Wilt Chamberlains’ 100-point game was team affair

A running back doesn’t rush for a 2,000-yard season without blockers opening holes for him, a quarterback doesn’t pass for 5,000 yards if his receivers don’t get open and Wilt Chamberlain couldn’t have scored 100 points if his Golden State Warriors’ teammates weren’t feeding him the ball.

Sure the talent has to be there. Emmitt Smith, Eric Dickerson and Terrell Davis all had talent. Both Drew Brees and Tom Brady are undeniably talented quarterbacks. And most remember Wilt as being the most dominant center of his time.

He was what Shaquille O’Neal is to our era of basketball because he was so big and athletic compared to the people who played the position in his day. Chamberlain was 7’1”, 275 pounds in an era when many centers were around the 6’7” to 6’10” range and no player moved as gracefully as he did at that weight.

He was taller and stronger than just about anyone who played during that era. On top of that he had extremely long arms and a soft touch around the basket making him almost unguardable in the paint.

Chamberlain holds many scoring and rebounding records but none as remarkable as his 100-point game. Many believe that the Hack-A-Shaq was a modern day invention but it was not. Chamberlain was also a horrible free throw shooter prompting teams to maul him whenever he touched the ball in the paint.

On this one given night though it didn’t matter. Chamberlain was hitting everything whether it was a layup, a dunk and he was especially accurate with his free throw shooting that night. Chamberlain’s coach and teammates realized that he was in a zone and were in amazement at how easily he was putting up points.

Not too amazed since he did average 50 points-per-game that season but after three quarters Wilt had 69 points and had hit 21 of his 22 free throw attempts. His coach refused to take him out the game and his teammates would intentionally foul the other team so they could get the ball back and give it to Wilt.

It does help that the New York Knicks were not a very good team at the time but Wilt’s coach and his teammates were pushing him to set that historic record that night. Even the visiting crowd wanted to be a part of history and was chanting for Wilt to get the ball when the game was in its waning moments.

And with less than a minute left in the game, Chamberlain dunked the ball completing the historic night. Which leads us to the moment that will forever be etched in our memories: the picture of Wilt Chamberlain holding up a piece of paper with the number 100 written on it. Although only one player’s name goes on the record, it was definitely a team effort that created that historic night back on March 2, 1962. 

Roosevelt Hall is an NBA Blogger for The Sport Mentalist 2 and also writes for Shatter The Backboard. He can be contacted at RHall@shatterthebackboard.com. Follow him on Twitter @sportmentalist and add him on Facebook Roosevelt Hall Thesportmentalist.