| Wilt Chamberlain |
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Wilton Norman "Wilt" Chamberlain ( August 21 , 1936 – October 12 , 1999 ), nicknamed '''Wilt the Stilt''' and '''The Big Dipper''', was an American professional National Basketball Association (NBA) Basketball player for the Philadelphia / San Francisco Warriors , the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers ; and also played for the Harlem Globetrotters . The 7 ft 1 in Chamberlain, who weighed 250 lb as a rookie1 before bulking up to 275 lb and eventually over 300 lb with the Lakers,2 played the Center position and is credited as being one of the most successful and dominant players in the history of the NBA. Chamberlain holds numerous official NBA all-time records, setting yardsticks in many scoring, Rebounding and durability categories. Among others, he is the only player in NBA history to average more than 50 Points in a season or score 100 points in a single game. He also won seven scoring, nine Field Goal Percentage , and eleven rebounding titles, and once even led the league in Assists . Although never receiving full recognition for his feats,3 Chamberlain had a successful career, making the NBA Finals six times, winning two NBA titles, earning four regular-season Most Valuable Player awards, one NBA Finals MVP award, and being elected into 13 All-Star games and into ten All-NBA First and Second teams.45 Chamberlain was subsequently enshrined in the Basketball Hall Of Fame in 1978, elected into the NBA's 35th Anniversary Team of 1980, and chosen as one of the 50 Greatest Players In NBA History of 1996.6 In addition to all of these accolades, Wilt is remembered for being one of the worst free throw shooters in the history of the league, with a career average around 50% (see Free Throw ). Off the court, Chamberlain was also a successful businessman, authored several books and appeared in the movie '' Conan The Destroyer ''. He was a lifelong bachelor, but became notorious for his claim to have had sex with 20,000 women, a statement which has entered popular culture.7 EARLY YEARS Wilton Norman Chamberlain was born in 53 feet, 4 inches, and Broad Jump ed 22 feet.8 He discovered basketball only in seventh grade, but soon found it was ideally suited for him; when Chamberlain entered Philadelphia's Overbrook High School , he was already 6 ft 11 in.9 There, Chamberlain established himself as one of the most dominant high school players of all time. He broke Tom Gola 's high school scoring record by scoring 2,252 points and had three individual games in which he scored 90, 74 and 71 points.1011 In the days when so-called “big men” like 6 ft 10 in Minneapolis Lakers center George Mikan were still a rare breed in the NBA, Chamberlain, who already stood 6 ft 11 in, terrified his high school opposition with his frame.12 It was also in this period of his life when his three life-long nicknames “Wilt the Stilt”, “Goliath”, and his favorite, “ The Big Dipper ”, were allegedly born because he always had to dip his head before entering a room.13 When Chamberlain left Overbrook in 1955, he had led them to a 56-3 win-loss record and two city championships, while averaging 37.4 Points Per Game (ppg).14 Over 200 universities wanted to recruit the basketball prodigy,15 but Chamberlain then proclaimed he was going to play college basketball at the University Of Kansas . COLLEGE CAREER In 1955, Chamberlain became a player for the Kansas Jayhawks Freshman team under future Hall-of-Fame coach Phog Allen . In those days, freshmen could not compete with the varsity squad. In Chamberlain’s debut game for the freshman squad, the freshman Jayhawks were pitted against the varsity Jayhawks, who were favored to win their conference that year. Chamberlain dominated his older college mates by scoring 52 points (16-35 from the field, 10-12 on Free Throw s), grabbing 29 rebounds and registering four Blocks .16 As he did at Overbrook, Chamberlain again showcased his diverse athletic talent. He ran the 100-yard dash in 10.9 seconds, threw the shotput 56 feet, Triple Jump ed more than 50 feet, and won the high jump in the Big Eight track and field championships three straight years.17 On December 3 , 1956 , Chamberlain made his varsity debut. That year, he made the First Team of the All-America squad and led his Jayhawks into the NCAA finals against the Tar Heels of North Carolina . In that game, Tar Heels coach Frank McGuire used several unorthodox tactics to thwart Chamberlain. At the tip-off, he sent his shortest player, Tommy Kearns, in order to rattle him, and the Tar Heels spent the rest of the night Triple-teaming Chamberlain, one defender in front, one behind and a third arriving as soon as he got the ball. The game went into three Overtimes and North Carolina won 54-53. Nonetheless, Chamberlain was elected the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four .18 In two years at Kansas, Chamberlain averaged 29.9 points and 18.3 Rebounds Per Game while totaling 1,433 points and 877 rebounds,19 and led Kansas to two Big Seven championships.20 With these figures, the public rapidly paid attention to the seven-foot-one basketball sensation. By the time Chamberlain was 21, he had already been featured in '' Time '', '' Life '', '' Look '' and '' Newsweek '' magazines, even before he turned professional.21 Chamberlain was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. PROFESSIONAL CAREER Harlem Globetrotters | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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