Wilt Chamberlain - How great was 'The Big Dipper'?
In our continuing series looking at the 10 best NBA Players, our attention turns to Wilt Chamberlain.
The Jump-Ball!
Before “The King”, “Playoff P”, “Swaggy P”, and “Agent 0”, there was an era when a player’s dominance in their sport from an early part of their careers, was how a nickname was earned. These days in the world of professional sports, it is fashionable to give yourself a nickname. Today’s athletes are empowered, and slightly pretentious, so celebrating themselves with catchy social media handles and demanding that fans and media alike address these self-serving nicknames, is par for the course.
Today’s players in the NBA and fans cannot watch basketball without knowing the names “The Stilt”, or “The Big Dipper”, and how much this player meant to the league.
In this article, we take you back to a time in sports where performance commanded respect. Here is the latest addition to The Greatest Players In NBA History: Wilt Chamberlain.
Wilt - The Humblest Of Beginnings
One of nine children, Wilton Norman Chamberlain was born to be a competitor. From fighting to get a fair share of the meals cooked, to wearing hand-me-downs for clothes, Chamberlain was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His mother Olivia, was a homemaker, and his dad William, was a welder, janitor, and general handyman. Whatever was necessary to feed and clothe nine children, Wilt’s parents did their best and made sure he and his siblings were not wanting.
Basketball was not Wilt’s first love, and in fact, he thought the sport was too soft for his liking. Standing at 6ft tall at the age of 10, Chamberlain saw himself as a track and field star. The high jump and long jump were the events that Wilt was fond of and excelled in. Despite jumping 22 feet in the running long jump, and clearing 6 feet, 6 inches in the high jump, Chamberlain ballooned in height to 6ft, 11 inches in high school, so basketball became a necessary choice.
High School Career
It is also when the three nicknames that would be associated with Wilt, were born; The Stilt, Goliath, and The Big Dipper (which was his favourite of the trio). Chamberlain absolutely hated any names that referred to his size. The Big Dipper was in reference to Wilt needing to duck under doorways in school because he was so tall. The Big Dipper, however, was a name that stayed with him, and he learned to accept as a name that inspired his legions of fans.
Averaging over 30 points per game in high school, while facing at times a quadruple team defense, in an effort to slow him down, Chamberlain was a beast right from the first time he took the court. Wilt scored 71 points in a game in his second year in high school, won league and city championships, and led his Overbrook Panthers to a 19-0 perfect season.
Today, social media allows fans and media access to almost every aspect of an athlete’s life, mostly because the athlete chooses to be involved in social media. Fans were privileged to watch Lebron James high school games that were broadcast on television nationally on ESPN. Players are being recruited out of high school, rules are being added and amended almost annually trying to limit a player’s ability to go straight to the NBA.
Instead of “wasting” their earning potential in the NCAA or the NBA’s G-League, the developmental league which serves as a bridge between high school/college and the big leagues. Colleges are flying players and their families or showing up at their homes, to bestow the virtues of their school, and why this player should attend university there. Promises of playing time, and video of physical combines where the player displays their physical, raw, athletic ability, all did NOT exist during Wilt’s era.
Chamberlain led his Panthers to 2 city titles in his 3 years at the high school, he scored 74, 78, and 90 points in 3 consecutive games in his final year, baulked at legendary Celtics’ player, coach and owner Red Auerbach attempting to recruit him to play for the Boston Celtics.
Wilt - Better than Michael? He thinks so!
Highly Touted? Chamberlain’s College Days
Wilt had over 200 universities embarrassingly tripping over themselves while competing for his recruitment, including the University of Pennsylvania, his hometown college, which attempted to bribe him with diamonds. Chamberlain eventually selected the University of Kansas as the place where he would develop his dominance that led him to the NBA, and the basketball Hall of Fame.
The finger-roll, bank-shot, and fade-away jumper, became staples of Wilt’s offensive repertoire while attending Kansas. Chamberlain displayed the type of game on both ends of the court that kept opposing coaches and players up at nights during his time as a JayHawk. Wilt was able to dominate teams despite facing their best and at times, unorthodox methods of defending against him. Games where he scored over 50 points and had over 30 rebounds for a mind-blowing double-double, ultimately were not enough.
Chamberlain left the Jayhawks after 3 seasons, failing to bring an NCAA championship to the school. The coach that recruited him and with whom he formed a special bond with, was forced to retire at the age of 70 due to Kansas University’s regulations. Wilt was disappointed with his treatment by Phog Allen’s successor, and more importantly, with his inability to win the big one for his school.
Show Me The Money! - Wilt and the Globetrotters
Before entering the NBA, Chamberlain spent one year with the Harlem Globetrotters because the NBA had a rule preventing players from being signed before their graduating classes have been completed. Wilt wanted to make money, and he definitely did so, earning $50,000 to play the one season for the travelling charity basketball team.
The NBA!
Chamberlain signed in his rookie season with the Philadelphia Warriors (now the Golden State Warriors), for a record $30,000, which instantly made him the highest-paid player in the NBA. It is interesting to note that Wilt signed with the Warriors for $20,000 less than what he made with the Globetrotters.
Chamberlain was a competitor, and although he lived the glamorous life, and as detailed in several biographical and witness accounts, Wilt enjoyed his time with the opposite sex almost as much as he liked to play basketball.
Stats, stats, and more Stats!
Chamberlain wanted to win. Wilt put up Godly numbers that even more than 20 years after his death, are still existing in the NBA as records. Chamberlain holds the NBA records in scoring and rebounding. Wilt is also known for being the only player to score 100 points in an NBA game ever, shamelessly holding up the infamous sign marking the occasion. At the end of Chamberlain’s career, he represented 3 teams (Philadelphia Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, and the Los Angeles Lakers), and won 2 NBA championships.
How is this for career numbers?
● NBA Finals MVP (1972)
● 4x NBA MVP
● 13x NBA All-Star
● 7x All NBA First Team
● 3x All NBA Second Team
● 2x NBA All-Defensive Team
● 7x NBA Scoring Champion
● 11x NBA Rebounding Champion
● 1968 NBA Assists Leader
● 1960 NBA Rookie Of The Year
At The Buzzer!
Wilt Chamberlain was the most physically dominant player on the list of the 10 Greatest Players In NBA History.
No matter the type of defenses that opponents played against him, 2 championships, multiple offensive and defensive records that will never be touched, Chamberlain is sometimes forgotten when discussing the greatest of all time.
In an era where analytics and social media combined provide up to the minute statistics and information, players are being mentioned in the same breath as the greats. Wilt had no television cameras for a lot of his career. Radio, print, mail, and word-of-mouth, were the only ways to spread the word about Chamberlain’s legendary dominance on the hardwood.
Never in life will fans bear witness to a 7-footer who will lead the NBA in assists in one season, or a player that will eclipse his record-setting 100-point performance in an NBA game. Wilt Chamberlain’s style, elegance, and personality, were as gigantic as his size. Where he ranks among the greatest of all time can be debated forever, but one thing is for certain, Wilt Chamberlain is one of The 10 Greatest Players In NBA HIstory.
