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Wilton Norman Chamberlain (August 21, 1936 –
October 12, 1999) is a former NBA basketball
player. He is regarded as one of the greatest and
most dominant basketball players of all time[1]
for the incredible statistical achievements he
attained throughout his playing career.


Basketball career

The 7-foot 1-inch (2.16 m) Chamberlain, known as
Wilt the Stilt (a nickname he loathed) or The Big
Dipper, holds nearly 100 NBA records, including
the record for most points in a game -- 100, which
he scored on March 2, 1962, against the New York
Knicks in Hershey, Pennsylvania. He averaged 30.1
points and 22.9 rebounds per game for his career.
He led the NBA in rebounding 11 times, led in
shooting percentage seven times, led in scoring
seven times, and even led in assists one season.
In his 14 years in the NBA, he never once fouled
out of a game, despite being the centerpiece on
defense for each team he played for. His 1961-62
scoring average of 50.4 ppg, accomplished with the
Philadelphia Warriors, is by far the NBA record.
Chamberlain also holds the next three spots on the
NBA's season scoring average list with 44.8, 38.9
and 38.4 points per game. The next closest player
is Elgin Baylor, who averaged 38.3 ppg in the same
'61-62 season in which Chamberlain set the
record.

In November 1955, the NBA allowed the Philadelphia
Warriors to claim Chamberlain as a territorial
pick for being a resident of Philadelphia.
However, he was not eligible to play until his
college class graduated in 1959. After two years
at the University of Kansas, where he led the
Jayhawks to the championship game (which they lost
to North Carolina 54-53 in three overtimes), he
decided to join the Harlem Globetrotters, citing
that he wanted to be paid for being double and
triple teamed every night.

In his first year with the Warriors, Chamberlain
lead the league in scoring, with 37.6 points per
game, and rebounding, with 27 rebounds per game.
He became the first player to be named the NBA MVP
and Rookie of the Year in the same season. The
Warriors lost to the Boston Celtics in the
Conference Finals that year, which would be an
ongoing occurence in Chamberlain's career.
Despite Chamberlain's impressive statistics, he
is also known for losing many playoff and NBA
Finals series to the Boston Celtics lead by his
greatest rival, Bill Russell. In his first seven
years, his teams played and lost to the Celtics
five times. For this, he battled the "loser
label" for much of his life, despite winning the
NBA championship in 1967 and 1972, with the
Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers
respectively. "Nobody roots for Goliath,"
Chamberlain would say about his detractors.

Chamberlain scored 31,419 points in 1,045
professional games. This was the best in the
league when he retired in 1973, though his scoring
total has since been exceeded by Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone, both of whom played
several more seasons than Chamberlain. His career
scoring average of 30.06 points per game (ppg) is
second-highest in league history, fractionally
behind Michael Jordan (30.12 ppg).

In the years following his retirement, several
teams tried to lure Chamberlain back onto the
court. Although he seemed to enjoy the attention
these offers generated, he apparently never
seriously contemplated a comeback.


Personal life

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Chamberlain
drew national attention playing at Overbrook High
School in the city, played two years for the
University of Kansas, where he earned All-American
honors twice (losing a national championship in
triple overtime), and went professional in 1958.
He played two years for the Harlem Globetrotters
before becoming eligible for the NBA, then played
for the Philadelphia Warriors (later San Francisco
Warriors) from 1959 through 1964, Philadelphia
76ers from 1965-1968, and the Los Angeles Lakers
from 1968 until his retirement in 1973. He played
on two NBA championship teams: in 1967 with the
76ers, and in 1972 with the Lakers.

His battles with Boston Celtics center Bill
Russell were legendary; they were fierce
competitors on the court, yet were close personal
friends off the hardwood. Wilt also earned
accolades for other sports, including track and
field, volleyball and auto racing, among others.
He flirted with boxing, and was offered a pro
football contract by the-then AFL (American
Football League) Kansas City Chiefs in 1966. He
also was an actor, celebrity and businessman after
his playing career concluded. In 1984, he
co-starred (along with future Governor of
California Arnold Schwarzenegger) in Conan the
Destroyer.

He authored four books before his death on October
12, 1999, including an autobiography, A View from
Above, in which he controversially claimed to have
had sex with almost 20,000 women — this would have
averaged 1.2 women per day from age 15 until his
death. Many people doubted his specific number,
though few questioned the fact of wild sexual
behavior. He drew heavy criticism from many public
figures, who accused him of fulfilling stereotypes
about African Americans, and of behaving
irresponsibly (especially given the AIDS crisis,
which was well underway by the 1980s, when many of
the conquests were made). Chamberlain defended
himself, saying "I was just doing what was
natural — chasing good-looking ladies, whoever
they were and wherever they were available". He
also noted that he never tried to sleep with a
woman who was married.

Chamberlain always wore a rubber band around his
wrist, due to a superstition, and was fond of
saying that "Nobody roots for Goliath." He died
unexpectedly of a heart attack in his sleep in his
Los Angeles, California home.