Fans are starting to realize 81 points is a record...

[9erempiree]

Like myself, Basketball Reference doesn't even mention Wilt in points in a single game.

What are my name callers and haters going to say next?

[stallionaire]

Wilt is the leader.

[Mr. Incredible]

The 81 point game is the art of ball hogging.

[KyrieTheFuture]

More agendas in here than a middle school

[jlauber]

Like myself, Basketball Reference doesn't even mention Wilt in points in a single game.

What are my name callers and haters going to say next?

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...203020NYK.html

[Johnni Gade]

A record is a record.

[Nick Young]

lettuce face reality, Kobe is the GOAT perimeter scorer of ALL TIME

[NumberSix]

I'm pretty sure that 100 > 81, but i'm not any kind of math expert or anything.

[jlauber]

in "modern" basketball. When all rules are finalized. I know most people want to say that Wilt's 100 is a record but not in Modern basketball.

When Wilt supposedly scored this many points it was a time when basketball was in it's infancy. Over the course of decades the game has been tweaked and rules have been implemented to create fair play.

Since 1978 and beyond is when the game of basketball was very similar to what it is today. The rules of past is no good in today's league. Therefore, many have accepted 81 points as the official scoring record in "modern" basketball.

Where to begin...

1. "Modern basketball?" So you are saying that the game became "modern in '78?" Interesting. Kareem had greater seasons BEFORE and AFTER that 77-78 season. The best players in the league in 77-78? Bill Walton, who had been around since 74-75, and had his greatest season just the year before, was the league MVP. George Gervin, who would win four scoring titles from '78 on, actually had worse seasons BEFORE '78. In fact, players like Moses Malone became dominant FROM '78 on. How come those players weren't blowing up the "pre-historic NBA?" The FACTS were, there were great players, playing great, before, during, and after that 77-78 season. And there was no significant increase, or decrease, in statistical breakdowns just prior to the '78 season, or immediately after it. The bottom line...the game was no different before '78.

2. "Modern basketball?" James Naismith invented the game in the 1890's. By the end of the turn of the century, colleges were playing the game. By the 1920's there were PROFESSIONAL teams traveling the country. The NBA was formed in 1946.

Furthermore, aside from the advent of the 24 second clock in the mid-50's, and the 3pt shot in the late 70's, the game is basically played the same way as it was in the early 1900's. And with the same court dimensions, same hoop size, same number of players, and roughly the same ball. True, there have been "tweaks" to the game, like offensive and defensive goal-tending (which were already in existence BEFORE Wilt came into the NBA BTW), the widening of the lane (which had absolutely NO EFFECT on Chamberlain's offense), and other's, but here again, those were MINOR tweaks.

Black players were playing in the NBA in the 50's. By the mid-60's, the NBA was becoming largely Black.

So, NO, Chamberlain was not scoring 100 points in game in an NBA in it's "infancy."


But let's continue...

True, Kobe's 81 point game, came in an NBA that was scoring at SLIGHTLY less than when Chamberlain scored 100 pts in '62. The NBA averaged 97.0 ppg in '06, and 118.8 in '62. Or guess what? 81% of the league that Wilt played in.

Kobe scored 81 points on 46 shots from the floor. Wilt scored 100 on 63 shots. Had Kobe taken 63 shots, he may very well have scored somewhere around 100 points. It would have been close, though. On 63 shots, he would have gone 37-63. 7 of those were from the 3pt line...so you could probably add another 2 more points from the arc (making 9 3pters).That would be 83. Add in his 18 FTs, and he would have been at 101

So there is an argument to at least compare Kobe's 81 with Wilt's 100. And, there have been MANY who have TRIED to come up with "had so-and-so" taken so many shots, he might have scored 100, too. However, even Jordan admitted after his 69 point game, that Wilt's 100 was safe. And, while other players like Bird and Shaq posted 60 and 61 point games, they came in just as "uncompetitive" a game as Wilt's 100. Bird was being cheered on by his opposing players. And Shaq played 45 minutes in a blowout win over the lowly Clippers, who had three different clowns trying to guard him in that game. Robinson shot 26-41 in his 71 point game, against a team that had long since packed in the season (once again...the Clippers.)

IMHO, there was truly only ONE player who could have challenged Wilt's 100 point game, and yet, his name is never mentioned. WILT, himself COULD have made a run at that 100 point game.

Think about this...there have been 10 70+ point games scored in NBA history, and Chamberlain has SIX of them. In fact, no other player ever had more than ONE.

In the HISTORY of the NBA, there have been 62 60+ point games. Wilt had more HIMSELF, than the entire list of ALL of the other NBA players who have ever played the game...COMBINED (32-30.) Not only that, but there have been SIX 60+ games in NBA history, in which the player shot over .700 from the field. Chamberlain has FOUR of them, including the HIGHEST FG% in a 60+ point game, in NBA HISTORY.

So, if we are going to look into "hypotheticals" with Bryant getting 63 shots instead of 46, to MAYBE score 100...how about Chamberlain in some of his 60+ point games? He had a 73 point game (one of two BTW), in which he scored 73 points on 29-43 shooting. Had he made the same number of FTs in that game, and taken 63 shots, on the same efficiency, he would have gone 42-63, and 15-19 from the line...or 99 points.

And how about his LAST 60+ game. He shot an unfathomable 29-35 from the floor (and 8-18 from the line.) At the same efficiency, and taking 63 shots, Wilt would have gone 52-63 from the floor (actually 52.2.) That would have been 104 points, just from the field. Add in his 8 points from the line, and that game would have projected at 112.

The problem with HYPOTHETICALS though, is that, they are just that HYPOTHETICAL. How do we know if Kobe could have sustained that rate? We KNOW that Chamberlain did in his 100 point game. And, how do we know if the Raptors would have continued to let Kobe shoot. They might have pulled exactly what Wilt's opposing team did in the 100 point game. They might have run the shot-clock down, and then fouled Kobe's teammates.

Those that believe that the Knicks just "let" Chamberlain score 100 points had better check on their history. The Knicks did everything in their power to PREVENT Wilt from hitting that mark.

And, as for Wilt's opposing center(s)...Darrall Imhoff started, and quickly picked up four fouls, but Wilt had scored 23 points on him in that first period. BTW, Imhoff was a career journeyman STARTER in his NBA career. He was at least a decent center. He was also 6-10...and would be a full 6-11 by today's measuring system. As for his backups, it must be mentioned that Wilt, as usual, was SWARMED in that game.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilt_Chamberlain's_100-point_game

Darrall Imhoff later even stated, "He literally stuffed us through the hoop with the ball. It didn't even help when we [COLOR="DarkRed"]quintuple-teamed him."[/COLOR][citation needed] Chamberlain now realized he could break his own 73-point scoring record (for a 48-minute game) or his record 78 points, set in triple overtime.[41]

A couple of other points. There have been those that have disparaged Wilt's 100 point game based on "pace" or "competition."

If "everyone" was scoring so much in the Wilt-era (which ran from '59-60 thru '72-73)...how come, aside from Wilt, the next highest scoring game was Elgin Baylor's 71? How come that, aside from Wilt's 32 games, there were only a TOTAL of FIVE 60+ point games scored in the 14 seasons in which Wilt played (Baylor with four, and West with one?)

And I always mention this. Kareem played FOUR seasons IN the Chamberlain era, and from '69-70 thru '72-73. In Wilt's 68-69 season, and just a year before Kareem arrived, Chamberlain hung TWO 60+ games. Kareem faced BOTH of those centers in his career, and never came close to a 60 point game (his career HIGH was "only" 55.) In fact, Kareem faced Imhoff on multiple occasions. Where was Kareem's 100 point game? Kareem faced several of the same centers that a PRIME Chamberlain just murdered, and never approached the massive games that Wilt bombed them with.


Think about this. In the so-called "Modern era", from '78 on, there have been 21 60+ point games, and yet, aside from Wilt, only FIVE in the Chamberlain era. I know, I know...more teams, and more players...but how come 21 60+ point games were scored in the "fair" era, and in a supposedly tougher defensive era, and with a slightly lower "pace?"

"Competition?" Kobe scoring 81 points against the hapless Raptors. How about Chamberlain having FOUR games of 60+ just against the 6-11 HOFer Walt Bellamy (who would be listed at 7-0 today)...including a HIGH game of 73 points, on 29-48 shooting, and with 36 rebounds? Or Wilt hanging a 62 point game on Russell (on 27-45 shooting?) Or Wilt pounding 6-11 Leroy Ellis with several 60+ games, including a 72 point game? Or pouring a 58 point game on HOFer Willis Reed? Or a 45 point game on Nate Thurmond? Kareem faced all of those guys, except Russell, (and all were nearing the ends of their career's), and never sniffed those games. Yet, a 38-39 Kareem, playing in the mid-80's, and covering ten straight games, could average 32 ppg on .630 shooting against Hakeem, with three games of 40+ (and a high of 46, on 21-30 shooting, and in only 37 minutes.) And in the same week that he dumped 46 on Hakeem, he outscored Ewing, 40-9 (outshooting Patrick 15-22 to 3-17.)

The bottom line, though, is that Kobe's 81 isn't even CLOSE to Wilt's 100. And, the VAST MAJORITY of people DO recognize Wilt's 100 as the record. In fact, it wis probably the most recognizable single stat in major professional team sport's history.

[9erempiree]

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...203020NYK.html

They recognize the game played and that it may have happened but as far as we know it, there isn't a video on this.

Also, basketball referenced did recognize the highest points in a game....they pretty much agree with me as I do with them.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/.../pts_game.html

[9erempiree]

Also, here is an interesting quotes about Wilt:

"Wilt played the game as if he had to prove his worth to someone who never played basketball. He pointed to statistical achievements as specific measurements of his ability...I have the impression that Wilt might have been more secure with losing. In defeat, after carefully covering himself with allusions to his accomplishments." -Bill Bradley

"I'll say what most players feel, which is that Wilt is a loser...He is terrible in big games. He knows he is going to lose and be blamed for the loss, so he dreads it, and you can see it in his eyes; and anyone who has ever played with him will agree with me, regardless of whether they would admit it publicly. When it comes down to the closing minutes of a tough game he doesn't want the ball. He doesn't want any part of the pressure." -Rick Barry

[SuperPippen]

Also, here is an interesting quotes about Wilt:

"Wilt played the game as if he had to prove his worth to someone who never played basketball. He pointed to statistical achievements as specific measurements of his ability...I have the impression that Wilt might have been more secure with losing. In defeat, after carefully covering himself with allusions to his accomplishments." -Bill Bradley

"I'll say what most players feel, which is that Wilt is a loser...He is terrible in big games. He knows he is going to lose and be blamed for the loss, so he dreads it, and you can see it in his eyes; and anyone who has ever played with him will agree with me, regardless of whether they would admit it publicly. When it comes down to the closing minutes of a tough game he doesn't want the ball. He doesn't want any part of the pressure." -Rick Barry

You really want to get into hating on Wilt Chamberlain, when you're an incredibly biased and obsessed stan of Kobe Bryant, one of the most polarizing players ever?



I'm really hoping that your third ban comes soon.

[Mach_3]

lol you are an idiot. he is standing in front and he is wearing shoes

[PHILA]

100

Competitive Fire - Michael Clarkson (1999)


Athlete - Wilt Chamberlain

Event - March 2, 1962 (NBA Game)

Angry at opponents for saying he was too slow and lacked stamina. Scored a record 100 points.

[monkeypox]

Wilt's actually lucky there's no film of the 100pt game. Otherwise people would realize what a joke of a game it was. He had his teammates fouling the other team just so they could get the ball back without wasting time. It was a circus. Kobe's 81 was at least during a real game.