Wilt vs. Mountain Lion

It just fascinates me that so many attempt to disparage Chamberlain in any way possible. The "mountain lion" story was never directly attributed to Wilt. Nor was the breaking of Johnny Kerr's toe, which, was in fact, claimed by Kerr himself.

When I first joined this forum a few years ago, virtually any incredible physical feat that Wilt supposedly accomplished was just laughed off as pure folly. There was no way Wilt was benching anywhere near 500 lbs. They was no way Wilt had a 40" inch vertical (I even read a poster claiming that it was 24".) No way Wilt was dunking his FT's. No way Wilt was dunking on a 12 ft. rim. No way Wilt was touching the top of the backboard.

However, in the past year, or so, (and some before that), more-and-more evidence, including VIDEO footage, has surfaced that substantiates many of those so-called "myths."

An eye-witness account of a 59 year old Chamberlain benching 465 lbs. An SI article in 1964 claiming that Wilt was easily benching 400 lbs. A first hand account in Robert Cherry's book, by a 6-5 250 lbs weight-lifter who was known to have benched 500 lbs, claiming that Wilt was the strongest men he ever met. In fact, the internet is plastered with accounts of Wilt benching 500 lbs.

An article by Philly sportswriter George Kiseda, who claims to have witnessed Wilt touching the ceiling in a hospital, and measuring the leap at 42". Or VIDEO footage of a young Wilt, with no time to react, and going straight up (without benefit of a running start), and blocking a shot, with his fingertips only a couple of inches from the top of the backboard. Or Philly sports icon Sonny Hill claiming to have witnessed Wilt touching the top of the backboard. Or longtime Sixer trainer, Al Domenico, claiming to have witnessed the same thing.

Or a VIDEO interview with none other than TEX WINTER, claiming that he witnessed a high school Wilt, taking three steps, and dunking the ball with a leap from behind the FT line. In fact, he was so stunned by that, that he formed a committee to ban such "freakish" activity.

Or Wilt's college coach rolling out a 12 ft. rim while Wilt was there, and some articles from the KU newspaper claiming that Wilt was dunking on it.

Or none other than Hank Stram, clocking a 27 year old Chamberlain, at 290 lbs, running a 4.6 40. (Wilt himself claimed to have run a 4.4 in college...which doesn't seem so unbelievable now, does it?)

But aside from all of those "myths", what about the STATISTICAL "myths?"

The 100 pt game. The 55 rebound game. The 18-18 from the floor game. The 35 straight made FGs. The 50 ppg season. The 27 rpg season. The 40 ppg scoring average in his first seven seasons, combined. The .683 and .727 FG%'s. The SIX games of 70+ points. The 32 games of 60+ points. The 122 games of 50+. The 271 games of 40+. Or scoring 351 points over the course of five straight games. Or having TWO separate streaks of 14 consecutive games of 40+ points (and averaging 53 and 54 ppg in each streak.) The 65 straight games of 30+. The 126 straight games of 25+ (and another separate streak of 92.) The 132 30-30 games. The 73 games of 40-30. The 32 50-30 games. The 8 60-30 games. The eight 40-40 games. The five 50-40 games. the only TWO known double-triple-double games ( 22-25-21 and 34-30-20.) The KNOWN 23 blocked shots in one game. The only center to ever lead the NBA in assists. The oldest player to score 60+ points in a game (and at age 32, he did it TWICE...with games of 60 and 66 points.) The highest FG% in a 60+ point game (.829 on 29-35 shooting.)

I could go on...but it has become increasingly clear that the Wilt's legacy was built on more than just unbelievable "myths."

if a man could kick a mountain lion's ass, he's a modern day gladiator. it's far fetched but possible i suppose.

[QUOTE=Batz]A black man and his exaggerations. Over, over exaggerations.[/QUOTE]

And it was about that time I realized it was no god damn Mountain Lion, but really it was the Loch Ness Monster! I said, "No, I ain't got no 3 fiddy", and then I threw the Loch Ness Monster back into the forest....

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cn7xfBpZ3M[/url]

With the mountain lion story, Wilt never publically said that, someone else did. And the story is that it jumped him and he knocked it off him, and he jumped in his car and escaped. He didnt beat it up.

[quote=jlauber]
Or a VIDEO interview with none other than TEX WINTER, claiming that he witnessed a high school Wilt, taking three steps, and dunking the ball with a leap from behind the FT line. In fact, he was so stunned by that, that he formed a committee to ban such "freakish" activity.
[/quote]

This is the interview that convinced me. Tex was serious and would not lie about it. Its obvious he was just a freak of nature. Like a 6'5 man running 100m in 9.58 seconds. Or a 6'8 250 pound man dribbling as fast as a 6 foot guard and tomahawking from the foul line in a game. Things we have witnessed.
Freaks just come along every so often.

one story that almost nobody seems to know about is how wilt got brutally clocked by one of the league's enforcers in his mid or late career, giving him a permanent blood poisoning condition. i don't remember the exact details, but i first read about the incident in an extensive SI piece a year or two ago. it's probably still right there in the archives.

what happened was this- basically, in the middle of a game, wilt's team was having its way, and the other team's goon responded by slamming wilt in the jaw when nobody was looking, driving a couple of his teeth deep in to his jaw. this created a weird, very unwelcome channel for bacteria straight in to wilt's blood stream which went on to plague him for the rest of his life. in those earlier days of poor video and lack of review, the enforcer dude never paid for what he did, but wilt developed serious blood infections afterwards and ultimately died early.

just lazy to look it up ATM, but it shouldn't be hard to find...

[QUOTE=97 bulls]Even a hundred lb cougar would be extremely strong. Theyre more than capable of taking down animals much bigger than them like rams and deer. Wilt is full of shit[/QUOTE]

not always. a cougar with no human encounter may not think human is a prey. Wilt being so tall and big would've seen as a predator. and if wilt was being aggressive with his stance he really could've scared off the cat. there are many reports of man avoiding bear or leopard in various part of the country.

if this was a cage match between wilt vs. cougar then cat would've eaten wilt alive for sure. there is nothing human can do if the cougar is in a full attack mode.

but this could just be a big cat not looking for confrontation because they instinctively know fighting non-prey isn't worth the trouble. and let's not forget Wilt is twice bigger than normal male.

i don't buy the story, but again it could happen. :confusedshrug:

[QUOTE=gigantes]one story that almost nobody seems to know about is how wilt got brutally clocked by one of the league's enforcers in his mid or late career, giving him a permanent blood poisoning condition. i don't remember the exact details, but i first read about the incident in an extensive SI piece a year or two ago. it's probably still right there in the archives.

what happened was this- basically, in the middle of a game, wilt's team was having its way, and the other team's goon responded by slamming wilt in the jaw when nobody was looking, driving a couple of his teeth deep in to his jaw. this created a weird, very unwelcome channel for bacteria straight in to wilt's blood stream which went on to plague him for the rest of his life. in those earlier days of poor video and lack of review, the [B]enforcer dude never paid for what he did[/B], but wilt developed serious blood infections afterwards and ultimately died early.

just lazy to look it up ATM, but it shouldn't be hard to find...[/QUOTE]

Actually the incident took place early in Chamberlain's career. Most of the rest of your post is correct, except that the "enforcer never paid for what he did." The enforcer was 6-9 240 lb Clyde Lovellette, who was probably the dirtiest player in the league. The two would meet again in the '64 Finals. Once again, Lovellette came in throwing elbows. Wilt repeatedly asked him to stop, but Clyde continued. Finally Wilt turned with and told him that he had enough. Lovellette raised his fists, and Wilt decked him with one punch. Clyde "went down like a sack of potatoes." His teammates told him to stay down. Meanwhile, Red Auerbach jumped up to complain to the officials, and Chamberlain reportedly yelled at him, "Shut up or I will lay you out next to him [Lovellette.]"

Lovellette did not return the rest of the series, and retired shortly afterwards.

But, yes, the infection that Wilt suffered may very well have contributed to his relatively early death.

excellent. thank you. do you remember that particular long SI piece on wilt? because i would love to read it again some time.

but TBH, i still don't think lovellette really paid for what he did. yes, wilt decked him fair and square, but the dude did something far worse to him when nobody was looking. of course i'd like to say that in today's NBA justice would be served, but after seeing how stern gave a maniac like artest a tap on the wrist for what he did to harden, i have no confidence in that...

[QUOTE=gigantes]excellent. thank you. do you remember that particular long SI piece on wilt? because i would love to read it again some time.

but TBH, i still don't think lovellette really paid for what he did. yes, wilt decked him fair and square, but the dude did something far worse to him when nobody was looking. of course i'd like to say that in today's NBA justice would be served, but after seeing how stern gave a maniac like artest a tap on the wrist for what he did to harden, i have no confidence in that...[/QUOTE]

I don't have adobe suite, but here is a link to a similar story...

[url]http://books.google.com/books?id=3F1cLAryzTIC&pg=PA51&lpg=PA51&dq=Clyde+Lovellette+vs+Wilt&source=bl&ots=xb-KQUk3cg&sig=PklAp7A2XKfuO40qRlyD7L5E76I&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7MkMULDZO6Ke2AWy15Uv&ved=0CGYQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=Clyde%20Lovellette%20vs%20Wilt&f=false[/url]

[QUOTE=jlauber]They was no way Wilt had a 40" inch vertical (I even read a poster claiming that it was 24".) No way Wilt was dunking his FT's. No way Wilt was dunking on a 12 ft. rim. No way Wilt was touching the top of the backboard.[/QUOTE]

Bill Russell says he used to touch the top of the backboard. Never seen anyone disputing that.

[QUOTE=jlauber]I don't have adobe suite, but here is a link to a similar story...

[url]http://books.google.com/books?id=3F1cLAryzTIC&pg=PA51&lpg=PA51&dq=Clyde+Lovellette+vs+Wilt&source=bl&ots=xb-KQUk3cg&sig=PklAp7A2XKfuO40qRlyD7L5E76I&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7MkMULDZO6Ke2AWy15Uv&ved=0CGYQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=Clyde%20Lovellette%20vs%20Wilt&f=false[/url][/QUOTE]
thanks... nice generous preview there!

later on i'll have to take a serious look for the article in question. might have been mccallum; not sure. from the basketbawful blog here's a snippet that describes how much it sucked being a talented big man in that era. as a comparison, shaq was mostly a sport about that kind of thing, but if shaq had taken the level of abuse that chamberlain did, somebody would likely have received the rudy-t treatment.

[quote]Lovellette once elbowed Chamberlain so hard in the chin that Wilt lost four teeth, developed blood poisoning from the ensuing infection, ended up in the hospital, and eventually required surgery. [b]Wilt got so tired of the constant beatings, he threatened to retire three different times[/b], and the same analysts who once complained about the overwhelming offenses were now complaining about the now dangerous defenses, and therefore began to refer to the area under the basket -- where most of the damage was being done -- as [b]the butcher shop[/b].[/quote]

[QUOTE=gigantes]thanks... nice generous preview there!

later on i'll have to take a serious look for the article in question. might have been mccallum; not sure. from the basketbawful blog here's a snippet that describes how much it sucked being a talented big man in that era. as a comparison, shaq was mostly a sport about that kind of thing, but if shaq had taken the level of abuse that chamberlain did, somebody would likely have received the rudy-t treatment.[/QUOTE]

Wilt was probably the most heavily defended and most physically abused center in the history of the NBA. Only Shaq can compare in terms of defensive pressure faced.

You gotta love Jlauber's sources, earlier in this thread he mentioned a youtube-comment as a source a la "DanTheMan" and that alias belongs to CavaliersFTW on this forum and the same guy wrote the wrong info in his youtube-comment and of course Jlauber fell for it big time considering how he used it as a source.. :facepalm

Jlauber, tell us some more about them eye-witnesses and of course we believe you when you write that you remember Wilt blocking 15 skyhooks in a 40 year old series. After all, you're the same person who totally forgot how good Wilt was until a few years ago and you're the same person who changed your mind about his era over some youtube-footage.

Haha, you're the biggest hoax on this board.

[quote=millwad]You gotta love Jlauber's sources, earlier in this thread he mentioned a youtube-comment as a source a la "DanTheMan" and that alias belongs to CavaliersFTW on this forum and the same guy wrote the wrong info in his youtube-comment and of course Jlauber fell for it big time considering how he used it as a source.. :facepalm

Jlauber, tell us some more about them eye-witnesses and of course we believe you when you write that you remember Wilt blocking 15 skyhooks in a 40 year old series. After all, you're the same person who totally forgot how good Wilt was until a few years ago and you're the same person who changed your mind about his era over some youtube-footage.

Haha, you're the biggest hoax on this board.[/quote]

Have you watched the Tex Winter interview?

[QUOTE=millwad]You gotta love Jlauber's sources, earlier in this thread he mentioned a youtube-comment as a source a la "DanTheMan" and that alias belongs to CavaliersFTW on this forum and the same guy wrote the wrong info in his youtube-comment and of course Jlauber fell for it big time considering how he used it as a source.. :facepalm

Jlauber, tell us some more about them eye-witnesses and of course we believe you when you write that you remember Wilt blocking 15 skyhooks in a 40 year old series. After all, you're the same person who totally forgot how good Wilt was until a few years ago and you're the same person who changed your mind about his era over some youtube-footage.

Haha, you're the biggest hoax on this board.[/QUOTE]

Well, we KNOW that Chamberlain blocked 29 of Kareem's shots in six known games of their 28 H2H's, as well as another game with "numerous blocks."

We also have VIDEO footage of Chamberlain swatting two of them in a span of a few seconds.

But maybe you have a source that can tell is how many. Hopefully it will be someone other than yourself, though, who claimed that Hakeem did not guard a 38-39 Kareem, when Kareem had ten straight games of 32 ppg on .630 shooting against him...and when we have an ENTIRE VIDEO game in which Kareem shredded a helpless Hakeem for 40 points, and another game RECAP in which Kareem hung 46 points on Hakeem, in only 37 minutes, and on 21-30 shooting.