Back in March 1962, nearly 60 years ago, Wilt Chamberlain etched his name in basketball lore, setting the NBA single-game scoring record with a remarkable 100 points in the Philadelphia Warriors' 169-147 win over the New York Knicks.
The 7-foot-1, 270-pound legend shot 36 for 63 from the field. He made 28 of 32 free throws attempts. And only 4,000 people witnessed the historic game, as it was held on a neutral court in Hershey, Pennsylvania, without a television crew present. In fact, there weren't many reporters in attendance. The record was set before an exclusive crowd, and it's yet to be broken.
"He lived in New York, and he would drive down to Philadelphia in his fancy sports car to games and to practices," longtime NBA author Gary Pomerantz told The DA Show on Thursday. "One of the interesting facts of the game is, after Wilt scores 100 points in Hershey, he drives home and takes Willie Naulls of the Knicks with him. Could you imagine dropping 100 on a guy, and then driving him home?...
"What's significant here is, he drove Willie Naulls home because they were great friends. And back in this day, remember, we're in the heart of the Black Freedom Struggle -- Dr. King's movement, 1962, March. And Black players in the NBA had deeper friendships and more meaningful friendships with Black players on other teams than they did with their own white teammates."
The 1961-62 season was Chamberlain's greatest campaign, and his statistics were staggering. In 80 games, he averaged a career-high and league-record 50.4 points with 25.7 total rebounds and 48.5 minutes played. Across 14 total seasons in the NBA, Chamberlain was a 14-time scoring champion, an 11-time rebound leader, a four-time league MVP, and a seven-time All-NBA First Team selection.
At the age of 25, Chamberlain scored 50-plus points 45 times during the 1961-62 season, and also produced a dozen 70-point games. Overall, he managed to score 4,029 points -- a mark that'll never be broken. Need proof? There've only been four seasons in league history where a player scored 3,000 points, and Chamberlain is responsible for three of them. And the next closest player is Michael Jordan, who recorded 3,041 points during the 1986-87 season.
The entire Wilt Chamberlain conversation between Pomerantz and DA can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow The DA Show on Twitter @DAonCBS and @CBSSportsRadio, and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.