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Wilt Chamberlain, is an American basketball player wearing the uniform of the Harlem Globetrotters. photo by Fred Palumbo –

Top 10 Facts about Wilt Chamberlain

Wilt Chamberlain was an exceptional player during his entire playing career. He was the most incredible offensive power in basketball history. Wilt is considered by many fans and sports pundits as the best player to play basketball in the 1900s. Chamberlain could score, rebound, post triple-doubles and foul all in a single game. He did it all on the court leading his teams to victories time and again.

His height, agility, speed, leaping ability and in-court manoeuvres were second to none and he was a nightmare to opposing teams on the court. Wilt’s skills distinguished him from the rest of the players, his quickness and explosiveness were unmatched in addition to his stamina which enhanced the in-court power that made him last longer in a game. He was also a lethal scorer he kept achieving one milestone after another setting records that would take entirety to break. Here are the top 10 facts about Wilt Chamberlain.

1. Chamberlain was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 21, 1936

William Chamberlain, a welder, custodian, and handyman, and Olivia Ruth Johnson, a domestic worker and homemaker, had nine children one of them being Chamberlain who was born on August 21, 1936, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Being a frail kid, he missed a whole year of school due to pneumonia in his early years and almost passed away. With a height of 6 feet, 0 inches (1.83 meters), by age 10, Chamberlain was already an extremely tall person.

2. He was a gifted track athlete

Photo by Braden Collum on

Wilt ran a sub-eleven second 100-meter time while competing in track and field in Kansas. Chamberlain was an excellent track and field athlete who, at 7’1″, high jumped 6 feet, 6 inches, raced the 440 and 880 yards in 49.0 and 1:58.3, placed the shot 53 feet, 4 inches, and long jumped 22 feet.

3. Chamberlain played for numerous NBA teams throughout his career

Professional basketball player Wilt Chamberlain’s photo sourced from

Before entering the NBA, he was a member of the Harlem Globetrotters. He then played for the Philadelphia / San Francisco Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, and Los Angeles Lakers. Chamberlain lost a lot of games in his on-court feud with Bill Russell, the centre for the Boston Celtics.

Before finally succeeding and leading the 76ers to the 1967 NBA Finals, Chamberlain, a perennially bad free throw shooter, battled the “loser” label. In 1972, Chamberlain was a part of the Lakers, a team that set a record with a 33-game winning streak, and won his second NBA title during that season.

Find out: Top 10 Facts about the Los Angeles Lakers.

4. Wilt Chamberlain holds the record for total points scored in a season 

The records for most points scored (4,029) and points per game (50.4) in a season are both held by Wilt Chamberlain. Both milestones were set in the 1961–1962 season. In the 1959–60 season, when he averaged 37.6 points per game, he also set the rookie record for points scored. Apart from Wilt, only one other NBA player has ever amassed more than 3,000 points in a single season, and that was Michael Jordan in 1986–1987.

Chamberlain played on the court for an average of more than 48 minutes per game in 1961–1962. He also averaged over 25 rebounds per game.

5. He is the only player to have scored 100 points in a single game

Wilt Chamberlain of the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1969 NBA World Championship photo sourced from

He is most well-known for being the only NBA player to ever score 100 points in a single game. On March 2, 1962, in Hershey Sports Arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Wilt Chamberlain set the single-game scoring record in the National Basketball Association (NBA) by scoring 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors in a 169-147 victory over the New York Knicks. One of the finest records in the history of the sport, according to many pundits.

6. He never fouled out in 1,045 games

He played 1,045 games and never fouled out. Wilt outweighed almost every player he faced during his playing days in terms of size and strength. But as proven by the fact that he never fouled out during his NBA career, he was an incredibly disciplined defensive player. In addition, during his career, he averaged just two fouls a game. In his 14 years in the NBA, Chamberlain never fouled out of a game during the regular season or the playoffs.

7. He was directly responsible for several rule changes in the NBA

Chicago Bulls player Matt Guokas trying to steal the ball from Los Angeles Lakers, Wilt Chamberlain. photo sourced from

A testament to Chamberlain’s influence on the game is the fact that he was effectively responsible for several rule modifications in the NBA. Some of them include; broadening the lane to attempt to keep big men far further away from the basket, implementing offensive defensive effort, outlawing dunking to score free throws, and updating inbounding rules, such as making it illegal to inbound the ball over the backboard.

Check out: Top 10 Unbelievable Facts about Lew Alcindor.

8. Chamberlain played volleyball in the International Volleyball Association (IVA)

Chamberlain rapidly developed into a devoted beach volleyball regular at Muscle and Sorrento Beach on the Santa Monica Pier in Southern California after leaving the NBA in 1973. He was passionate about volleyball and performed admirably.

At 7 feet tall and 275 pounds, Chamberlain attracted the attention of curious bystanders hoping to catch a glimpse of him in the volleyball fields. In a less competitive setting, volleyball allowed Chamberlain to use the same agility, leaping prowess, responses, attacking and defensive positioning, and reflexes that he used on the basketball floor. He felt calm, secure, and infused with a fresh vitality in the volleyball environment. He adopted this style very swiftly.

9. Chamberlain claimed to have had sexual relations with more than 20,000 women

Wilt Chamberlain doing the Twist with 2 dancers from the Idlewild Review show at Smalls Paradise photo by M. Associates –

In addition to being a lifelong bachelor, Chamberlain gained notoriety for claiming to have had intercourse with as many as 20,000 women. He asserted that over his lifetime, he had slept with an astounding 20,000 women. Close friends claim that Wilt enjoyed threesomes and that, during a 10-day road trip, he had sexual relations with 23 different females!

10. He died at age 63 at his home in Bel Air

Having a history of cardiovascular problems, Chamberlain spent a brief period in the hospital in 1992 due to an erratic heartbeat. He ultimately started taking medicine for his heart conditions. In 1999, he lost fifty pounds and his condition quickly deteriorated.

He was in excruciating agony and was unable to recover from the stress after having dental surgery the week before he passed away. Chamberlain passed away in his Bel Air residence on October 12, 1999, at the age of 63. Chamberlain passed away from congestive heart failure, according to Sy Goldberg, his longtime lawyer.

Read more: 60 Best College Basketball Players of all time.