name	Hal Greer
position	Guard / Forward
height ft	6
height in	2
weight lb	175
number	15
birth date	June 26, 1936
birth place	Huntington, West Virginia
nationality	American
high school	Douglass (Huntington)
college	Marshall (1956–1958)
draft round	2
draft pick	13
draft year	1958
draft team	Syracuse Nationals
career start	1958
career end	1973
years1	1958–1973
team1	Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers
highlights	NBA Champion (1967) 10× NBA All-Star (–) NBA All-Star Game MVP () 7× All-NBA Second Team (1963–1969) NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team #15 Retired by the Philadelphia 76ers
stat1label	Points
stat1value	21,586 (19.2 ppg)
stat2label	Rebounds
stat2value	5,665 (5.0 rpg)
stat3label	Assists
stat3value	4,540 (4.0 apg)
bbr	greerha01
letter	g
hof player	harold-e-hal-greer }}

Harold Everett Greer (born June 26, 1936, in Huntington, West Virginia) is a retired American professional basketball player.

He attended Douglass Junior and Senior High School in Huntington. He played college basketball at Marshall University and was drafted by the Syracuse Nationals of the NBA in 1958. Greer played for Syracuse for five seasons, raising his scoring average to 22.8 points a game in 1961. He was selected for the NBA All-Star team that year. In 1963, the Syracuse Nationals moved to Philadelphia to become the Philadelphia 76ers. There, Greer became well-known as a teammate of Wilt Chamberlain, and starred on the powerful 1966-67 team that ended the eight-year championship reign of the Bill Russell-led Boston Celtics. In the 76ers' 15 playoff games that season, Greer averaged a team-best 27.7 points. Greer had an unusual but highly effective free throw technique, shooting a jump shot from the charity stripe. He is usually considered the third-best guard of the 1960s, behind Oscar Robertson and Jerry West.

Greer played in 10 NBA All-Star Games and was the MVP of the 1968 game when he went 8-for-8 from the field and scored 21 points, a record-breaking 19 in one quarter. He also was chosen to the All-NBA Second Team seven times, and scored more than 20,000 points during his NBA career. His hometown has honored his success by renaming 16th Street, which carries West Virginia Route 10 as the main artery between the campus/downtown area and Interstate 64, as "Hal Greer Boulevard." Hal Greer is recognized as the only African-American athlete enshrined in a major sports hall of fame from West Virginia.

College accomplishments

Two-time All-Conference (1957, 1958)

Team high scorer and Conference MVP (1958)

AP All-America Honorable Mention (1958)

Led Marshall in 71 games as its first black scholarship athlete

Averaged 19.4 ppg and 10.8 rpg

At the time of graduation, held the school's career record for field goal percentage (54.6 percent), hitting 531 of 974 attempts

Accolades

Averaged 22 ppg to lead 76ers to NBA Championship (1967)

Played in 10 consecutive NBA All-Star Games (1961–70)

NBA All-Star Game MVP (1968)

Set record for most points scored in a quarter (19) during an All-Star Game (1968)

Seven-time All-NBA Second Team (1963–69)

First all-time in 76ers' history in games played

Scored 21,586 career points (26th all-time), including 50 in one game vs. Boston Celtics

Scored 1,876 points in 92 playoff games and 120 points in 10 All-Star Games

NBA 50th Anniversary Team (1996)

His jerseys were retired by Marshall University (#16) and the Philadelphia 76ers (#15)

A one-and-one-half-mile stretch of road in Huntington, W.Va., was renamed "Hal Greer Boulevard"

See also

List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders

List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise

Notes

External links

Basketball Hall of Fame profile

Hoopedia bio

Category:1936 births Category:Living people Category:People from Huntington, West Virginia Category:African American basketball players Category:Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Basketball players from West Virginia Category:Continental Basketball Association coaches Category:National Basketball Association players with retired numbers Category:Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball players Category:Marshall University alumni Category:Syracuse Nationals draft picks Category:Syracuse Nationals players Category:Philadelphia 76ers players Category:National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Shooting guards Category:Small forwards

de:Hal Greer es:Hal Greer fr:Hal Greer id:Hal Greer it:Hal Greer ja:ハル・グリア pl:Hal Greer ru:Грир, Хэл tr:Hal Greer zh:哈尔·格瑞尔

name	Jerry Lucas
position	Power forward / Center
height ft	6
height in	8
weight lb	230
number	16, 47, 32
birth date	March 30, 1940
birth place	Middletown, Ohio
nationality	American
high school	Middletown (Ohio)
college	Ohio State
draft pick	Territorial
draft year	1962
draft team	Cincinnati Royals
career start	1962
career end	1974
years1	–
team1	Cincinnati Royals
years2	1969–
team2	San Francisco Warriors
years3	–
team3	New York Knicks
highlights	NBA Champion (1973) 7× NBA All-Star (–, ) NBA All-Star Game MVP (1965) 3× All-NBA First Team (–, ) 2× All-NBA Second Team (, ) NBA Rookie of the Year (1964) NBA All-Rookie First Team (1964) NCAA Champion (1960) 2× AP Player of the Year (1961–1962) 2× NCAA Final Four MOP (1960–1961) 3× Consensus NCAA All-American First Team (1960–1962) NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
stat1label	Points
stat1value	14,053 (17.0 ppg)
stat2label	Rebounds
stat2value	12,942 (15.6 rpg)
stat3label	Assists
stat3value	2,732 (3.3 apg)
bbr	lucasje01
letter	j
hof player	jerry-r-lucas
medaltemplates	}}

}} Jerry Ray Lucas (born March 30, 1940) was a basketball player from the 1950s to the 1970s, and is now a memory education expert. In 1996, the NBA's 50th anniversary, he was named one of the 50 greatest players in National Basketball Association history. He was named to ''Sports Illustrated''s five-man College All-Century Team in 1999.

Lucas was born in Middletown, Ohio, then a community of 30,000+ halfway between Dayton and Cincinnati, that in the 1940s and 1950s boasted one of the most respected high school basketball programs in the United States. Greatly encouraged, Lucas began pouring hours each day into the town's game during his early teens.

Lucas had become a local playground legend by age 15, in Sunset Park. Sunset Park was then a regional summer hotbed for high school, college and even some pro players. Future Cincinnati Royals teammates Wayne Embry and Oscar Robertson were visitors there. Lucas was already at almost his full-grown height of 6 ft 8 in (2.06 m) by age 15, out-playing college players with his advanced game.

With no real model to look up to for his game, Lucas simply utilized his rare 20-10 eyesight and remarkable hands to train his shooting and rebounding to remarkable degrees. He created his own drills, showing a gift for inventing games he would utilize later as well.

High school

In 1956 and 1957, Lucas led Middletown High School to undefeated seasons and back-to-back Ohio state high school championships. Lucas, at first, rarely needed the ball to help his team. He simply focused on offensive rebounds for scoring. By putting back so many misses, Lucas padded scoring and shooting accuracy marks while letting upper-classmen shoot and pass. Meanwhile, this amazing rebounding also often held opponents to one shot at the other end.

As competition increased, Lucas became more important to the team's base offense. He learned to help his own game and the team by developing an advanced pivot passing game. Meanwhile, his hook shot became nearly automatic and his shooting eye was strong well past 20', then unusual for a center. His star was born in the 1956 state quarterfinals. Lucas, still weeks from his 16th birthday, burned Cleveland East Technical for 53 points before a crowd of 5,000. He added 44 in the state final for a two game total of 97, still an Ohio high school record.

During his junior and senior seasons, Lucas and Middletown soared to remarkable levels in fame and attention. In a time with no television or internet, Lucas was written about by the New York Times as early as 1957. Game crowds of 10,000 were not uncommon for him in an era where the NBA typically drew 3500. At this time, the first national prep All-American teams were being named, and Lucas was soon considered among the best high schoolers in the country.

An academic ace as well, whose mnemonic skills made him an A+ student, Lucas cut quite the image of the handsome young star student-athlete. Middletown ran their winning streak to an impressive 79 straight during his senior year. By this point, Middletown home games were jammed well past capacity, with hundreds more listening in their cars in the school parking lot. Coaches and scouts now traveled long distances to see Lucas. No Ohio high schooler would approach his level of fame until LeBron James nearly 40 years later.

By 1958 Lucas had drawn crowds of 10,000 to the Cleveland Arena and St. John's Arena in Columbus. That same year, the rivalry Middletown-Hamilton high school game was moved to Cincinnati Gardens. When Cincinnati Royals owner Les Harrison saw Lucas thrill a crowd of 12,000 with a 49-point 34-rebound performance, he made the 18 year old a territorial draft pick of the NBA team.

Statistically, Lucas averaged more than a point per minute for the 32-minute games. With numbers then not well-kept, his rebounding figures are unknown, but were likely about 17 per game. We do know he did hit a then very high 60% of his field goal attempts and over 80% of his free throws. Increasingly a passer, he may have also averaged 5–6 assists per game Decades later, some still consider him the single greatest high school player of all-time.

Wearing #13 as a senior, Lucas made news by surpassing Wilt Chamberlain's high school scoring mark. College scouts now came around in remarkable numbers. Before Lew Alcindor in the mid-1960s, the only high schooler to earn more scholarship offers than Lucas was Chamberlain. One of the many to recruit Lucas was Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp. As legend has it, the 17-year-old told the coach to go home after one of his rare visits to a player in person during Rupp's fourth championship season in 1958. The truth is, interest in Lucas had reached such a amazing degree, with over 150 scholarship offers, that the young man made it known he would deny anyone who directly approached him.

Lucas' Middletown team suffered its only loss in three years at the 1958 Ohio state finals. Losing by one point to an undefeated opponent shocked Middletown to such a degree that the school never honored its departing senior star with a ceremony, until 50 years later when the oversight was discovered. Lucas was rated Ohio's top high school player all three varsity years 1956–1958. Lucas was the first player to be named three time First Team All-Ohio by the Associated Press and on February 17, 2009 Jerry's number 13 was retired at Wade E. Miller gymnasium.

The Ohio State University

Offered more than 150 athletic scholarships, Lucas certainly had his pick, when Ohio State sent then-freshman coach Fred Taylor to meet him. The two had a good meeting while fishing, and Lucas chose the Buckeyes. When he told some all-star teammates of his decision, it's said that Mel Nowell, Bobby Knight and John Havlicek all decided on Ohio State also. Lucas led perhaps the greatest college recruiting class of all-time. After landing Lucas, Taylor was promoted to varsity coach also. Lucas raised some eyebrows by insisting on an academic scholarship. Highly intelligent, Lucas made education a priority over basketball. With the NBA in its financial infancy at this time, he had no thoughts about pro ball. In 1958-59, the freshmen met the junior varsity several times before Buckeye varsity home games. Lucas and the freshmen drew 10,000 fans to these games. These fans then largely left before the varsity game, sometimes even including football coach Woody Hayes. In two games against the varsity, Lucas scored a total of 98 and pulled down over 40 rebounds. When the three star recruits --- Nowell, Havlicek and Lucas --- became sophomores in 1959 , they teamed with junior Larry Siegfried and senior Joe Roberts to run all the way to the national championship. Lucas led the way averaging 27 points, 17 rebounds, 60% shooting and perhaps five or six assists per game. It was a good balanced team, but one that ran well because Lucas was not a selfish star. All five starters scored in double-figures. Lucas rated behind only University of Cincinnati's Oscar Robertson as NCAA Player Of The Year, and that point was debated.

The 1960-61 team went into the NCAA Finals undefeated before losing to Cincinnati in an upset in overtime. During the 1961 NCAA Tournament, Luke became the only player ever to record a '30-30 ', 33 points and 30 rebounds in a single tournament game, versus Kentucky. in the 1961 final, Lucas had played well for OSU, but other Buckeyes had off games. A shocked Lucas then briefly left school and toured the Soviet Union with an AAU team coached by John McClendon. The 1961-62 team made it to the NCAA Finals also, a remarkable three straight for Lucas. Seeing the final against Cincinnati as his last game ever, Lucas surprised many by trying to play on a badly injured knee, likely costing his team a chance at a title. It put a bad ending on a rare college career. Lucas was named Player Of The Year in both 1961 and 1962. He was Big Ten Player Of The Year all three years, had led the nation in shooting accuracy as a 20-point scorer all three years, and had led the nation in rebounding twice. More importantly, his team was a winner. The Buckeyes went 78-6 over three years. He was commonly rated the greatest collegian ever upon graduation. A stellar student, Lucas also had his bachelors degree in three years, and had spent his senior year in post-graduate studies.

His overall record of three high school finals, then three NCAA Finals was a total amateur record that perhaps has no match in basketball history. To that, he also added an Olympic gold medal in Rome in 1960.

Lucas's #11 became the second uniform number to be retired by Ohio State University, ahead of many of the school's football legends. He is the only player to be Big Ten MVP three times.

1960 Olympics

In 1960, Lucas was also named to the U.S. Olympic team for the Rome Games that year. Exhausted from the NCAAs, he had a mediocre Trials, but easily outrebounded everyone there by a clear margin. Indiana center rival Walt Bellamy was rated the starter at first, but Lucas later shined as a passer and made the team click. Fellow Hall Of Famers include Coach Pete Newell, Bellamy, Oscar Robertson, and Jerry West. Four more teammates would have NBA careers as well. Four of them would eventually be Lucas's pro teammates in Cincinnati.

The team had perhaps four challenging games in the Olympic tournament, two against Italy, one versus the Soviets and one with Brazil. The others were cakewalks, with the USA far ahead of the world at this point. The lowlight may have been Lucas vs. Japan, guarded by a 6'3 opponent. Lucas figured strongly in every key win. He earned just six free throws from referees during the physical tournament, but tied Robertson, who had 52 free throw tries, for the team scoring lead at 17.0 per game. Once again, his unselfishness as a star allowed others to contribute.

Lucas also was noteworthy as he had taken the time to memorize paragraphs of Japanese, Italian and Russian to converse with opposing athletes.

The co-top scorer, top rebounder and shooter, Lucas had quietly been the star of this legendary squad. U.S. coach Pete Newell later called Lucas "the greatest player I ever coached, and the most unselfish."

Professional basketball

Cleveland Pipers

"I never had any special desire to be a professional basketball player", Lucas later said about his pro career. But pro basketball clearly wanted him like few ever. Lucas turned down the Royals to pursue his doctorate in business marketing. But George Steinbrenner, then the owner of the newly formed American Basketball League's Cleveland Pipers, interested the young star with a contract unlike any in sports. The ABL, formed in 1961, played fewer games. They would even delay the start of the season for Lucas to finish his semester. Along with more pay, he also got stock options. Lucas was part of the team ownership before ever playing a pro game. The ABL signing of Lucas shocked the NBA. Soon, commissioner Maury Podoloff had talked Steinbrenner's Pipers into jumping to the NBA. ABL head Abe Saperstein sued. Then the NBA piled entry fees on Steinbrenner. The whole deal collapsed in August, 1962 and soon the whole ABL went down as well. Lucas, contracted to Steinbrenner in business deals, would miss the 1962-63 NBA season. It was an episode unlike any in the game's history.

NBA

Cincinnati Royals

The Cleveland ABL fiasco had surprised many. But Lucas was ready to make amends and play pro ball. Also his sore knees had healed in the year away from the game. In May, 1963 Lucas signed with Warren Hensel, then in process of becoming owner of the NBA's Cincinnati Royals. The local Middletown star and Ohio legend quickly again became a sensation. Lucas was still so popular, that he would boost league attendance that season. He was even a factor, as a needed white star, in the league's new television contract. Lucas would easily be one of the NBA's most popular players throughout the 1960s.

The 1963-64 Royals also included three NBA All-Stars in Oscar Robertson, Wayne Embry and Jack Twyman. With Lucas now added, Cincinnati was quickly named favorites to dethrone the Boston Celtics as NBA champions in Luke's rookie season. This, to some, would be another extension of his amateur success. Hopes were very high for Lucas his rookie season. The team very nearly met that expectation. Moving to forward as a pro, while also playing backup to Embry at center, Lucas focused on rebounding to fit in on the team, which already had proven scorers. He would post several 30-rebound games that season and one of 40 in February, the only one ever for a NBA forward. Cincinnati won 55 of its 80 NBA games that year, then a remarkably high number. The team won twelve in a row at one point, and came within 2½ games of the Boston Celtics for the Eastern Division lead. With Lucas added, the Royals also won the season series over Boston, 7-5. Boston and Cincinnati emerged with easily the two best records in the league by season's end. He was easily named the NBA's Rookie Of The Year. Some experts even named Lucas, not Robertson, as the team's key player.

The famed Lucas was a target that season, however. The third-place Philadelphia 76ers played him very physically, often drawing his ire. In the playoffs, a 76ers player plowed into his lower back and injured him for the rest of the playoffs. The highly anticipated Boston-Cincinnati playoff became anti-climactic as a result. Still Lucas played hurt and never quit. When his back improved, they won Game Four to avoid a sweep. In Game Five, Boston's K.C. Jones undercut him while Lucas pursued a rebound, sending Lucas to the floor for a concussion. Lucas never returned to the game and Boston won the series. His string of Finals appearances was now over.

1964–1969, the Royals never contended again quite as closely, but Lucas was clearly one of the league's biggest stars. Lucas became known for what was then called ' the 20-20 '. That's a game or a full season of twenty points and twenty rebounds. Only Wilt Chamberlain had also consistently averaged 20–20. In an era of high tempo and increased shot attempts, Lucas had plenty of chances for his focus on rebounding. During those six years, only Chamberlain and Boston's Bill Russell out-rebounded Lucas. In 1967-68, Lucas out-rebounded Russell. Not the leaper or bull some others were, Lucas outsmarted other players to the ball, over and over again. From 1964 to 1968, Lucas averaged 19.8 rebounds per game.

He was also a deadly shooter. He was almost always among the league leaders in field goal percentage. More than just a tip-in guy, Lucas the forward took half his shots from 15 feet or more and still out-shot most dunkers. He shot 50% for his pro career.

His impressive passing, seen more in time at his natural center spot as a reserve, rounded out the package. Lucas was named the 1965 NBA All-Star Game MVP, and was named First Team All-NBA in 1965, 1966 and 1968. Three times he averaged more than 20 points per game for a season, while deferring to 30-point scorer Robertson.

Lucas was also known for amazing minutes played. Only Chamberlain consistently played more minutes than Lucas, who often logged 46 minutes per game, season after season. This despite bad knees that often required daily attention.

Defensively, Lucas, so important to the team's offense and playing huge minutes, paced himself carefully. He played opponents cleanly to avoid fouls and was not a player who often went for blocked shots. This kept him in position for rebounds. To help himself and his sore knees in huge minutes of play, Lucas used his brain and his memory. ' I knew the tendencies of every player and every offense in the league ', Lucas later said. ' I memorized them '. This often kept him a step ahead of bigger, quicker, and stronger NBA athletes.

Starting in 1964, Lucas drew the interest of NFL Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell. Lucas was still very popular in Cleveland, and Modell wanted a NBA franchise for the city. So, from 1966 to 1969, the Royals played 36 home games in Cleveland, boosting their overall attendance. Modell, Lucas and the Royals were factors in the Cleveland Cavaliers expansion franchise.

With the Royals in steady decline, Lucas began to focus more on off-court business opportunities. He became involved in a number of deals, even starting his own fast food chain, Jerry Lucas Beef-N-Shakes. He was a talented magician who knew hundreds of card tricks, which he later published. He also created educational puzzles and games for children. By 1969, he was one of just three millionaires playing in the NBA. He had made most of his money off-court in investments.

Lucas appeared less and less involved with the team despite his strong numbers and play. His once-amazing popularity now declined sharply.

San Francisco

In the summer of 1969, Cincinnati brought in new management, and a new coach in Bob Cousy. Cousy felt the three-time First Team All-Pro did not hustle enough, and traded Ohio's most famous player ever to that point to the San Francisco Warriors for two reserves. One of those reserves, Bill Turner, later joined him in San Francisco. Lucas was injured and distracted during the 1969-70 season with the Warriors. Banks had cancelled the line of credit on his restaurants. He had to declare bankruptcy, taking investors down with him.

Re-focused on basketball for 1970-71, Lucas returned to All-Pro form and was named the starting power forward for the West All-Star team in the 1971 NBA All-Star Game. Teaming with Nate Thurmond, Clyde Lee, Jeff Mullins, Al Attles and Ron Williams, the Warriors also returned to playoffs.

New York

By this point, Lucas rated as one of the most accurate shooters and top rebounders in league history. He had plenty of individual honors as well. What he sought was a championship opportunity. The Warriors, needing a small scoring forward like Cazzie Russell, dealt Lucas to the New York Knickerbockers, who needed a big man who would work behind both Willis Reed and Dave DeBusschere. Lucas had long rated ahead of both as an NBA player, but easily agreed as New York was a serious championship contender.

Early in the 1971–72 season, the injury-prone Reed went down for the season. Lucas, not a starting center since college, was pressed into service. While some doubted, Lucas rose to the occasion in impressive fashion. Lucas bedeviled opposing teams with outside shooting and deft passing. Opposing teams had to change their defenses to deal with him. In perhaps his most remarkable season, Lucas led the Knicks in rebounds and shooting accuracy, and was second in scoring and assists only to Walt Frazier on the club. He was named the team's 1972 Most Valuable Player. Deferring to tenured teammates for All-Star honors, Lucas helped the team past Boston in the playoffs, and into the 1972 NBA Finals. Injuries were a big factor in that series, with Lucas out-scoring and out-passing huge opposing center Wilt Chamberlain. The Knicks lost in five games.

In 1972–73, Willis Reed had returned. But Lucas played more minutes than Reed at center that season, helping New York save Reed for the playoffs. Focusing more on passing at center, Luke averaged five assists per game. His role was crucial for New York's 1973 NBA championship. Lucas had become the first American basketball player to win championships at every level --- high school, college, Olympics, and the pros.

Lucas also became a media darling in New York, where he found a large market for his magic tricks, memory games, and other products. He amazed many by memorizing portions of the Manhattan Phone Book or memorizing the names of an entire studio audience in sequence during television appearances. He also had a knack for taking words apart and then respelling them alphabetically in rapidfire order ( his name would spell E-J-R-R-Y A-C-L-S-U ). Lucas showed many how mental games and memory exercises could build brain power and intelligence for people at any age.

In 1974, the Knicks made a run to repeat as NBA champs, but the team known for its collective intelligence and unselfishness, like Lucas himself, was eliminated in the East Finals. Lucas, Reed and DeBusschere, all Hall of Famers, retired as players after that season. New York has not won a NBA title since.

At retirement, Lucas ranked fourth all-time in rebounds per game to Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and Bob Pettit. Had there been a three-point line, Lucas, who had the league's longest accurate shot during his day, might have been a much bigger scorer.

A star at two positions, forward and center, Lucas is still recalled today as one of the greatest ever in NBA history. He was named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980, and was later named one of the 50 Greatest NBA Players in 1996. He was also later named to ''Sports Illustrated'' 's five-man college Team Of The Century in 1999.

Retirement

Lucas was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980 along side Les Harrison, Oscar Robertson and Jerry West.

After basketball, Lucas took up a role as an educator and memory expert and has written books and produced television programs on the subject. Two of his best sellers are ''The Memory Book'', co-written with Harry Lorayne, and ''Remember the Word'', for memorizing portions of the Bible. His educational programs on image-based memory development are now being used in some Ohio school systems.

Lucas serves as a long-distance Director of Basketball Operations for Indiana Wesleyan University, according to their 2006–2007 media guide, and helps in the nationwide recruiting effort for the Wildcats. . Lucas is active today as a public speaker and in celebrity golf tournaments.

See also

List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders

List of National Basketball Association players with most rebounds in a game

List of NCAA Division I men's basketball season rebounding leaders

Notes and references

External links

Lucas' Basketball Hall of Fame page

NBA biography of Jerry Lucas

Career Stats

More Career Stats

1961-62 Oscar Robertson Trophy USBWA College Player of the Year

Official Site of Jerry Lucas

Dr. Ms Universe™ Preview Video

http://espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/lucas_jerry.html

Category:1940 births Category:American writers Category:Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Basketball players from Ohio Category:United States men's national basketball team members Category:Basketball players at the 1960 Summer Olympics Category:Cincinnati Royals draft picks Category:Cincinnati Royals players Category:Living people Category:New York Knicks players Category:Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball players Category:Olympic basketball players of the United States Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:People from Middletown, Ohio Category:San Francisco Warriors players Category:Power forwards (basketball) Category:Centers (basketball) Category:College basketball announcers in the United States Category:Indiana Wesleyan University Category:National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Olympic medalists in basketball

de:Jerry Lucas es:Jerry Lucas fr:Jerry Lucas id:Jerry Lucas it:Jerry Lucas lt:Jerry Lucas ja:ジェリー・ルーカス pl:Jerry Lucas pt:Jerry Lucas ru:Лукас, Джерри sr:Џери Лукас sh:Jerry Lucas fi:Jerry Lucas tr:Jerry Lucas zh:杰里·卢卡斯

name	Wes Unseld
position	Center / Power forward
height ft	6
height in	7
weight lb	245
number	41
birth date	March 14, 1946
birth place	Louisville, Kentucky
nationality	American
high school	Seneca (Louisville, Kentucky)
college	Louisville
draft round	1
draft pick	2
draft year	1968
draft team	Baltimore Bullets
career start	1968
career end	1981
years1	–
team1	Baltimore / Capital / Washington Bullets
cyears1	–
cteam1	Washington Bullets
highlights	NBA Champion (1978) NBA Most Valuable Player (1969) NBA Finals MVP (1978) NBA Rookie of the Year () 5× NBA All-Star (, –, ) All-NBA First Team (1969) NBA All-Rookie First Team (1969) J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award () 2× Consensus NCAA All-American First Team (1967–1968) NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team #41 Retired by the Washington Bullets
stat1label	Points
stat1value	10,624 (10.8 ppg)
stat2label	Rebounds
stat2value	13,769 (14.0 rpg)
stat3label	Assists
stat3value	3,822 (3.9 apg)
bbr	unselwe01
letter	u
medaltemplates	United States }}

| HOF_player = westley-s-wes-unseld }} Westley Sissel "Wes" Unseld (born March 14, 1946 in Louisville, Kentucky) is an American former basketball player. He spent his entire NBA career with the Baltimore/Capital/Washington Bullets, and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988.

Early life and college career

Unseld starred on a Seneca High School team that won two state championships. In 1965, Unseld began playing center for the University of Louisville, where he averaged 35.8 points per game and 23.6 rebounds per game in 14 games with a freshman team. He was a 3-year letter winner, scored 1,686 points in 82 games (20.6 points per game), grabbed 1,551 rebounds (18.9 rebounds per game), led the conference in rebounding in 1966, 1967 and 1968, and led Louisville to a 60-22 record with two trips to the NCAA tournament and one trip to the NIT tournament. Unseld is also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

NBA years

Unseld was drafted by the Kentucky Colonels in the 1968 American Basketball Association draft and was drafted second overall in the first round by the Baltimore Bullets in 1968, and helped lead the Bullets (who had finished in last place in the Eastern division the previous year) to a 57-25 record and a division title. Unseld averaged 18.2 rebounds per game that year, and became only the second player ever to win both Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in the same season (Wilt Chamberlain being the first). Unseld was also named the Sporting News MVP that year. He was one of the best defensive players of his era, and in 1975, he led the NBA in rebounding. The following season, he led the NBA in field goal percentage with a .561 percentage.

Famed for his rebounding, bone-jarring picks and ability to ignite a fast break with his crisp, accurate outlet passes, Unseld made up for his lack of size (6’7”) with brute strength and sheer determination. Unseld took the Bullets franchise to four NBA Finals, and won the championship in 1978 over the Seattle SuperSonics, in which he was named the Finals MVP. He ended his playing career following the 1980–1981 season, and his #41 jersey was retired by the Bullets shortly thereafter.

In 984 NBA games - all with the Bullets - Unseld averaged an offensive double-double, with averages of 10.8 points and 14.0 rebounds per game, as well as 3.9 assists per game, averaging over 36 minutes played per game. Unseld was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988, and in 1996, he was named as one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players of all time.

General manager and head coach

After his retirement in 1981 he moved into a front office position with the Bullets where he served as vice president for six years before being named head coach in 1987. He resigned following the 1994 season with a 202–345 record (.369). Unseld became Washington's General Manager in 1996 and guided the team to the playoffs once during his tenure.

Post NBA career

Unseld and his wife Connie opened Unselds School in 1979. A coed private school located in southwest Baltimore, it has a daycare program, nursery school and a kindergarten-to-eighth grade curriculum. Connie and daughter Kimberley serve as teachers at the school.

Trivia

Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star Kevin Love's middle name Wesley is in honor of Unseld.

His son, Wes Unseld Jr., has served as an assistant coach in the NBA.

NBA statistics

Career highs

Regular season

! Stat	! High	! Opponent	! Date
Points	30
Field goal percentage
Field goals made	12
Field goal attempts	24
Free throws made, none missed	—
Free throws made, one missed	—
Free throws made	13
Free throw attempts	17
Rebounds	32	at Cincinnati Royals
Rebounds	30	vs. Milwaukee Bucks
Offensive rebounds	12	vs. Houston Rockets
Assists	13
Steals	8	at Phoenix Suns
Blocked shots

Playoffs

! Stat	! High	! Opponent	! Date
Points	26
Field goal percentage	12—13 (.923)	vs. San Antonio Spurs
Field goals made	12	vs. San Antonio Spurs
Field goal attempts	22
Free throws made, none missed	—
Free throws made, one missed	—
Free throws made	7
Free throw attempts	12
Rebounds	34	at New York Knicks
Offensive rebounds	11	at San Antonio Spurs
Defensive rebounds
Assists	10
Steals
Blocked shots
Turnovers	8	at Atlanta Hawks

See also

List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff rebounding leaders

List of National Basketball Association players with most rebounds in a game

List of NCAA Division I men's basketball career rebounding leaders

References

External links

NBA.com: Wes Unseld Summary

Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:African American basketball coaches Category:African American basketball players Category:Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) draft picks Category:Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) players Category:Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Basketball players at the 1967 Pan American Games Category:Basketball players from Kentucky Category:Capital Bullets players Category:Centers (basketball) Category:Kentucky Colonels draft picks Category:Louisville Cardinals men's basketball players Category:Washington Bullets head coaches Category:Washington Bullets players Category:Washington Wizards executives Category:National Basketball Association broadcasters Category:National Basketball Association head coaches Category:National Basketball Association players with retired numbers Category:National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:NBA Finals MVP Award winners Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)

de:Wes Unseld es:Wes Unseld fr:Wes Unseld gl:Wes Unseld it:Wes Unseld he:וס אנסלד ja:ウェス・アンセルド pl:Wes Unseld pt:Wes Unseld ru:Анселд, Уэс fi:Wes Unseld tr:Wes Unseld zh:韦斯·昂塞尔德

name	Wilt Chamberlain
width	200px
position	Center
height ft	7
height in	1
weight lb	275
number	13
birth date	August 21, 1936
birth place	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
death date	October 12, 1999
death place	Bel Air, California
nationality	American
high school	Overbrook HS, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
college	Kansas
draft year	1959
draft pick	Territorial
draft team	Philadelphia Warriors
career start	1959
career end	1973
years1	1958–1959
team1	Harlem Globetrotters
years2	–
team2	Philadelphia / San Francisco Warriors
years3	–
team3	Philadelphia 76ers
years4	–
team4	Los Angeles Lakers
cyears1	1973–1974
cteam1	San Diego Conquistadors (ABA)
highlights	2× NBA Champion (1967, 1972) 4× NBA Most Valuable Player (, –) NBA Finals MVP (1972) 7× All-NBA First Team (1960–, , 1965–1968) 3× All-NBA Second Team (, 1966, ) 2× NBA All-Defensive First Team (–) NBA All-Star Game MVP (1960) 13× NBA All-Star (1960–1969, 1971–1973) 7× NBA scoring champion (1960–1966) 11× NBA rebounding champion (1960–1963, 1966–, –) NBA Rookie of the Year (1960) 50 Greatest Players in NBA History NBA 35th Anniversary Team #13 Retired by Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Lakers
profile	wilt_chamberlain
stat1label	Points
stat1value	31,419 (30.1 ppg)
stat2label	Rebounds
stat2value	23,924 (22.9 rpg)
stat3label	Assists
stat3value	4,643 (4.4 apg)
letter	c
bbr	chambwi01
hof player	wilton-n-wilt-chamberlain }}

Wilton Norman "Wilt" Chamberlain (August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional NBA basketball player for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers; he also played for the Harlem Globetrotters prior to playing in the NBA. The 7 foot 1 inch Chamberlain weighed 250 pounds as a rookie before bulking up to 275 pounds and eventually over 300 pounds with the Lakers. He played the center position and is considered by his contemporaries as one of the greatest and most dominant players in the history of the NBA.

Chamberlain holds numerous official NBA all-time records, setting records in many scoring, rebounding and durability categories. Among other notable accomplishments, he is the only player in NBA history to average more than 40 and 50 points in a season or score 100 points in a single NBA game. He also won seven scoring, nine field goal percentage, and eleven rebounding titles, and once even led the league in assists. Although suffering a long string of professional losses, Chamberlain had a successful career, winning two NBA titles, earning four regular-season Most Valuable Player awards, the Rookie of the Year award, one NBA Finals MVP award, and being selected to 13 All-Star Games and ten All-NBA First and Second teams. Chamberlain was subsequently enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, elected into the NBA's 35th Anniversary Team of 1980, and chosen as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History of 1996.

Chamberlain was known by various nicknames during his basketball playing career. He hated the ones that called attention to his height such as Goliath and Wilt the Stilt, which was coined during his high school days by a Philadelphia sportswriter. He preferred The Big Dipper, Dippy or Dipper, all of which were inspired by his friends who saw him dip his head as he walked through doorways. He was also called the Chairman of the Boards.

After his basketball career ended, Chamberlain played volleyball in the short-lived International Volleyball Association, was president of this organization, and is enshrined in the IVA Hall of Fame for his contributions. Chamberlain also was a successful businessman, authored several books, and appeared in the movie ''Conan the Destroyer''. He was a lifelong bachelor and became notorious for his claim to having had sex with over 20,000 women.

Early years

Wilton Norman Chamberlain was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, into a family of nine children. As his biographer Robert Cherry observed, he was a frail child, nearly dying of pneumonia in his early years and missing a whole year of school as a result. In his early years Chamberlain was not interested in basketball, because he thought it was "a game for sissies". Instead, he was an avid track and field athlete: as a youth, 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 broad jumped 22 feet. But according to Chamberlain, "basketball was king in Philadelphia", so he eventually turned to the sport. Because Chamberlain was a very tall child, already measuring 6 feet at age 10 and 6 feet 11 inches when he entered Philadelphia's Overbrook High School, he had a natural advantage against his peers; he soon was renowned for his scoring talent, his physical strength and his shot blocking abilities. According to ESPN journalist Hal Bock, Chamberlain was "scary, flat-out frightening... before he came along, most basketball players were mortal-sized men. Chamberlain changed that." It was also in this period of his life when his three life-long nicknames "Wilt the Stilt", "Goliath", and his favorite, "The Big Dipper", were allegedly born.

High school career

As a player for the Overbrook Panthers, Chamberlain averaged 31 points during the 1953 high school season and led his team to a 71–62 win against the Northeast High School of his future NBA teammate Guy Rodgers. He scored 34 points, won Overbrook the Public League title and a berth for the Philadelphia city championship game against the winner of the rival Catholic league, West Catholic. In that game, West Catholic triple-teamed Chamberlain the entire game, and despite the center's 29 points, the Panthers lost 54-42.

In his second Overbrook season Chamberlain continued his prolific scoring, among them scoring a high school record 71 points against Roxborough. The Panthers comfortably won the Public League title after again beating Northeast in which Chamberlain scored 40 points, and later won the city title by defeating South Catholic by 74–50. Chamberlain scored 32 points and had led Overbrook to a flawless 19–0 season.

During summer vacations Chamberlain worked as a bellhop in Kutsher's Hotel. Red Auerbach, the coach of the Boston Celtics, spotted the talented teenager there and had him play 1-on-1 against Kansas University standout and national champion, B. H. Born, elected the Most Valuable Player of the 1953 NCAA Finals. Chamberlain won 25–10; Born was so dejected that he gave up a promising NBA career and became a tractor engineer ("If there were high school kids that good, I figured I wasn't going to make it to the pros"), and Auerbach wanted Chamberlain to go to a New England university, so he could draft him as a territorial pick for the Celtics, but Chamberlain did not respond.

In Chamberlain's third and final Overbrook season he continued his high scoring, once logging 74, 78 and 90 points in three consecutive games. The Panthers won the Public League a third time, beating West Philadelphia 78–60, and in the city championship game, they met West Catholic once again. Scoring 35 points, Chamberlain led Overbrook to an easy 83–42 win. After three years, Chamberlain had won Overbrook two city championships, logged a 56–3 record and had broken Tom Gola's high school scoring record by scoring 2,252 points, averaging 37.4 per game.

After his last Overbrook season over 200 universities wanted to recruit the basketball prodigy. Among others, UCLA offered Chamberlain the opportunity to become a movie star, the University of Pennsylvania wanted to buy him diamonds, and Chamberlain's Panthers coach Mosenson was even offered a coaching position if he could persuade the center. Cherry has described that Chamberlain wanted a change and therefore did not want to go to or near Philadelphia (also eliminating New York), was not interested in New England, and snubbed the South because of segregation; leaving the Midwest. In the end, after visiting the University of Kansas, also commonly known as KU, with renowned college coach Phog Allen, Chamberlain then proclaimed he was going to play college basketball at KU.

College career

In 1955 Chamberlain joined KU. Cherry described how shocked the young teenager was when he first arrived in the still-segregated city of Lawrence, Kansas: after being treated like a star in his native Philadelphia, he now saw places black people were prohibited to enter. Chamberlain reacted by simply ignoring these signs, eating and going out wherever he wanted. When he discovered that nobody heckled him he gave up his antipathy, and as a result black people in Lawrence were eventually treated better. Chamberlain enjoyed living in Kansas, especially enjoying the rich jazz scene in nearby Kansas City.

At KU Chamberlain became a player for the Kansas Jayhawks freshman team under coach Phog Allen, whom he admired, and also a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, where he was the president of his pledge class. Announced as "looking lighter than his 240 pounds, [able to] reach 9'6" up in the air [flatfooted], and [with a wingspan of] 7'2", his debut was highly anticipated, and he delivered: in Chamberlain's debut game for the freshman squad, the freshman Jayhawks were pitted against the varsity Jayhawks, who were favored to win their conference that year. Chamberlain dominated his older college mates by scoring 42 points (16–35 from the field, 10–12 on free throws), grabbing 29 rebounds and registering four blocks. Chamberlain's prospects of playing under Allen ended, however, when the coach turned 70 shortly after and was forced to retire by KU regulation. Chamberlain had a bad relationship with Allen's successor, Dick Harp, fueled by resentment and disappointment: Cherry has doubted whether Chamberlain would have chosen KU if he had known that Allen was going to retire.

On December 3, 1956, Chamberlain made his varsity debut. In his first varsity game the center scored 52 points and grabbed 31 rebounds, breaking both all-time college records in a 87–69 win against the Northwestern team of future NBA team mate Joe Ruklick. His team mate Monte Johnson testified how athletic he was: "Wilt... 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]." Reportedly, Chamberlain also broke Johnny Kerr's toe with a slam dunk. By this time, Chamberlain had developed several offensive weapons that became his trademarks: his finger roll, his fadeaway jump shot, which he could also hit as a bank shot, his passing and his shot blocking. Leading a talented squad of starters Maurice King, Gene Elstun, John Parker, Ron Lonesky and Lew Johnson, the Jayhawks went 13–1 until they lost a game 56–54 versus Oklahoma State in which Oklahoma State held the ball the last 3:30 minutes without any intention of scoring a basket; still possible in the days before the shot clock (introduced 1984 in the NCAA).

As he did at Overbrook Chamberlain again showcased his diverse athletic talent. He ran the 100-yard dash in 10.9 seconds, shot putted 56 feet, triple jumped more than 50 feet, and won the high jump in the Big Eight track and field championships three straight years.

In 1957 23 teams played for the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. The Midwest regional tourney was held in Dallas, Texas, which at the time was segregated. In the first game the Jayhawks played the all-white Southern Methodist University team, and KU player 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 to prevent the angry crowd from hijacking the team bus. The next game against Oklahoma City was equally unpleasant with KU winning 81–61 under intense racist abuse. In the semi-finals, Chamberlain's Jayhawks defeated the University of San Francisco, 80–56.

Chamberlain made the First Team of the All-America squad and led his Jayhawks into the NCAA finals against the Tar Heels of North Carolina. In that game Tar Heels coach, Frank McGuire, used several unorthodox tactics to thwart Chamberlain. For the tip-off he sent his shortest player, Tommy Kearns, in order to rattle 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 their fixation on Chamberlain, the Jayhawks shot only 27% from the field, as opposed to 64% of the Tar Heels, and trailed 22–29 at halftime. Later, North Carolina led 40–37 with 10 minutes to go and stalled the game: they passed the ball around without any intention of scoring a basket. After several Tar Heel turnovers, the game was tied at 46 at the end of regulation. In the first overtime both teams scored 2 points each, and in second overtime Kansas froze the ball in return, 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 51–52. After King scored a basket, Kansas was ahead by one point, but then Tar Heel Joe Quigg was fouled on a drive with 10 seconds remaining and made his two foul shots. For the final play Dick Harp called a play for Ron Loneski to pass the ball into Chamberlain in the low post. The pass was too soft and was intercepted, however, and the Tar Heels won the game. Nonetheless Chamberlain, who had scored 23 points and 14 rebounds, was elected the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. Cherry has speculated, however, that this loss was a watershed in Chamberlain's life, because it was the first time that his team had lost despite him putting up impressive individual stats. Chamberlain later admitted that this loss was the most painful of his life.

In Chamberlain's junior year (1957–58 NCAA season), the Jayhawks' matches were even more frustrating for him. Knowing how dominant Chamberlain was, the 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." In addition Chamberlain grew weary of the punishment inflicted on him; after a game against Missouri, he showed imprints of two rows of teeth marks in his arm. Nevertheless, Chamberlain averaged 30.1 points for the season and led the Jayhawks to an 18–5 record, losing three games when he was out with a urinary infection: because KU came second in the league and at the time only conference winners were invited to the NCAA tourney, the Jayhawks' season ended. It was only a small consolation that he was again named an All-American, along with future NBA Hall-of-Famers Elgin Baylor and Oscar Robertson plus old rival Guy Rodgers.

Having lost the enjoyment from NCAA basketball and wanting to earn money, he left college and sold the story named "Why I Am Leaving College" to ''Look'' magazine for $10,000, a large sum when NBA players earned $9,000 in a whole season. In two seasons at Kansas, Chamberlain averaged 29.9 points and 18.3 rebounds per game while totaling 1,433 points and 877 rebounds, and led Kansas to one Big Seven championship. By the time Chamberlain was 21, he had already been featured in ''Time'', ''Life'', ''Look'', and ''Newsweek'' magazines, even before he turned professional.

For many years following Chamberlain's departure from the University of Kansas, critics claimed that he either wanted to leave the very white Midwest or was embarrassed by not being able to bring home the NCAA basketball tournament victory. In 1998, Chamberlain returned to Allen Field House in Lawrence, Kansas to participate in a jersey-retiring ceremony for his number 13. Around this time, he has been quoted as saying: "There's been a lot of conversation, since people have been trying to get my jersey number retired, that I have some dislike for the University of Kansas. That is totally ridiculous."

Professional career

Harlem Globetrotters (1958–1959)

After his frustrating junior year, Chamberlain wanted to become a professional player before finishing his senior year. However, at that time, the NBA did not accept players who had not finished their last year of studies. Therefore, Chamberlain was prohibited from joining the NBA for a year, and decided to play for the Harlem Globetrotters in 1958 for a sum of $50,000.

Chamberlain became a member of the Globetrotters team which made history by playing in Moscow in 1959, enjoyed a sold out tour of the USSR and prior to the start of a game at Moscow's Lenin Central Stadium, were greeted by the General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev. One particular Trotter skit involved Trotters captain Meadowlark Lemon collapsing to the ground, and instead of helping him up, Chamberlain threw him several feet high up in the air and caught him like a doll. "[Chamberlain] was the strongest athlete who ever lived", the 210-pound Lemon recounted later. In later years, Chamberlain frequently joined the Trotters in the off-season and fondly recalled his time there, because he was no longer jeered at or asked to break records, but just one of several artists who loved to entertain the crowd. On March 9, 2000, Chamberlain's number 13 was retired by the Trotters.

Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors (1959–1965)

On October 24, 1959, Chamberlain finally made his debut as an NBA player, starting for the Philadelphia Warriors. The Warriors' draft pick was highly unusual, as it was a so-called "territorial pick" despite the fact Chamberlain had spent his college years in Kansas, which is not a region covered by Philadelphia. However, Warriors owner Eddie Gottlieb, one of the NBA's founding fathers, argued that Chamberlain had grown up in Philadelphia and had become popular there as a high school player; and because there were no NBA teams in Kansas, he argued, the Philadelphia Warriors held his territorial rights and could draft him. The NBA agreed, marking the only time in NBA history that a player was made a territorial selection based on his pre-college roots. Chamberlain immediately became the NBA's best paid player, earning $30,000 in his rookie contract; in comparison, the previous top earner was Bob Cousy of the Boston Celtics with $25,000, and Gottlieb had bought the whole Warriors franchise for $25,000 seven years earlier.

In the 1959–60 NBA season Chamberlain joined a Warriors squad which was coached by Neil Johnston and contained Hall-of-Fame guards Tom Gola and Paul Arizin, plus Ernie Beck and his old rival Guy Rodgers—remarkably, all five Warriors starters were Philadelphians. In his first NBA game against the New York Knicks, the rookie center scored 43 points and 28 rebounds. In his fourth game Philadelphia met the reigning champions, the Boston Celtics of Hall-of-Fame coach Red Auerbach, whose offer Chamberlain had snubbed several years before, and his old NCAA rival, Bill Russell, who was now lauded as one of the best defensive pivots in the game. In what was the first of many Chamberlain-Russell match-ups, Chamberlain outscored Russell with 30 points versus 28 points, but Boston won the game. Cherry called this outcome the first of many great duels between these pivots. The rivalry between Chamberlain and his perennial nemesis (Russell) would grow out to become one of the NBA's greatest on-court rivalries of all time. Nevertheless, the two also became friends in personal life, similar to later rivals Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

In his first NBA season Chamberlain averaged 37.6 points and 27 rebounds, convincingly breaking the previous regular-season records. He only needed 56 games to score point number 2,102, which broke the all-time regular season scoring record of Bob Pettit, who needed 72 games to score 2,101 points. Chamberlain won both the NBA Most Valuable Player and NBA Rookie of the Year awards in the same season—a feat equaled only by fellow Hall-of-Famer Wes Unseld in the 1968–69 NBA season—and broke eight NBA records. Chamberlain capped off his rookie season awards by also winning the 1960 NBA All-Star Game MVP award with a 23 point, 25 rebound performance for the East. However, it also became evident that he was a miserable free throw shooter, hardly making half of his foul shots. As time progressed, Chamberlain became even worse, and acknowledged he was simply a head case on that matter.

The Warriors entered the 1960 NBA Playoffs and beat the Syracuse Nationals, setting up a meeting versus the Eastern Division champions, the Boston Celtics. Cherry described how Celtics coach Red Auerbach ordered his forward Tom Heinsohn to commit personal fouls on Chamberlain: whenever the Warriors shot foul shots, Heinsohn grabbed and shoved Chamberlain to prevent him from running back quickly; his intention was that the Celtics would throw the ball in so fast that the prolific shotblocker Chamberlain was not back under his own basket yet, and Boston could score an easy fastbreak basket. The teams split the first two games, but in Game 3, Chamberlain got fed up with Heinsohn and punched him. In the scuffle, the Warriors' center injured his hand, and Philadelphia lost the next two games. In Game 5, his hand was back to normal, and Chamberlain scored 50 points on Bill Russell. But in Game 6, Heinsohn got the last laugh, scoring the decisive basket with a last-second tip in. The Warriors lost the series 2 games to 4.

The rookie Chamberlain then shocked the Warriors' fans by saying he was thinking of retiring. He was tired of being subjected to double- and triple teams, and teams coming down on him with hard fouls. Chamberlain feared he might lose his cool one day. As Celtics forward Heinsohn said, himself no stranger to dirty play against Chamberlain: "Half the fouls against him [Chamberlain] were hard fouls ... he took the most brutal pounding of any player ever". In addition, Chamberlain was seen as a freak of nature, jeered at by the fans and scorned by the media. As Chamberlain often said, quoting coach Alex Hannum's explanation of his situation, "Nobody loves Goliath." Eddie Gottlieb coaxed Chamberlain back into the NBA, sweetening his return with a salary raise to $65,000.

In the following season Chamberlain surpassed his rookie season statistics as he averaged 38.4 points per game and 27.2 rebounds per game. He became the first player to break the 3,000-point barrier and the first and still only player to break the 2,000-rebound barrier for a single season, grabbing 2,149 boards. Chamberlain also won his first field goal percentage title, and set the all-time record for rebounds in a single game with 55. Chamberlain was so dominant on that team that he scored almost 32% of his team's points and 30.4% of their rebounds.

Chamberlain again failed to convert his play into team success, however, this time bowing out against the Syracuse Nationals in a three-game sweep. Cherry noted that Chamberlain was "difficult" and did not respect coach Neil Johnston, who was unable to handle the star center. In retrospect Eddie Gottlieb remarked: "My mistake was not getting a stronghanded coach... [Johnston] wasn't ready for big time."

In his third Warriors season the Warriors were coached by Frank McGuire, the coach who had masterminded Chamberlain's painful NCAA loss against the Tar Heels. In that year the center set several all-time records which have never been threatened since. In the 1961–62 NBA season he averaged 50.4 points and grabbed 25.7 rebounds per game. And perhaps most astounding on March 2, 1962, in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Wilt scored 100 points, shooting 36 of 63 from the field, and making 28 out of 32 free throws against the New York Knicks. Chamberlain's 4,029 regular-season points made him the first and only player to break the 4,000-point barrier. To place this in perspective the only player other than Chamberlain to break the 3,000-point barrier is Michael Jordan, who scored 3,041 points in the 1986–87 NBA season. Chamberlain once again broke the 2,000 rebound barrier by grabbing 2,052 rebounds. Additionally, he was on the hardwood for an average of 48.5 minutes, playing 3,882 of his team's 3,890 minutes. Because Chamberlain played in overtime games, he averaged more minutes per game than the 48 minutes in regulation; in fact, Chamberlain would have hit the 3,890 minute mark if he had not been ejected in one game after picking up his second technical foul with 8 minutes left to play.

His extraordinary feats in the 1961–62 season were later subject of the book ''Wilt, 1962'' by Gary M. Pomerantz (2005), who used Chamberlain as a metaphor for the uprising of Black America. In addition to Chamberlain's regular season accomplishments, he scored 42 points in the 1962 NBA All-Star Game—still the all-time record—on 17–23 shooting and pulled down 24 rebounds.

In the 1962 NBA Playoffs the Warriors met the Boston Celtics again in the Eastern Division Finals, a team which Bob Cousy and Bill Russell called the greatest Celtics team of all time. Each team won their home games, so the series was split 3–3 after six games. In a closely contested Game 7 Chamberlain tied the score at 107 with 16 seconds to go, but then Celtics shooting guard Sam Jones sank a clutch shot which won Boston the game and the series. In later years Chamberlain was criticized for averaging 50 points, but not winning a title. In his defense Warriors coach Frank McGuire said "Wilt has been simply super-human", and pointed out that the Warriors lacked a consistent second scorer, a playmaker, and a second big man to take the pressure off Chamberlain.

In the 1962–63 NBA season Eddie Gottlieb sold the Warriors franchise for an amount of $850,000 to a group of businessmen led by Marty Simmons from San Francisco, and the team relocated to become the San Francisco Warriors under a new coach, Bob Feerick. This also meant, however, that the team broke apart, as Paul Arizin chose to retire rather than moving away from his family and his job at IBM in Philadelphia, and Tom Gola was homesick, requesting a trade to the lowly New York Knicks halfway through the season. With both secondary scorers gone Chamberlain continued his array of statistical feats, scoring 44.8 points and grabbing 24.3 rebounds per game that year. But despite Chamberlain's individual success, the Warriors lost 49 of their 80 games and missed the playoffs.

In the 1963–64 NBA season Chamberlain got yet another new coach, Alex Hannum, and was joined by a promising rookie center, Nate Thurmond, who eventually would enter the Hall of Fame. Ex-soldier Hannum, who later entered the NBA Hall of Fame as a coach, was a crafty psychologist who emphasized defense and passing. Most importantly, he was not afraid to stand up to the dominant Chamberlain, who was known to "freeze out" (not communicate with) coaches he did not like. Backed up by valuable rookie Thurmond, Chamberlain had another good season with 36.9 ppg and 22.3 rpg, and the San Francisco Warriors went all the way to the NBA Finals. In that series they succumbed to the Boston Celtics team of Bill Russell again, this time losing 1–4. But as Cherry remarked, not only Chamberlain, but in particular Hannum deserved much credit because he had basically had taken the bad 31–49 squad of last year plus Thurmond and made it into a NBA Finalist. In the summer of 1964 Chamberlain, one of the prominent participants at the famed Rucker Park basketball court in New York City, made the acquaintance of a tall, talented 17-year old teenager who played there. Soon, the young Lew Alcindor was allowed into his inner circle, and quickly idolized the ten-year older NBA player. Unfortunately, Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as Alcindor would name himself later, would develop an intense personal antipathy.

In the following 1964–65 NBA season the Warriors got off to a terrible start and ran into financial trouble. At the 1965 All-Star break Chamberlain was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, the new name of the relocated Syracuse Nationals. In return the Warriors received Paul Neumann, Connie Dierking, Lee Shaffer (who opted to retire rather than report to the Warriors), and $150,000. When Chamberlain left the Warriors, owner Franklin Mieuli said: "Chamberlain is not an easy man to love [and] the fans in San Francisco never learned to love him. Wilt is easy to hate [...] people came to see him lose."

Philadelphia 76ers (1965–1968)

After the trade Chamberlain found himself on a promising Sixers team that included guards Hal Greer, a future Hall-of-Famer, and talented role players Larry Costello, Chet Walker and Lucious Jackson. Cherry remarks that there was a certain tension within the team: Greer was the formerly undisputed leader and was not willing to give up his authority, and Jackson, a talented center, was now forced to play power forward because Chamberlain blocked the center spot; however, as the season progressed, the three began to mesh better. Chamberlain did not care for the Sixer's coach, Dolph Schayes, because Schayes, according to him, had made several disrespectful remarks when they were rival players in the NBA. thumb|Chamberlain being defended by Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics Statistically, Chamberlain was again outstanding, posting 34.7 ppg and 22.9 rpg for the second half of the season. After defeating the Cincinnati Royals led by Oscar Robertson in the 1965 NBA Playoffs, the Sixers met Chamberlain's familiar rival, the Boston Celtics. The press called it an even matchup in all positions, even at center, where Bill Russell was expected to give Chamberlain a tough battle. Indeed, the two teams split the first six games, and because of the better season record, the last game was held in the Celtics' Boston Garden. In that Game 7, both centers were marvelous: Chamberlain scored 30 points and 32 rebounds, and Russell logged 16 points, 27 rebounds and 8 assists. In the final minute, Chamberlain hit two clutch free throws and slam dunked on Russell, bringing Boston's lead down to 1 at 110–109 with five seconds left. Russell botched the inbounds pass, hitting a guide wire over the backboard and giving the ball back to the Sixers. Coach Schayes called timeout, and decided to run the last play over Hal Greer rather than Chamberlain, because he feared the Celtics would intentionally foul him because he was a poor foul shooter. But when Greer attempted to inbound the ball, John Havlicek stole it to preserve the Celtics' lead. For the fifth time in seven years, Russell's team had deprived Chamberlain of the title. According to Chamberlain, that was the time that people started calling him "loser". Additionally, in an April 1965 issue of ''Sports Illustrated'' Chamberlain conducted an interview entitled "My Life In A Bush League" where he criticized his fellow players, coaches, and NBA administrators. Chamberlain later commented that he could see in hindsight how the interview was instrumental in damaging his public image.

In the 1965–66 NBA season the Sixers experienced real tragedy when Ike Richman, the Sixers' co-owner as well as Chamberlain's confidant and lawyer, died of a coronary. Still reeling from the shock, the Sixers posted a 55–25 regular season record, and for his strong play, Chamberlain was handed his second MVP award. In that season, the center again dominated his opposition by scoring 33.5 points and 24.6 rebounds a game, leading the league in both categories. In one particular game, Chamberlain blocked a dunk attempt by Gus Johnson so hard that he dislocated Johnson's shoulder. Off the court, however, Chamberlain's commitment to the cause was doubted, as Chamberlain was a late sleeper, lived in New York and preferred to ''commute'' to Philadelphia rather than live there, and he was only available afternoon for training. Because Schayes did not want to risk angering his best player, he scheduled the daily workout at 4 pm; this angered the team, who preferred an early schedule to have the afternoon off, but Schayes just said: "There is no other way." Irv Kosloff, who now owned the Sixers alone after Richman's death, pleaded to him to move to Philadelphia during the season, but he was turned down.

In the 1966 NBA Playoffs, the Sixers met their familiar foes, the Celtics, and for the first time even had home court advantage. However, Boston easily won the first two games on the road, winning 115–96 and 114–93; Chamberlain played within his usual range, but his supporting cast shot under 40%. This caused sports journalist Joe McGinnis to comment: "The Celtics played like champions and the Sixers just played." In Game 3, Chamberlain scored 31 points and 27 rebounds for an important road win, and the next day, coach Schayes planned to hold a joint team practice. However, Chamberlain said he was "too tired" to attend, and even refused Schayes' plea to at least show up and shoot a few foul shots with the team. In Game 4, Boston won 114–108. Prior to Game 5, Chamberlain was nowhere to be found, skipping practice and being non-accessible. Outwardly, Schayes defended his star center as "excused from practice", but his team mates knew the truth and were much less forgiving. In Game 5 itself, Chamberlain was superb, scoring 46 points and 34 rebounds, but the Celtics won the game 120–112 and the series. Cherry is highly critical of Chamberlain: while conceding he was the only Sixers player who performed in the series, he points out his unprofessional, egotistical behavior and being a bad example for his team mates.

Prior to the 1966–67 NBA season, the friendly but unassertive Dolph Schayes was replaced by a familiar face, the crafty but firm Alex Hannum. In what Cherry calls a tumultuous locker room meeting, Hannum addressed several key issues he observed during the last season, several of them putting Chamberlain in an unfavorable light. Sixers forward Chet Walker testified that on several occasions, players had to pull Chamberlain and Hannum apart to prevent a fistfight. Fellow forward Billy Cunningham observed that "Hannum showed who was the boss" and "never backed down", and by doing this, won Chamberlain's respect. When emotions cooled off, Hannum pointed out that Chamberlain and he were on the same side, trying to win a championship ring; but to pull this off, the center – like all others – needed to "act like a man" and behave accordingly on and off the court. Concerning basketball, he persuaded him to change his style of play. Loaded with several other players who could score, such as future Hall-of-Famers Hal Greer and newcomer Billy Cunningham, Hannum wanted Chamberlain to concentrate more on defense.

As a result, Chamberlain was less dominant, taking only 14% of the team's shots (in his 50.4 ppg season 1961–62, it had been 35.3%), but extremely efficient: he averaged a career-low 24.1 points, but he led the league in rebounds (24.2), ended third in assists (7.8), had a record breaking .683 field goal accuracy, and played strong defense. For these feats, Chamberlain earned his third MVP award. The Sixers charged their way to a then-record 68–13 season, including a record 46–4 start. In addition, the formerly egotistical Chamberlain began to praise his team mates, lauding hardworking Luke Jackson as the "ultimate power forward", calling Hal Greer a deadly jumpshooter, and point guard Wali Jones an excellent defender and outsider scorer. Off the court, the center invited the team to restaurants and paid the entire bill, knowing he earned 10 times more than all the others. Greer, who was considered a consummate professional and often clashed with the center because of his attitude, spoke positively of the new Wilt Chamberlain: "You knew in a minute the Big Fella [Chamberlain] was ready to go... and everybody would follow." thumb|Chamberlain and Nate Thurmond of the [[Golden State Warriors|San Francisco Warriors battle for the basketball.]] In the 1967 NBA Playoffs, the Sixers yet again battled the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Division Finals, and again held home court advantage. In Game 1, the Sixers beat Boston 127–112, powered by Hal Greer's 39 points and Chamberlain's unofficial quadruple double, with 24 points, 32 rebounds, 13 assists and (unofficially counted) 12 blocks. In Game 2, the Sixers won 107–102 in overtime, and player-coach Russell grudgingly praised Chamberlain for intimidating the Celtics into taking low percentage shots from further outside. In Game 3, Chamberlain grabbed 41 rebounds and helped the Sixers win 115–104. The Celtics prevented a sweep by winning Game 4 with 121–117, but in Game 5, the Sixers simply overpowered the Celtics 140–116, which effectively ended Boston's historical run of 8 consecutive NBA titles. The Sixers' center scored 29 points, 36 rebounds and 13 assists and was highly praised by Celtics Russell and K.C. Jones.

In the 1967 NBA Finals, the Sixers were pitted against Chamberlain's old team, the San Francisco Warriors of his one-time backup Nate Thurmond and star forward Rick Barry. The Sixers won the first two games, with Chamberlain and Greer taking credit for respectively defensive dominance and clutch shooting, but San Francisco won two of the next three games, so Philadelphia was up 3–2 prior to Game 6. In Game 6, the Warriors were trailing by one point with 15 seconds left. For the last play, Thurmond and Barry were assigned to do a pick and roll against Chamberlain and whoever would guard Barry. However, the Sixers foiled this plan: when Barry ran past Thurmond's pick and drove to the basket, he was picked up by Chet Walker, making it impossible to shoot; Thurmond was covered by Chamberlain, making it impossible to pass. Barry botched his shot attempt, and the Sixers won the championship. Chamberlain said: "It is a wonderful to be a part of the greatest team in basketball... being a champion is like having a big round glow inside of you." He had contributed with 17.7 ppg and 28.7 rpg against fellow future Hall-of-Fame pivot Nate Thurmond, never failing to snare at least 23 rebounds in the six games. Chamberlain himself described the team as the best in NBA history. In 2002, writer Wayne Lynch wrote a book about this remarkable Sixers season, ''Season of the 76ers'', centering on Chamberlain.

In the 1967–68 NBA season, matters began to turn sour between Chamberlain and the Sixers' sole surviving owner, Irv Kosloff. This conflict had been going along for a while: in 1965, Chamberlain asserted that he and the late Richman had worked out a deal which would give the center 25% of the franchise once he had ended his career. Although there is no written proof for or against, Ex-Sixers coach Dolph Schayes and Sixers lawyer Alan Levitt assumed Chamberlain was right; in any case, Kosloff declined the request, leaving Chamberlain livid and willing to jump to the rival ABA once his contract ended in 1967. Kosloff and Chamberlain worked out a truce, and later signed a one-year, $250,000 contract.

On the hardwood, Chamberlain continued his focus on team play and registered 24.3 points and 23.8 rebounds a game for the season. The 76ers had the best record in the league for the third straight season. Chamberlain made history by becoming the first and only center in NBA history to finish the season as the leader in assists, his 702 beating runner-up, Hall-of-Fame point guard Lenny Wilkens' total by 23. For these feats, Chamberlain won his fourth and last MVP title. Another landmark was his 25,000th point, making him the first ever player to score these many points: he gave the ball to his team physician Dr. Stan Lorber. Winning 62 games, the Sixers easily took the first playoff berth of the 1968 NBA Playoffs. In the 1968 Eastern Division Semifinals, they were pitted against the New York Knicks. In a physically tough matchup, the Sixers lost sixth man Billy Cunningham, who broke his hand, and Chamberlain, Hal Greer and Luke Jackson were struggling with inflamed feet, bad knees and pulled hamstrings, respectively. Going ahead 3–2, the Sixers defeated the Knicks 115–97 in Game 6 after Chamberlain scored 25 points and 27 rebounds: he had a successful series in which he led both teams in points (153), rebounds (145) and assists (38).

In the 1968 Eastern Division Finals, the Sixers yet again met the Boston Celtics, again with home court advantage, and this time as reigning champions. Despite the Sixers' injury woes, coach Hannum was confident to "take the Celtics in less than seven games": he pointed out the age of the Celtics, who were built around Bill Russell and guard Sam Jones, both 34. But then, national tragedy struck as Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4, 1968. With eight of the ten starting players on the Sixers and Celtics being African-American, both teams were in deep shock, and there were calls to cancel the series. In a game called as "unreal" and "devoid of emotion", the Sixers lost 118–127 on April 5. After attending Dr. King's funeral, Chamberlain called out to the angry rioters who were setting fires all over the country, stating Dr. King would not have approved. In Game 2, Philadelphia evened the series with 115–106, and in Games 3 and 4, the Sixers won, with Chamberlain suspiciously often played by Celtics backup center Wayne Embry, causing the press to speculate Russell was worn down. Prior to Game 5, the Celtics seemed dead: no NBA team had ever come back from a 1–3 deficit. However, the Celtics rallied back, winning Game 5 with 122–104 and Game 6 with 114–106, powered by a spirited John Havlicek and helped by a terrible Sixers shooting slump.

What followed was the first of three consecutive controversial and painful Game 7s which Wilt Chamberlain played. In that Game 7, the Sixers could not get their act together: 15,202 stunned Philadelphia fans witnessed a historic 96–100 defeat, making it the first time in NBA history a team lost a series after leading 3–1. Although Cherry points out that the Sixers shot badly (Hal Greer, Wali Jones, Chet Walker, Luke Jackson and Matt Guokas hit a combined 25 of 74 shots) and Chamberlain grabbed 34 rebounds and shot 4-of-9, the center himself scored only 14 points. In the second half of Game 7, Chamberlain did not attempt a single shot from the field. Cherry observes a strange pattern in that game: in a typical Sixers game, Chamberlain got the ball 60 times in the low post, but in that Game 7, only 23 times, and only seven times in the third and only ''two'' times in the fourth quarter. Chamberlain later blamed coach Hannum for the lack of touches (i.e. scoring opportunities), a point which the coach conceded himself, but Cherry points out that Chamberlain, who always thought of himself as the best player of all time, should have been outspoken enough to demand the ball himself. The loss meant that Chamberlain was now 1–6 in playoff series against the Celtics.

After that season, coach Alex Hannum wanted to be closer to his family on the West Coast; he left the Sixers to coach the Oakland Oaks in the newly founded American Basketball Association. Chamberlain then asked for a trade, and Sixers general manager Jack Ramsay traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers for Darrall Imhoff, Archie Clark and Jerry Chambers. The motivation for this move remains in dispute. According to sportswriter Roland Lazenby, a journalist close to the Lakers, Chamberlain was angry at Kosloff for breaking the alleged Richman-Chamberlain deal, but according to Dr. Jack Ramsay, who was the Sixers general manager then, Chamberlain also threatened to jump to the ABA after Hannum left, and forced the trade himself. Cherry finally adds several personal reasons: the center felt he had grown too big for Philadelphia, sought the presence of fellow celebrities (which were plenty in L.A.) and finally also desired the opportunity to date white women, which was possible for a black man in L.A. but hard to imagine elsewhere back then.

Los Angeles Lakers (1968–1973)

On July 9, 1968, Chamberlain was the centerpiece of a major trade between the 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers, who sent center Darrall Imhoff (the unfortunate ex-Knicks center who started against Chamberlain when the latter scored 100 points), forward Jerry Chambers and guard Archie Clark to Philadelphia, making it the first time a reigning NBA Most Valuable Player was traded the next season. Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke gave Chamberlain an unprecedented contract, paying him $250,000 after taxes; in comparison, previous Laker top earner Jerry West was paid $100,000 before taxes.

Chamberlain joined a squad which featured Hall-of-Fame forward Elgin Baylor and Hall-of-Fame guard Jerry West, along with backup center Mel Counts, forwards Keith Erickson and Tom Hawkins and talented but diminutive 5 ft 11 in guard Johnny Egan. The lack of a second guard next to West (and thus, the lack of speed and quickness) concerned coach Butch Van Breda Kolff; after losing Clark and Gail Goodrich, who joined the Phoenix Suns after the 1968 expansion draft, he said: "Egan gets murdered on defense because of his [lack of] size... but if I don't play him, we look like a bunch of trucks." In addition, Cherry observed that Chamberlain was neither a natural leader nor a loyal follower, which made him difficult to fit in. While he was on cordial terms with Jerry West, he often argued with team captain Elgin Baylor; regarding Baylor, he later explained: "We were good friends, but... [in] black culture... you never let the other guy one-up you." The greatest problem was his tense relationship with Lakers coach Butch Van Breda Kolff: pejoratively calling the new recruit "The Load", he later complained that Chamberlain was egotistical, never respected him, too often slacked off in practice and focused too much on his own statistics. In return, the center blasted Van Breda Kolff as "the dumbest and worst coach ever". Laker Keith Erickson observed that "Butch catered to Elgin and Jerry... and that is not a good way to get on Wilt's side... that relationship was doomed from the start."

Chamberlain experienced a problematic and often frustrating season. Van Breda Kolff benched him several times, which never happened in his career before; in mid-season, the perennial scoring champion had two games in which he scored only six and then only 2 points. Playing through his problems, Chamberlain averaged 20.5 points and 21.1 rebounds a game that season. However, Jack Kent Cooke was pleased, because since acquiring Chamberlain, ticket sales had gone up by 11 percent.

In the 1969 playoffs, the Lakers dispatched of Chamberlain's old club, the San Francisco Warriors with 4–2 after losing the first two games, and then defeated the Atlanta Hawks and met Chamberlain's familiar rivals, Bill Russell's Boston Celtics. Going into the series as 3-to-1 favorites, the Lakers won their first two games, but dropped the next two. Chamberlain was criticized as a non-factor in the series, getting neutralized by Bill Russell with little effort. But in Game 5, the Lakers center started to come to life, scoring 13 points and grabbing 31 rebounds, helping to lead Los Angeles to a 117–104 win. In Game 6, the Celtics won 99–90, and Chamberlain only scored eight points; Cherry accuses him of choking, because if "Chamberlain had came up big and put up a normal 30 point scoring night", L.A. would have probably won its first championship.

Game 7 featured a surreal scene: in anticipation of a Lakers win, Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke had put up thousands of balloons in the rafters of the Forum in Los Angeles. This display of arrogance motivated the Celtics and angered Jerry West. In that match, Chamberlain experienced his second Game 7 debacle. The Lakers trailed by 76–91 after three quarters. But powered by a limping Jerry West, who played with a deep thigh bruise after Game 5, the Lakers mounted a comeback; but then, Chamberlain twisted his knee after a rebound and had to be replaced by Mel Counts. With three minutes to go, and West and Counts hitting clutch baskets, the Lakers trailed by only 102–103. But when the Celtics tightened up their defense, the Lakers committed costly turnovers and lost the game 106–108 despite 42 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists from Jerry West, who became the first and only NBA Finals MVP from the losing team.

After the game, the key question was why Chamberlain had stayed out the final six minutes. At the time of his final substitution, he had scored 18 points (hitting 7 of his 8 shots) and grabbed 27 rebounds, significantly better than the 10 points of Mel Counts on 4-of-13 shooting. To justify a late minute sub, either Chamberlain's injury had to be grave, or Van Breda Kolff's trust in Counts absolute. Among others, Bill Russell did not believe Chamberlain's injury was grave, and openly accused him of being a malingerer: "Any injury short of a broken leg or a broken back is not enough." Ironically, Van Breda Kolff came to Chamberlain's defense, insisting the often-maligned Lakers center hardly was able to move in the end. He himself was perceived as "pig-headed" for benching Chamberlain, and soon resigned as a Lakers coach. Cherry comments that according to some journalists, that Game 7 "destroyed two careers: Wilt's because he wouldn't take over and Van Breda Kolff because he wouldn't give in".

In his second Lakers year under new coach Joe Mullaney, Chamberlain seriously injured his knee. He was injured in the ninth game of the schedule and missed the next several months before appearing in the final three games of the 82-game regular season. Owing to a great start, he managed to average 27.3 points, 18.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. Again, the Lakers charged through the playoffs, and in the 1970 NBA Finals, the Lakers were pitted against the New York Knicks, loaded with future Hall-of-Famers Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere, Bill Bradley, and Walt Frazier. Cherry observed that Reed, a prolific midrange shooter, was a bad matchup for Chamberlain: having lost lateral quickness due to his injury, the Lakers center was often too slow to block Reed's preferred high post jump shots. In Game 1, Reed masterminded a 124–112 win in which he scored 37 points on Chamberlain. In Game 2, Chamberlain scored 19 points, grabbed 24 rebounds and blocked Reed's shot in the final seconds, leading the Lakers to a 105–103 win. Game 3 featured Jerry West hitting an unbelievable 60-foot buzzer beater to tie the game at 102; however, the Knicks took the game 111–108. In Game 4, Chamberlain scored 18 points and grabbed 25 rebounds and helped tie the series at two games each. But in Game 5, things seemed to go awry for the Knicks: trailing by double digits, Reed pulled his thigh muscle and seemed to be done for the series. By conventional wisdom, Chamberlain now should have dominated against little-used Knicks backup centers Nate Bowman and Bill Hosket or forwards Bradley and DeBusschere, who gave up more than half a foot against the Lakers center. Instead, the Lakers gave away their 13 point halftime lead and succumbed to the aggressive Knicks defense: L.A. committed 19 second half turnovers, and the two main scorers Chamberlain and West shot the ball only three and two times, respectively, in the entire second half. The Lakers lost 100–107 in what was called one of the greatest comebacks in NBA Finals history. In Game 6, Chamberlain scored 45 points and almost single-handedly equalized the series in a 135–113 Lakers win, and with Reed out, the Knicks seemed doomed prior to Game 7 in New York.

However, the hero of that Game 7 was Willis Reed. He famously hobbled up court, scored the first four points, and inspired his team to one of the most famous playoff upsets of all time. At halftime, the Knicks were already up by 27, and despite scoring 21 points, Chamberlain could not prevent his third consecutive painful Game 7 loss. The Lakers center himself was criticized for his inability to dominate his injured counterpart, but Cherry pointed out that Chamberlain's feat – coming back from career-threatening injury ''himself'' – was too quickly forgotten.

In the 1970–71 NBA season, the Lakers made a notable move by signing future Hall-of-Fame guard Gail Goodrich, who came back from the Phoenix Suns after playing for L.A. until 1968. Chamberlain averaged 20.7 points, 18.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists, once again led the NBA in rebounding and the Lakers won the Pacific Division title. After losing Elgin Baylor to an Achilles tendon rupture that effectively ended his career, and especially after losing Jerry West after a knee injury, the handicapped Lakers were seen as underdogs against the Milwaukee Bucks of freshly crowned MVP Lew Alcindor, better known under his later Muslim name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and veteran Hall-of-Fame guard Oscar Robertson in the Western Conference Finals. Winning the regular season with 66 wins, the Bucks were seen as favourites against the depleted Lakers; still, many pundits were looking forward to the matchup between the 34-year old Chamberlain and the 24-year old Abdul-Jabbar. In Game 1, Abdul-Jabbar outscored Chamberlain 32–22, and the Bucks won 106–85. In Game 2, the Bucks won again despite the Lakers center scoring 26 points, four more than his Milwaukee counterpart. Prior to Game 3, things became even worse for the Lakers when Keith Erickson, West's stand-in, had an appendectomy and was out for the season; with only rookie Jim McMillan easing the scoring pressure, Chamberlain churned out a 24-point-24-rebound effort in Game 4 to a Lakers win, but finally the Bucks soundly defeated the Lakers 116–98 at home. Although Chamberlain lost, he was lauded for holding his own against MVP Abdul-Jabbar, who was not only 10 years younger but still had two healthy knees.

After the 1971 playoffs, Chamberlain had an offer to fight heavyweight boxing legend Muhammad Ali. The 15-round fight would have taken place on July 26, 1971 in the Houston Astrodome but Chamberlain finally refused the match. In an 1999 interview, Chamberlain stated that boxing trainer Cus D'Amato wanted to train him for the fight, and they offered Ali and him $5 million each to battle each other. However, after checking back with his father, Chamberlain finally said no.

In the 1971–72 NBA season, the Lakers hired former Celtics star guard Bill Sharman as head coach. Sharman introduced morning shoot-arounds, in which the perennial latecomer Chamberlain regularly participated (in contrast to earlier years with Dolph Schayes) and transformed him into a defensive-minded, low-scoring post defender in the mold of his old rival Bill Russell. Furthermore, he told Chamberlain to use his rebounding and passing skills to quickly initiate fastbreaks to his teammates, forwards Happy Hairston and MacMillian, guards Goodrich and West, and bench players Flynn Robinson and LeRoy Ellis.

While no longer being the main scorer, Chamberlain was named the new captain of the Lakers: after his Achilles tendon rupture, perennial captain Elgin Baylor had ended his career, leaving a void the center now filled. Initially, Sharman had wanted Chamberlain and West to share this duty, but West declined, stating that he was injury-prone and wanted to solely concentrate on the game. Chamberlain accepted his new roles and posted an all-time low 14.8 points, but also won the rebound crown with 19.2 rpg and led the league with a .649 field goal percentage. Powered by his defensive presence, the Lakers would embark on an unprecedented 33 game win streak en route to a then-record 69 wins in the regular season.

In the post-season, the Lakers defeated the Chicago Bulls in a sweep, then went on to face the Milwaukee Bucks of young superstar center and regular-season MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar again. The matchup between Chamberlain and Abdul-Jabbar was hailed by ''LIFE'' magazine as the greatest matchup in all of sports. Chamberlain would help lead the Lakers past Jabbar and the Bucks in 6 games. Particularly, Chamberlain was lauded for his final Game 6 performance, which the Lakers won 106–100 after trailing by 10 points in the fourth quarter: he scored 24 points and 22 rebounds, played a complete 48 minutes and outsprinted the younger Bucks center on several late Lakers fast breaks. Jerry West called it "the greatest ball-busting performance I have ever seen." Chamberlain performed so well in the series that ''TIME'' magazine stated, "In the N.B.A.'s western division title series with Milwaukee, he (Chamberlain) decisively outplayed basketball's newest giant superstar, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, eleven years his junior."

In the 1972 NBA Finals, the Lakers again met the New York Knicks; the Knicks were shorthanded after losing Willis Reed to injury, and so, undersized 6'8" Jerry Lucas had the task to defend against the 7'1" Chamberlain. However, prolific outside shooter Lucas helped New York to win Game 1, hitting 9 of his 11 shots in the first half alone; in Game 2, which the Lakers won 106–92, Chamberlain put Lucas into foul trouble, and the Knicks lost defensive power forward Dave DeBusschere to injury. In Game 3, Chamberlain scored 26 points and grabbed 20 rebounds for another Lakers win, and in a fiercely battled Game 4, the Lakers center was with playing with five fouls late in the match. Having never fouled out in his NBA career – a feat he was very proud of – he played aggressive defense despite the risk of fouling out, and blocked two of Lucas' shots in overtime, proving those wrong who said he only played for his own stats; he ended scoring a game-high 27 points. But in that game, he had fallen on his right hand, and was said to have "sprained" it; in fact, it was broken. For Game 5, Chamberlain's hands were packed into thick pads normally destined for defensive linesmen in American Football; he was offered a painkilling shot, but refused because he feared he would lose his shooting touch if his hands became numb. In Game 5, Chamberlain recorded 24 points, 29 rebounds, 8 assists and 8 blocked shots. (While blocked shots were not an official NBA stat at that time, announcer Keith Jackson counted up the block shots during the broadcast.) Chamberlain's outstanding all-around performance helped the L.A. Lakers win their first championship with a decisive 114–100 win. Chamberlain was named Most Valuable Player of the NBA Finals, and was admired for dominating the Knicks in Game 5 while playing injured.

The 1972–73 NBA season was to be Chamberlain's last, although he did not know this at the time. In his last NBA year, the Lakers had lost substance: Happy Hairston was injured, Flynn Robinson and LeRoy Ellis had left L.A., and veteran Jerry West struggled with sensitive hamstrings. Chamberlain averaged 13.2 points and 18.6 rebounds, still enough to win the rebounding crown for the 11th time in his career. In addition, he shot with an all-time NBA record .727 accuracy from the field, bettering his own mark of .683 from the 1966–67 season—neither percentage has been topped by any other player. It was the ninth time Chamberlain would lead the league in field goal percentage. The Lakers won 60 games in the regular season and reached the 1973 NBA Finals against the New York Knicks. This time, the tables were turned: the Knicks now featured a healthy team with a rejuvenated Willis Reed, and the Lakers were now handicapped by several injuries.

In that series, the Lakers won Game 1 with 115–112, but the Knicks won Games 2 and 3; things worsened when Jerry West injured his hamstring yet again. In Game 4, the shorthanded Lakers were no match for New York, and in Game 5, the valiant, but injured West and Hairston had miserable games, and despite Chamberlain scoring 23 points and grabbing 21 rebounds, the Lakers lost 93–102 and the series. Chamberlain did not yet know that this loss was the last professional game of his career.

San Diego Conquistadors (1973)

In 1973, the San Diego Conquistadors of the NBA rival league ABA signed Chamberlain as a player-coach for a $600,000 salary. However, the Lakers sued their former star and successfully prevented him from actually playing, because he still owed them the option year of his contract. Barred from playing, Chamberlain mostly left the coaching duties to his assistant Stan Albeck, who recalled: "Chamberlain... has a great feel for pro basketball... [but] the day-to-day things that are an important part of basketball... just bored him. He did not have the patience." The players were split on Chamberlain, who was seen as competent, but often indifferent and more occupied with promotion of his autobiography ''Wilt: Just Like Any Other 7-Foot Black Millionaire Who Lives Next Door'' than with coaching. In his single season as a coach, the "Qs", as the Conquistadors were colloquially called, went a mediocre 37–47 in the regular season and lost against the Utah Stars in the Division Semifinals. However, Chamberlain was not pleased by the meagre Qs' attendance: the crowd was an average 1,843, hardly filling half of the Qs' small San Diego 3,200-seat sports arena. After the season, Chamberlain retired from professional basketball.

Post-NBA career

After his stint with the Qs, Chamberlain successfully went into business and entertainment, made money in stocks and real estate, opened a popular Harlem nightclub, Big Wilt's Smalls Paradise, and invested in broodmares. Chamberlain also sponsored his personal professional volleyball and track and field teams, and also provided high-level teams for girls and women in basketball, track, volleyball and softball, and made money by appearing in ads for Drexel Burnham, Le Tigre Clothing and Foot Locker.

After his basketball career, volleyball became Chamberlain's new passion: being a talented hobby volleyballer (albeit due to lack of technique, not as excellent as volleyball All-American Lakers team mate Keith Erickson) during his Lakers days, he became board member of the newly founded International Volleyball Association in 1974 and became its president one year later. As a testament to his importance, the IVA All-Star game was televised only because Chamberlain also played in it: he rose to the challenge and was named the game's MVP. He played occasional matches for the IVA Seattle Smashers before the league folded in 1979. However, Chamberlain had promoted the sport so effectively that he was named to the Volleyball Hall of Fame: he became one of the few athletes who were enshrined in different sports.

In addition, Chamberlain played a villainous warrior and counterpart of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the film ''Conan the Destroyer'' (1984), where his most remarkable spoken phrase is "thieves should be hanged": This caused his physician, Dr. Lorber, to jokingly greet Chamberlain with "thieves should be hanged" whenever they met. When million-dollar contracts became common in the NBA, Chamberlain increasingly felt he had been underpaid during his career. A result of this resentment was the 1997 book ''Who's Running the Asylum? Inside the Insane World of Sports Today'' (1997), in which he harshly criticized the NBA of the 1990s for being too disrespectful of players of the past.

Even far beyond his playing days, Chamberlain was a very fit person. In his mid-forties, he was able to humble rookie Magic Johnson in practice, and even in the 1980s, he flirted with making a comeback in the NBA. In the 1980–81 NBA season, coach Larry Brown recalled that the 45-year-old Chamberlain had received an offer from the Cleveland Cavaliers. When Chamberlain was 50, the New Jersey Nets had the same idea, and Chamberlain declined again. However, he would continue to epitomize physical fitness for years to come, including participating in several marathons.

In 1992, Chamberlain was briefly hospitalized for an irregular heartbeat. According to those close to him, he eventually began taking medication for his heart troubles. On October 12, 1999, rescuers found him dead upon being summoned to his Bel Air, California, home. His agent reported, after speaking with Chamberlain's cardiologist, that Chamberlain died of congestive heart failure, his health having deteriorated rapidly during the month preceding his death.

Legacy

The 7-foot-1, two-time NBA champion Chamberlain is universally regarded as one of the most extraordinary and dominant basketball players ever. The 1972 NBA Finals MVP is holder of numerous official NBA all-time records, establishing himself as a scoring champion, all-time top rebounder and setting yardsticks in field goal accuracy. He was also responsible for several rule changes, including widening the lane from 12 to 16 feet, as well as changes to rules regarding inbounding the ball and shooting free throws. Chamberlain's main weakness was his notoriously poor free throw shooting, where he has the third lowest career free throw percentage in NBA history (based on a minimum of 1200 attempts). He later acknowledged that he was a "psycho case" in this matter.

For his feats, Chamberlain was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, ranked #2 in ''SLAM Magazine''s Top 50 NBA Players of all time and #13 in the ESPN list "Top North American athletes of the century" and voted second best center of all time by ESPN behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on March 6, 2007. His on-court rivalry against Bill Russell is acknowledged as one of the greatest NBA individual rivalries of all time.

In political philosophy Chamberlain is known for the so-called "Wilt Chamberlain Argument." Libertarian philosopher Robert Nozick states that if fans agreed to pay to see him play, then Chamberlain was entitled to a greater amount of resources because the inequality will have resulted from a free exchange of resources. Nozick used Chamberlain as a real-life example to argue that non-entitlement theories of justice were inherently unjust.

Personal life

See also

List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders

List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff rebounding leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff assists leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff free throw scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association players with most points in a game

List of National Basketball Association players with 50 or more points in a playoff game

List of National Basketball Association players with most rebounds in a game

List of National Basketball Association players with most assists in a game

List of National Basketball Association top individual scoring season averages

List of National Basketball Association top rookie scoring averages

List of National Basketball Association top individual rebounding season averages

List of National Basketball Association top rookie rebounding averages

List of National Basketball Association top individual field goal percentage seasons

List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 30 or more rebounds in a game

List of basketball players who have scored 100 points in a single game

Notes

Further reading

External links

University of Kansas Men's Basketball

NBA History: Wilt Chamberlain Summary

4th Quarter Radio Broadcast of Wilt's 100 Point Game

"Wilt's Big Night," Weekend America, American Public Media, June 4, 2005, How the 100-point game almost went un-recorded.

Pomerantz, Gary M. (2005). Excerpt: Wilt, 1962: The Night of 100 Points and the Dawn of a New Era.

}}

Category:1936 births Category:1999 deaths Category:African American basketball coaches Category:African American basketball players Category:African-American volleyball players Category:American basketball players Category:American volleyball players Category:Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Basketball players from Pennsylvania Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in California Category:Centers (basketball) Category:Harlem Globetrotters players Category:Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball players Category:Los Angeles Lakers players Category:National Basketball Association players with retired numbers Category:National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:NBA Finals MVP Award winners Category:People from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Philadelphia 76ers players Category:Philadelphia Warriors draft picks Category:Philadelphia Warriors players Category:Player-coaches Category:San Diego Conquistadors coaches Category:San Diego Conquistadors players Category:San Francisco Warriors players Category:Sportspeople of multiple sports Category:University of Kansas alumni

ar:ويلت تشامبرلين bs:Wilt Chamberlain bg:Уилт Чембърлейн ca:Wilt Chamberlain cs:Wilt Chamberlain da:Wilt Chamberlain de:Wilt Chamberlain et:Wilt Chamberlain el:Ουίλτ Τσάμπερλεϊν es:Wilt Chamberlain fa:ویلت چمبرلین fr:Wilt Chamberlain gl:Wilt Chamberlain ko:윌트 체임벌린 hr:Wilt Chamberlain id:Wilt Chamberlain it:Wilt Chamberlain he:וילט צ'מברליין lv:Vilts Čemberlens lt:Wilt Chamberlain mn:Уилт Чемберлэн nl:Wilt Chamberlain ja:ウィルト・チェンバレン no:Wilt Chamberlain pl:Wilt Chamberlain pt:Wilt Chamberlain qu:Wilt Chamberlain ru:Чемберлен, Уилт simple:Wilt Chamberlain sk:Wilt Chamberlain sr:Вилт Чејмберлен sh:Wilt Chamberlain fi:Wilt Chamberlain sv:Wilt Chamberlain ta:வில்ட் சேம்பர்லென் tr:Wilt Chamberlain uk:Вілт Чемберлейн zh:威尔特·张伯伦