Wilt Chamberlain by the numbers

There have always been big men of whom it might’ve been said, “He couldn’t get 20 and 10 if he were alone in the gym.” Not only wasn’t Wilt Chamberlain aloe on the night in Hershey, Pa., when he scored 100 points (and grabbed 25 rebounds) in an NBA game, but he was surrounded—harassed, even, albeit pathetically—by an assortment of New York Knicks.

If his opponents had been complicit in a two-bit marketing scheme to get the Philadelphia Warriors superstar such a gaudy record, that would be another matter entirely. But Chamberlain shot 32 free throws—making 28, for him an uncommon display of marksmanship—indicative not of a transparent fix but of a gaggle of frustrated Knicks. Oh, there were shenanigans: After Wilt hit 80, then 90, the Warriors fouled in order to increase their own possessions. But the Knicks were fouling, too—Warriors other than Chamberlain, who’d been in the 70s before, but 100? Not if they could stop it. Which, of course, they couldn’t.

PEER PERSPECTIVE
Hall of Famer Rick Barry, who had 64 points in a 1974 game, says: “That’s certainly one you can put down that will never be broken. There’s no way in the world that anybody will score 100 points in an NBA game again. First, I don’t know if anybody is really capable of it. Second, I don’t think any coach would allow it. You’d put four guys on him. Kobe got 81, and that was amazing. But he still had to get 19 more. That’s a lot of points. Not many people get 19 points in one half very often. … I would have had to score 36 more points; most players never get 36 points in one game in their whole career.”

FOR THE RECORD
The NBA lists 72 records held by Chamberlain. (Yes, that’s all.) Four of them he shares, so we won’t bother with those here. Tell you what: Let’s just go with a half-dozen that’ll knock your striped tube socks right off.

37.6: Points per game in 1959-60, his rookie season—now that’s how you make an entrance.

55: Rebounds in one game—against Bill Russell’s Celtics in 1960.

48.5: Minutes per game in 1961-61, when he also happened to average …

50.4 points per game. (But who’s counting?)

59 Points scored in a half. What, you think 100 happens by accident?

22.9 Rebounds per game, career. Yes, career.

0 Disqualifications, in 1,045 games. OK, so there are many others who never fouled out, but come on.