| | In 1987, on the 25th anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game, Bill Barnard of The Associated Press wrote the following story on his milestone. Wilt Chamberlain was humble. "I couldn't have come close without my teammates' help becausethe Knicks didn't want me to make 100." He was contemptuous. "They were willing to do anything to stop me." And he was supremely arrogant. "Scoring 100 points is a lot, but ... I maybe could have scored140 if they had played straight-up basketball." Once the Goliath of basketball, Chamberlain may be an enigma asa man, but, as a player, he was one of the greatest ever to wear anNBA uniform. His record of 100 points in one game for the PhiladelphiaWarriors on March 2, 1962, in Hershey, Pa., against the New YorkKnicks may stand forever. When discussing the subject, the 7-foot-1 Chamberlain gives muchof the credit to his teammates, who rallied to his support as theKnicks held the ball, swarmed around him defensively and committedrepeated fouls to try to stop him. The Warriors won the game 169-147. "It was a challenge to my teammates to help me," Chamberlainsaid in a telephone interview on the 25th anniversary of hisremarkable game. "Once we were far ahead, the Knicks disregardedtrying to win the game and concentrated on stopping me. "If they hadn't just tried to stop me without regard to whetherthey would win or not, I could have scored a lot more." Chamberlain said two or three Knicks told him later that theywere ordered to play defense that way by their coach, EddieDonovan. "It just wasn't right the way they were behind by 25 points andthen they're told to hold the ball," Chamberlain said. "They musthave considered it a stigma to let me score 100." According to Donovan, however, the fouling worked both ways. "They would foul us and we would foul them," Donovan said."The game became a farce, but you try to keep anyone from scoringthe best you can." Chamberlain said that what his teammates did for him during thegame "was way beyond the call of duty. They were so clever findingways to get me the ball. They had to do more than just give up openshots. They had to avoid fouls and pass me the ball in traffic." Although he was disgusted with the Knicks' play in general,Chamberlain said 6-foot-10 New York center Darrall Imhoff shouldnot be labeled as "the man who let me score 100 points." "He played me as well as anyone," Chamberlain said. "Hefouled out in the fourth quarter, and that's when I really startedgetting points. He was no more at fault than anyone." While unflagging in praise of his teammates, there is a side ofChamberlain that shrugs off the feat as not particularlysignificant for someone like him. "As outstanding as it may seem, it's really a normal thing thatI did it," he said. "You have to remember that I averaged 50points a game that year. Players that average 16 or 17 pointsusually have at least one game during a season when they score 35.That's just what I did; I doubled my average." He bristles at suggestions that scoring 100 points in a gamemight be called the ultimate selfish act by a basketball player. "Lots of people look at scoring as selfish," Chamberlain said."When you go out there and do the things you're supposed to do,people view you as selfish. "They don't look at you that way if you're O.J. Simpson or EricDickerson or Walter Payton and you're trying to get as many yardsas you can every time you touch the football. But when you're ascorer in basketball, you can get labeled a gunner or a selfishplayer." Chamberlain realizes that although he is more proud of averaging50 points for an entire season, he is more remembered for 100points in a single game. "I get constant reminders from fans who equate that game and my career as one and the same," he said. "People don't talk aboutthe 50-point average, the 69-13 Lakers championship team I playedfor. They talk about the night I scored 100. "That's my tag, whether I like it or not." | |
|
