Wilt Chamberlain is one of the greatest basketball players ever. He was born on August 21, 1936, in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. As basketball was a king in Philadelphia in terms of sports, Wilt started playing it in seventh grade. Before that, he called it a game of sissies. Wilt join Overbrook high school and was already 6’11 and became a star player for the Overbrook Panthers Basketball team. During his high school career, he won two championships and then he got into the University of Kansas. His college was also good as he dominated his older teammates because of his height and physicality. Because of him in 1956 NCAA had to change some basketball rules, for example, the shooter had to keep both of his feet behind the line during free throws and many more. After his junior season, he left college as he wanted to become a professional player.
Amazing career
In 1959 he became a member of the Philadelphia Warriors and instantly became the highest-paid NBA player ever. In his first season, he won both the MVP and the Rookie of the Year awards, one of the only two players ever to do so, the other being Wes Unseld. He was also selected in the All-star team and won the All-star MVP. It is safe to say that he had an amazing rookie year. The 1961/62 season is when he scored a hundred points in a single game which is still a record up until now, Kobe came close with eighty-one points. Wilt scored those hundred points against the New York Knicks. That season Wilt averaged a massive fifty points per game but still could not win the title. Next season the franchise was sold and became the San Francisco Warriors. In 1964 the Warriors reached the NBA finals and faced the Boston Celtics. It was Wilt’s first-ever finals, but they lost, and Wilt still had to wait for his NBA ring. Next season he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. His first NBA title win came in 1967 when he also won the season MVP award. The finals were against his old team the Warriors and the Sixers won it in six games. Wilt had an average of 17.7 points and 28.7 rebounds per game. This Sixers team is regarded as one of the greatest in basketball history. In 1968 he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers and reached the finals in the first season with them but lost against the Celtics. In total he spent five years in Los Angeles and reached four NBA finals, winning only one, and that came in 1972 against the Knicks.
Achievements and Accolades
His career is proof that he was determined to win, and he continued to improve during his fourteen-year career. He won two NBA titles, four MVPs three of them were in a row, and one NBA finals MVP. Wilt was included in the NBA all-star team thirteen times. He will forever be considered one of the greatest centers in the history of the NBA. Many free picks and other sports sites have Wilt rated as a top five of all time NBA player. His nickname was “Wilt the Stilt” because he was so tall it was like he was walking on stilts.
Retirement and Death
Chamberlain retired after the loss to the Knicks in the 1973 finals and coached for one season in the ABA. On October 12, 1999, Wilt Chamberlain died because of congestive heart failure, and the basketball world was saddened by his death. He will forever be remembered as one of the all-time greats to play the sport.