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Wilt Chamberlain



Position: Center
Full Name: Wilton Norman Chamberlain
Nickname: Wilt the Stilt, The Big Dipper
Born: August 21, 1936 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died: October 12, 1999
Height: 7-1
Weight: 275
High School: Overbrook in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
College: Kansas
Drafted: 1st Round, 3rd Pick - Philadelphia Warriors, 1959
Jersey#: 13

Played for the Lakers from 1968 to 1973
Inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1979


Few athletes have ever reached the level of domination that Wilt Chamberlain achieved throughout his basketball career. An offensive force second to none, Chamberlain is one of only two players who have scored more than 30,000 points in an NBA career (the other is fellow Hall of Famer and Laker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). A high scool legend at famed Overbrook High School in the hart of Philadelphia, Chamberlain was the most coveted scoolboy recruit in the country. He opted for the storied basketball program at the University of Kansas, where he led the Jayhawks into the 1950 NCAA finals, losing in triple overtime to top-ranked North Carolina. Because Chamberlain's skills were som much more advanced than those of his competitors, several rule changes were enacted to harness his awesome ability. These rules changed included: widening the lane, instituting offensive goaltending, and revising rules governing inbounding the ball and shooting free throws. At Kansas, Chamberlain found himself guarded by as many as three players at once. And, when opponents weren't "gang-guarding" him, they held the ball for long stretches. Frustrated by these tactics, Chamberlain left school and briefly toured with the Harlem Globetrotters. The 7-1 center joined the NBA's Philadelphia Warriors in the 1959-60 season and was an immediate attention grabber and dominating force. Chamberlain became the first player in NBA history to be named MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season, and along the way set eight NBA season records. He averaged 37.6 points and 27 rebounds pergame in his first season, and was named to the All-Star team. Through 14 seasons in the league with the Philadelphia Warriors (1959-62), Golden State Warriors (1962-65), Philadelphia 76ers (1965-68), and the Lakers (1968-73), and was an All-NBA First Team selection seven times. Named to 13 All-Star games, Chamberlain set All-Star Game career record for most rebounds (197), most points in a single game (42), and in 1960 earned MVP honors. The multi-talented Chamberlain led the league in scoring seven consecutive years (1959-65), rebounding 11 times, and in 1968 led the league in assists (8.6 apg). In 1961-62, Wilt enjoyed a Hall of Fame season. He establised remarkable records for points (4,029, 50.4 ppg), and against the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962, he scored 100 points, a mark that has withstood the test of time. When Chamberlain left the NBA in 1973, he had captured two championships - in 1967 with the Philadelphia 76ers, and in 1972 with the Lakers. Upon retirement, Wilt held numerous records: He scored 50 of more points 118 times, 60 or more points 32 times, and is the NBA's all-time rebounding leader with 23,924.

Although his feats were often credited to his tremendous size, Chamberlain was a true natural who possessed exceptional speed, agility, stamina and strength. His legendary battles with Bill Russell will forever remain etched into the NBA's glorious history.



Regular Season Stats


YEAR TEAM G MIN FGM FGA PCT FTM FTA PCT 3PM 3PA PCT REB RPG AST PF STL TO BLK PTS PPG
1960 PH1 72 3338 1065 2311 .461 577 991 .582 0 0 - 1941 27.0 168 150 0 0 0 2707 37.6
1961 PH1 79 3773 1251 2457 .509 531 1054 .504 0 0 - 2149 27.2 148 130 0 0 0 3033 38.4
1962 PH1 80 3882 1597 3159 .506 835 1363 .613 0 0 - 2052 25.6 192 123 0 0 0 4029 50.4
1963 SFW 80 3806 1463 2770 .528 660 1113 .593 0 0 - 1946 24.3 275 136 0 0 0 3586 44.8
1964 SFW 80 3689 1204 2298 .524 540 1016 .531 0 0 - 1787 22.3 403 182 0 0 0 2948 36.9
1965 PHI 35 1558 427 808 .528 200 380 .526 0 0 - 780 22.3 133 70 0 0 0 1054 30.1
1965 SFW 38 1743 636 1275 .499 208 500 .416 0 0 - 893 23.5 117 76 0 0 0 1480 38.9
1965 TOT 73 3301 1063 2083 .510 408 880 .464 0 0 - 1673 22.9 250 146 0 0 0 2534 34.7
1966 PHI 79 3737 1074 1990 .540 501 976 .513 0 0 - 1943 24.6 414 171 0 0 0 2649 33.5
1967 PHI 81 3682 785 1150 .683 386 875 .441 0 0 - 1957 24.2 630 143 0 0 0 1956 24.1
1968 PHI 82 3836 819 1377 .595 354 932 .380 0 0 - 1952 23.8 702 160 0 0 0 1992 24.3
1969 LAL 81 3669 641 1099 .583 382 857 .446 0 0 - 1712 21.1 366 142 0 0 0 1664 20.5
1970 LAL 12 505 129 227 .568 70 157 .446 0 0 - 221 18.4 49 31 0 0 0 328 27.3
1971 LAL 82 3630 668 1226 .545 360 669 .538 0 0 - 1493 18.2 352 174 0 0 0 1696 20.7
1972 LAL 82 3469 496 764 .649 221 524 .422 0 0 - 1572 19.2 329 196 0 0 0 1213 14.8
1973 LAL 82 3542 426 586 .727 232 455 .510 0 0 - 1526 18.6 365 191 0 0 0 1084 13.2
CAREER 1045 47859 12681 23497 .540 6057 11862 .511 0 0 - 23924 22.9 4643 2075 0 0 0 31419 30.1


Playoff Stats


YEAR TEAM G MIN FGM FGA PCT FTM FTA PCT 3PM 3PA PCT REB RPG AST PF STL TO BLK PTS PPG
1960 PH1 9 415 125 252 .496 49 110 .445 0 0 - 232 25.8 19 17 0 0 0 299 33.2
1961 PH1 3 144 45 96 .469 21 38 .553 0 0 - 69 23.0 6 10 0 0 0 111 37.0
1962 PH1 12 576 162 347 .467 96 151 .636 0 0 - 319 26.6 37 27 0 0 0 420 35.0
1964 SFW 12 558 175 322 .543 66 139 .475 0 0 - 302 25.2 39 27 0 0 0 416 34.7
1965 PHI 11 536 123 232 .530 76 136 .559 0 0 - 299 27.2 48 29 0 0 0 322 29.3
1966 PHI 5 240 56 110 .509 28 68 .412 0 0 - 151 30.2 15 10 0 0 0 140 28.0
1967 PHI 15 718 132 228 .579 62 160 .388 0 0 - 437 29.1 135 37 0 0 0 326 21.7
1968 PHI 13 631 124 232 .534 60 158 .380 0 0 - 321 24.7 85 29 0 0 0 308 23.7
1969 LAL 18 832 96 176 .545 58 148 .392 0 0 - 444 24.7 46 46 0 0 0 250 13.9
1970 LAL 18 851 158 288 .549 82 202 .406 0 0 - 399 22.2 81 42 0 0 0 398 22.1
1971 LAL 12 554 85 187 .455 50 97 .515 0 0 - 242 20.2 53 33 0 0 0 220 18.3
1972 LAL 15 703 80 142 .563 60 122 .492 0 0 - 315 21.0 49 47 0 0 0 220 14.7
1973 LAL 17 801 64 116 .552 49 98 .500 0 0 - 383 22.5 60 48 0 0 0 177 10.4
CAREER 160 7559 1425 2728 .522 757 1627 .465 0 0 - 3913 24.5 673 402 0 0 0 3607 22.5