Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point Game - Aftermath

Aftermath

"True, over-anxiousness caused Wilt to miss some shots he'd ordinarily make. But he made some he wouldn't have dared taken under ordinary circumstances. Long jumpers from 25–30 feet out with two and three men clinging onto the wiry, 260-pound frame. Power-packed dunk shots when he had to bull through, around and over a tight knot of defenders. Blazing speed that carried him downcourt for layups after he had launched the fast break with a rebound himself. He earned every point."

The record was not highly anticipated like the four-minute mile had been. In Philadelphia, there was little fanfare in The Philadelphia Inquirer or The Philadelphia Bulletin, which both had a box on the front page announcing the achievement with a story in the sports section. Philadelphia Daily News had no mention on its cover. The Bulletin wrote, "Thus was fulfilled a prophesy made the first time the magnificent 7'1" scoring star of the Warriors played a game in the National Basketball Association. three years ago." New York City papers ran stories from the news agencies. The New York Times and The New York Herald Tribune ran the AP story on pages 14 and 11, respectively. The New York Daily News ran the UPI story on page 26. The New York Post gave prominent back-page coverage to Chamberlain's feat on Sunday. The New York Daily News on Sunday wrote, "Basketball is not prospering because most normal sized American youngsters or adults cannot identify themselves with the freakish stars ... You just can't sell a seven-foot basket stuffing monster to even the most gullible adolescent." In his prime, Chamberlain was such a dominant scorer that his feat was mostly taken for granted. Warriors player Al Attles said that after Chamberlain's previous record 78-point game, "It was only a matter of time until he reached 100, you could wait for it." Warriors coach Frank McGuire initially thought the same thing, then said, "I always thought it was inevitable that he would do it. But when he did, I stopped and thought about it. I couldn't believe it."

Chamberlain thanked his teammates. "It wouldn't even have been close to possible without them. They wanted me to get it as much I did." He added, "They had to do more than just give up open shots. They had to avoid fouls and pass me the ball in traffic." Knicks' player Richie Guerin felt the Warriors broke a code of honor in sports by embarrassing an opponent and setting a record outside the normal flow of the game. Although effusive in his praise of Chamberlain, Guerin nonetheless estimated that if the game had played out normally, Chamberlain would have finished 15 to 20 points shy of 100. Chamberlain countered he could have scored 140 if the Knicks "had played straight-up basketball." New York coach Eddie Donovan suggested, "The game was a farce. They would foul us and we would foul them." The Knicks' Naulls stated, "The game was not a fluke ... I thought it was absolutely authentic." Imhoff said Zinkoff's announcements did not help the Knicks' cause.

Johnny Kerr of the Syracuse Nationals marveled, "How about this: He's the world's worst free-throw shooter and he's 28 out of 32!" Cousy figured the game must have gone out of control, just as when Cousy has 29 assists when the Celtics scored 173 points against Minneapolis. Boston coach Red Auerbach laughed, "He's playing against nobody." Bill Russell smiled and said, "The Big Fella finally did it." In a conversation with Naulls after the game, Chamberlain predicted he would win his NBA championships but still be known for his individualism, versus Russell who was credited for making his team—the Boston Celtics—great. Two days after the historic feat, Chamberlain made a guest appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Chamberlain finished the season with a record of 50.4 points per game. He scored a record 4,029 points, more than the division-winning Warriors in 1947–48 scored as a team. He played in a record 3,882 minutes—including every minute of 79 (a record) of 80 games. He averaged 48.5 minutes per game. An NBA game is 48 minutes, but Chamberlain played in 10 overtime periods in seven games. He was second in the league in field goal percentage at .506 and made 61 percent of his free throws, a career high. The Warriors finished the season with a 49–31 record. They lost in the conference finals of the playoffs to the Celtics, losing the seventh game 109–107. The closest Chamberlain came again to 100 was 73 and 72 points the next season, when he also averaged 44.8 points. The NBA in 1964 widened the lane from 12 feet (3.7 m) to 16 feet (4.9 m) to limit Chamberlain, and he averaged 36.9 that season.