Biography of Basketball Player and Athlete Wilt Chamberlain

About the biography of the famous basketball player and athlete Wilt Chamberlain, history and information.

Wilt Chamberlain

Awesome in size, strength, and athletic prowess, Wilt Chamberlain has experienced an unparalleled basketball career. He was the game's most devastating force and, almost befittingly in the turbulent times he dominated, its most controversial subject.

Chamberlain (born August 21, 1936) attended Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, then Kansas University. At Kansas U., he scored 52 points in his varsity debut against Northwestern. In 2 varsity seasons (1957-1958) he averaged 29.9 points and 18.3 rebounds.

The Jayhawks lost to North Carolina (by one point) in the 1957 NCAA finals, and that game has haunted Wilt ever since. It gave birth to his image as a "loser."

Professionally, he played with the Harlem Globetrotters (1959), bypassing his senior year at Kansas U.; Philadelphia-San Francisco Warriors (1960-1964); Philadelphia 76ers (1965-1968); Los Angeles Lakers (1969-1973). He was drafted originally as a 1st round territorial choice of the Warriors.

His playing statistics are staggering. He averaged 50.4 points in 1962, abetted by a record 100-point game against the New York Knicks. He was the 1st pro to amass 30,000 career points and shoot 70% from the field (72.7). He grabbed 55 rebounds in one game and owns the all-time standard of 23,924. He was unstoppable in close, actually scaring people with his ferocious dunk shots.

Chamberlain was scoring champion 7 straight years (1960-1966); All-Pro 1st team 7 times; and MVP on 4 occasions. He has been compensated nicely--his $3 million, 5-year contract with the Lakers was the highest ever paid a pro athlete.

Along the way, though, he acquired many critics. Many seemed to overlook the fact that he did play on NBA title teams in 1967 and 1972. Coaches couldn't relate to him. He was a pitiable foul-shooter, and didn't react well under pressure; he angered blacks by not speaking out on important issues; he embraced Richard Nixon in a brief political honeymoon; but he throve anyway.

A 7'2", 275-pounder, Chamberlain prefers "Big Dipper" and dislikes "Stilt" among his sundry nicknames. His autobiography, Wilt; Just like Any Other 7-Foot Black Millionaire Who Lives next Door, was candid but not critically acclaimed. In it he revealed a huge sexual appetite.

When not on the road, he lives in a sumptuous 22-room mansion in the Santa Monica Mountains overlooking Los Angeles.

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