60 years later, Chamberlain’s 100-point game still leaving coaches and players awestruck

Doc Rivers was 140 days old at the time. His players were multiple decades away from being conceived.

But all of the 76ers are aware of what happened on March 2, 1962.

That’s when Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors in a 169-147 win over the New York Knicks at Hersheypark Arena. Wednesday marked the 60th anniversary of the record that may never be broken. Heck, it’s never been broken by two teammates in the same game.

“That’s impossible,” Rivers said. “I mean, you can lock some of these guys in a gym with grade schoolers, and they’re not getting 100. The fact that he scored 100 points with other NBA players to me is one of the greatest feats, if not the greatest feat. I don’t ever see that happening again.”

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Chamberlain, a product of Overbrook High School, was later traded by the Warriors, who had moved to San Francisco in 1962, to the Sixers on Jan. 15, 1965. It’s quite a coincidence that a Philadelphia team is playing the Knicks, when the Sixers (37-23) entertained New York (25-36) on Wednesday, the night of the anniversary.

Arguably the NBA’s greatest player, Chamberlain led the Sixers to the 1967 NBA title. The late Hall of Famer was a four-time MVP, seven-time scoring champion, 10-time All-NBA selection, 13-time All-Star, 11-time rebounding champion, and two-time All-Defensive selection.

Yet, his most memorable accomplishment came 60 years ago in a game played before 4,124 people in Hershey. Chamberlain made 36-of-63 field goals and 28-of-32 foul shots. He scored 31 points in the fourth quarter and 59 points in the second half.

“I don’t see that happening again,” Rivers said of an NBA player scoring 100 points.

Kobe Bryant’s 81 points against the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 22, 2006 is the closest anyone has come to Chamberlain’s record. Chamberlain also had 78-point, two 73-point, and 72-point performances. David Thompson scored 73 points. David Robinson and Elgin Baylor each scored 71. The Suns’ Devin Booker was the last player to score 70 points in a game, and that came against the Boston Celtics in March of 2018.

“Kobe had what, 81?” Rivers said. “Think about it; if you score 19 points a game that’s a lot. Kobe was 19 points short of [100] and exhausted.

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“Wilt’s numbers are crazy. If you ever just look at his numbers, they’re nuts. I don’t know if he ever got his due.”

Chamberlain averaged 30.1 points, 22.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 45.8 minutes played over his 14-year career. He averaged 50.4 points, 25.7 rebounds, and 48.5 minutes during the 1961-62 season. Regulation NBA games are 48 minutes. So Chamberlain never came out that season, evening during overtime.

But Wednesday, the focus was on the 100-point game.

“That’s just a conditioning, a focus, a locked-in type of situation, I’ve never seen before,” Danny Green said. “My career-high ever is maybe 40-something. And it was fatiguing to shoot that many shots. Guys that even score 50 or 60 that’s a big thing because it’s hard to do.”