 |
 |
|
| | Wednesday, October 13 | |||||
| In 1987, on the 25th anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game, Bill Barnard of The Associated Press wrote the following story on his milestone.
Wilt Chamberlain was humble.
"I couldn't have come close without my teammates' help because
the Knicks didn't want me to make 100."
He was contemptuous.
"They were willing to do anything to stop me."
And he was supremely arrogant.
"Scoring 100 points is a lot, but ... I maybe could have scored
140 if they had played straight-up basketball."
Once the Goliath of basketball, Chamberlain may be an enigma as
a man, but, as a player, he was one of the greatest ever to wear an
NBA uniform.
His record of 100 points in one game for the Philadelphia
Warriors on March 2, 1962, in Hershey, Pa., against the New York
Knicks may stand forever.
When discussing the subject, the 7-foot-1 Chamberlain gives much
of the credit to his teammates, who rallied to his support as the
Knicks held the ball, swarmed around him defensively and committed
repeated fouls to try to stop him.
The Warriors won the game 169-147.
"It was a challenge to my teammates to help me," Chamberlain
said in a telephone interview on the 25th anniversary of his
remarkable game. "Once we were far ahead, the Knicks disregarded
trying to win the game and concentrated on stopping me.
"If they hadn't just tried to stop me without regard to whether
they would win or not, I could have scored a lot more."
Chamberlain said two or three Knicks told him later that they
were ordered to play defense that way by their coach, Eddie
Donovan.
"It just wasn't right the way they were behind by 25 points and
then they're told to hold the ball," Chamberlain said. "They must
have considered it a stigma to let me score 100."
According to Donovan, however, the fouling worked both ways.
"They would foul us and we would foul them," Donovan said.
"The game became a farce, but you try to keep anyone from scoring
the best you can."
Chamberlain said that what his teammates did for him during the
game "was way beyond the call of duty. They were so clever finding
ways to get me the ball. They had to do more than just give up open
shots. They had to avoid fouls and pass me the ball in traffic."
Although he was disgusted with the Knicks' play in general,
Chamberlain said 6-foot-10 New York center Darrall Imhoff should
not be labeled as "the man who let me score 100 points."
"He played me as well as anyone," Chamberlain said. "He
fouled out in the fourth quarter, and that's when I really started
getting points. He was no more at fault than anyone."
While unflagging in praise of his teammates, there is a side of
Chamberlain that shrugs off the feat as not particularly
significant for someone like him.
"As outstanding as it may seem, it's really a normal thing that
I did it," he said. "You have to remember that I averaged 50
points a game that year. Players that average 16 or 17 points
usually have at least one game during a season when they score 35.
That's just what I did; I doubled my average."
He bristles at suggestions that scoring 100 points in a game
might be called the ultimate selfish act by a basketball player.
"Lots of people look at scoring as selfish," Chamberlain said.
"When you go out there and do the things you're supposed to do,
people view you as selfish.
"They don't look at you that way if you're O.J. Simpson or Eric
Dickerson or Walter Payton and you're trying to get as many yards
as you can every time you touch the football. But when you're a
scorer in basketball, you can get labeled a gunner or a selfish
player."
Chamberlain realizes that although he is more proud of averaging
50 points for an entire season, he is more remembered for 100
points in a single game.
"I get constant reminders from fans who equate that game and my career as one and the same," he said. "People don't talk about
the 50-point average, the 69-13 Lakers championship team I played
for. They talk about the night I scored 100.
"That's my tag, whether I like it or not." | ALSO SEE NBA legend Chamberlain dead at 63
Dr. Jack: Wilt was a giant, gentle man
Lawrence: Wilt was bigger than life
Wilt was much more than the 100-point man
Colleagues remember the invincible Wilt
Chamberlain had history of heart problems
In one of his last interviews, Wilt told all
What they're saying about Wilt
Wilt's sexual exploits brought shock, disdain
West has fond memories of Wilt
Philly's greatest in a word: Wilt
Chamberlain made huge impact at Kansas
SportsCentury: Wilt Chamberlain
Chamberlain's career statistics
| |||||