Mar. 2, 1962 – Wilt Chamberlain scored an NBA-record 100 points

Philadelphia Warriors defeated the New York Knicks with a final score 169-147. Chamberlain broke five NBA records in the game: points in a quarter with 31, points in a half with 59, field goals made with 36, field goals attempted with 63 and free throws made with 28. Only one of the these records has since been broken, as George Gervin and Carmelo Anthony have each scored 33 points in a single quarter.

The game was not televised, and no video footage of the game exists; there are only audio recordings of the game’s fourth quarter. The NBA was not yet a major sports league and struggled to compete against college basketball. The attendance at this game was over half of capacity, and there were no members of the New York press at the game.

The Raw Numbers:

• Career PPG: 30.1
• Career RPG: 22.9
• Career APG: 4.4
• Seven scoring titles
• 11 rebounding titles
• Eight win-share titles
• Only center in NBA history to lead the league in assists (702 in 1967-68)
• Averaged 50.4 PPG in 1961-62
• Averaged 48.5 MPG in 1961-62
• Four-time MVP
• Two-time NBA All-Defensive First Team
• Only player in NBA history to record a 100-point game
• Never fouled out in his career

Feb. 14, 1966 – Wilt Chamberlain sets NBA scoring record at 20,884 points

The scoring record was previously held by Bob Pettit at 20,880. Chamberlain would eventually finish his career with a total of 31,419 points, which currently ranks him fourth all-time.

Since retiring, Chamberlain’s point total has been surpassed by only Michael Jordan (32,292), Karl Malone (36,928) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387). Kobe Bryant (30,913, as of February 13, 2013) is the only active player close to surpassing Wilt Chamberlain on the NBA career scoring leaders list.

Chamberlain holds numerous NBA all-time records in scoring, rebounding and durability categories. He is the only player to score 100 points in a single NBA game or average more than 40 and 50 points in a season. He also won seven scoring, nine field goal percentage, and eleven rebounding titles, and once even led the league in assists. Chamberlain is the only player in NBA history to average at least 30 points and 20 rebounds per game in a season, a feat he accomplished nine times. He is also the only player to average at least 30 points and 20 rebounds per game over the entire course of his NBA career.

Although he suffered a long string of professional losses, Chamberlain had a successful career, winning two NBA championships, earning four regular-season Most Valuable Player awards, the Rookie of the Year award, one NBA Finals MVP award, and being selected to 13 All-Star Games and ten All-NBA First and Second teams. Chamberlain was subsequently enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, elected into the NBA’s 35th Anniversary Team of 1980, and chosen as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History of 1996.