Biography for
Wilt Chamberlain More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

21 August 1936, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Date of Death

12 October 1999, Los Angeles, California, USA (cardiac arrest while sleeping)

Birth Name

Wilton Norman Chamberlain

Nickname

The Big Dipper

Height

7' 1" (2.16 m)

Mini Biography

Wilton Norman Chamberlain, born in Philadelphia, didn't come from a race of giants as many thought. Both his parents were no bigger than 5-9, but as a young boy he began a growth spurt which would eventually stop when he reached 7-1. That height made him legendary in sports history as arguably the greatest basketball player ever. Chamberlain played at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, and collegiately at Kansas University, where he led the Jayhawks to the NCAA finals. Kansas lost in title game to North Carolina and that game haunted Chamberlain throughout his career and gave birth to the unfair image of him as a "loser." He left Kansas as an underclassman to play professionally for the Harlem Globetrotters, and after a year with them, signed to play with his hometown team in the NBA, the then-named Philadelphia Warriors. With the Warriors he performed some astonishing feats that no NBA player before or since accomplished.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Ken Severson

Trade Mark

A Gentle Giant

Trivia

Disliked the nickname 'Wilt the Stilt.' Preferred Dippy or Dip, among friends.

Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has more career points in the NBA.

Only player to ever score 100 points in a pro game (1962).

When pressed by sportswriters about "the number" of his romantic encounters, in his 1990 book, "A View From Above," Chamberlain claimed to have slept with better than 20,000 women during his career. (His life was based on the numbers!). What is overlooked is his other comments.. "I would rather have had one woman that I truly loved, than 20,000 that I didn't." His claim was designed to sell copies of his book, but Chamberlain very quickly came to regret it.

Never married.

Graduate of Overbrook High School in native Philadelphia, and the University of Kansas.

Spent one year with the Harlem Globetrooters, for salary of $65,000

When he died in October 1999, his long-time basketball rival, Celtics superstar Bill Russell, declared at Wilt's memorial service: "As far as I'm concerned, he and I will be friends through eternity."

Enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1979.

Head coach of the ABA San Diego Conquistadors (1973-1974).

University of Kansas (1955-1958).

Unanimous First Team All-America (1957, 1958).

The Sporting News First Team All-America (1958).

NCAA Tournament MVP (1957).

All-Big Seven (1957, 1958).

Played with the Harlem Globetrotters (1958-1959), the NBA Philadelphia Warriors (1959-1962), the NBA San Francisco Warriors (1963-1964), the NBA Philadelphia 76ers (1964-1968), and the NBA Los Angeles Lakers (1968-1973).

NBA Rookie of the Year (1960).

NBA Most Valuable Player (1960, 1966, 1967, 1968).

All-NBA First Team (1960-1962, 1964-1968).

All-NBA Second Team (1963, 1965, 1972).

NBA All-Defensive First Team (1972, 1973).

NBA Finals MVP (1972).

NBA All-Star Game MVP (1960), after scoring 23 points with 25 rebounds.

Thirteen-time NBA All-Star (1960-1969, 1971-1973).

NBA 35th Anniversary All-Time Team (1980) and 50th Anniversary All-Time Team (1996).

Ranks second all-time in scoring with 31,419 points (30.1 ppg) and rebounding 23,924 rebounds (22.9 rpg). *

Wilt and Bill Russell became friends when they became superstars in the late 1950s, but the relationship ended for a long time when Russell wrongly assumed Wilt had ducked out of Game 7 of the 1969 NBA Finals. In reality, Wilt had left for medical treatment when his knee was slammed into, and Lakers coach Butch van Breda Kolff told Wilt they didn't need him to go back into the game (which Los Angeles lost by 2 points). The two men mended fences in 1994 and were close friends from then until Wilt's death in 1999.

Golden State Warriors franchise all-time leading scorer (17,783).

Never fouled out of a game in his NBA career.

In his historic 100-point game which took place in Hershey, PA, he set records for most field goals (36) and made free throws (28) in a game.

Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 106-109. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

While in college at Kansas, he was recorded as having a 550 pound bench press.

At his athletic peak, he was said to have been measured with a vertical jump of 48-50 inches.

He was a high jump champion and track and field star in college at Kansas University.

Is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc.

The father of the 7-foot-1 Wilt was only 5-foot-7.

Only player in NBA history to lead the league in scoring average and rebounding average in the same season, which he accomplished five times. Four of the five seasons were his first four NBA seasons.

Had a keen interest in films and shared in this past-time with the likes of Hugh Hefner. He had attended several film festivals to enjoy the limelight of his celebrity. Most notably in 1976, The Festival of Festivals in Toronto, Canada -now known today as the Toronto International Film Festival. He was also a partner in the production company Hundred Point Films, to do his bio-pic.

Was an accomplished beach volleyball player.

Personal Quotes

Nobody roots for Goliath.