Wilt Chamberlain is a legendary basketball player and Hall of Famer who famously scored 100 point in a single game, find out five other interesting facts about the game and its stats
Notably, “The Big Dipper” scored 100 points in 48 minutes during a game that took place on March 2, 1962.
Wilt Chamberlain 100-point game stats line, final box score, date, free throws and video
List of players to record 70+ points in a game:
Wilt Chamberlain – 100 – 3/2/1962
Kobe Bryant – 81 – 1/22/2006
Wilt Chamberlain – 78 – 12/08/1961
David Thompson – 73 – 4/9/1978
Wilt Chamberlain – 73 – 11/16/1962
Wilt Chamberlain – 73 – 1/13/1962
Wilt Chamberlain – 72 -… https://t.co/SryJkk4ZPd— NBA History (@NBAHistory) January 23, 2024
Let's be clear. Until somebody show me footage or a radio soundbite for Wilt Chamberlain 100 point game Kobe got the highest point total in NBA history https://t.co/MuzMVx1GiC
— 💙 Est Jan 26th 💙 (@wordplay_kid26) January 23, 2024
So far, only one player has scored past the 80-point threshold: the late Kobe Bryant, who scored 81 points against the Raptors back on January 22, 2006.
Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points against The New York Knicks on March 2, 1962.
Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game
Wilt Chamberlain recorded his infamous 100-point game during a match when the Philadelphia Warriors defeated the New York Knicks. His score helped the Warriors win with a score of 169-147. While setting the record, he broke his own previous single-game scoring record of 78 points. He had earlier set the record on December 8, 1961, during a match against the Los Angeles Lakers. The game notably featured multiple overtime periods. Aside from the impressive scoring record, given below are five other interesting facts about the game.
Five interesting facts about Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game
Given below are five interesting facts about Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game:
- Wilt Chamberlain’s impressive stat line
Aside from finishing with 100 points, he also managed to grab 25 rebounds and bag two assists. Wilt registered 36-of-63 shooting from the field (57.1 percent) and 28-of-32 shooting from the free throw line (87.5 percent). Notably, Chamberlain shot an average of 51.1 percent from the line for his career. As such, hitting nearly 90 percent of his free throws in that one game is a very impressive feat in and of itself.
- The perfect matchup for Wilt Chamberlain to score 100 points
While Wilt made an impressive performance in the infamous game, his opponents’ troubles also helped in the process. Notably, the Knicks finished as the worst team in the Eastern Division that year, and during their match against the Warriros that day, they did not have their full frontcourt to challenge Chamberlain. Their regular starting center, Phil Jordon, was out with the flu, with Darrall Imhoff coming in to take Jordon’s spot. However, with Imhoff struggling due to foul trouble, 6-9 rookie Cleveland Buckner stepped in to battle Chamberlain.
- The Warriors force-fed Wilt Chamberlain to reach 100 points
During the first half of the game, Chamberlain had already scored 41 points after scoring 23 in the first quarter. He then scored 28 more in the third quarter, by which time the fans started chanting, “Give It To Wilt! Give It To Wilt!”. The fans, as well as his whole team, started rallying behind Chamberlain, who looked all set to score 100 points. His teammates started feeding him at every opportunity during the fourth quarter, despite the Knicks trying to foul the other Philadelphia players to keep the ball away from Chamberlain. Chamberlain eventually took a pass from Warriors guard Joe Ruklick to score his final two points with 46 seconds left.
[partially lost] Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 Point game footage
byu/contentfinder2020 inlostmedia
- The 100-point game took place in Hersheypark Area, Pennsylvania
While the Warriors played a “home” game, the team had to travel to Hersheypark Arena, in Pennsylvania. This is because the NBA was working to gain a larger audience back then by directly reaching out to fans. As such, neutral-site games were very common during that era.
- Wilt Chamberlain’s 1961–62 season stat line
Besides the unimaginable 100 points, Wilt Chamberlain also recorded an impressive stat line during the 1961–62 season. He registered 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds per game, with 50.6 percent shooting from the field and 61.3 percent from the line. All of these numbers were career-high records. Moreover, Chamberlain attempted almost 40 field goals and shot around 17 free throws per game. The Hall of Famer also averaged 48.5 minutes per game, despite NBA games being just 48 minutes long. Notably, the fact that the Warriors played 10 overtime periods that season helped Chamberlain log in 3,882 out of a possible 3,890 minutes.