March 02, 2022
Exactly 60 years ago today, the Philadelphia Warriors knocked off the New York Knicks 169-147 in Hershey, Pennsylvania. In perhaps the most iconic performance in NBA history, Wilt Chamberlain shot the ball 63 times, had 32 shots from the free throw line, grabbed 25 rebounds and scored 100 points.
It was a number that had never been reached previously and I have to imagine will never be replicated again.
In that 1962 season at just 25 years old, Chamberlain averaged 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds per game. For reference on how mind-blowing that is, Joel Embiid is the best big man in the NBA and only has two 50-point games in his entire career. Embiid has never grabbed 25 rebounds in a single game and he’s only recorded 20 or more rebounds in a game six times. There have been 79 games in league history where a player scored at least 50 points and had at least 25 rebounds, per Stathead. A whopping 69 of them are from Wilt. The only player to do so in the last 51 seasons is Chris Webber, who had a 51-26-5 stat line for the Kings on January 5, 2001.
A lot of people around the internet love complaining about how many free throws Embiid takes. It’s an absurd argument if you’ve actually watched defenses guard Embiid during the last couple of years. His physical size is so overwhelming that a team essentially has to foul him to have any chance of stopping him. If anything, he doesn’t get fouled enough. Those people would be infuriated if they had been able to watch ‘62 Wilt. He averaged 17.0 free throws per game. He topped 30 free throw attempts in four games and took at least 20 free throws in 22 games.
Chamberlain averaged 48.5 minutes per game in 1962. There are only 48 minutes in an NBA game, overtime notwithstanding. He almost never came out! He played at least 48 minutes in every game except one when he was “only” on the court for 40 minutes while dropping 36 and 18 against the Lakers. Wilt was a slacker that night! He also played every minute in five single-overtime games, one double-overtime game and one triple-overtime game. That’s 63 minutes in a single game! He basically played two games’ worth of minutes for a modern player while putting up a casual 78 and 43.
Given that he was a 7’1” center, it’s rare for a guy like that to be a passing machine. Wilt was sullied with a “ball hog” label early in his career. To prove a point and really hammer it home that he could pass, Chamberlain overdid it and led the league in total assists with 702 for the Sixers in 1968. He also led the NBA in total rebounds, free throw attempts and field goal percentage while throwing together 31 triple-doubles in that ‘68 campaign. It goes without saying that no other player has ever done that in a season.
Before Wilt turned 27, he had played in four NBA seasons. He had already led the league in scoring and rebounding four times each.
In 15 playoff games during the ‘67 Sixers’ championship run, Chamberlain averaged 21.7 points, 29.1 rebounds and 9.0 assists per game while shooting 57.9 percent from the field. The Sixers were 11-4 during that postseason and brought the franchise their first ever title in Philadelphia.
It’s a common occurrence for modern fans to minimize Chamberlain’s accomplishments because of the era he played in. He had a ton of 40-point games all the way back in 1959. The competition is certainly inferior to what players like Embiid face now. I get it. You play who you play though. Greatness transcends generational divides. Saying Wilt couldn’t dominate today is as foolish as saying someone like LeBron James couldn’t be the force he is in the 1980s. That’s stupid. Wilt, an Overbrook High School graduate, is Philadelphia royalty and should be treated as such by today’s basketball fans in the city.
James Harden will play his first game in Philly as a Sixer Wednesday night. While he won’t get to 100 points this evening at the Wells Fargo Center, perhaps he can make a little history of his own. He’s five made three-pointers behind Reggie Miller for the third-most ever. He has four games this season where he’s hit that money.
Harden isn’t Wilt, but, hey, if you learned anything from this piece, it’s that no one is Wilt.
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