Wilton Norman (Wilt) Chamberlain Biography

Wilton Norman (Wilt) Chamberlain

one of the 20th century's most recognized athletes, Chamberlain was a dominant basketball center who is best remembered for scoring a record 100 points in a game (3/2/62); nicknamed “Wilt the Stilt” and “The Big Dipper”; claimed by the Philadelphia (now Golden State) Warriors who used a special “territorial” draft pick to take the former Philadelphia high school star in 1959; played for the Harlem Globetrotters in 1958-59 after forgoing his senior year at the University of Kansas; his battles with Boston Celtics center Bill Russell entertained a generation of basketball fans and set the standard for all sports rivalries; the two met 142 times on the court, including twice in the NBA Finals, with Russell's Celtics winning both series; traded by Warriors to 76ers for Paul Neumann, Connie Dierking, Lee Shaffer and cash (1/15/65); later traded from 76ers to Lakers for Jerry Chambers, Archie Clark and Darrall Imhoff (7/9/68); all-time NBA leader in rebounds (23,924) and second in points (31,419); led NBA in scoring his first seven seasons and rebounding in 11 of his 14 pro seasons; only player to score 4,000 points in a season (1961-62), averaging 50.4 points a game; owned 20 of the 30 best regular-season scoring performances of all time at the time of his death; scored more than 50 points in a game 118 times; did not foul out of any of his more than 1,200 games; one of two players (Wes Unseld) to win NBA MVP and Rookie of the Year Award in the same year (1960); won NBA titles with Philadelphia in 1967 and Los Angeles in 1972; elected to Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in 1978; named to NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996; of congestive heart failure