Before Linsanity, Kobe, Lebron; Before Michael, Magic and Larry.....There was Wilt. 50 years ago today, Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points against the NY Knicks in Hershey, PA. Since then, the closest any one has come to Wilt's 100 is 81 points by Kobe Bryant. Unfortunately, no film follows below the orange squiggle.....
Wilt Chamberlain probably doesn't get the props he deserves. For many years he competed against the great Bill Russell, whose Boston Celtics managed to win many more World Championships than Wilt's Warriors, Lakers and 76'ers. But without Wilt and Bill, perhaps the NBA wouldn't be where it is today.
The game was played in Hershey PA, at an old hockey arena, rather than Philadelphia. It was near the end of the season, between 2nd place Philly and last place NY. NY's starting center, Phil Jordan was out sick. That left 2nd string, and 2nd year center Darrall Imhoff, and 3rd string Cleveland Buckner to stop Wilt. Needless to say, they and the Knicks couldn't do it that night. Wilt made 28 of 32 from the free-throw line and 36 of 63 from the field. His free throws percentage that night is a big surprise to me since I recall Wilt had a tough time a the free throw line, occasionally using an under-handed motion. Apparently the Hershey Area rims where old and had a lot of give which probably helped. His teammates also helped. Once it became apparent Wilt had a chance to score 100 they started to feed him the ball. And he continued to score even though he was double, tripled and quadruple teamed. The Knicks tried to slow down the game to no avail. Unfortunately, (or fortunately for the games mystique) there is no film for the game, just audio of the final quarter.
Check out a good write-up at Wiki.....
Nice Round 100
A lot of interesting info about the 100 point game, Wilt and the aftermath. Apparently Wilt was out partying the night before. He also returned to NY with 3 Knicks. The next time the Knicks faced the Warriors Wilt was held to 58 points with a resulting standing "O" for Darrall Imhoff. Interestingly, Darrall Imhoff went on to a decent career in the NBA, something I didn't recall, nor was he defending against Wilt for a good part of the 100 point game. Sometimes your just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
In reading up on Wilt I also wasn't aware of another side of him.....also from Wiki:
"Chamberlain's philanthropy was mostly done out of the spotlight. Upon his death, it was revealed that in his estate he had left $650,000 to the Kansas University Endowment Association. The money was used to establish scholarships for a variety of students, including first-generation low-income students, women athletes, and men's basketball student-athletes. $150,000 established the Wilt Chamberlain KU Basketball Clinic for Special Olympics Fund that aids the existing annual basketball clinic for Special Olympians that are run by the KU athletics department."
RIP Wilt....I think I'll have a cold one in your memory this evening.