Wilt's 100: 50 Years Later

Last Friday marked exactly 50 Years since Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a game, as a member of what was then the (Philadelphia) Warriors. Wilt achieved this milestone against the Knicks in a 169-147 Warriors win. I just wanted to clarify that, because I have heard so many foolish stories about his team losing that night, which was never the case. That night, the Big Dipper went 36-63 from the field, and a career best 28-32 from the free throw line. That is not a typo! Chamberlain was like Larry Bird that night from the line. Normally, Wilt was awful when shooting foul shots! He was not only the Shaquille O'Neal of his time because of his size and dominance, but also because of his foul shooting! That night was not the case. Big Wilt ate the Knicks for dinner that night, setting the bar for single game points so high, that no one can ever reach it, no matter how watered down today's rules are. (unless your Michael Jordan! lol.) Even though there have been others who have tried to challenge that record (Kobe) who have fallen short. Kobe still says that the record could be broken, even after he scored 81 points on a bottom feeder Raptors squad in '06. Kobe, if you could break it, you could have done it that night! Too late, old man. Unfortunately, this mythical and iconic game, both in sports and pop culture, was never televised! A fan had taken photos of the game and they were published by both the team as well as the NBA. The game was broadcasted by way of the radio. This was also the only game that never finished, because of this monstrous milestone. However, there is also the case against Wilt, because even though that was very impressive stat wise, he was an enormous ballhog that killed his team. The Warriors finished the season 49-31 and eventually fell to the Celtics in 7 games in the Eastern Conference Finals. Anyway, Chamberlain was on a complete rampage that season, averaging 50.4 points per game, with 25.7 rebounds per game and 4,029 total points, becoming the only player in history to accomplish these feats. The MVP race that season was insane, with Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Elgin Baylor and Oscar Robertson as the top 5 candidates. Each man had a very strong case that year along with Wilt. (Russell's superhuman 19 ppg, 24 rpg, 5 apg on a 60 win team, Oscar's triple double, Elgin's 38 ppg, 19 rpg, 5 apg) This race would go down as one of the top 10 MVP races of all-time, along with '63, '64, the Magic, Bird & MJ battles in '87 & '88 and the '93 race with MJ, Barkley and Hakeem. Personally, I think that it is a joke when people say that Wilt would not dominate in today's era. Wilt could dominate like never before, because the Center position today is horrible! Chamberlain was BEFORE his time in the '60s, at 7'1 1/6", rougly 260 lbs. at his peak, and in excellent condition. Wilt did all of this WITHOUT the training, weights, and medical advantages that today's athletes have. These players at his position have all of this going for them, and they are STILL out of shape and sloppy. Dwight Howard is a man among boy's and Chamberlain would eat him for dinner, Tyson Chandler for lunch and Andrew Bynum for breakfast. Wilt would throw these guys around like rag dolls. If Tyson Chandler is a defensive enforcer while averaging 1.1 bpg, you have seriously got to be kidding me! That is horrible! Olajuwon averaged 4.6 bpg in his prime! (More on this later). The centers of today could barely average 10 ppg, and as Wilt said, couldn't even make Overbrook high school. In my terms, these guys couldn't even make Eleanor Roosevelt or Charles Flowers High School with the way they play. The average big man today is at least 6'10". Wilt played against Hall of Fame players in that range, whether above or an inch below. (Bill Russell- 6'10", Kareem- 7'2", Walt Bellamy- 6'11", Nate Thurmond- 6'11", Willis Reed- 6'9", Bob Lanier-6'11") As I just mentioned, ALL are in the Hall of Fame! The game is not as physical as before, because the rules have reduced everything to the perimeter, which gives Wilt even greater room to go beyond what he did in his time. Imagine how Shaq dominated. Wilt would do that to an even greater level, because he was stronger, faster, quicker and more versatile than Shaq ever was. I find that disrespectful when people admire Shaq's recent dominance and dismiss Wilt's when talking about today's game. Vlade Divac, Shawn Bradley, and Rik Smits were never exactly HOF worthy themselves. So before you say that Wilt would be stopped in today's era, in the words of The Rock, you better know your role and shut your mouth!