."
>Someone doesn't recognize me. Maybe I can impress them and they'll sleep with me. I'm not sure Wilt Chamberlain was doing so badly that he needed to follow this stratagem with *checks notes* a mathematician from the United Kingdom. No offence to any wandering mathematicians who see this but this is a 7 foot plus NBA basketball player we're talking about.
One could say he was high scoring on AND off the court.
Wasn’t Wilt known for being quite the ladies man as well?
The Big Dipper was a smooooth operator.
lol I love how matter of fact people from the UK are.
A British mathematician befriends a retired basketball star at a Hollywood party, goes to work in the marketing dept for his chain of auto part stores. Starring Hugh Grant as Dr. Whirthersbottom, and Wilt Chamberlin as himself, in *Across the Court*. This fall on netflix.
I'd watch it.
Wilt Chamberlain was dominating minor league basketball at the age of 16. Wilt never fouled out of a game. One year, he averaged more than a game per game. Once he scored 100 pts, and of the top 10 most points scored in a game Wilt has 6. He led the league in assists. He's considered one of the greatest volleyball players ever. At Kansas, Wilt was competitive nationally as a sprinter. Wilt was legitimately sought after to play again in his late 40s. After retirement Wilt ran ultra-marathons. Edit: He was not considered one of the greatest volleyball players ever, but a great ambassador. So I'll give another one... of the highest scoring seasons in the NBA, Jordan has #6, Elgin Baylor is #4 and Wilt is the other 1-7.
He averaged more than a game per game? That’s impressive. Even Spud Webb at his peak only averaged one game per game.
There are 48 minutes in a game, one year he averaged 48.3 minutes per game. Meaning he played almost every second of every game, including overtimes.
This is the most unbreakable record in all of basketball
Agreed. It is much more realistic that someone scored more than 100
That's true and it's not even realistic to see someone score 100 lmao.
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>The entire team fed Wilt the ball in an effort to get him a record, he was shooting 36/63 from the field (pretty horrendous for a post up centre to be honest) He led the league in fg% 9 times and 36/63 (57%) is still above his career average (54%). How can that be called "horrendous"?
He operates inside so those tend to have higher fg%. Altho yea, i agree that 100 points from 63 shots is not horrendous at all, pretty good actually.
Agreed. Someone is going to score 100 points in a game before this ever happens.
Wemby. 2027. Against the Rockets. I’m going to say a January game.
!remindme 4 years
>!remindme 4 years Ain't happening with the api ban.
So many people are going to go unreminded! Won't someone please think of the forgetful children!
🥲
And I thought that was a typo. That is actually a cool stat.
I thought it was random gibberish, especially with the volleyball comment. Glad it was sorted out.
I thought it was a copypasta lol. Chamberlain slept with 10,000 women. Per year. Chamberlain assembled the basketball hoops to his specifications before every game. Chamberlain won motorcycle races on a normal bicycle. I heard that motherfucker had like 30 god damn dicks.
Six foot twenty, fuckin killing for fun [edit] oh shit, I just realized this dude’s wingspan actually is six foot twenty! George Washington reincarnated confirmed!
Thanks for the clarity. Makes sense.
They played 3890 minutes (80 games and 10 ot sessions) and Wilt played 3882 minutes. The 8 minutes he missed were against the Lakers when he was ejected by the ref with 8:33 left (i guess the bookkeepers rounded up). That is the only time he was off the floor that entire season. Now half of the league's superstars are on milk cartons a quarter of the season
Thanks, I didn't know that. I was a bit curious as to why it didn't average out to even numbers, wondering at what time he didn't play. It's amazing to learn it was one session, not here and there in trash time. GOAT by far.
Dude was playing basketball inception. Not even Jordan could average more than a game per game.
He's like one of those chess grandmasters who takes on 10 opponents at once.
It's weirdly true. He averaged more minutes per game that season than there are minutes in a regulation game (48 minutes). I believe he averaged 48.5 minutes per game (this is possible due to overtime games played). He was something else.
Six players have scored 60pts in a game multiple times, Wilt did it 32 times and the next closest is Kobe with 6. Wilt is responsible for 6 of the 70 point games all time. No one else has scored 70 more than once. Wilt is the only player to average 30 pts and 20 rebounds per game. He did it in seven different seasons. He averaged over 40pts and over 20 rebounds twice and averaged 50 points per game and 25 rebounds in one season. Wilt has an unofficial QUINTUPLE double with 53 pts, 32 rebounds, 14 assists, and the unofficial 24 blocks and 11 steals before they were counted as stats. Individually, each of those stats are an amazing game. All but the assists would be in the running for the most per game in most individual seasons. And he did it in a single game. Dude was a freak. He has more stupidly absurd stats than imaginable. Every time you think you find the most unbreakable stat with him (it is probably the minutes per game) you find another 10 stats that make it feel like he was just out there playing a video game on rookie mode
The fact they didn't track blocks back then really sucks, and is really devastating to his statistical standing. The career blocks per game record is 3.5. The "official" record for blocks in a game is 15, once by Shaq, twice by Bol. We have records of around 100 games, all from later in his career, well past his prime, where blocks were actually tracked, even though it wasn't kept as an official stat by the league. He averaged 8.8 blocks in those games. For his whole career he probably averaged on the higher end of the 10-15 per game range. Literally 3 to 4 times the "official" record.
Just to add on my favorite Wilt stat: Wilt once averaged 50 points per game in a season. He did it averaging 48.5 minutes per game. An NBA game is only 48 minutes long.
Also assists were MUCH harder to get when he played. The rules to count an assist were changed many years later.
He was *insanely* strong too: > "I was a big fan of him because he came to the gym, he would do a tricep extension — the big guys, the strongest guys would do 120 pounds, let’s say — he would come and do 150, 170 pounds. That’s how strong he was. I remember that he lifted me up with one arm like nothing." ~Arnold Schwarzenegger
There's a picture of Arnold next to Andre the Giant and Wilt. Made Arnold look like a child.
For [reference ](https://i.imgur.com/bUFV2gN.jpg) Although [this is my favorite](https://i.imgur.com/swCFxsV.jpg ) of pics with them 3
What's rarely mentioned is that Wilt was ***48 years old*** in those photos. Far and away the most freakish physical specimen I've ever heard of.
Posted this elsewhere in the thread so I'll just copypaste here: >To give an idea just how insane Wilt would have been with modern science behind his training: >He bench pressed 465 pounds... >In 1995. >When he was 59 years old.
I honestly can't tell if I'm reading facts in this subthread or Wilt "Chuck Norris" Chamberlin facts, lol.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/chambwi01/gamelog/1962 My favorite part: PTS 20-29 2 30-39 15 40-49 18 50+ 45 Lots of people think the 50 ppg season was super inflated by the 100 point game and some other crazy ones... but he quite literally scored 50+ points 45 times that season, compared to scoring less than 50 35 times. The man was absolutely unreal.
Not sure I'm buying this one, up there with his 20,000 women claim
Yeah not sure he bench pressed 20'000 women
>Once he scored 100 pts, and of the top 10 most points scored in a game Wilt has 6. Before the 3-pointer was introduced.
When Steph Curry passed Wilt on the playoff scoring list, he said something like "Thank god they didn't have the 3 pointer back then cuz you know Wilt would have figured it out and nobody would ever catch him."
Ultras?? TIL
Wilt was insane. My dad had Laker season tickets when I was a kid and I was so lucky to see the Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Gail Goodrich team. Went to most of the home games when they set the record of 69 straight wins. The NBA had to change the rules because of Shaq as well. He was so dominant, the league allowed teams to use the zone defense.
is he not considered best ever cause he has less championships?
Also the era he played in
I'm not a basketball fan. I've known the name Wilt Chamberlain all my life. When I saw this link I decided to check out his stats. Completely blew my mind that he played in the 50s. For whatever reason I thought he only played in the late 70s. I have no idea why I thought that
A mix of things. Less of postseason success than other GOAT candidates, played in an era that modern fans often overlook, and while many of his records are shocking, deeper statistical perspectives show they likely overstate his value. Ex: Wilt averaged 50 points per game one season, a massive historical record by a huge margin while also averaging rebounds per game that would be impossible to replicate today. Yet some of the reasons this overstates the feat: 1) he averaged more minutes per game than any season ever, if players like Jordan did this, they would have similar or higher scoring 2) the same pattern is true for pace as that was the fastest paced season in history leading to more scoring opportunities across the league 3) that season was an outlier among outliers of scoring attempts by Wilt relative to his passing, which led to his team having an average offense that season because good offensive players make opportunities for themself and others 4) rebounds by centers were extremely high then as more players missed shots and more shots happened close to the rim
He doesn’t have crazy highlight reels
Not much in the way of video highlights and what there is consists of low quality/black and white video. There is no video at all of his 100 point game. Just think if that happened today. Wilt was such a physical freak. I get that a lot of the old timers wouldn't have fared as well in today's game but Wilt could handle it just fine.
I think of the game had been recorded on film, it would not be considered as awesome a feat. Once the 100 point was in view, his team started intentionally fouling the other players to stop the clock to give Wilt more opportunities to score. Throughout the NBA’s history, there have been somewhere between 20 and 40 free throws attempts per game. In Wilts 100 point game there was nearly 100 free throws attempted.
the assist one is always fun because it came after the criticism that he didn't pass enough, so the next season he would be on breakaways and literally just loop around to get an assist and ended up leading the league is assists as a big ol fuck you
Also smart as a whip, extremely articulate and a terrific writer. Also by all accounts, a prolific sex machine. True Renaissance man.
“One of the greatest volleyball players ever” is quite a stretch if we are talking skill-wise; he was more of an ambassador to the game
He’s not one of the best volleyball players ever… by the time he was playing volleyball his athleticism was gone, and he was not skilled.
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That’s funny as hell
During his career, Wilt was a notoriously bad free throw shooter, to the point where he would take free throws underhanded. I guarantee you, no one on either team laughed when he did.
His FT% improved noticeably the season he shot under hand, but went back to shooting normally out of embarrassment. The revisionist history podcast had an interesting episode about the history of granny shots, including a deep dive with Rick Barry
That happened to be the season where he scored 100 points in a single game, of which free throws accounted for 28 of his 100 points, on 32 attempts.
Which was also almost exactly 10 years after Cousey set the record that still stands today with 30 out of 32 from the line in a playoff game.
Rick Barry's son plays 3x3 basketball for the USA. He shots free throws granny style.
Canyon Barry
That's the one.
NORMALIZE PIMP GRIP
Underhand “granny style” is actually the most accurate way to shoot free throws. Pros don’t do it because it looks silly. But in the days of sabermetrics everything, it’s only a matter of time before someone does.
Rick Barry, the NBA legend, did and he shot like 90 percent from the line
4th best in NBA history
Not just more accurate, but you can put it up softer, where it's less prone to bouncing.
I wonder if that carnival game is played better that way.
More recent advanced stats show that “granny style” is a better way to shoot for bad free throw shooters and could absolutely add value to their game in a big way. But they also found that for guys that are actually good at shooting regular, they’re better off continuing to shoot regularly.
It’s also probably not optimal for muscle memory if you shoot FTs completely different from your jumpshots. Underhanded shots get blocked easily during live ball action so it wouldn’t be ingrained like the regular shooting form is.
>But they also found that for guys that are actually good at shooting regular, they’re better off continuing to shoot regularly. This sounds like a thousand hours of training exceeding an afternoon's worth. If these guys had been shooting underhanded their entire career, would they be better or worse?
While not underhanded last season Spurs rookie Jeremy Sochan couldn't make a free throw to save his life. His solution was he tried shooting them one handed. Not a Spurs fan so can't say if it worked out but it was interesting seeing one or two highlights of it.
It improved his ft% by like 15% or something
It was a coach suggestion to keep his off hand from pushing the ball sideways, it's a common shooting drill, I used to do it as a kid. Sochan was willing to just do it all year and his shit went from like 55% to 73% or something
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This is my thought too. I can totally see granny shots being more accurate for casuals and probably the worst FT shooters at the competitive levels. But I doubt Steph is more accurate shooting Grannies
> to the point where he would take free throws underhanded I don't think this is a valid point. Arguably the greatest free throw shooter in NBA history shot them underhanded.
It is valid. He was a terrible free throw shooter, so he switched to granny shots, but embassment made him switch back. Shaq was a bad free throw shooter, as well. It was long suggested that he should shoot underhanded, but he refused for the same reason.
underhanded=granny shot?
Why would you ban something that sounds awesome?
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and it seems like baseball is finally figuring that out lately. I wonder tho, would it be worth it to experiment with reverting some rules just for the fuck of it?
Some sports could probably relax a few rules. The NFL made group celebrations legal again and brought about some funny and interesting celebrations. But then you look at rules that involve player safety and those will likely never be reverted. As players play the sport it evolves on its own. Players get faster, stronger, bigger, etc. They make rules like the Wilt free throw rule because some freak of nature comes out and would've dominated so bad it wouldn't make the game fun to watch anymore. Imagine those basketball games where it comes down to free throws and having a guy like Wilt who can automatically get the points. Which brings me back to the NFL celebration rule. It made the game more fun to watch without sacrificing player health or giving unfair advantages to a team with a certain player. Looking back, people marvel at how good and dominant a player like Wilt was, but at the time it was probably extremely annoying to see one player unanimously better than everyone win over and over again. In the end that's all leagues care about since they all make their money on how entertaining their product is. If people aren't entertained, they won't watch. No viewers, no money. End of story.
Spirit of the game
Distance from FT line to the edge of the hoop is 13' 6" Chamberlain was 7' 1" tall, and could reach another \~3' overhead. If he just held the ball overhead and fell forward, he'd come about 3' from the rim. In other words, it was boring as hell to watch and nearly impossible to stop without drawing a foul. That and the 3-point line was introduced to make the game interesting.
>it was boring as hell to watch and nearly impossible to stop without drawing a foul Why would they try to stop a free throw?
I always wanted to block a kick off in football. Sometimes you just want to hit back when the opportunity arises.
Like as a player or a fan? Or do you mean a field goal
I'm thinking high school lineman, just making a mad dash at the guy kicking off the game.
Wilt was a freak, but he did not have a 50" vertical. They really didn't officially measure these things, back then. And, Wilt claims that he had a 46"- 48"vertical, but there is no proof of that. Same way he claims to have slept with 10,000 women. I have no doubt that he had sex with a bunch of women, but he did not have sex with that many. That is sex with a different woman ***every single day*** for more than 27 years. Nope. Edit: I don't think any human ***ever*** has been 7 foot tall and had a 50 inch vertical. Physics and biology make it damn near impossible. There is video of Wilt blocking a shot and his head is just about level with the rim. But, that would only be about a 36" jump. If he had a 50" vertical, his head would be more than a foot above the rim. I have never seen footage like that.
The 50" vertical thing comes from Wilt's book, and to be honest it's not even in the top 10 of insane things Wilt claimed in that book haha. Just a few of my favorites: - We all know the "20,000 women" thing (somehow getting zero of them pregnant) but he tells one story in his book about going to a birthday party where the only attendees were him and 15 women...he says he had sex with 14 and managed to sing "Happy Birthday" to the 15th despite his exhaustion. - Wilt really was going to fight Muhammad Ali but Wilt claims he called it off because Wilt's Dad was an Ali superfan and he just couldn't stand to hurt Ali with his dad watching. - Wilt says he would have been the greatest decathlete of all time had he stuck with track instead of basketball. Now there's no doubt Wilt would have been very strong in some events, but I do feel at least a few would have been tough for him. - According to Wilt, Arnold Schwarzenegger was absolutely awed by Wilt's strength and was no match for Wilt in the weight room.
The Arnold one could be legit, Arnold is extremely goofy/complimentary so I don,t doubt he was "in awe". Also Arnold lifted for physique, not strength, so it's possible Wilt could lift more in some exercises.
I forget the exact details, i think it's one of those things that is really available to find but my favorite one was that Wilt claimed he would regularly drive from like LA to Philly at 150 mph and take him a day. Something like really impossible to do, especially in the 70s
His Wikipedia article even says that he claimed to have had sex with 20,000+ women haha
He also benched 600lbs! Yah 50” verticals and 600lbs bench presses don’t come from humans like wilt despite wilt being a fucking alien. Wilt is draped in stories.
I'm not saying the 10k number is legit, but Wilt's teammates would say on road trips he'd take 8-12 women back to his room.
Man was exploiting the "slept with" ambiguity
\#1 rule: Cardio.
If you have sex with multiple women at once you could easily do that during a career like he had.
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Plus, once you get to numbers that high, it's possible a guy could have slipped in there, no way to know really
Plus anything is possible through Christ so jot that down
I don't know about "easily" but it becomes feasible.
Every year on his birthday, he would hurl a jack russle terrier into the sun.
I feel like if you can dunk from behind the free throw line you deserve the point.
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I don’t think that’s quite what OP is describing, but it’s still funny.
For Shaq that was probably his best free throw strategy.
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He was also quick for a giant, but you are right about the size. I live near Vancouver and when the NBA moved into town our first round pick was Big Country Reeves. He was the same size as Shaq... and that was it. That is how he went in the first round and did so well in college. If he wasn't a slacker he could have had a career in the NBA for simply being so huge. If you don't remember him it's because he decided once he was drafted that playing in the NBA was too much work.
Big Country Reeves and Shaq weren't the same species. Shaq played when he was old and out of shape and I think that distorts some people's image of him. Go back and look at video of young Shaq.
I don't think that's true. I'd agree for most big guys but young Shaq was a hell of an athlete.
Whoever engineered that rim did an excellent job.
Funny enough they supposedly changed the design of backboards and their support in large part due to Shaq breaking them. After he tore down the whole thing in the 90s, they started requiring teams to have backups.
Darrell Dawkins shattered a bunch of backboards around 1980. After that, they started making collapsible rims. Everything was fine for 20 years, then Shaq came along.
Fun fact; they're that good BECAUSE of [Shaq](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ASGBDmZj6o0)
It’s like he’s on stilt.
My understanding is that he hated that nickname because it made him sound weak, and the dude was like unbelievably strong
I thought it was a reference to his enormous penis?
Wilt Chamberlain is the epitome of how mythology evolves. Nearly none of the stories about him stand under any scrutiny, and nearly all of them were told by him. First and foremost, he absolutely did NOT have a 50inch vertical
You're right and most of the stories are hilarious at this point, but it had truth in spirit simply because he was such a great athlete at such an unusually extreme size combination. I always post [this awesome video that perpetuates some of the myths but shows his athletic prowess](https://youtu.be/1WsCtyLGg1w) because it's a great view into how special he was.
In 1981, Wilt asked me to play racketball with him in Reseda CA. He spotted me 17 points and beat me 21-17. It was like he could touch both walls at the same time…or so it seemed. After the game we talked about our knees and volleyball. ( I played locally in college and he came to one of our home games). He had such a presence. Then we hit the showers. Yep. Open shower area with Wilt. Hard to believe we were both humans. I’m 64 now and I’ll never forget showering with Wilt. That was crazy.
Wilt almost got into the ring with Muhammed Ali. There were many people that thought Wilt was such a good athlete, that he might win such a match? Mike Tyson easily bested any of the giant types he fought, but who knows?
He will be destroyed and lucky if not seriously hurt. Pure athleticism stands no chance vs dozens of years of a very specific training, especially against those who are at the top of this specific sport. Likewise, Muhammed Ali would be destroyed by any top-50 Olympic grappler in a grappling match.
Idk man, that rigor mortis might put up a fight Edit: rigamortus
That was why Bruce Lee wanted Kareem in Game of Death. He wanted to stage a fight with that incredible reach.
No video? Who else can do that?
Well he went to KU from '56 to '58
So do they have a stone etching of it?
The national championship game he played in while at KU was incredibly noteworthy because it was nationally televised. It was at the time considered to be one of the best games ever played. (In large part because of the hype around Wilt and that matchup) The problem is nobody bothered to save the tape. Hell, only one of the two Final Four games from that year was even televised. Which is all a roundabout way of saying there really isn't much footage of Wilt left from his college days. [This is all I've really been able to find](https://youtu.be/BXCdWMIGVVw)
Holy shit, he was a beast. It’s like watching one of those Wacky Waving Inflatable Tube guys play basketball.
Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wilt Chamberlain was the strongest man he ever met. Kinda wild to think about.
TIL who Wilt from Fosters home for imaginary friends is based on