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**marketheal** · 02-28-2012, 12:12 AM

Think of it: 100 points. Philadelphia Warriors coach Frank McGuire once said, "Think of how hard it would be to do it 48 minutes if you were alone by yourself in a gym." But Wilt Chamberlain was just not any player. In the NBA's early days, he dominated his sport as few athletes ever did. At 7-1, 275 pounds, he swept up the court in elongated, 8-foot strides.
He was so overpowering that when author Gary M. Pomerantz interviewed his contemporaries for his splendid book, Wilt, 1962, he remembers they spoke of Chamberlain in hushed reverence, "much as I would imagine if you interviewed the Plains Indians about their first sighting of the locomotive. He was that unprecedented."
He did it 50 years ago this week. On March 2, 1962, at the Hershey Sports Arena before 4,124 fans, Chamberlain scored 100 points in a game against the New York Knicks. In the years that have elapsed, it has become an indelible moment in sports history, one that is steeped in social significance. In his book, Pomerantz observed that while Chamberlain did not look upon himself as a civil-rights activist, his achievement that evening in Hershey shattered "the unwritten quota" that limited the number of black players on a team.
"That 100-point game was a hyperbolic announcement of the ascendancy of the black athlete in the NBA," says Pomerantz, a former sportswriter and current Stanford lecturer. It was also the only time in NBA history that it was done.
Lakers star Kobe Bryant has come the closest, scoring 81 against the Raptors 6 years ago.
But far from the attention Kobe's stellar performance received - Pomerantz says it was available immediately on DVD - Wilt's 100-point game occurred in relative obscurity. No TV cameras were on hand, and there was only one still photographer, who happened to be at the game with his son. Bill Campbell's radio coverage of the fourth quarter remains, as does a statistics sheet, but by and large, the game exists in the memories of the men who were there. With each passing year, it has loomed ever larger in our collective imagination.

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02-28-2012, 12:12 AM	#1
marketheal Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 488 Senior Member	100: The story behind one of the NBA's most historic games Think of it: 100 points. Philadelphia Warriors coach Frank McGuire once said, "Think of how hard it would be to do it 48 minutes if you were alone by yourself in a gym." But Wilt Chamberlain was just not any player. In the NBA's early days, he dominated his sport as few athletes ever did. At 7-1, 275 pounds, he swept up the court in elongated, 8-foot strides. He was so overpowering that when author Gary M. Pomerantz interviewed his contemporaries for his splendid book, Wilt, 1962, he remembers they spoke of Chamberlain in hushed reverence, "much as I would imagine if you interviewed the Plains Indians about their first sighting of the locomotive. He was that unprecedented." He did it 50 years ago this week. On March 2, 1962, at the Hershey Sports Arena before 4,124 fans, Chamberlain scored 100 points in a game against the New York Knicks. In the years that have elapsed, it has become an indelible moment in sports history, one that is steeped in social significance. In his book, Pomerantz observed that while Chamberlain did not look upon himself as a civil-rights activist, his achievement that evening in Hershey shattered "the unwritten quota" that limited the number of black players on a team. "That 100-point game was a hyperbolic announcement of the ascendancy of the black athlete in the NBA," says Pomerantz, a former sportswriter and current Stanford lecturer. It was also the only time in NBA history that it was done. Lakers star Kobe Bryant has come the closest, scoring 81 against the Raptors 6 years ago. But far from the attention Kobe's stellar performance received - Pomerantz says it was available immediately on DVD - Wilt's 100-point game occurred in relative obscurity. No TV cameras were on hand, and there was only one still photographer, who happened to be at the game with his son. Bill Campbell's radio coverage of the fourth quarter remains, as does a statistics sheet, but by and large, the game exists in the memories of the men who were there. With each passing year, it has loomed ever larger in our collective imagination. Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/...#ixzz1ncvSLy1e Watch sports videos you won't find anywhere else
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