Wilt Chamberlain set an NBA record that will probably never be broken – one of many in his legendary career – 50 years ago today: He scored 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors in a win over the New York Knicks.
A few notable reads on Wilt’s night:
Dave D’Alessandro, Star Ledger: Trivia question – who assisted on Wilt’s final basket to get him 100 points? Click to find out. Wilt’s tally by quarter: 23, 18, 28, 31.
Richard Sandomir, NYT: Chamberlain, a career 61 percent foul shooter to date, made 28-of-32 on the record-setting night. For the season, Chamberlain averaged 50.4 ppg, 25.7 rpg and didn’t win the MVP. The narrator mentioned in the story did.
Gary Pomerantz, WSJ: “Virtually no one saw it. No TV cameras were there. No New York sportswriters were either, with the last-place Knicks’ season in ashes. Hershey Arena was half-empty, just 4,124 paying fans. At halftime, the irrepressible Philadelphia public-address announcer Dave Zinkoff gave away Formost salamis and New Phillies Cheroots cigars.”
I highly recommend Philly.com’s special section on Wilt. I particularly enjoyed the recap of the time former Memphis Tiger Dajuan Wagner dropped 100 points in a high school game in 2001. I remember it because I was working my first newspaper job and happened to be in the office when I saw a few mentions of it online, and we got it into the newspaper. Injuries ruined Wagner’s shot at an NBA career.
