Fifty years on, Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game remains the stuff of legend in the NBA.
On March 2, 1962, before a crowd of 4,124 in out-of-the-way Hershey, Pennsylvania, Chamberlain made 36 of 63 shots from the field and 28 of 32 from the free throw line to score 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors against the New York Knicks, a feat whose mythic status has only been enhanced by the lack of film or photographic record of the contest.
Chamberlain and the Warriors hosted the Knicks in Hershey, then their secondary home, as part of the then-lowly NBA’s bid to expand interest in the league.
The most enduring image of the event is a post-game photo of Chamberlain holding up a piece of paper with the number “100” written on it.
The Philadelphia 76ers planned to make up for the lack of hype in that pre-Internet age with plenty of hoopla on Friday night, when they hosted the Golden State Warriors.
“It’s going to be all Wilt, all night long,” 76ers chief executive Adam Aron said.
Friday’s game in Philadelphia, in which the 76ers beat the Warriors 105-83, involved two franchises key to the Chamberlain story.
The Warriors moved to San Francisco in 1962 and became the Golden State Warriors in 1971.
When the Warriors moved, the Syracuse Nationals moved to Pennsylvania and became the Philadelphia 76ers.
Chamberlain moved with the Warriors to San Francisco, but returned to Philadelphia in a trade to the Sixers in 1965.
ORIGINAL COURT
The Sixers bought the original court from the Hershey arena — which had been in storage.
Most of it was preserved, but fans at Friday’s game received a 25.8m2 piece of the court to commemorate the anniversary.
Halftime ceremonies honored the family of Chamberlain, who died of a heart attack at age 63 in 1999 after a career that included four Most Valuable Player awards, seven scoring titles, 13 All-Star appearances and two NBA titles — with the 76ers in 1967 and with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1972.
Former teammates attended Friday’s game and his sisters Barbara Lewis, 74, and Selina Gross, 76, sat at mid-court.
On that historic night in Hershey, Chamberlain played all 48 minutes, leading the Warriors to a 169-147 victory.
His free-throw shooting was especially noteworthy, given his career success rate of 51 percent from the line.
Former Philadelphia teammate Al Attles said coach Frank McGuire didn’t want to take Chamberlain out of the game.
“Wilt never said take me out of the game, but he was tired and he could tell when the game was actually won,” Attles said. “He was really upset that he took 63 or 62 shots. He was upset he took so many shots and I told him something that I thought made a lot of sense. I said: ‘Wilt, you made more than half your shots. We will take that any day.’”
Attles said Chamberlain never considered the scoring feat as his biggest milestone. His greatest achievement was grabbing a record 55 rebounds against Boston in 1960.
REBOUND RECORD
“The thing he was most proud of is the fact he had 50 rebounds in a game against the Celtics,” Attles said. “The scoring he did it, but it wasn’t like a thing he felt he had to do all the time. He was a tremendous, tremendous player.”
Attles said Chamberlain got all the attention on court, which made it easier for smaller guards like him to get open looks.
“When one player is being guarded by five players on the other team, you should be able to score once in a while. So I was able to get open,” he said.
As the years have passed, the idea that an offense-driven NBA would see the 100-point game matched have faded.
Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant has come closest, pouring in 81 points against Toronto on Jan. 22, 2006.
Bryant believes the 100-point mark will be broken — someday.
“Somebody will do it,” Bryant said. “It probably won’t happen in our lifetime or in the next lifetime, but it will happen.”
Others aren’t so sure.
“I’m not even sure a player can come close,” said Portland guard Jamal Crawford, who scored 52 points for New York against Miami in 2007. “Scouting reports are so advanced, guys have a lot of pride and there’s a lot of team defense. It would be hard for a person to score 100. After 40, 50, guys are making adjustments.”
Even Chicago Bulls great Michael Jordan never scored more than 69 points in one game.
“One hundred points in a game,” said former Denver star David Thompson, who scored 73 in a game against Detroit on April 9, 1978. “That’s crazy.”
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