Piece by: Aidan Bessinger
The 100 point game. Possibly the greatest single game performance in the history of the NBA. Every basketball fan knows about this game, and the man behind it, Wilt Chamberlain. He was simply, a man amongst children.
Wilt's NBA career started in 1959 after 3 years with the Kansas Jayhawks and 1 year with the Harlem Globetrotters (who at the time were better than some NBA teams). As he started his NBA career with the Philly Warriors in his rookie season he averaged 37.6 ppg and 27 rpg which were obviously good enough for him to win rookie of the year, and was also enough for an MVP in his rookie year. He has already solidified himself as the best player in the league.
The stat most people know is his 100 point game which is a league record. He also once got 55 rebounds in a game in just his 2nd season in the league. In the same season he scored 100, he averaged 50 a game. One season he also decided to lead the league in assists just because he felt like it.
Although he has all those great stats, the one knock people have against Wilt is that his stats didn't lead his team to wins, and that he wasn't a winner. Even that isn't the most true because in his career he won 2 NBA championships. 2 is a lot more than most players will get in their career, and no other player put up Wilt's numbers. The only reason he wasn't considered a winner was because he was always compared to the goat of winning, Bill Russell.
Many people go as far to say that Wilt Chamberlain couldn't even play in the league today. This is not true. Imagine someone with the size of Deandre Ayton, the speed of De'Aaron Fox, and the vertical of Dennis Smith Jr. I think he could still be an all star and possibly an MVP like he did 4 times in his career. Wilt was truly, a man amongst children.