In Game 5, the valiant but injured West and Hairston had bad games, and the Lakers lost the game 10293 and the series 32, despite Chamberlain scoring 23 points and grabbing 21 rebounds. Chamberlain said: "I've got to hit forty points or so, or this team is in trouble. [201], In Chamberlain's second book, A View from Above, he claimed to have had sex with twenty thousand women. [106] Prior to Game 5, the Sixers seemed poised to win the series, as no NBA team had overcome a 31 deficit before;[106] however, the Celtics rallied back, winning the next two games 122104 and 114106, respectively, powered by a spirited John Havlicek and helped by the Sixers' bad shooting. . In that Game 7, Chamberlain scored 30 points and 32 rebounds, while Russell logged 16 points, 27 rebounds, and eight assists. After King scored a basket, Kansas was ahead by one point. Also during this season, Chamberlain began his rivalry with Celtics defensive star .css-47aoac{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#A00000;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-47aoac:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Bill Russell. [138] The Lakers sued their former star and successfully prevented him from actually playing because he still owed them the option year of his contract. [163], The comparison between the two is often simplified to a great player (Chamberlain) versus a player who makes his team great (Russell), an individualist against a team player. Wilt Chamberlain claims that his vertical, during his prime, was "46 to 48 inches, easy. Javascript is required for the selection of a player. . It was North Carolina's first of six NCAA national titles. [20], In 1953, while still a sophomore in high school, Chamberlain won his first championship. He also was one of the most versatile big men ever, leading the league in . He needed only 56 games to score 2,102 points, which broke the all-time regular-season scoring record of Bob Pettit, who needed 72 games to score 2,101 points. He also played for the Harlem Globetrotters before joining the NBA, where he played for the Philadelphia / San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Los Angeles Lakers. He also never fouled out of a game; and 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 seven times. [72] This also meant that the Warriors team broke apart, as Arizin chose to retire rather than move away from his family and his job at IBM in Philadelphia, Warrior coach McGuire chose to resign rather than move to the West Coast, and Gola was homesick, requesting a trade to the lowly New York Knicks halfway through the season. Chamberlain's most famous season, however, came in 1962. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Remembering Just Fontaine and His World Cup Record, The Man Behind the First All-Black Basketball Team, 8 Times Brothers Have Faced Off in a Championship, Every Black Quarterback to Play in the Super Bowl, Soccer Star Christian Atsu Survived an Earthquake. At the time of his final substitution, he had scored 18 points (hitting seven of his eight shots) and grabbed 27 rebounds, significantly better than the 10 points of Counts on 4-of-13 shooting. What age did Wilt Chamberlain retire? The Warriors entered the 1960 NBA playoffs and beat the Syracuse Nationals, setting up a meeting versus the Eastern Division champions, the Celtics. [47], In 2015, a man named Aaron Levi came forward claiming to be Chamberlain's son based on non-identifying papers from his adoption and information from his biological mother. Chamberlain died of heart failure on October 12, 1999, at his Los Angeles home. [89] Cherry says there is a strange pattern in that game, as in a typical Sixers game Chamberlain got the ball 60 times in the low post but only 23 times in Game 7, with seven in the third quarter and twice in the fourth quarter. [73] With both secondary scorers gone, Chamberlain continued his array of statistical feats, averaging 44.8 points and 24.3 rebounds per game that year. He was tired of being double-teamed, or even triple-teamed, and of teams coming down on him with hard personal fouls. [42] Frank Deford of ESPN said that Chamberlain was caught in a no-win situation: "If you win, everybody says, 'Well, look at him, he's that big.' Over a ten-day period, there were 23 checks in the book, which would be a rate of 2.3 women per day. Bouncing elsewhere. [88] When emotions cooled off, Hannum said to Chamberlain that he was on the same page in trying to win a title but Chamberlain had to "act like a man" both on and off the court to pull this off. The Celtics prevented a sweep by winning Game 4 with a 121117 victory. What Year Did Wilt Chamberlain Retire? Standing 7-foot-1 and weighing almost 300 pounds, he was one of the greatest players in NBA history and a pop culture icon. In 1976, Chamberlain turned to his interest in movies, forming a film production and distribution company to make his first film, entitled Go For It. Why did Wilt Chamberlain retire from the NBA? [111] In Game 7, the Lakers trailed 9176 after three quarters. Wilton Norman Chamberlain was born on August 21, 1936, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. . Cherry describes how Celtics coach Auerbach ordered his forward Tom Heinsohn to commit personal fouls on Chamberlain; whenever the Warriors shot foul shots, Heinsohn grabbed and shoved Chamberlain to prevent him from running back quickly. [135][136], In 1973, the San Diego Conquistadors of the NBA rival league ABA signed Chamberlain as a player-coach for a $600,000 salary. [114] In Game 4, Chamberlain scored 18 points and grabbed 25 rebounds and helped tie the series at 2. According to sportswriter Roland Lazenby, a journalist close to the Lakers, Chamberlain was angry at Kosloff for breaking the alleged ChamberlainRichman deal. In his last season, the Lakers lost substance, as Happy Hairston was injured, Robinson and LeRoy Ellis had left, and the veteran West struggled with injury. [62] In one particular game, Chamberlain blocked a dunk attempt by Baltimore Bullets player Gus Johnson so hard that he dislocated Johnson's shoulder. Cherry criticizes his performance, saying that if "Chamberlain had come up big and put up a normal 30 point scoring night", the Lakers would have probably won their first championship at Los Angeles. [45] One particular Globetrotter skit involved captain Meadowlark Lemon collapsing to the ground, and instead of helping him up, Chamberlain threw him several feet high up in the air and caught him like a doll. In the scuffle, Chamberlain injured his hand, and Philadelphia lost the next two games. Despite his retirement, Chamberlain remained a highly sought after player, with multiple teams trying their hardest to lure the legendary center player out of . That was how the 20,000 number came into existence. There's a reason why one of Wilt Chamberlain's many nicknames was "The Record Book". In Game 6, in which Chamberlain recorded 18 rebounds and 4 assists but only 8 points, the Celtics won 9990. . In his defense, coach McGuire said that "Wilt has been simply super-human" and commented on how the Warriors lacked a consistent second scorer, a playmaker, and a second big man to take pressure off Chamberlain. [85], In the 196566 NBA season, the Sixers experienced tragedy when Ike Richman, the Sixers' co-owner as well as Chamberlain's confidant and lawyer, died of a heart attack while attending a road game in Boston. Philadelphia Warriors, 1st round (3rd pick, 3rd overall), 1959 NBA Draft (territorial selection), Hall of Fame: Inducted as Player in 1979 (Full List), More Wilt Chamberlain pages at Sports Reference. He also led the league in rebounds (24.2), was third in assists (7.8), and played strong defense. How much money did Wilt Chamberlain have when he died? His former rival Bill Russell told the press that "he and I will be friends through eternity.". [Wilt Chamberlain] and I will be friends through eternity. [42] Chamberlain likened his assist title to legendary home-run hitter Babe Ruth leading the league in sacrifice bunts, and felt he dispelled the myth that he could not and would not pass the ball. [40], Having lost the enjoyment from NCAA basketball and wanting to earn money, he left college and sold the story named "Why I Am Leaving College" to Look for $10,000, a large sum when NBA players earned $9,000 in a whole season. [89] Cherry adds several personal reasons, among them Chamberlain felt he had grown too big for Philadelphia, sought the presence of fellow celebrities, which were plenty in Los Angeles, and finally also desired the opportunity to date white women, which was possible for a black man in Los Angeles but hard to imagine elsewhere back then. Wilt Chamberlain improved his previously dismal free throw percentage (barely 50%) by throwing underhand (granny) style, hitting 28/32 in the famous game where he scored 100 point. The Sixers would post a 5525 regular-season record, as Chamberlain won his second MVP award. [48][h] Chamberlain became the NBA's highest paid player when he signed for $30,000, in his rookie contract. [38] Leading a talented squad of starters, including Maurice King, Gene Elstun, John Parker, Ron Lonesky, and Lew Johnson, the Jayhawks went 131 until they lost a game 5654 versus the Oklahoma State Cowboys, a team holding the ball the last three and a half minutes without any intention of scoring a basket, which was still possible in the days before the shot clock (introduced 1984 in the NCAA). Join our linker program. In 1991, Chamberlain claimed another, more unusual distinction, when he wrote in his book A View from Above that he had slept with more than 20,000 women during his lifetime. [197] Chamberlain lived alone,[198] relying on a great deal of automated gadgets, with two cats named Zip and Zap and several Great Dane dogs as company. [111], Game 7 featured a surreal scene because Cooke put up thousands of balloons in the rafters of the Forum in Los Angeles in anticipation of a Lakers win. Jack Ramsay recalled that Chamberlain regularly took walks in downtown Philadelphia and acknowledged honking horns with the air of a man enjoying all the attention. He also took five NBA MVP trophies in his glorious career and was the all-time leader in MVPs at the time of his retirement in 1969. . Standing at 7ft 1in (2.16m) 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. [88] Concerning basketball, he persuaded him to change his style of play. Chamberlain was known to sportswriters by several nicknames during his playing career, calling attention to his great height since his high school days. [62] Because Chamberlain played in overtime games, he averaged more minutes per game than the regulation 48 and would have reached the 3,890-minute mark if he had not been ejected in one game after picking up a second technical foul with eight minutes left to play.[66]. [5] Among others, UCLA offered Chamberlain the opportunity to become a movie star, the University of Pennsylvania wanted to buy him diamonds, and Chamberlain's coach at Overbrook, Cecil Mosenson, was even offered a coaching position if he could persuade him. Chamberlain played in college for the Kansas Jayhawks, and led Kansas to the national championship game, but lost to the North Carolina Tar Heels in triple overtime. Join us for a March Madness Webinar on Tuesday, March 7 at 8pm ET. Standing at 6'11" tall at the time, Chamberlain physically dominated other players. In addition, Chamberlain drove a Ferrari, a Bentley, and had a Le Mans-style car called Searcher One designed and built at a cost of $750,000 in 1996. [75] Backed up by valuable rookie Thurmond, Chamberlain recorded 36.9 points and 22.3 rebounds per game,[62] and the Warriors went all the way to the NBA Finals. [51], In what was the first of many match-ups, Chamberlain outscored Russell with 30 points versus 28 points but Boston won the game, and the ChamberlainRussell rivalry (see below) would grow to become one of the NBA's greatest of all time. [183], The on-court rivalry between Chamberlain and his arch nemesis Bill Russell is cited as one of the greatest of all time. Chamberlain averaged 30.1 points a game in his career, including a record 50.4 in the 1961-62 season with Philadelphia. In Game 4, the shorthanded Lakers were no match for New York. [96] Although there is no written proof for or against, Schayes and Sixers lawyer Alan Levitt assumed Chamberlain was correct. When he became a Laker, Chamberlain built a million-dollar mansion in Bel-Air named after Ursa Major, as a play on his nickname "The Big Dipper". [152][153] His condition deteriorated rapidly in 1999 and he lost fifty pounds (23kg). He had played in 1,045 games and achieved an average of 30.1 points per gamethe NBA points-per-game record until Michael Jordan broke it in 1998. Wilt Chamberlain's Life After Retirement. By doing this, he won Chamberlain's respect. In what Cherry calls a tumultuous locker room meeting, Hannum addressed several key issues he observed during the last season, several of them putting Chamberlain in an unfavorable light. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. He helped the Lakers win the 1972 NBA championship, triumphing over the New York Knicks in five straight games, and was named the NBA Finals MVP. He was voted into the Hall of Fame back in 2011. Wilt Chamberlain, of the Philadelphia Warriors, holding a sign reading "100" in the dressing room in Hershey, Pa., on March 2, 1962, after he scored 100 points as the Warriors defeated the New York . [181], Chamberlain's impact on the game is reflected in the fact that he was directly responsible for several rule changes in the NBA, including widening the lane to try to keep big men farther away from the basket, instituting offensive goaltending, banning dunking to convert free throws, and revising rules governing inbounding the ball, such as making it against the rules to inbound the ball over the backboard. When he dunked, he was so fast that a lot of players got their fingers jammed [between Chamberlain's hand and the rim]." [59] On November 24, 1960, Chamberlain grabbed an NBA-record 55 rebounds,[12] along with 34 points and 4 assists, in a 132129 home loss against the Russell-led Boston Celtics. [186] Russell's Celtics won seven of eight playoff series against Chamberlain's Warriors, 76ers, and Lakers teams, and went 5737 against them in the regular season and 2920 in the playoffs. [41] In that season, Chamberlain again dominated his opposition by recording 33.5 points and 24.6 rebounds a game, leading the league in both categories. [110] While he was on cordial terms with West, he often argued with team captain Baylor, later explaining in regard to Baylor: "We were good friends, but [in] black culture you never let the other guy one-up you. [184], More hostile was Chamberlain's relationship with fellow center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, eleven years his junior. He was interested in world affairs, sometimes he'd call me up late at night and discuss philosophy. Chamberlain feared he might lose his cool one day. When Hall-of-Fame Detroit Pistons center Bob Lanier, who was 6 feet 11 inches and 250 pounds as a rookie,[116] was asked about the most memorable moment of his career, Lanier answered: "When Wilt Chamberlain lifted me up and moved me like a coffee cup so he could get a favorable position. In his first NBA game, against the New York Knicks, the rookie Chamberlain scored 43 points and grabbed 28 rebounds. [106] Chamberlain later blamed coach Hannum for the lack of touches, a point that was conceded by Hannum. Data Provided By [18] He has been retroactively honored as Mr. Basketball USA for 1955, the earliest such selection. When Chamberlain died in 1999, Chamberlain's nephew stated that Russell was the second person to whom he was ordered to break the news. Cherry doubts whether Chamberlain would have chosen KU if he had known that Allen was going to retire. During the game against the Detroit Pistons, Chamberlain recorded 58 points, 42 rebounds, and 4 assists in a winning effort. Right, Born: He was basketball's first player to earn at least $100,000 a year and earned an unprecedented $1.5 million during his Lakers years. When it comes down to the closing minutes of a tough game, an important game, he doesnt want the ball, he doesnt want any part of the pressure. Wilt Chamberlain, in full Wilton Norman Chamberlain, bynames Wilt the Stilt and the Big Dipper, (born August 21, 1936, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.died October 12, 1999, Los Angeles, California), professional basketball player, considered to be one of the greatest offensive players in the history of the game. That March, he became the first NBA player to score 100 points in a game, setting a league record for the highest number of points scored in a single game (which he still holds today). home/away, monthly, etc More Wilt Chamberlain Basketball Reference pages, Compare Wilt Chamberlain to other players. In 1982, the Sixers tried to lure 45-year-old Chamberlain out of retirement after he was out of the league for nine seasons. He became the first player to break the 3,000-point barrier, and the first and still only player to break the 2,000-rebound barrier for a single season, grabbing 2,149 boards. Loaded with several other players who could score, Hannum wanted Chamberlain to concentrate more on defense. 5 in ESPN's list of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team,[180] and No. What did chamberlain do about the munich agreement? Russell never considered Chamberlain his rival and disliked the term, preferring competitors, and also said that they rarely talked about basketball when they were alone. [5] 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. Chamberlain won 2510, and Born was so dejected that he gave up a promising NBA career and became a tractor engineer, recalling: "If there were high school kids that good, I figured I wasn't going to make it to the pros." The Warriors were led by two future Hall-of-Famers in star forward Rick Barry and Chamberlain's one-time backup and center Nate Thurmond. Basketball is 94 feet long and 10 feet high. In a fiercely battled Game 4, Chamberlain was playing with five fouls late in the game. Now, over 20 years after his death in 1999 and almost 50 years since the end of his playing career in 1973, we're still trying to unravel the myths from the truth. Chamberlain broke Tom Gola's Philadelphia high school scoring record and graduated with 2,252 points, averaging 37.4 points per game. There is no way you can compare him to a pro like a Bill Russell or a Jerry Westthese are clutch competitors.[190], Chamberlain's main weakness was his notoriously poor free-throw shooting, a .511 career average, the third lowest in NBA history, with a low of .380 over the 196768 season. [32][e] Inbounding the ball over the backboard was banned because of Chamberlain. [12] When million-dollar contracts became common in the NBA, Chamberlain increasingly felt he had been underpaid during his career. Wilt Chamberlain retired in 1973. [13] In that game, West Catholic quadruple-teamed Chamberlain the entire game, and despite his 29 points, the Panthers lost 5442. He was 50 years old at the time, and the New Jersey Nets were actually going to offer him a contract for the last few games of their season and postseason. His impressive debut season netted him several prestigious honors, including the NBA Rookie of the Year and NBA Most Valuable Player awards. Then, Phog Allen retired. He is best remembered as the only player to score 100 points in a single NBA game. Chamberlain trained with Cus d'Amato but later backed out, withdrawing the much-publicized challenge,[119] by way of a contractual escape clause that predicated the AliChamberlain match on Ali beating Joe Frazier in a fight scheduled for early 1971, which became Ali's first professional loss, enabling Chamberlain to legally withdraw from the bout. In November 1998, he signed with Ian Ng Cheng Hin, CEO of Northern Cinema House Entertainment, to do his own bio-pic, wanting to tell his life story his way. Still, his feats as a player were not forgotten. [149] Chamberlain played a villainous warrior and counterpart of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1984 film Conan the Destroyer. [147] A result of this resentment was the 1997 book Who's Running the Asylum? [199], Following his death in 1999, Chamberlain's estate was valued at $25 million. [10] He was listed as 7ft 1in (2.16m) tall and 258 pounds. He was also once league president, and is enshrined in the IVA Hall of Fame for his contributions. [10][m] Chamberlain once again broke the 2,000-rebound barrier with 2,052. He is also the only one to average 50 points in a season, or to gather 55 rebounds in a game. The Sixers won the first two games, with Chamberlain and Greer taking credit for defense and clutch shooting, respectively, but San Francisco won two of the next three games, so Philadelphia was up 32 prior to Game 6. Wilt Chamberlain was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Scoring 35 points, Chamberlain led Overbrook to an 8342 victory. Along the way to the championship, he also assisted the Sixers in defeating the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Division Finals. [137], After his stint with the Conquistadors, Chamberlain successfully went into business and entertainment, made money in stocks and real estate, bought a popular Harlem nightclub, which he renamed Big Wilt's Smalls Paradise, and invested in broodmares. Shaq never scored 100 points in a single game or averaged as many rebounds or assists as Chamberlain, but he did make 15 All-Star Teams (compared to Wilt's 13) and 14 All-NBA Teams (compared to Wilt's 10).Add to the fact Shaq won 2 more rings and 2 more Finals MVPs means he had a longer and better career than Wilt. [211], Chamberlain denounced the Black Panthers Party and other black nationalist movements in the late 1960s, and he supported Republican Richard Nixon in the 1968 and 1972 presidential elections. . On March 2, 1962, in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Chamberlain scored 100 points;[67] he shot 36 of 63 from the field and made 28 of 32 free throws against the New York Knicks. "[111] The greatest problem was his tense relationship with Van Breda Kolff. [92] In Game 2, the Sixers won 107102 in overtime, and player-coach Russell grudgingly praised Chamberlain for intimidating the Celtics into taking low percentage shots from further outside. His number 13 was retired by the Kansas Jayhawks, Harlem Globetrotters, Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, and Los Angeles Lakers. [142] He played occasional matches for the IVA Seattle Smashers before the league folded in 1979. [62], The Lakers again charged through the playoffs, reaching the NBA Finals, where they were pitted against the New York Knicks, loaded with future Hall-of-Famers Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere, Bill Bradley, and Walt Frazier. Cherry comments that Chamberlain, who always thought of himself as the best player of all time, should have been outspoken enough to demand the ball. "[158], Several NBA players and officials were saddened at the loss of a player they remembered as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. [42], However, Russell and Chamberlain were friends in private life. [n] In the playoffs, the Warriors again met the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Division Finals, and this season was called by both Cousy and Russell the greatest Celtics team of all time. Going ahead 32, the Sixers defeated the Knicks 11597 in Game 6 after Chamberlain scored 25 points and 27 rebounds; he had a successful series in which he led both teams in points (153), rebounds (145), and assists (38). Having lost lateral quickness due to his injury, Chamberlain was often too slow to block Reed's preferred high-post jump shots. Wilt Chamberlain was the first NBA player to score more than 30,000 cumulative points over his career, and the first and only player to score 100 points in a single game. The press called it an even matchup in all positions, even at center, where Russell was expected to give Chamberlain a tough battle. But Chamberlain didn't mind "The Big Dipper," or "Dipper," a nickname given to him by friends because he had to duck his head when passing through a doorframe. By this time, several aspects of his game were already developed, such as his finger roll, his fadeaway jump shot which he could also make as a bank shot, his passing, and his shot-blocking. Before retiring, Chamberlain earned three MVP trophies, including Finals MVP and two NBA titles, in addition to MVP and Rookie of the Year. [40] In two seasons at KU, he averaged 29.9 points and 18.3 rebounds per game, while totaling 1,433 points and 877 rebounds,[9] and led Kansas to one Big Seven championship. Chamberlain scored 29 points, 36 rebounds, and 13 assists, and he was praised by the Celtics' Russell and K. C. Among the members of the team were Florence Griffith before she set the world records in the 100 meters and 200 meters, three-time world champion Greg Foster,[144] and future Olympic Gold medalists Andre Phillips, Alice Brown, and Jeanette Bolden. [40] Teammate Bob Billings commented: "It was not fun basketball we were just out chasing people throwing the basketball back and forth. Having never fouled out in his career, a feat that he was very proud of, Chamberlain played aggressive defense despite the risk of fouling out, and blocked two of Lucas' shots in overtime, proving those wrong who said he only played for his own statistics; he ended scoring a game-high 27 points. [a] Chamberlain had a natural advantage against his peers; he soon was renowned for his scoring talent, his physical strength, and his shot-blocking abilities. Now, we have got the complete detailed explanation and answer for everyone, who is interested! [104] Winning 62 games, the Sixers easily took the first seed of the playoffs. (Wilt the Stilt, The Big Dipper, Dippy, Dip, The Load, Big Musty, The Record Book, Hook and Ladder, Wiltie, Whip, Whipper), Position: He chose to attend the University of Kansas, making his college basketball debut in 1956 with the Jayhawks, and leading the team to the NCAA finals in 1957. Wilt Chamberlain attended Overbrook in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Kansas. OAKLAND, Calif. -- The first NBA team that Wilt Chamberlain ever played for honored the late basketball great Wednesday night, retiring his No. "[162] He was a scoring champion, all-time top rebounder, and accurate field goal shooter. [56][k] In Game 6, Heinsohn scored the decisive basket with a last-second tip-in,[56] as the Warriors lost the series 42. 32 retired by the Nets, and his no. [89] The motivation for this move remains in dispute. [92], On the hardwood, Chamberlain continued his focus on team play and registered 24.3 points and 23.8 rebounds a game for the season. Overbrook in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Draft: "[47], After losing Baylor to an Achilles tendon rupture that effectively ended his career, and especially after losing West after a knee injury, the handicapped Lakers were seen as underdogs in the playoffs against the Milwaukee Bucks of Alcindor, freshly crowned MVP, and the veteran Hall-of-Fame guard Robertson, whom they faced in the Western Conference Finals. [10] According to Chamberlain, that was the time that people started calling him a loser. Despite the loss, Chamberlain, who scored 23 points and 14 rebounds,[38] was elected the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. [63] Cherry comments that Chamberlain was "difficult" and did not respect coach Johnston, who was unable to handle the star center. [158] On-court rival and personal friend Bill Russell stated, "the fierceness of our competition bonded us together for eternity. [62] Future Georgetown coach John Thompson, then a rookie for the Boston Celtics, elbowed Chamberlain in the face and broke his nose, causing him to wear a face mask in several games. Chamberlain holds 72 NBA records, so many that it led former teammate Billy Cunningham to remark The NBA Guide reads like Wilt's personal diary." According to Flynn Robinson, after the record-setting streak, Lakers owner Cooke sought to reward each of his players, who were expecting perhaps a trip to Hawaii, with a $5 pen set. Wilt did engage in non-sports activities after retiring, like filming the movie Conan the Destroyer with . This conflict had been going along for a while. [80] In return, the Warriors received Paul Neumann, Connie Dierking, and Lee Shaffer, who opted to retire rather than report to the Warriors, plus $150,000.