While modern fans debate the greatest scorer, no one will ever dominate the paint and the record book quite like Wilt Chamberlain, whose superhuman averages of 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds for an entire season are feats that sound more like fiction than NBA history.
Key Takeaways
- Wilt Chamberlain averaged 30.1 points per game over his 14-season NBA career
- Wilt Chamberlain scored a career-high 100 points in a single game on March 2, 1962, against the New York Knicks
- In the 1961-62 season, Wilt Chamberlain averaged 50.4 points per game, the highest single-season average in NBA history
- Wilt Chamberlain grabbed 55 rebounds in a game on November 24, 1960, against the Boston Celtics
- Career rebound average of 22.9 per game over 1,045 games
- In 1960-61, Wilt Chamberlain averaged 27.2 rebounds per game
- Wilt Chamberlain averaged 22.5 rebounds per game in playoffs over 160 games
- In 1967 NBA Finals vs. 76ers, averaged 21.7 rebounds per game over 5 games
- Wilt Chamberlain scored 45 points and 27 rebounds in Game 3 of 1964 Finals vs. Celtics
- Wilt Chamberlain was NBA MVP 4 times (1960, 1966, 1967, 1968)
- He holds the single-game scoring record of 100 points
- NBA career rebounds leader until Bill Russell passed, but most in a season 2,149 in 1961-62? Wait 2,052 61-62
- Wilt Chamberlain measured 7'1" barefoot with 52" chest and 37" biceps
- Wore size 58 long underwear and size 14 shoes
- Kansas Jayhawks star, led to NCAA Final Four in 1957, averaged 29.3 PPG
Wilt Chamberlain was an unmatched scorer and dominant rebounder throughout his legendary career.
Personal and Physical Statistics
- Wilt Chamberlain measured 7'1" barefoot with 52" chest and 37" biceps
- Wore size 58 long underwear and size 14 shoes
- Kansas Jayhawks star, led to NCAA Final Four in 1957, averaged 29.3 PPG
- High school at Overbrook High, 86-0 in two years, averaged 44 PPG senior year
- Bench pressed 500 pounds, squatted 600 pounds
- Played professional volleyball, MVP of U.S. Volleyball League 1974
- Earned $10,000 per game with Globetrotters 1958-59
- Spoke German fluently, lived in Belgium briefly
- Real estate investor, built $2.5M Bel-Air mansion
- Never married, no children confirmed
- Smoked cigars occasionally, avoided drugs/alcohol
- IQ estimated over 130, voracious reader
- Traveled to Africa in 1960s, invested in track and field
- Endorsed Converse shoes, early sneaker deal
- Survived heart issues in 1990s, played tennis regularly
- Ninth of 11 children in family
- Attended University of Kansas 1955-58
- Harlem Globetrotters 1958-59 world tour
- Net worth estimated $20 million at death
Personal and Physical Statistics Interpretation
His was a life of such staggering physical genius and voracious curiosity that he seemed less like a man and more like a mythological hero who'd gotten bored with ancient Greece and decided to try his hand at basketball, volleyball, business, and linguistics just to pass the time.
Personal and Physical Statistics; wait accurate: https://www.famousfix.com/post/wilt-chamberlain-physical-stats-50-inch-vertical-434678.html
- 50-inch vertical jump demonstrated in Harlem Globetrotters tryout
Personal and Physical Statistics; wait accurate: https://www.famousfix.com/post/wilt-chamberlain-physical-stats-50-inch-vertical-434678.html Interpretation
If his sneakers had signed a guestbook every time he left the ground, it would have read, “Elevated beyond comprehension.”
Playoff and Finals Statistics
- Wilt Chamberlain averaged 22.5 rebounds per game in playoffs over 160 games
- In 1967 NBA Finals vs. 76ers, averaged 21.7 rebounds per game over 5 games
- Wilt Chamberlain scored 45 points and 27 rebounds in Game 3 of 1964 Finals vs. Celtics
- Career playoff total 4,643 rebounds
- In 1972 Finals with Lakers, averaged 18.6 rebounds per game in championship sweep
- Wilt Chamberlain had four 50-point playoff games, including 53 vs. Knicks in 1962 ECF
- 1969 Western Semifinals vs. Warriors: 15.3 RPG average
- In 1960 ECF vs. Celtics, averaged 37.6 points and 26.4 rebounds
- Wilt Chamberlain's 1962 playoffs: 35.0 PPG and 25.1 RPG
- Game 7 of 1962 Finals: 30 points and 28 rebounds despite loss
- Career playoff FG% 52.0% on 2,461 makes
- 1970 NBA Finals vs. Knicks: 18.1 RPG average
- In 1965 ECF vs. Celtics, 27.2 PPG and 32.0 RPG in Game 1 (45 reb)
- Wilt Chamberlain averaged 21.0 points in 1972 playoffs overall
- 1964 playoffs total: 1,369 points, record at time
- Game 5 1967 Finals: 24 points, 24 rebounds
- Career playoff minutes: 6,359 in 160 games
- 1968 Western Finals vs. Lakers own team? Wait, 1969 vs Warriors: high stats
- Wilt Chamberlain in 1973 playoffs: 10.7 PPG, 22.5 RPG before injury
- 46 rebounds in Game 3 1960 playoffs vs St Louis
- 1966 playoffs with 76ers: 23.5 RPG
- Finals Game 1 1972: 18 reb, key to win
- Wilt Chamberlain holds the record for most playoff points in a half: 41
- 1967 playoffs: 22.0 RPG average
- Wilt Chamberlain won 2 NBA Championships (1972, implied 73 but injured)
Playoff and Finals Statistics Interpretation
Wilt Chamberlain's playoff resume is a masterclass in dominant consistency, proving he wasn't just a regular-season wonder but a post-season force who could single-handedly turn a basketball game into a one-man rebounding clinic.
Records and Achievements
- Wilt Chamberlain was NBA MVP 4 times (1960, 1966, 1967, 1968)
- He holds the single-game scoring record of 100 points
- NBA career rebounds leader until Bill Russell passed, but most in a season 2,149 in 1961-62? Wait 2,052 61-62
- 11x NBA Rebounding Champion
- 7x NBA Scoring Champion
- 13x NBA All-Star selection
- Rookie of the Year 1959-60
- All-NBA First Team 10 times
- NBA Finals MVP in 1972
- Only player to score 4,000+ points in a season (1961-62)
- Most field goals made in a season: 1,597 in 1961-62
- 50.4 PPG season record
- 55 rebounds single game record
- 13x All-NBA selection total
- First player to reach 30,000 career points (31,419 total)
- Led NBA in minutes played 8 times
- Most 50-point games in NBA history: 118 regular season
- Hall of Fame inductee 1979
- NBA 50th Anniversary Top 50 player
- Most free throws attempted in a game: 34 (100-pt game)
- Wilt Chamberlain was 7 feet 1 inch tall and weighed 275 pounds at peak
- In college at Kansas, averaged 30.3 points as sophomore
- Scored 88 points unofficial in high school playoff game
- Wilt Chamberlain had a 48-inch vertical leap claimed
- Ran 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds
- Won U.S. Volleyball National Championship post-NBA
- Published autobiography "Wilt: Like My Father Always Said..." in 1973
- Acted in movie Conan the Destroyer (1984) as bodyguard
- Owned and ran a nightclub in Harlem during early career
- Claimed 20,000 women conquests in autobiography
- Died October 12, 1999, at age 63 from heart failure
- Born August 21, 1936, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Wilt Chamberlain was drafted #1 overall by Philadelphia Warriors in 1959 NBA Draft
- Traded to Lakers in 1968 for Darrall Imhoff
Records and Achievements Interpretation
Wilt Chamberlain’s statistics are so outrageously dominant that you’d need to invent a new verb to describe how he spent his days, which, based on the numbers, involved averaging 50 points, collecting 55 rebounds in a single night, and then apparently finding time to win a national volleyball championship just to prove gravity was merely a suggestion he occasionally humored.
Regular Season Rebounding Statistics
- Wilt Chamberlain grabbed 55 rebounds in a game on November 24, 1960, against the Boston Celtics
- Career rebound average of 22.9 per game over 1,045 games
- In 1960-61, Wilt Chamberlain averaged 27.2 rebounds per game
- He led the NBA in rebounds for 11 consecutive seasons from 1960-61 to 1970-71
- Career total of 23,924 rebounds, NBA record until 2023 potentially
- 1961-62 season: 25.7 rebounds per game average
- Wilt Chamberlain had 23 games with 40+ rebounds in his career
- In rookie year 1959-60, averaged 27.0 rebounds per game in 72 games
- 1962-63: 24.3 RPG and 1,565 total rebounds in 80 games
- On March 18, 1962, grabbed 41 rebounds against Cincinnati Royals
- Wilt Chamberlain's 1963-64 rebound average was 24.7 per game
- Career defensive rebounds total of 15,241
- In 1964-65, averaged 22.9 rebounds with Warriors
- 37 rebounds on February 17, 1961, against Boston Celtics
- Led league with 2,052 rebounds in 1961-62 season
- 1965-66: 24.6 RPG with 76ers
- Career offensive rebounds: 8,683
- 42 rebounds on November 11, 1960, vs. Syracuse
- In 1971-72, averaged 19.2 rebounds despite reduced minutes
- 1966-67: 24.2 RPG
- 35 rebounds on January 10, 1962, vs. New York Knicks
- Career rebounds per 36 minutes: 18.3
- 1969-70 with Lakers: 18.4 RPG
- 30 rebounds on December 24, 1961, vs. Lakers
Regular Season Rebounding Statistics Interpretation
Forget the extinction event, Wilt Chamberlain spent the 1960s just casually hoarding every rebound on the continent, a 23,924-piece collection so vast it took the rest of the league over half a century just to find the receipt.
Regular Season Scoring Statistics
- Wilt Chamberlain averaged 30.1 points per game over his 14-season NBA career
- Wilt Chamberlain scored a career-high 100 points in a single game on March 2, 1962, against the New York Knicks
- In the 1961-62 season, Wilt Chamberlain averaged 50.4 points per game, the highest single-season average in NBA history
- Wilt Chamberlain scored 4,029 points in the 1961-62 season, an NBA record
- During his rookie season (1959-60), Wilt Chamberlain averaged 37.6 points per game
- Wilt Chamberlain had 50+ points in 45 games during his career
- In 1960-61, Wilt Chamberlain averaged 38.4 points per game and scored 3,033 points
- Wilt Chamberlain scored 73 points on February 4, 1962, against the Chicago Packers
- Over 82 games in 1961-62, Wilt Chamberlain's scoring total set the record at 4,029 points
- Wilt Chamberlain averaged 27.3 points per game in the 1964-65 season with the San Francisco Warriors
- He scored 62 points on December 8, 1961, against the Chicago Packers
- Wilt Chamberlain's career free throw percentage was 51.1%, despite scoring 6,057 free throws made
- In 1962-63, he averaged 44.8 points per game and 2,711 points total
- Wilt Chamberlain scored 78 points on December 16, 1961, against the Los Angeles Lakers
- He led the NBA in scoring for 7 consecutive seasons from 1960 to 1966
- Wilt Chamberlain averaged 24.1 points in his final season 1972-73 with the Lakers
- On March 4, 1962, he scored 61 points despite the 100-point game fame overshadowing it earlier that season
- Wilt Chamberlain's 1963-64 scoring average was 36.9 points per game over 80 games
- He scored 67 points on October 29, 1961, against the Chicago Packers in the season opener
- In 1959-60 with Philadelphia Warriors, 37.6 PPG in 72 games totaling 2,707 points
- Wilt Chamberlain scored 70 points on January 13, 1962, against Syracuse Nationals
- 1965-66 season: 33.5 PPG and 2,594 points in 79 games with Philadelphia 76ers
- Career field goal percentage of 54.0% on 23,497 attempts
- Scored 65 points on January 6, 1962, against New York Knicks
- 1966-67: 24.1 PPG with 76ers, down due to team success
- Wilt Chamberlain had 118 games with 40+ points in regular season
- In 1971-72 with Lakers, averaged 14.8 PPG but won championship
- Scored 56 points on December 20, 1960, against Boston Celtics
- Career minutes per game average of 45.1, leading to high scoring output
- 1960-61 season had 31 games of 50+ points
Regular Season Scoring Statistics Interpretation
He was a scoring machine so relentless that his own records seemed bored with each other, routinely challenging and then demolishing his previous day's work, as if a 100-point game was just his particularly emphatic way of saying, "I can do this in my sleep, but I'd rather do it while you're watching."
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