#ThisDayInHistory Wilt Chamberlain Passed Away
On this day in 1999, American basketball player Wilt Chamberlain, who was considered one of the greatest offensive players in the history of the game, died at age 63.
Standing at 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the sport's history.
He holds numerous NBA regular season records in scoring, rebounding, and durability categories; most notably he is the only player to score 100 points in a single NBA game, and average more than 40 and 50 points in a season.
Chamberlain was born on August 21, 1936, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, into a family of nine children, the son of Olivia Ruth Johnson, a domestic worker and homemaker, and William Chamberlain, a welder, custodian, and handyman.
He was a frail child, nearly dying of pneumonia in his early years and missing a whole year of school as a result.
In his early years, Chamberlain was not interested in basketball because he thought it was "a game for sissies". As an avid track and field athlete, Chamberlain high jumped 6 feet, 6 inches, ran the 440 yards in 49.0 seconds and the 880 yards in 1:58.3, put the shot 53 feet, 4 inches, and long jumped 22 feet.
According to Chamberlain, "basketball was king in Philadelphia", so he eventually turned to the sport.
Chamberlain was a very tall child, already measuring 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) at age 10, and he was 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) when he entered Philadelphia's Overbrook High School.
Chamberlain had a natural advantage against his peers; he soon was renowned for his scoring talent, his physical strength, and his shot-blocking abilities. According to ESPN journalist Hal Bock, Chamberlain was "scary, flat-out frightening ... before he came along, very few players at the center position possessed his level of athleticism, stature, and stamina.
Chamberlain changed the game in fundamental ways no other player did." It was also in this period of his life when his three lifelong nicknames "Wilt the Stilt", "Goliath", and his favorite, "The Big Dipper", were born.
In Chamberlain's third and final HighSchool season, he continued his high scoring, logging 74, 78, and 90 points in three consecutive games.
After his frustrating junior year in college, Chamberlain wanted to become a professional player before finishing his senior year.
At that time, the NBA did not accept players until after their college graduating class had been completed and Chamberlain was prohibited from joining the NBA for a year; he decided to play for the Harlem Globetrotters in 1958 for a sum of $50,000, equal to about $470,000 in 2019.
On October 24, 1959, Chamberlain made his NBA debut, starting for the Philadelphia Warriors.
Chamberlain became the NBA's highest-paid player when he signed for $30,000, equal to about $279,000 in 2019, in his rookie contract. In comparison, the previous top earner was Bob Cousy of the Celtics with $25,000, the same figure Eddie Gottlieb used to buy the Warriors franchise in 1952.
The 1972–73 NBA season was to be Chamberlain's last, although he did not know this at the time.
After the Knicks finished off the game with a late flourish led by Phil Jackson and Earl Monroe, Chamberlain made a dunk with one second left, which turned out to be the last play of his NBA career
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Chamberlain had a history of cardiovascular disease and was briefly hospitalized in 1992 for an irregular heartbeat.
According to those close to him, he eventually began taking medication for his heart troubles. His condition deteriorated rapidly in 1999 and he lost fifty pounds (23 kg).
After undergoing dental surgery the week before his death, he was in great pain and seemed unable to recover from the stress. On October 12, 1999, Chamberlain died at age 63 at his home in Bel Air, Los Angeles.
His agent Sy Goldberg stated Chamberlain died of congestive heart failure.
#ThisDayInHistory
October 12, 1999