Wilt Chamberlain

[roywhite]

That front page article on Wilt brought back some memories:

The 100-pt game he had was played in Hershey, PA; Wilt went an uncharacteristic 28-32 from the FT line; unforunately, there is no film record of that game

Among his track and field accomplishments were a 49 second 440, a 1:58 half-mile, and a 53-ft shot put. Would have been a good decathlete (though the pole vault might have been a challenge).

During his main years, Wilt rarely came out of games, quite often playing the full 48 minutes.

One of the real treats was to hear Philadelphia's public address announcer Dave Zinkoff call Chamberlain's name, or note a "Dipper Dunk".

Many of his stats are amazing; he had a year where he averaged 50 points per game.

As to the claim that he had a body that was a one-in-a-century type, apparently 20,000 women felt the need to verify that.

[micah75]

That front page article on Wilt brought back some memories:

The 100-pt game he had was played in Hershey, PA; Wilt went an uncharacteristic 28-32 from the FT line; unforunately, there is no film record of that game

Among his track and field accomplishments were a 49 second 440, a 1:58 half-mile, and a 53-ft shot put. Would have been a good decathlete (though the pole vault might have been a challenge).

Great photo there when he was 18. I wonder what his wingspan was. His arms were freakishly long.

He was also a world class volleyball player. But what would have really been interesting was if his aspiration to be the heavyweight champion had become a reality. Apparently there was a tentatively scheduled bout with Ali back in '71, but after Ali lost to Frazier, I think the fight was cancelled.

http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=7095&more=1

[Indoor66]

That front page article on Wilt brought back some memories:

The 100-pt game he had was played in Hershey, PA; Wilt went an uncharacteristic 28-32 from the FT line; unforunately, there is no film record of that game

Among his track and field accomplishments were a 49 second 440, a 1:58 half-mile, and a 53-ft shot put. Would have been a good decathlete (though the pole vault might have been a challenge).

During his main years, Wilt rarely came out of games, quite often playing the full 48 minutes.

One of the real treats was to hear Philadelphia's public address announcer Dave Zinkoff call Chamberlain's name, or note a "Dipper Dunk".

Many of his stats are amazing; he had a year where he averaged 50 points per game.

As to the claim that he had a body that was a one-in-a-century type, apparently 20,000 women felt the need to verify that.

Lots of Wilt information in this thread: http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9570&highlight=WILT

[miramar]

Chamberlain and Bill Russell were amazing athletes. Russell ran a 49.6 440, and high jumped 6-9 1/4. If I remember correctly, he qualified for the Olympic team in the high jump (he was ranked #7 in the world) but decided to concentrate on basketball.

I still remember when Kareem broke Chamberlain's all-time scoring record, and a short while later Wilt was invited back to the Fabulous Forum for a ceremony to commemorate the new record. When announcer Chick Hearn introduced Chamberlain, he asked the crowd, "Will anyone else ever score 100 points in a game? Will anyone ever get 55 rebounds in a game?" The answer is still no.

[hughgs]

Great photo there when he was 18. I wonder what his wingspan was. His arms were freakishly long.

He was also a world class volleyball player.

I'm not sure I would call the Chamberlain's inclusion in a US volleyball league to be the definition of world class. The US didn't even qualify for the Olympics in 72, 76, and 80. Plus, the league was co-ed. The rules and strategy for co-ed volleyball is completely different than the single-sex version.

[miramar]

I'm not sure I would call the Chamberlain's inclusion in a US volleyball league to be the definition of world class. The US didn't even qualify for the Olympics in 72, 76, and 80. Plus, the league was co-ed. The rules and strategy for co-ed volleyball is completely different than the single-sex version.

I think Wilt at that point was playing co-ed volleyball in order to support other kinds of athletic activity, which may or may not have been world class.