#Wilt September 22

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This month the #Coach4adayChallenge for September is to profile a biography of someone. Today the focus is on a basketball player on WILT Chamberlain. My opinion a NBA player who doesn’t get enough credit.

Let’s begin with this. WILT Chamberlain was the first NBA player to score more than 30,000 cumulative points over his career, and the first and only player to score 100 points in a single game.

Accolades for WILT Chamberlain

WILT Chamberlain was more than very successful athlete. He was an iconic figure in America along with being an author. Most of his books are out of print. This link can take you to those titles.

Here are some interesting facts about him.

• His proper name is Wilton and he was born on August 21, 1936, to Olivia Ruth Johnson and William Chamberlain in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was one of the couple’s nine children.
• WILT was a standout in Track and Field -his personal best in the high jump was six feet six inches, he threw 55 feet in shot put, he ran the 440 in 49 seconds, and he could do a 22-foot long jump. All of these numbers took place in the 1950’s.
• Chamberlain had a number of nicknames including “Goliath” or “Wilt the Stilt,” but his favorite was “The Big Dipper.” “The Big Dipper” was apparently inspired by Chamberlain’s penchant for ducking his head underneath doorways to avoid hitting them.
• In High School at Overbrook in Philadelphia he had a three-game stretch where he recorded 74, 78, and 90 points.
• While in college at Kansas WILT was featured in articles published by Life, Time, Look, and Newsweek
• Think about WILT and the opportunities with NIL -his senior year at Kansas he made his announcement to skip his senior year and go play for the Globetrotters through an article in Look. The article earned him a cool $10,000, which at the time was more than the average NBA contract.
• In 1959 WILT joined the NBA as a rookie. He had the highest contract in the league at $30,000. He averaged 37.6 points and 27 rebounds a game, which were both single-season records.
• In 1959 he was NBA Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, and the All-Star Game MVP
• In the 1960-61 Season he set the record for most rebounds in a single NBA game with 55.
• Wilt almost quit the NBA after his first season because of constantly being double and tripled team. Philadelphia owner Eddie Gottlieb doubled his salary to 65,000 and he came back for season #2.

Take some time to watch WILT in this 2 minute highlight YouTube Video