Age, Biography, and Wiki
Wilt Chamberlain was born on August 21, 1936, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He passed away on October 12, 1999, at the age of 63. Chamberlain is remembered for his remarkable achievements, including being the first player to score 100 points in a single NBA game and holding numerous records for scoring and rebounding that still stand today. You can learn more about his life and achievements on his Wikipedia page.
| Occupation | Basketball Players |
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| Date of Birth | 21 August 1936 |
| Age | 88 Years |
| Birth Place | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Leo |
| Country | U.S |
| Date of death | 12 October, 1999 |
| Died Place | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Height, Weight & Measurements
Chamberlain stood at an impressive 7 feet 1 inch tall and weighed around 275 pounds. His towering height and athleticism made him a dominant force on the court throughout his career.
Sportswriters knew Chamberlain by several nicknames during his playing career, calling attention to his height since his high school days. He disliked the ones that negatively portrayed his height, such as "Wilt the Stilt" and "Goliath", preferring "the Big Dipper", inspired by his friends who saw him dip his head as he walked through doorways. The name was retained in one of Chamberlain's signature moves, the "dipper dunk". He was one of the first players to make prominent use of shots like the fade away jump shot, and the finger roll. His success near the basket led to the widening of the lane, offensive goaltending rules, and the banning of inbound passes over the backboard. Chamberlain, always a poor free throw shooter, had the ability to dunk from the foul line, which led to the ruling that a free-throw shooter must keep his feet behind the line.
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| Weight | 275 pounds |
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Dating & Relationship Status
Wilt Chamberlain was never married and did not have any children. He was known for his charismatic personality and had many romantic interests throughout his life, but he chose to remain single.
Chamberlain's prospects of playing under coach Allen ended when Allen turned 70 and retired shortly after in accordance with KU regulations. According to biographer Robert Cherry, it is doubtful Chamberlain would have chosen KU if he had known Allen was going to retire. Chamberlain had a poor relationship with Allen's successor, Dick Harp. For many years following Chamberlain's departure from KU, critics said he wanted to leave the Midwest or was embarrassed by not being able to win a championship. In 1998, Chamberlain returned to Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas, to participate in a jersey-retiring ceremony for his No. 13 jersey. He said, "There's been a lot of conversation ... that I have some dislike for the University of Kansas. That is totally ridiculous."
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Net Worth and Salary
At the time of his death, Wilt Chamberlain's net worth was approximately $10 million. During his playing career, he was among the highest-paid NBA players, earning over $100,000 in the 1965-66 season, which was a groundbreaking figure at that time. By the late 1960s, he was earning around $250,000 per year, a significant amount for any athlete during that era.
Career, Business, and Investments
Chamberlain's NBA career spanned over 15 years, during which he played for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, and Los Angeles Lakers. He won two NBA championships, one with the 76ers in 1967 and another with the Lakers in 1972. After retiring from basketball, Chamberlain maintained a low profile but was involved in various business ventures.
While in college, Chamberlain played for the Kansas Jayhawks, and lost the national championship game to the North Carolina Tar Heels in triple overtime his sophomore year. He also played for the Harlem Globetrotters before joining the NBA, where he played for the Philadelphia / San Francisco Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, and Los Angeles Lakers. Chamberlain had an on-court rivalry with Boston Celtics' center Bill Russell, suffering a long string of losses before breaking through and winning the 1967 NBA Finals as a member of the 76ers. Chamberlain won his second championship as a member of the 1972 Lakers, a team which set a record with a 33-game winning streak. 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.
Chamberlain was the star player for the Overbrook Hilltoppers basketball team, wearing jersey number five. Chamberlain had a natural advantage against his peers; he became renowned for his scoring talent, physical strength, and shot-blocking abilities. According to ESPN journalist Hal Bock, Chamberlain was "scary, flat-out frightening ... before he came along, very few players at the center position possessed his level of athleticism, stature, and stamina. Chamberlain changed the game in fundamental ways no other player did." In this period of his life, his three lifelong nicknames "Wilt the Stilt", "Goliath", and "The Big Dipper"—his favorite—were coined.
During his summer vacations, Chamberlain worked as a bellhop at Kutsher's Hotel. Owners Milton and Helen Kutsher maintained a lifelong friendship with Chamberlain. Red Auerbach, the coach of the NBA's Boston Celtics, was also athletic director of the summer basketball league at Kutscher's; Auerbach spotted Chamberlain playing there and had him play one-on-one against University of Kansas (KU) standout and national champion B. H. Born, elected NCAA Most Outstanding Player in 1953. Chamberlain won 25–10; Born was so dejected he gave up a promising NBA career and became a tractor engineer; according to Born, "If there were high school kids that good, I figured I wasn't going to make it to the pros". Auerbach wanted Chamberlain to go to a New England university so the Celtics could draft him as a territorial pick but Chamberlain did not respond.
After his last Overbrook season, more than 200 universities tried to recruit Chamberlain. Among others, UCLA offered Chamberlain the opportunity to become a movie star, the University of Pennsylvania wanted to buy him diamonds, and Cecil Mosenson, Chamberlain's coach at Overbrook, was offered a coaching position if he could persuade Chamberlain to accept an offer.
In the 1959–60 NBA season, Chamberlain joined a Philadelphia Warriors squad that was coached by Neil Johnston. All five starters were native Philadelphians: Chamberlain, Tom Gola, Guy Rodgers, Hall-of-Fame forward Paul Arizin, and Ernie Beck. In his first NBA game, played against the New York Knicks, Chamberlain scored 43 points and grabbed 28 rebounds. In his third game, Chamberlain recorded 41 points and a then-career-high 40 rebounds in a 124–113 win over the visiting Syracuse Nationals. In his fourth game, Philadelphia played the reigning champion Boston Celtics—who were coached by Auerbach, whose offer Chamberlain had rejected several years before—and Bill Russell, who was lauded as one of the best defensive pivots in the game.
In the first of many match-ups, Chamberlain outscored Russell with 30 points against Russell's 28 points, but Boston won the game and the Chamberlain–Russell rivalry would grow to become one of the NBA's greatest of all time. On November 10, 1959, Chamberlain posted 39 points and a new career-high 43 rebounds in a 126–125 win over the visiting Knicks. He recorded a rock n' roll record in January 1960, singing That's Easy to Say and By the River.
Social Network
Although Chamberlain passed away in 1999, his legacy continues to inspire new generations of basketball fans. He remains one of the most celebrated figures in NBA history, and his achievements are often discussed and celebrated on social media platforms.
According to former teammate Billy Cunningham, "The NBA Guide reads like Wilt's personal diary." Chamberlain holds 72 NBA records, including several regular season records in scoring, rebounding, and durability; blocks were not counted during his career. He is best remembered as the only player to score 100 points in a single game. He also once gathered 55 rebounds, and never fouled out. Chamberlain is the only player to average 30 points and 20 rebounds per game in a season, a feat he accomplished seven times. He once averaged 50 points per game, as well as 48 minutes per game, in a season. Chamberlain ultimately won two NBA championships, four regular-season Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards, the Rookie of the Year, one Finals MVP, and one All-Star Game MVP; he was selected to thirteen All-Star Games and ten All-NBA Teams (seven First and three Second teams). He won seven scoring, eleven rebounding, nine durability, and nine field goal percentage titles; he is the only center to lead the league in total assists.
Each team scored two points in the first overtime; Kansas froze the ball in return during the second overtime, keeping the game tied at 48. In the third overtime, the Tar Heels scored two consecutive baskets but Chamberlain executed a three-point play, leaving KU trailing 52–51. After King scored a basket, Kansas was ahead by one point. With 10 seconds remaining, Tar Heels' center Joe Quigg pump faked then drove to the basket. Chamberlain blocked Quigg's shot but was also called for the foul. Quigg made his two foul shots to put the Tar Heels up 54–53. For the final play, Harp called for Ron Loneski to pass the ball into Chamberlain in the low post but Quigg tipped the pass and Kearns recovered it, and the Tar Heels won the game.
Having lost enjoyment in NCAA basketball and wanting to earn money, Chamberlain left college and sold a story titled "Why I Am Leaving College" to Look magazine for $10,000, a large sum when NBA players earned $9,000 in a season. In two seasons at KU, he averaged 29.9 points and 18.3 rebounds per game while totaling 1,433 points and 877 rebounds. Despite only playing in 48 games and last playing in 1958, Chamberlain's 877 rebounds is still 8th all-time in Kansas history. By the time Chamberlain was 21 and not yet a professional, he had been featured in Time, Life, Look, and Newsweek.
After his frustrating junior year, Chamberlain wanted to become a professional player. At that time, the NBA did not accept players until after their college graduating class had been completed; Chamberlain decided to play for the Harlem Globetrotters in 1958 for $50,000. The team enjoyed a sold-out tour of the Soviet Union in 1959; they were greeted by General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev prior to the start of a game at Moscow's Lenin Central Stadium. One Globetrotter skit involved Captain Meadowlark Lemon collapsing to the ground; instead of helping him up, Chamberlain threw him several feet into the air and caught him like a doll. Lemon, who at that time weighed 210 lb, later said Chamberlain was "the strongest athlete who ever lived".
Education
Chamberlain attended Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, where he began to develop his basketball skills. He later attended the University of Kansas for a brief period before joining the Harlem Globetrotters for a year. In 1959, he transitioned to the NBA with the Philadelphia Warriors.
Chamberlain's first competitive sport was track. As a fourth grader, he ran the 300-yard shuttle in the 1946 Penn Relays among older teammates. Tall from an early age, he stood 6ft 0in by 10 years old. He nearly died of pneumonia in his early years and missed a whole year of school as a result. During early childhood, he was not interested in basketball, which he regarded as "a game for sissies". According to Chamberlain, however, "basketball was king in Philadelphia", so he eventually turned to the sport in seventh grade, while attending Shoemaker Junior High School.
Chamberlain stood 6ft 11in when he entered Philadelphia's Overbrook High School. As an avid track and field athlete, he high jumped 6 feet, 6 inches, ran the 440 yards in 49.0 seconds and the 880 yards in 1:58.3, put the shot 53 feet, 4 inches, and long jumped 22 feet.
Chamberlain led the team to two city championships over three seasons, with Overbrook logging a 56–3 win-loss record. He broke Hall of Fame guard Tom Gola's Philadelphia-high-school scoring record (2,222 points) and graduated with 2,252 points, averaging 37.4 points per game.
Chamberlain averaged 31 points per game during his 1953 high-school season and led his team to a 71–62 win over the Northeast High School team of Hall of Fame guard Guy Rodgers. Chamberlain scored 34 points as Overbrook won the Philadelphia Public League title and gained a spot in the city championship game against West Catholic High School, the winner of the rival Catholic league. In that game, West Catholic quadruple-teamed Chamberlain throughout the game, and despite his 29 points, the Hilltoppers lost 54–42.
In his second season, Chamberlain led Overbrook to a 19–0 season. He scored a high-school record 71 points against Roxborough. The Hilltoppers comfortably won the Public League title after again beating Northeast High, as Chamberlain scored 40 points. Overbrook then won the city title by defeating South Catholic 74–50. Chamberlain scored 32 points and Overbrook finished the season undefeated.
In 1953, while still a sophomore in high school, Chamberlain won his first championship. He led Christian Street YMCA to the title in the national YMCA tournament in High Point, North Carolina, beating the local favorite and defending champion High Point team 85–79. Chamberlain was the youngest member of the team.
Chamberlain wished to experience life away from home, so he eliminated colleges from the East Coast; he also ruled out the South because of racial segregation and felt West Coast basketball was of a lower quality than in other regions. This left the Midwest as Chamberlain's probable choice. After visiting KU and talking with the school's coach, Phog Allen, Chamberlain announced he was going to play college basketball at Kansas.
In 1955, Chamberlain entered the University of Kansas (KU); he was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity and was president of his pledge class. As he had at Overbrook, Chamberlain displayed his diverse athletic talent at KU. He ran the 100-yard dash in 10.9 seconds, shot-putted 56 feet, triple jumped more than 50 feet, and won the high jump in the Big Eight Conference track-and-field championships in three consecutive years. Chamberlain allegedly dunked on an experimental 12-foot basket set up by Phog Allen.
Chamberlain's freshman team debut was highly anticipated; the freshman team played against the varsity, who were favored to win their conference that year. Chamberlain dominated his older college teammates by scoring 42 points (16–35 from the field, 10–12 on free throws), grabbing 29 rebounds, and registering 4 blocks.
Chamberlain was the catalyst for several 1956 NCAA basketball rule changes, including the requirement for a shooter to keep both feet behind the line during a free-throw attempt. He had a 50 inch vertical leap, and was capable of converting foul shots by dunking without a running start, beginning his movement just steps behind the top of the key. An inbounds pass over the backboard was banned because of Chamberlain. Offensive goaltending, also called basket interference, was introduced as a rule in 1956 after Bill Russell had exploited it at San Francisco and Chamberlain was soon to enter college play.
In Chamberlain's junior season of 1957–58, the Jayhawks' matches were increasingly frustrating for him. Knowing how good he was, opponents resorted to freeze-ball tactics and routinely used three or more players to guard him. Teammate Bob Billings commented, "It was not fun basketball ... we were just out chasing people throwing the basketball back and forth". Chamberlain averaged 30.1 points for the season and led the Jayhawks to an 18–5 record — three of the losses coming while he was out with a urinary infection. The Jayhawks' season ended because KU came in second in the league and only conference winners were invited to the NCAA tournament. Chamberlain was again named an All-American, along with future NBA Hall-of-Famers Elgin Baylor of Seattle University, Oscar Robertson of Cincinnati, and Guy Rodgers, who was now playing for Temple University.
