Wilt Chamberlain Scores 100 Points in a Single Game
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Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game took place on March 2, 1962 at Hersheypark Arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania, between the Philadelphia Warriors and the New York Knicks, which ended in a 169-147 victory for the Warriors. Although the 316 combined points for the game was a record at the time, it is most remembered for Warrior's center Wilt Chamberlain achievement of scoring 100 points and demolishing the NBA single game scoring record.
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[edit] Prologue
Prior to the Warriors – Knicks game, there was little excitement. It was a meaningless late-season match, and Wilt Chamberlain, the star center of the Philadelphia Warriors, had spent the night in New York, partying all night with a female companion. With no sleep and suffering from a hangover, he boarded the train to Philadelphia at 8 am, met several friends at the Philadelphia train station and had a long lunch with them, thus almost missing the team bus to Hershey.[1] The other players were similarly bored. Warriors player York Larese said: "The biggest thrill in my life was to see that [the famous Hershey chocolate factories]. There was nothing exciting about the Knicks playing the Warriors in Hershey. Chocolate was more exciting.
Interest in the game was low. On a cold, rainy Friday night, only 4,124 spectators paid to see the match, partly more to see the footballers from the local Philadelphia Eagles, who played a show basketball game against their colleagues from the Baltimore Colts before the NBA game started.
[edit] The game
[edit] The first 42 minutes
From the beginning, Chamberlain's Warriors dominated against the Knicks. After a few minutes, the Warriors led 19-3, and their star center had already scored 13 points. At the end of the first quarter, the Knicks trailed 26-42, and in his typical style, Chamberlain had finger-rolled, dunked and jump-shot his way to 23 points. Imhoff was soon benched in foul trouble. By halftime, the Warriors had lost some of their edge, but still led with 79-68. After 24 minutes, Chamberlain's point total stood at 41. However, as he scored 60 or more points 32 times, the Warriors felt little excitement about this fact. "I often came into the locker room with 30 or 35 points, therefore, 41 points was not a big deal", he later explained. Warriors coach Frank McGuire ordered his men to feed Chamberlain: "Wilt is always open, so pass him the ball".
The simple tactic proved unstoppable. Soon, he had surpassed the 50-point barrier, causing arena speaker Frank Zinkoff to fire up the previously sleepy crowd. Chamberlain was unstoppable, scoring another 28 points to lift his Warriors to a commanding 125-104 lead when the third quarter ended. His own total stood at 69, nine shy of his previous scoring record. Knicks third center Dave Budd, who alternated with the foul-troubled Imhoff at pivot, later stated resistance was practically futile: "You couldn't play him [Chamberlain] conventionally because he was so big. The only thing you could attempt to do was either front him, and in that case they'd try to lob it in to him, or beat him down the floor and set up where he wanted to get and force him out a couple of extra steps. The guy weighed 300 or 270 [pounds], so that wasn't easy, either."
In the fourth quarter, 7:51 minutes were left to play when Chamberlain scored his 79th point, breaking his own record and sending the crowd into a frenzy. The 4,124 spectators screamed: "Give it to Wilt! Give it to Wilt!" The Warriors suddenly sensed that they could write basketball history, and fed Chamberlain the ball at every attack. Warrior Al Attles later explained: "We wanted that Wilt got the record, because we all liked him." Attles himself led by example, passing up on an easy layup so that Chamberlain could score points 88 and 89, five minutes before the end. In addition, Warriors guard Guy Rodgers would end the game with 20 assists.
[edit] Frantic last minutes
However, according to all eye-witnesses, the game became a farce. Fearing ultimate humiliation if Chamberlain scored 100 points on them, the Knicks blindly fouled any Warrior not named Chamberlain, to force them to hit free throws and keep the ball out of the center's hands. Effectively, they played the opposite of what a normal club would do if they faced a deficit, willingly giving up many easy points instead of making attempts to rally back. In retaliation, the Warriors liberally fouled the Knicks, in order to get the ball back after free throws and give Chamberlain the ball. Thus each team spent the last minutes fouling each other, making the game a farce. The majority of the participants put the blame on the Knicks. Warriors forward Tom Meschery said: "The Knicks were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to foul anyone but Wilt. We started inbounding the ball straight to Wilt in the forecourt." However, Knicks player Richie Guerin, who scored 39 points, put the blame on the Warriors and complained: "The Warriors used any means [i. e., fouling tactics] to get the ball to Chamberlain. This had nothing to do with basketball anymore." In any case, the Warriors ended with 25 personal fouls, and the Knicks with 32, and lost Imhoff and Willie Naulls with six fouls.
With 2:45 minutes left, Chamberlain had 94 points, and after scoring on a jump shot and a layup, he stood at 98 with less than a minute to play. At the next play, Chamberlain passed the ball to Joe Ruklick, and instead of going for an easy layup, he immediately passed back, and with 46 seconds left, Chamberlain executed a slam dunk to hit the century mark. The arena exploded in a frenzy. Over 200 spectators stormed the floor, wanting to touch the hero of the night.
[edit] Ending
No video footage exists of this phenomenal achievement because the game was not televised, although there is an audio recording of the game's radio broadcast. At the end, Chamberlain made 36-of-63 field goals and 28-of-32 free throws; the latter is remarkable because Chamberlain made barely half his free throws during his career. He had no 3-point goals, since at the time, the three-point line had not yet been instituted. Chamberlain also grabbed 25 rebounds.
