Sports - The Dominant Wilt

Probably known as the most dominant basketball player in history is National Basketball Association hall of famer Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain. Throughout his career, Wilt captured multiple scoring titles and scored more points in a game than anyone

   Probably known as the most dominant basketball player in history is National Basketball Association hall of famer Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain. Throughout his career, Wilt captured multiple scoring titles and scored more points in a game than anyone in a professional level game ever. On top of a game scoring record, Wilt also scored the most points in a single season. These two individual scoring records alone are more than enough to be inducted to the Nation Basketball Association's Hall of Fame.

Early in Chamberlain's High School career, he drew much attention after scoring 90 points in a single game and then leading his Overbrook High School team to City Championships in 1954 and 1955. After being named to the high-school All-American team, Wilt attended the University of Kansas, where he twice earned All-American honors. He led his Kansas team to the championship game in 1957, but fell short in a loss to North Carolina in triple overtime. Chamberlain was frustrated with his college team and decided to turn professional but was not eligible until his college class graduated in 1959. Instead of just waiting for 1959 to come around, Wilt played one year with the Harlem Globetrotters and then began his first season in the National Basketball Association in 1960 with the Philadelphia Warriors.

Wilt Chamberlain's first NBA season was a very successful one, averaging 37 points per game and 27 rebounds a game, which led the league in both categories. Achieving these statistics in his rookie season won him Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player honors. The team as a whole over the next few years could not obtain a championship despite the dominance of Wilt Chamberlain. During the 1961-1962 in a game against the New York Knicks, Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points and is the highest number scored in a game still to this day. In 1963 the Warriors relocated to San Francisco and one year later Wilt was traded to Philadelphia, which was a team now known as the 76ers. When 1967 came around, Wilt and the 76ers captured the NBA championship title by defeating his former team, the San Francisco Warriors in six games. That same year, Wilt Chamberlain received his fourth and final Most Valuable Player award.

Traded to the Los Angeles Lakers the following year, Wilt was with a team full of great players and had high hopes for capturing an NBA championship there. It wasn't until 1972 when the Lakers won the championship though, but when it happened, Wilt was named the finals MVP. The next season would be Chamberlains last in the NBA at the age of 37. Wilt still managed to lead the league in rebounding in his final year and also set a field-goal percentage record, shooting 72.7%.

Wilt Chamberlain achieved many feats that very few players in NBA history have. Some may argue that there just wasn't enough big men at the time to compete with Wilt and that if he would have played with today's players, it would be a different story. On the other hand, many more sport's writers would agree that he would still dominate in today's game, just not as much. Unfortunately, Wilt Norman Chamberlain passed away on October 12, 1999 at the hands of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California at his home.

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Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Sports

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