CHAMBERLAIN, WILT

born Aug. 21, 1936, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S. died Oct. 12, 1999, Los Angeles, Calif. Wilt Chamberlain (right), 1965. in full Wilton Norman Chamberlain, byname Wilt the Stilt, or the Big Dipper professional basketball player, considered to be one of the greatest offensive players in the history of the game. At more than seven feet tall, Chamberlain was an outstanding centre. During his 196162 season he became the first player to score more than 4,000 points in regular-season National Basketball Association (NBA) games. As a teenager, Chamberlain was sought after by more than 100 colleges and universities after his play at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia. He played two years (195658) at the University of Kansas, after which he joined the Harlem Globetrotters for a year (195859). He went to the NBA in 1959, playing with the Philadelphia Warriors (195965; the team moved and became the San Francisco Warriors in 1962), going back to Philadelphia to play for the 76ers (196568), and finishing his career with the Los Angeles Lakers (196873). Chamberlain had a long-standing (but good-natured) rivalry with Boston Celtic Bill Russell, and many credit the increase in the popularity of professional basketball to the excitement generated around games featuring these two players. With 31,419 points scored over the span of his professional career, Chamberlain held the NBA record for points scored until 1984, when his record was surpassed by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Other highlights of Chamberlain's NBA career include: a career average of 30.1 points per game, a career average of 22.9 rebounds per game, scoring 100 points in a single game (March 2, 1962), scoring 36 field goals in a game (March 2, 1962), and capturing 55 rebounds in a game (November 24, 1960). Chamberlain's career average of 30.1 points was an NBA record until broken by Michael Jordan; the rest are NBA records that still stand. Chamberlain was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978. His autobiography, written with David Shaw, Wilt: Just Like Any Other 7-Foot Black Millionaire Who Lives Next Door, was published in 1973. He also published a somewhat revealing book of further reminiscences entitled A View from Above in 1991.