This article concerns the career achievements of Wilt Chamberlain, a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer who holds numerous NBA records in scoring, rebounding and durability. Among others, he is the only player in NBA history to average 40 and 50 points in a season, score 100 points in a single game, and grab over 2,000 rebounds in a single season. He also won seven scoring, nine field goal percentage, and 11 rebounding titles, in addition to an assist title. [1] With an assortment of fadeaway and jump shots, his favorite one-hand finger-roll and powerful dunks in the low post, [2] [3] he scored 31,419 points, grabbed 23,924 rebounds, averaging 30.07 points (second-best all time behind Michael Jordan) and 22.9 rebounds (all-time leader) and was also very durable, standing on the hardwood an average 45.8 minutes. [4]
For his feats, Chamberlain was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, elected into the NBA 35th Anniversary Team in 1980, chosen as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996, and named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021. He was ranked No. 13 in ESPN's list "Top North American Athletes of the Century" in 1999, [5] and No. 2 in Slam 's top 500 NBA players of all time in 2011, [6] In honor of Chamberlain, his jerseys have been retired six times, by Overbrook High School, the University of Kansas, the Harlem Globetrotters, and the Warriors, 76ers, and Lakers franchises. [7]
Chamberlain holds 72 NBA records, 68 by himself. [8] Among his records are several that are considered unbreakable, such as averaging 22.9 rebounds for a career or 50.4 points per game in a season, scoring 100 points or 55 rebounds in a single game, scoring 65 or more points 15 times, 50 or more points 118 times. [7] [9] During Chamberlain's time, defensive statistics like blocks and steals had not been recorded yet. According to Jack Ramsay, "Harvey [Pollack] said he used to tell one of his statisticians to keep track of Wilt's blocks in big games. ... One night, they got up to 25." [10] (The first season blocked shots were officially recorded in the NBA was 1973/74, the season after Chamberlain retired as a player. The official NBA record of 17 blocks in a single game was set by Elmore Smith in 1973.)
In addition to his many statistical accomplishments, Chamberlain also had a successful career. He is a two-time NBA Champion (1967, 1972) and a six-time NBA Finalist (1964, 1967, 1969–70, 1972–73), was voted NBA MVP 4 times (1959–60, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68) and NBA Finals MVP once (1972), was elected to 7 All-NBA First Teams (1960–62, 1964, 1966–68), 3 All-NBA Second Teams (1963, 1965, 1972) and also made two All-Defensive First Teams (1972, 1973). Along with Wes Unseld, he is one of two players to have won the Rookie of the Year and the MVP awards in the same year, being the only one to add NBA All-Star Game MVP to this list. [7]
Wilton Norman Chamberlain was an American professional basketball player. Standing 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) tall, he played center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 seasons. Widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, Chamberlain was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978 and elected to the NBA's 35th, 50th, and 75th anniversary teams. Following his professional basketball career, Chamberlain played volleyball in the short-lived International Volleyball Association (IVA). He served one term as league president and is enshrined in the IVA Hall of Fame. Renowned for his strength, he played the antagonist in the 1984 Arnold Schwarzenegger film Conan the Destroyer. Chamberlain was also a lifelong bachelor and became well known for his claim of having had sex with 20,000 women.
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