cutewizard
12-27-2011, 05:36 AM
This is from the nba history website:
PLAYER SEARCH (http://www.nba.com/historical/search/index.jsp)
SEASONS (http://www.nba.com/history/seasonreviews/season-recaps/index.html)
Recaps (1946 - 2011) (http://www.nba.com/history/seasonreviews/season-recaps/index.html)
AWARDS (http://www.nba.com/history/awards/index/index.html)
MVP (http://www.nba.com/history/awards/mvp-award-winners/index.html)
Rookie of the Year (http://www.nba.com/history/awards/rookie-of-the-year-award-winners/index.html)
Coach of the Year (http://www.nba.com/history/awards/coach-of-the-year-award-winners/index.html)
Def. Player of the Year (http://www.nba.com/history/awards/defensive-player-award-winners/index.html)
Sixth Man of the Year (http://www.nba.com/history/awards/sixth-man-award-winners/index.html)
All-NBA Teams (http://www.nba.com/history/awards/all-nba-teams/index.html)
More Awards >> (http://www.nba.com/history/awards/index/index.html)
LEGENDS (http://www.nba.com/history/legends/legends-index/index.html)
TEAMS (http://www.nba.com/history/team-win-loss-records/index.html)
Franchise W-L Records (http://www.nba.com/history/team-win-loss-records/index.html#w-l)
Relocation History (http://www.nba.com/history/team-win-loss-records/index.html#records)
Team Retired Jerseys (http://www.nba.com/history/team-retired-jerseys/index.html)
Greatest Teams (http://www.nba.com/history/features/features-index/index.html#teams)
DRAFT (http://www.nba.com/history/draft/index/index.html)
ALL-STAR (http://www.nba.com/history/allstar/index/index.html)
TOP MOMENTS (http://www.nba.com/history/top-moments-50s/index.html)
1950s (http://www.nba.com/history/top-moments-50s/index.html)
1960s (http://www.nba.com/history/top-moments-60s/index.html)
1970s (http://www.nba.com/history/top-moments-70s/index.html)
1980s (http://www.nba.com/history/top-moments-80s/index.html)
1990s (http://www.nba.com/history/top-moments-90s/index.html)
2000s (http://www.nba.com/history/top-moments-00s/index.html)
FEATURES (http://www.nba.com/history/features/features-index/index.html)
Players (http://www.nba.com/history/features/features-index/index.html#players)
Teams (http://www.nba.com/history/features/features-index/index.html#teams)
The League (http://www.nba.com/history/features/features-index/index.html#league)
TNT All-Decade (http://www.nba.com/2011/history/features/12/26/giants-wilt/www.nba.com/alldecade/)
NBA At 50 (http://www.nba.com/history/features/nba-at-50-players/index.html)
Shaq: A Legend Retires (http://www.nba.com/shaqretires)
VIDEO (http://www.nba.com/video/history/)
HALL OF FAME (http://www.nba.com/halloffame/2011/)
2011 Class (http://www.nba.com/halloffame/2011)
2010 Class (http://www.nba.com/halloffame/2010/)
2009 Class (http://www.nba.com/halloffame/2009/)
List of Inductees (http://www.nba.com/history/hall-of-fame-inductees/index.html)
http://i.cdn.turner.com/nba/nba/2011/history/features/12/26/giants-wilt/wilt-chamberlain.jpg
Wilt Chamberlain averaged almost 26 rebounds a game in 1961-62.
Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images
Season of Giants: In '61-62, Wilt's numbers were otherwordly
By Fran Blinebury, NBA.com
Posted Dec 26 2011 11:07AM
Somebody once said there are lies, damned lies and statistics. Then there was Wilt Chamberlain.
His statistics made the record books look like one big lie. Or at least the kind of weird fiction that usually leaps off the pages of a Stephen King novel:
• Scoring 100 points in a single game.
• Averaging 50.4 points for an entire season.
• Averaging 22.9 rebounds for his entire career.
When the topic of all-time greatest player was once raised, none other than the legendary Larry Bird didn't hesitate.
"Open up the record book and it will be obvious who the greatest is," he said.
When he retired in 1973 after 14 NBA seasons, Chamberlain owned 128 league records. Today, nearly four decades later, he still holds 71.
"All this time afterward and I'm still coming up with different lists about Wilt," said Harvey Pollack, the Hall of Fame Philadelphia statistician, who began with the NBA in 1946 and is the only original employee of the league still working. "Wilt kept me on my toes and scrambling -- more than any other player ever -- to come up with different numbers in different categories to describe him."
The numbers are really the only way to try.
After all, there have been so many big men before and after Wilt, but none who changed basketball, bent understanding and dog-eared the record book beyond all recognition. How can we comprehend?
• Consider that after Wilt's 50.4 mark for the 1961-62 season, the second-highest scoring average in NBA history by a player not named Chamberlain was Michael Jordan's 37.1 in 1986-87. That makes Wilt's number 26.4 percent higher than Jordan.
• The highest batting average for a season in Major League Baseball over the past 70 years was George Brett's .390 in 1980. To match Brett by 26.4 percent, a batter would have to hit .493.
• The all-time single season rushing record in the NFL is 2,105 yards by Eric Dickerson in 1984. To exceed Dickerson by 26.4 percent a runner would have to gain 2,661 yards.
http://i.cdn.turner.com/nba/nba/2011/history/features/12/26/giants-wilt/1226-wilt-chamberlain-300.jpg
On March 2, 1962, Wilt Chamberlain set an NBA record with 100 points against the New York Knicks.
Associated Press
• The NHL single-season record for goals is 92 by Wayne Gretzky in 1981-82. To exceed Gretzky by Chamberlain's pace, a skater would have to pump in 116 goals.
The truth is, in American sports, only Babe Ruth transcended and transformed his sport like Chamberlain.
Wilt had already led the league in scoring in his first two NBA seasons, with averages of 37.6 and 38.4, when Frank McGuire took over as head coach of the Philadelphia Warriors and told Chamberlain he wanted him to score even more.
"I told coach McGuire I didn't think we could beat Boston," Wilt said in his 1973 autobiography. "I thought they just had too many good players. But I said I'd try my damnedest to do things his way.
"'OK,'" he said. "I've been through all the scouting reports and you're right. We aren't as good as Boston -- not with you scoring 37, 38 points a game like you did your first two years. We can't get enough scoring out of the rest of our guys to equal them. But if you can score 50, I think the rest of the guys can make up the difference to get us even with Boston.'
"Fifty?" I yelped. "Impossible."
PLAYER SEARCH (http://www.nba.com/historical/search/index.jsp)
SEASONS (http://www.nba.com/history/seasonreviews/season-recaps/index.html)
Recaps (1946 - 2011) (http://www.nba.com/history/seasonreviews/season-recaps/index.html)
AWARDS (http://www.nba.com/history/awards/index/index.html)
MVP (http://www.nba.com/history/awards/mvp-award-winners/index.html)
Rookie of the Year (http://www.nba.com/history/awards/rookie-of-the-year-award-winners/index.html)
Coach of the Year (http://www.nba.com/history/awards/coach-of-the-year-award-winners/index.html)
Def. Player of the Year (http://www.nba.com/history/awards/defensive-player-award-winners/index.html)
Sixth Man of the Year (http://www.nba.com/history/awards/sixth-man-award-winners/index.html)
All-NBA Teams (http://www.nba.com/history/awards/all-nba-teams/index.html)
More Awards >> (http://www.nba.com/history/awards/index/index.html)
LEGENDS (http://www.nba.com/history/legends/legends-index/index.html)
TEAMS (http://www.nba.com/history/team-win-loss-records/index.html)
Franchise W-L Records (http://www.nba.com/history/team-win-loss-records/index.html#w-l)
Relocation History (http://www.nba.com/history/team-win-loss-records/index.html#records)
Team Retired Jerseys (http://www.nba.com/history/team-retired-jerseys/index.html)
Greatest Teams (http://www.nba.com/history/features/features-index/index.html#teams)
DRAFT (http://www.nba.com/history/draft/index/index.html)
ALL-STAR (http://www.nba.com/history/allstar/index/index.html)
TOP MOMENTS (http://www.nba.com/history/top-moments-50s/index.html)
1950s (http://www.nba.com/history/top-moments-50s/index.html)
1960s (http://www.nba.com/history/top-moments-60s/index.html)
1970s (http://www.nba.com/history/top-moments-70s/index.html)
1980s (http://www.nba.com/history/top-moments-80s/index.html)
1990s (http://www.nba.com/history/top-moments-90s/index.html)
2000s (http://www.nba.com/history/top-moments-00s/index.html)
FEATURES (http://www.nba.com/history/features/features-index/index.html)
Players (http://www.nba.com/history/features/features-index/index.html#players)
Teams (http://www.nba.com/history/features/features-index/index.html#teams)
The League (http://www.nba.com/history/features/features-index/index.html#league)
TNT All-Decade (http://www.nba.com/2011/history/features/12/26/giants-wilt/www.nba.com/alldecade/)
NBA At 50 (http://www.nba.com/history/features/nba-at-50-players/index.html)
Shaq: A Legend Retires (http://www.nba.com/shaqretires)
VIDEO (http://www.nba.com/video/history/)
HALL OF FAME (http://www.nba.com/halloffame/2011/)
2011 Class (http://www.nba.com/halloffame/2011)
2010 Class (http://www.nba.com/halloffame/2010/)
2009 Class (http://www.nba.com/halloffame/2009/)
List of Inductees (http://www.nba.com/history/hall-of-fame-inductees/index.html)
http://i.cdn.turner.com/nba/nba/2011/history/features/12/26/giants-wilt/wilt-chamberlain.jpg
Wilt Chamberlain averaged almost 26 rebounds a game in 1961-62.
Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images
Season of Giants: In '61-62, Wilt's numbers were otherwordly
By Fran Blinebury, NBA.com
Posted Dec 26 2011 11:07AM
Somebody once said there are lies, damned lies and statistics. Then there was Wilt Chamberlain.
His statistics made the record books look like one big lie. Or at least the kind of weird fiction that usually leaps off the pages of a Stephen King novel:
• Scoring 100 points in a single game.
• Averaging 50.4 points for an entire season.
• Averaging 22.9 rebounds for his entire career.
When the topic of all-time greatest player was once raised, none other than the legendary Larry Bird didn't hesitate.
"Open up the record book and it will be obvious who the greatest is," he said.
When he retired in 1973 after 14 NBA seasons, Chamberlain owned 128 league records. Today, nearly four decades later, he still holds 71.
"All this time afterward and I'm still coming up with different lists about Wilt," said Harvey Pollack, the Hall of Fame Philadelphia statistician, who began with the NBA in 1946 and is the only original employee of the league still working. "Wilt kept me on my toes and scrambling -- more than any other player ever -- to come up with different numbers in different categories to describe him."
The numbers are really the only way to try.
After all, there have been so many big men before and after Wilt, but none who changed basketball, bent understanding and dog-eared the record book beyond all recognition. How can we comprehend?
• Consider that after Wilt's 50.4 mark for the 1961-62 season, the second-highest scoring average in NBA history by a player not named Chamberlain was Michael Jordan's 37.1 in 1986-87. That makes Wilt's number 26.4 percent higher than Jordan.
• The highest batting average for a season in Major League Baseball over the past 70 years was George Brett's .390 in 1980. To match Brett by 26.4 percent, a batter would have to hit .493.
• The all-time single season rushing record in the NFL is 2,105 yards by Eric Dickerson in 1984. To exceed Dickerson by 26.4 percent a runner would have to gain 2,661 yards.
http://i.cdn.turner.com/nba/nba/2011/history/features/12/26/giants-wilt/1226-wilt-chamberlain-300.jpg
On March 2, 1962, Wilt Chamberlain set an NBA record with 100 points against the New York Knicks.
Associated Press
• The NHL single-season record for goals is 92 by Wayne Gretzky in 1981-82. To exceed Gretzky by Chamberlain's pace, a skater would have to pump in 116 goals.
The truth is, in American sports, only Babe Ruth transcended and transformed his sport like Chamberlain.
Wilt had already led the league in scoring in his first two NBA seasons, with averages of 37.6 and 38.4, when Frank McGuire took over as head coach of the Philadelphia Warriors and told Chamberlain he wanted him to score even more.
"I told coach McGuire I didn't think we could beat Boston," Wilt said in his 1973 autobiography. "I thought they just had too many good players. But I said I'd try my damnedest to do things his way.
"'OK,'" he said. "I've been through all the scouting reports and you're right. We aren't as good as Boston -- not with you scoring 37, 38 points a game like you did your first two years. We can't get enough scoring out of the rest of our guys to equal them. But if you can score 50, I think the rest of the guys can make up the difference to get us even with Boston.'
"Fifty?" I yelped. "Impossible."