Bobbleheads

Wilton Norman Chamberlain, commonly known as Wilt Chamberlain (August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was a National Basketball Association basketball player. more...

Home
Atlanta Hawks
Boston Celtics
Charlotte Bobcats
Charlotte Hornets
Chicago Bulls
Cleveland Cavaliers
Dallas Mavericks
Defunct Teams
Denver Nuggets
Detroit Pistons
Golden State Warriors
Houston Rockets
Indiana Pacers
Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Lakers
Bobbleheads
Caps, Hats
Jackets
Jerseys
Other Items
Photos, Prints
Posters
Shirts
Memphis Grizzlies
Miami Heat
Milwaukee Bucks
Minnesota Timberwolves
NBA Autographs Original
NBA Championship Items
New Jersey Nets
New Orleans Hornets
New York Knicks
Orlando Magic
Other
Other NBA Items
Philadelphia 76ers
Phoenix Suns
Portland Trailblazers
Sacramento Kings
San Antonio Spurs
Seattle Supersonics
Toronto Raptors
Utah Jazz
Vancouver Grizzlies
WNBA
WNBA Autographs Original
Washington Wizards

Known as Wilt the Stilt (a nickname he hated) or The Big Dipper, he is regarded as one of the greatest and most dominant basketball players of all time for the incredible statistical achievements he attained throughout his playing career.

Early life

As a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native, standing at 7'1" and 275 pounds, Chamberlain drew national attention playing at Overbrook High School in West Philadelphia. He played two years for the University of Kansas (freshmen were then ineligible to play NCAA varsity basketball), where he earned All-American honors twice and led the Jayhawks to the 1957 championship game (which they lost to North Carolina 54-53 in three overtimes).

After a frustrating junior year in which Kansas did not even reach the NCAA Tournament (at the time, teams that had lost their league championship were not invited), he decided to turn pro, citing that he wanted to be paid for being double and triple teamed every night. Chamberlain was contracted to the Philadelphia Warriors, who had picked him in 1955 as a territorial pick. However, he was ineligible to play in the NBA until his college class graduated in 1959. He played a season with the Harlem Globetrotters until finally becoming eligible to join the Warriors. He was listed as the third pick in the NBA Draft but was actually a territorial pick.

NBA career

Philadelphia Warriors/San Francisco Warriors

In his first year with the Warriors (1960), Chamberlain led the league in scoring, averaging 37.6 points per game, and rebounding, with 27 per game. He became the first of two players (with Wes Unseld, 1969) to be named MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season. The Warriors lost to the Boston Celtics in the Conference Finals that year, which would be a repeated occurrence in Chamberlain's career.

Since the Celtics were in the same Eastern Division as the Warriors, Chamberlain and Co. could not even reach the NBA Finals without finding a way to beat them. The Boston Celtics were at the beginning of their legendary run of winning 11 NBA championships in 13 seasons.

In the 1962 NBA season, Chamberlain averaged his career best 50.4 ppg. As of yet, the closest player other than Chamberlain himself to average as many points per game was Elgin Baylor who averaged 38.3 in that same season.

In 1963, the Warriors relocated to San Francisco, and in 1964 Chamberlain and the San Francisco Warriors lost to the Celtics in the NBA Finals. After that season, Chamberlain was traded back to Philadelphia, where the Syracuse Nationals had recently moved to become the 76ers.

Philadelphia 76ers

Back in the Eastern Division, Chamberlain's appearance in the finals was thwarted by the Celtics' on-going dynasty. The Eastern Conference Finals that year came down to the final seconds of Game 7, when the Celtics won by one point with a legendary play: when the 76ers' Hal Greer attempted to pass the ball inbounds, John Havlicek stole it to preserve the Celtics' lead.

Read more at Wikipedia.org