This edition of Throwback Thursday, we take a look back at one of the greatest games and accomplishments in sports history. This past Tuesday marked the 48th anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain's famous record setting performance in which he score 100-points in an NBA game. Since his record setting feat, tons of players have tried their luck at the century mark, but have all failed. Only a handful of players have even came close. & By close I mean 30+ points shy. The closest any player has came to reaching Chamberlain's remarkable point total, was Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant who punched in an 81-point performance against the Toronto Raptors in the 2006-07 NBA season. Just to prove how dominant the 7 ft 1 in Chamberlain was, the former Kansas Jayhawk owns the record for the most 60+ point performances, having done it a total of 32 times. Both Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan are tied for second on the list respectively, with 5 each.
On March 2, 1962 in a game against the New York Knicks, a near empty crowd of only 4,124 fans who came to see Chamberlain and the Philadelphia Warriors, witnessed history being made at Hersheypark Arena in Hersey, Pennsylvania. But prior to the monstrous game Chamberlain would have on the court, the game between both teams served as any other regular season game. & At half-time, Wilt had already registered 41-points. But to his coach and fellow teammates, the 13-time All-Star was having just another stellar performance. It wasn't until the fourth quarter when the team realized Wilt was on pace to score 100-points. When the Knicks noticed the offensive outburst Chamberlain was having, they tried quintuple-teaming him. And when that didn't work, they tried fouling anyone BUT Chamberlain, just to keep him from shooting the ball. However, the Warriors stuck to the plan, "Feed the ball to Wilt."
With less than a minute to play, Chamberlain stood at 98-points. Having all five men on him at once, Wilt broke free and stuffed an alley-oop slam dunk with 46 seconds left to reach the century mark. The arena exploded in a frenzy, with over 200 fans storming the court, resulting in a 9-minute standstill. The game eventually resumed play with the final score of 147-169 in favor of the Warriors, setting what was then a record for the most combined points in a game by both teams. But with Wilt reaching what many thought was impossible, the high score was overshadowed by his colossal performance. As Wilt's team celebrated the milestone, the Knicks players on the other hand, were left profoundly affected. Knicks center Darrall Imhoff was branded as the player who let Chamberlain score 100 on him, although he only played 20 minutes and fouled out in the fourth quarter. Two nights later, both teams met again, this time in New York. Imhoff played all 48 minutes and received a sarcastic standing ovation for holding Chamberlain to 54 points.
When asked if the 100 point game was his most memorable moment, Wilt replied it was one of his favorites, but the favorite, as that tittle belonged to the match in which he grabbed an all-time NBA high 55 rebounds against perennial Boston Celtics rival Bill Russell. Although there is no actual footage of the game in existence, we are stuck salivating over this famed photo of Wilt holding up a paper with "100" written across it. The photo has been referred to by many as the "ultimate picture" of Wilt Chamberlain.
Nicknamed 'Wilt the Stilt', among the many records and accomplishments he accomplished, Chamberlain is a former Rookie of the Year Award winner, 2-time world champion and 4-time NBA MVP. Before splitting his NBA career with the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers, Wilt spent a year with the tricksters of the hardwood, The Harlem Globetrotters.
Among other notable accomplishments in his illustrious career, Chamberlain has claimed to have slept with over 20,000 woman during his NBA career which made him famous. But that story lives to be told another day.
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