1 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:10,280 Speaker 1: Hey, what to welcome in. I'm Doug Gottlieb. This is 2 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:15,120 Speaker 1: All Ball, where, of course you listen to stories about 3 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 1: basketball present, basketball pass sometimes we very off of basketball 4 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:23,680 Speaker 1: all together. And Karen Palmerans is my guest on this 5 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:27,319 Speaker 1: kind of shortened version of All Ball because this is 6 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:32,879 Speaker 1: the anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain's one hundred point game, and 7 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:36,280 Speaker 1: so instead of getting into the back and forth about 8 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:40,960 Speaker 1: about Will's all all time greatness or maybe even talking 9 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:45,400 Speaker 1: about present day selection spots for the upcoming n c 10 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 1: A tournament or the NBA and how we evaluate current teams. 11 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:54,400 Speaker 1: Of course, there's all these nonsensical historical arguments about who's 12 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:56,720 Speaker 1: the top ten player who's not. I just thought we 13 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 1: should get some perspective on something which is really one 14 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:04,679 Speaker 1: of the maybe the most remarkable record in all of sports. 15 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:07,760 Speaker 1: You know, some of these records are going to be 16 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 1: or have been broken, right from Babe Ruth than Roger 17 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 1: Marris obviously to Henry Aaron's record. Whether you think that 18 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: Barry Bonds broke it on the up and up, I 19 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 1: do not. I still consider Henry are in the all 20 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: time home run king um and I think that Roger 21 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:29,560 Speaker 1: Maris is still the single season home run King that said, 22 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: a hundred points in a game is in the an 23 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 1: NBA is never going to be topped. It's just not 24 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:37,919 Speaker 1: you know, if Jordan couldn't do it, if Kobe couldn't 25 00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:41,840 Speaker 1: do it. Um, it stands the reason that even Steph 26 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:45,480 Speaker 1: Curry couldn't do it, even though it feels easier in 27 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: terms of three versus two and the volume of possessions 28 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: in the pace of the game. That said, uh, it's 29 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:58,320 Speaker 1: a record that we don't know a ton about, right, 30 00:01:58,320 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 1: Like if I was to ask you about the Hunter 31 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: point game, you might know is in Hershey, Pennsylvania. You 32 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: remember the world Chamberlain holding up the hundred on a 33 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 1: piece of paper, and outside of that, you really don't 34 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:12,120 Speaker 1: know anything, right, So let's dig in. Let's find out. 35 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 1: The man who wrote the book on the point game 36 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 1: is Gary Pomerans. He joins us now on All Ball. 37 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:26,640 Speaker 1: So Gary, this, Uh, this book is amazing because it 38 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:30,880 Speaker 1: talks about something it's probably I don't know, top five 39 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:38,040 Speaker 1: most reference sports moment, sports stat sports accomplishment that there 40 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:42,960 Speaker 1: I believe isn't any take footage of like what is 41 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:46,239 Speaker 1: there actually footage of the game. No, all that exists 42 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 1: because there were no TV cameras. There is the fourth 43 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:52,639 Speaker 1: quarter tape of the play by play calling w c 44 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 1: AU radio Bill Campbell made the call, and that's it. 45 00:02:56,320 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 1: Other than that. I mean, this thing was like a 46 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:02,079 Speaker 1: sunken galleon just resting on the ocean floor. Everyone had 47 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 1: heard of it, as you say, but nobody knew anything 48 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: about it. So so why what what led you to 49 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:09,080 Speaker 1: want to write write this book? So? When I was 50 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 1: a kid, I was in l a and, um, you know, 51 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: in the early seventies, I saw this old, muscled up 52 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,120 Speaker 1: Will Chamberlain playing for the Lakers, wearing his yellow headband, 53 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: you know, um, defensive player primarily shot blocker, rebounder, And 54 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 1: I'm thinking, how did that guy score a hundred points? 55 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:28,920 Speaker 1: Of course, what I came to find out it wasn't 56 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:31,560 Speaker 1: that guy has scored under points. It was an earlier 57 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 1: version of that guy seven one two and sixty pounds 58 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:38,960 Speaker 1: ran the floor like a train. Um, you know, I mean, 59 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 1: I would go so far to say, is that Chamberlain 60 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:48,760 Speaker 1: um a decathlete basketball sensation? If you judge athleticism purely 61 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: on the criteria of size, speed, strength, and agility, then 62 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:54,520 Speaker 1: Chamberlain might have been the greatest pure athlete of the 63 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 1: twentieth century. And if not, he's at least in that conversation. 64 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 1: So decide, Okay, I want to I want to write 65 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: this book about this moment where there is very little 66 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 1: historical record. It's not that everybody doesn't know it exists, 67 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 1: it's that there's just very lowest what's the process, like, 68 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:14,600 Speaker 1: how do you how do you even start such a project? 69 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:16,800 Speaker 1: So the first thing to do is find the players 70 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: who were in the game, because they're the central figures 71 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 1: in the event. And then it was finding you know, 72 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:26,840 Speaker 1: people like Harvey Pollock, that noted statistician forever part of 73 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:30,159 Speaker 1: the NBA for sixty years. He was a statistician that 74 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:33,640 Speaker 1: night and pr guy and everything else for the threadbare 75 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:37,839 Speaker 1: operation of the Philadelphia Warriors in UM. And then I 76 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: even put in a note in the Harrisburg newspaper, Harrisburg 77 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:44,720 Speaker 1: being thirteen miles away, it's where the Nicks stayed that 78 00:04:44,839 --> 00:04:48,640 Speaker 1: night when they came to play in Hershey, UM, asking 79 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:50,920 Speaker 1: anybody if they were at the game, to reach out 80 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:52,839 Speaker 1: to you by email, phone, whatever, and they and I 81 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:56,240 Speaker 1: heard from maybe ten twelve people how many of them 82 00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:58,040 Speaker 1: had actually been there? I couldn't tell, but there were 83 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:02,040 Speaker 1: a few that clearly were there because their stories were 84 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:06,400 Speaker 1: interlocking and overlapping or corroborating other stories I'd heard about 85 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 1: the game, like, this is like detective work. It is 86 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:13,600 Speaker 1: like detective work for an unsolved crime. Well, I think 87 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:15,880 Speaker 1: the Knicks did view it as a crime. They knew 88 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:17,960 Speaker 1: that if this guy scored a hundred points, people will 89 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:20,600 Speaker 1: be talking about it sixty years later. Why did they 90 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 1: play in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Well, the NBA was not the 91 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 1: NBA of today. Today, it's you know, glamour, glitz, exploding lights. 92 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:30,600 Speaker 1: Back then, it was a lounge act. It was a 93 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 1: league in search of itself. The old joke was that 94 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:36,960 Speaker 1: the p A announcer would introduce the starting lineups and 95 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 1: then would introduce each fan. There's Doug from Hershey and 96 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: Phil from Harrisburg. I mean, there weren't many people dug 97 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:47,279 Speaker 1: in in that crowd. They said four thousand and twenty four. 98 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 1: But even that is suspect, I think because I know 99 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:53,280 Speaker 1: of a number of kids who snuck into the arena 100 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:56,200 Speaker 1: and the usual time tested ways, and I know that 101 00:05:56,320 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: Eddie Gottlieb, the skin Flip Flynn, owner of the Philadelphia Warriors, 102 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:04,000 Speaker 1: you know, famously inflated his crowds and got he as 103 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:06,360 Speaker 1: he was called, he was round, but his crowd counts 104 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 1: never worked. Four one to four four thousand one four. 105 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:13,920 Speaker 1: That's the official attendance in Hershey, Okay, so you're starting 106 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:17,839 Speaker 1: to kind of piece things together. Obviously Will no longer 107 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:21,880 Speaker 1: was no longer with us um Who who is the 108 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 1: best in terms of the players, who had the best 109 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 1: kind of clearest recollection with the most I want to 110 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: say integrity, maybe credibility. Well, you know, I also wrote 111 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,520 Speaker 1: a book about the crash of a small commuter plane, 112 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:40,080 Speaker 1: and you know, there were mostly survivors, there were some 113 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:43,640 Speaker 1: who perished in this crash. And I would go to one, 114 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: then an interview, then the net. What plane? It was 115 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:52,359 Speaker 1: a delta commuter an Ember one, twenty twenty nine people 116 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:55,599 Speaker 1: aboard going from Atlanta to the Mississippi coast, an obscure plane. 117 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:57,840 Speaker 1: No one famous on a twenty nine aboard a crew 118 00:06:57,839 --> 00:07:02,400 Speaker 1: of three pass singers, and it crashed and the people 119 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 1: had time to get out, but they had to run 120 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:08,680 Speaker 1: through fire, and ultimately ten died and nineteen survived. And 121 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:12,000 Speaker 1: I spent time with eighteen of the nineteen. There's always 122 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:15,640 Speaker 1: one it doesn't want to be interviewed and piece together 123 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:18,080 Speaker 1: what they saw, what they experienced, what they knew. This 124 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:21,640 Speaker 1: was about three years post crash. Well, here's a basketball 125 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:25,559 Speaker 1: game now that I'm trying to reconstruct forty years post crash. 126 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:28,400 Speaker 1: One of the most interesting people for me to interview 127 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:32,119 Speaker 1: was Darryl Imhoff, the former center at Berkeley. Won gold 128 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:35,840 Speaker 1: medal with the nineteen sixty U S Olympics team in Rome, 129 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:40,360 Speaker 1: and Darryl had the unenviable task of covering the Dipper 130 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:44,200 Speaker 1: that night. And he told me that, you know every 131 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:47,000 Speaker 1: march onet. In other words, the eve of the anniversary 132 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:49,000 Speaker 1: of the hundred point game, he would break out into 133 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 1: hives and get rashes, knowing that people were gonna call um. 134 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:57,520 Speaker 1: Darryl only played twenty minutes of that game. Uh and 135 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: uh and felled out. He felled out, and that meant 136 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:03,560 Speaker 1: the Knick's next tallest player was six ft eight rookie 137 00:08:03,640 --> 00:08:07,600 Speaker 1: Cleveland Buckner, who was kind of built like a flagpole, 138 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:11,120 Speaker 1: you know. He was very thin and and couldn't hardly 139 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:14,240 Speaker 1: muscle up to will but im Hoff. I met him 140 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: in Eugene, Oregon at the US Basketball Academy where he 141 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:21,360 Speaker 1: worked at the time. Darryl has since sadly passed away, 142 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:23,280 Speaker 1: but there was an open court there as he was 143 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:25,800 Speaker 1: giving me a tour of the place, and I said, Darryl, 144 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:28,720 Speaker 1: come here for a second, and we went down into 145 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:30,480 Speaker 1: the key. I said, I want you to show me 146 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:32,800 Speaker 1: how you covered Will. What I really meant to say, 147 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:36,240 Speaker 1: has tried to cover Wilt? Uh that night. Now, Doug, 148 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:39,200 Speaker 1: I'm five eleven. I'm a poor stand in for Wilt. 149 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:44,839 Speaker 1: But um him Off was first. He played the Will character, 150 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:46,679 Speaker 1: and I was him Off. He said, Will would lean 151 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:48,839 Speaker 1: back and it was like a tree was about to 152 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:51,520 Speaker 1: fall on me with his upper body leaned back, and 153 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:54,720 Speaker 1: Um and he leaned back into me. Then we switched 154 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:57,199 Speaker 1: positions and he became him Off and I became Willed. 155 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:00,000 Speaker 1: He said, Will be down low here, and I remember 156 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:04,959 Speaker 1: the key was the lane was only twelve ft wide then, 157 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:07,520 Speaker 1: and in part because of Will, they widened it shortly 158 00:09:07,559 --> 00:09:11,480 Speaker 1: after to sixteen. But when Wilt's got a twelve ft lane, 159 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:13,960 Speaker 1: he can be out of the lane. Take get the ball, 160 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:17,680 Speaker 1: take one step, a long lunging step, and duncan He's 161 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:20,840 Speaker 1: right there. William Off showed me how he took his 162 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:23,400 Speaker 1: left foot and sort of tried to wedge in Will's 163 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:25,480 Speaker 1: left foot to keep him from turning in. And then 164 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:27,520 Speaker 1: he took his knee and sort of put it in 165 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: and buckled my left thigh. And then he took the 166 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:35,280 Speaker 1: point of his elbow and put it between my shoulder blades. 167 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:37,840 Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you, forty years later, he could inflict 168 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:40,640 Speaker 1: pain still with that. I mean it hurt. This is 169 00:09:40,679 --> 00:09:42,880 Speaker 1: what he tried to do to Will Mutt, do anything 170 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:46,040 Speaker 1: he could to push him away from the basket. Of course, 171 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:48,760 Speaker 1: when Amo fouls out. The Knicks had another six ft 172 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:51,880 Speaker 1: ten inch center named Phil Jordan's pretty good player, you know, 173 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:54,160 Speaker 1: not very big either. I mean he's six ten but 174 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:58,560 Speaker 1: about two and ten pounds. Um. The problem was he'd 175 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:01,960 Speaker 1: gone on out on a late night bender the night before, 176 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 1: and he was vomiting at the hotel Pan Harris. So 177 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:08,760 Speaker 1: anyone's gonna do much good playing against Will in hearsty. 178 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:12,480 Speaker 1: So as Will's point point total is climbing climbing, um, 179 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:15,760 Speaker 1: the Knicks just surround him. And Paul Arison, the great 180 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:19,160 Speaker 1: Hall of Famer who played for Wild's team, the Philadelphia Warriors, 181 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:21,840 Speaker 1: told me he said, if if somebody had walked into 182 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:24,199 Speaker 1: the arena, they would have thought the Knicks were way 183 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:26,640 Speaker 1: ahead because they were stalling, they're running a weave, they're 184 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:28,760 Speaker 1: doing anything to keep the ball from Will. And they 185 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:30,760 Speaker 1: would have thought the Warriors were losing, because as soon 186 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:32,839 Speaker 1: as the Knicks got the ball, the Warriors would quickly 187 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:35,679 Speaker 1: fall him. So it became a more of a chess match. 188 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:39,680 Speaker 1: And and you know, as I say the Knicks, they're 189 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:43,520 Speaker 1: they're intensity, their sense of dread intensified as this game 190 00:10:43,559 --> 00:10:47,800 Speaker 1: went on. Was was it was there a point where 191 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 1: the Warriors decided to go for the hundred? Like, was 192 00:10:50,679 --> 00:10:53,200 Speaker 1: it before the game he want Will to try and 193 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:55,439 Speaker 1: see how many he could score? Or was it just 194 00:10:55,840 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 1: the process of the game play and holy crap, world 195 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:01,319 Speaker 1: can get a hundred, let's keep feeding in the basketball. 196 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:04,520 Speaker 1: Well it was the latter. Um. You know, the Knicks 197 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:06,560 Speaker 1: were not a very good team. Earlier that year, they've 198 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:09,320 Speaker 1: given up sixty three points to the Lakers Jerry West. 199 00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:11,920 Speaker 1: The year before, they've given up seventy one points to 200 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:17,480 Speaker 1: Elgin Baylor of the Lakers. Jack Kaiser, a writer in Philadelphia, wrote, 201 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:21,520 Speaker 1: you can find better benches in Central Park. Um. You know, 202 00:11:21,559 --> 00:11:23,840 Speaker 1: so the Knicks. You begin, we weren't very good. They 203 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:28,200 Speaker 1: were missing their center of Phil Jordan's. That's a problem. 204 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:31,600 Speaker 1: But what what what people little consider about Will's Hunter 205 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:35,920 Speaker 1: point game is that the teammates need to go along 206 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:39,040 Speaker 1: with it. I mean, they need to subvert their ego, right, 207 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:42,319 Speaker 1: they need to give up the ball. And with seven 208 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:45,960 Speaker 1: and a half minutes ago, Harvey Pollock, the statistician, slides 209 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:48,440 Speaker 1: a sheet of paper over to Dave Zenkoff, the Zinc 210 00:11:48,679 --> 00:11:52,320 Speaker 1: the Great p a announcer, and Dave Zinkoff says, ladies 211 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:56,520 Speaker 1: and gentlemen, Will Chamberlain has just broken his own scoring record. 212 00:11:56,880 --> 00:12:04,000 Speaker 1: He now has seventy nine points. Now everyone has context, 213 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: because this is not a time where you look up 214 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:07,680 Speaker 1: at the big board above the court and you see 215 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:10,320 Speaker 1: number thirteen A is you know, seventy undre? Is there 216 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:13,440 Speaker 1: any possibility that they inflated, as you said, they inflayd 217 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:17,840 Speaker 1: the attendance, that they inflated Bill's points? No, no, they didn't. 218 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:20,720 Speaker 1: And and you know, it's it's kind of fun. This 219 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:24,400 Speaker 1: game has been launched into sports mythology. People don't believe 220 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:27,040 Speaker 1: it happened to People told Will, I was there the 221 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:29,720 Speaker 1: night you scored a hundred of Madison Square garden, that 222 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:32,160 Speaker 1: kind of stuff. You know. Um, people want to be 223 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:35,480 Speaker 1: close to great moments such as that. So no, it 224 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:39,679 Speaker 1: did happen. And it was not fifty dunks. Will It 225 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:43,400 Speaker 1: was running the floor. Will was scoring on putbacks. Will 226 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:46,240 Speaker 1: it was scoring on so called dipper dunks. And with 227 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:49,760 Speaker 1: forty six seconds to go, Um he scores. And you 228 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:52,920 Speaker 1: can hear Bill Campbell on the tape rebound. You know, 229 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:55,959 Speaker 1: look and Bill out to rook lick into Chamberlain. He 230 00:12:56,160 --> 00:12:58,880 Speaker 1: made it. He made it a dipper dunk. You know, 231 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:01,840 Speaker 1: the fans are over the all over the floor, and 232 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: that was the sons of the chocolate factory workers sweeping 233 00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:08,920 Speaker 1: under the court to celebrate with will Um. He also 234 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:10,720 Speaker 1: made his free throws that night, that two. That was 235 00:13:10,840 --> 00:13:13,040 Speaker 1: that was really the kind of the big difference was 236 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:15,280 Speaker 1: he was a poor free throw shooter, and in that 237 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:17,440 Speaker 1: night he made a much higher percentage of free throws. 238 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:21,040 Speaker 1: Well yeah, thirty two. And he was shooting him underhanded. 239 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:23,480 Speaker 1: He was shooting modern and he looked ridiculous. I mean, 240 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:25,440 Speaker 1: he bent down low, his knees flared out. He looked 241 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:28,120 Speaker 1: like an adult trying to sit in a Kindergartener's chair. 242 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:32,000 Speaker 1: But he made thirty two. By the way, Guy Rodgers 243 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:34,880 Speaker 1: and Paul Eirison also shot them underhanded at that time. 244 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:39,560 Speaker 1: Uh So, if there's any real miracle in hershey, it's not. 245 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:41,800 Speaker 1: The wild scored a hundred and said he made thirty 246 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:45,000 Speaker 1: two free throws. He'd scored seventy eight in a three 247 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:48,199 Speaker 1: overtime game earlier that season. And you know, you think 248 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:50,280 Speaker 1: about seventy eight points. A few of those shots that 249 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:52,320 Speaker 1: rolled out, if they go in, he makes a few 250 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:54,920 Speaker 1: more free throws, you know, in that game he's up 251 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:57,680 Speaker 1: to ninety and then all bets are off. So it 252 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:00,960 Speaker 1: had been prophecied that the young champ Lynn woods for 253 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:03,920 Speaker 1: a hundred points in a game. And and the thing 254 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:08,280 Speaker 1: is is Wilt was a luminous figure at that time. 255 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:12,200 Speaker 1: You know, he lived off Central Park in New York 256 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:15,960 Speaker 1: and drove down to Philadelphia for games. Really, yeah, you 257 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:18,839 Speaker 1: can imagine how popular that made him with teammates. And 258 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:20,680 Speaker 1: he had so he lived in it. It's an hour 259 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:22,720 Speaker 1: and a half, right even, I mean, and then probably 260 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:25,760 Speaker 1: even longer. But the thing is is Will had a 261 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:28,200 Speaker 1: fancy sports car, sports car that he drove at high 262 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:30,720 Speaker 1: speeds so whatever it would take you, and maybe I 263 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:34,040 Speaker 1: don't know how fast do you drive, but it would yeah, 264 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:36,960 Speaker 1: well it would take will longer or less time to 265 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:40,040 Speaker 1: get there than it would me. Um. He owned a racehorse, 266 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:44,760 Speaker 1: He owned a custom made Bentley. He co owned a 267 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:50,080 Speaker 1: Harlem nightclub called Big Wilt's Smallest Paradise. And you know 268 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:53,800 Speaker 1: it featured the likes of Red Fox and Edta James 269 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:56,560 Speaker 1: and Cannonball at early and Wilts there in his fine 270 00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:59,520 Speaker 1: suit as the greeter. And he's moving through that club 271 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:03,160 Speaker 1: like he is all of New York and and so 272 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:06,560 Speaker 1: so he was an outsize figure at this is you 273 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:10,520 Speaker 1: know you think of of sports stars as celebrities today, 274 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:13,520 Speaker 1: he was already a celebrity in nineteen sixty two. And 275 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:16,640 Speaker 1: and the dated I mean John Glenn orbited Earth ten 276 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:19,120 Speaker 1: days earlier. This is the middle of the Kennedy in 277 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:24,080 Speaker 1: the abbreviated Kennedy administration. Fox Sports Radio has the best 278 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:26,920 Speaker 1: sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our 279 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:30,440 Speaker 1: shows at Fox sports Radio dot com and within the 280 00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:33,600 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio app search f s R to listen live. 281 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:38,600 Speaker 1: So how is how is the accomplishment received? Well, it 282 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 1: was like the Mighty Oak fell in the forest in 283 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:43,280 Speaker 1: the middle of the night, and no one heard, you know, 284 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:47,320 Speaker 1: I mean, Harvey Pollock was was there writing for the 285 00:15:47,360 --> 00:15:51,560 Speaker 1: Associated Press, the United Press and the Philadelphia Inquirer. There 286 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:53,840 Speaker 1: were only two writers there, neither from New York. No 287 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:58,640 Speaker 1: TV UM, and it took a little while for working 288 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:01,280 Speaker 1: to get out, you know. It was it was like 289 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:03,680 Speaker 1: they were waiting for the wagon trade or the pony 290 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:06,880 Speaker 1: expressed to show up with the news. Um. But you know, 291 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:10,200 Speaker 1: Bill Russell's reaction was, well, the big fellow finally did it. 292 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:15,600 Speaker 1: And uh. For the longest time, Will did not embrace 293 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:19,480 Speaker 1: this performance. Um. He thought it fed the notion that 294 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:22,920 Speaker 1: he was an individualist only interested in patting his own stats. 295 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:25,760 Speaker 1: In fact, in the locker room after the game, Al Addles, 296 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:28,760 Speaker 1: his teammate, then told me that he remembers Will just 297 00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:33,320 Speaker 1: staring at the stat book and thinking, just shaking his head. 298 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:35,720 Speaker 1: And Al said, what's a matter of big fella? And 299 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:40,520 Speaker 1: Will said, I took sixty three shots and Addle said, yeah, 300 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:44,000 Speaker 1: but you made thirty six of them. And it was 301 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:48,600 Speaker 1: only decades later when Will began to understand what he'd done. 302 00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:51,280 Speaker 1: I mean, as the baseball star of the Red Sox, 303 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:53,360 Speaker 1: Ted Williams used to say he wanted to walk down 304 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:55,920 Speaker 1: the street and have people pointed him and say, there 305 00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:58,840 Speaker 1: goes the greatest hitter who ever lived. Wild came to 306 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:01,480 Speaker 1: realize that as he walked down the street, people would 307 00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:03,080 Speaker 1: point in him and say, there goes the guy who 308 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:09,080 Speaker 1: scored a hundred points. Who who Who's who's cursive or 309 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:12,000 Speaker 1: whose writing is on the famous piece of paper that 310 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:15,240 Speaker 1: says hundred points. Well, so that's Harvey Pollock. So Harvey 311 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:17,840 Speaker 1: was in the locker room and there was one photographer there, 312 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:21,280 Speaker 1: actually there were two, one from the Harrisburg Paper, but 313 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:25,320 Speaker 1: had other assignments, so he left after the first quarter. Well, 314 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 1: that left one off duty associated press photographer named Paul Vats. 315 00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:34,080 Speaker 1: He wasn't just any photographer. He had won a Pulitzer 316 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:37,080 Speaker 1: Prize the year before for a photo he had taken 317 00:17:37,119 --> 00:17:40,240 Speaker 1: of the young President John Kennedy walking on a path. 318 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:44,000 Speaker 1: Was with the former President Dwight Eisenhower at Camp David. 319 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:48,880 Speaker 1: And uh so he's there with his ten year old son, 320 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:51,600 Speaker 1: taking him there for as a gift for his tenth birthday. 321 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:53,800 Speaker 1: And at the end of the third quarter, Bathist told 322 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:55,719 Speaker 1: me he said to his son, you stay here I'm 323 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:57,719 Speaker 1: going out in the car to get my camera. So 324 00:17:57,760 --> 00:17:59,919 Speaker 1: he opens the trunk of his car, grabs his Cameron 325 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:02,560 Speaker 1: comes in. He's got twenty shots and he's only got 326 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:05,200 Speaker 1: one roll left. He wasn't planning to work that night, 327 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:08,680 Speaker 1: so he plants himself under the basket and he gets 328 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:11,600 Speaker 1: a few game photos, and then he goes in the 329 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:14,960 Speaker 1: locker room afterwards and says to Harvey Pollock, Harvey, you 330 00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:18,879 Speaker 1: think we can get Will to pose? And Harvey, thinking fast, 331 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:21,840 Speaker 1: said hey. Hef to Jim heffern In, one of the 332 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:24,400 Speaker 1: film one of the two Philadelphia sports writers there that night, 333 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:26,159 Speaker 1: you got a sheet of paper I can borrow? And 334 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:28,240 Speaker 1: Heffernan gives him an eight and a half by eleven sheet, 335 00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:32,359 Speaker 1: and Harvey, in a brainstorm, writes one zero zero, gives 336 00:18:32,359 --> 00:18:34,640 Speaker 1: it to Will, and Will holds it up. Now that's 337 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:39,919 Speaker 1: become maybe the most iconic basketball photo ever. Um and 338 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:44,439 Speaker 1: it it's really those stage, completely staged. It's it's a 339 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:47,920 Speaker 1: great photo because if you look on the wall behind Will, 340 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:51,520 Speaker 1: you can see his trousers and a jacket just hanging 341 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:54,840 Speaker 1: from hooks. He's on a solitary bench. He's sitting there, 342 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:57,840 Speaker 1: his knees are up in his chest. He's his face 343 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:00,680 Speaker 1: is covered with sweat. He's sort of smiling and cheapishly. 344 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:03,080 Speaker 1: You can see one of the good luck rubber bands 345 00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:08,439 Speaker 1: he always wore at his wrist. It's it's that great moment. 346 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:11,320 Speaker 1: It's the Dippers moment. It's the night Will scored a 347 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:13,640 Speaker 1: hundred points. And that's why that photo I think we'll 348 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:17,560 Speaker 1: live forever. He wore rubber bands on his wrists. Well, 349 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:21,440 Speaker 1: he wore rubber bands two on his socks to keep 350 00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:24,600 Speaker 1: them from falling down during games. He it's something that 351 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:27,840 Speaker 1: dated back to high school. And he kept two spares, 352 00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:31,480 Speaker 1: one on each wrist. So you had quitters. That's not 353 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:33,359 Speaker 1: quitter when you pull up a sock and won't stay up. 354 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:36,159 Speaker 1: Quitters back in the day would stay up, so he 355 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:39,240 Speaker 1: needed That's that's amazing, That's that's really a marketing so 356 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:42,480 Speaker 1: um so, yeah, it's it's the tree that fell in 357 00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:49,360 Speaker 1: the forest. Um uh so that how did that year 358 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:53,159 Speaker 1: end up? Because again, it's it's just such a weird 359 00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:59,560 Speaker 1: moment that everybody remembers. Will average fifty, okay, and I 360 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:02,679 Speaker 1: think only five rebounds and he had a hundred. But 361 00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:06,639 Speaker 1: it's like the complete opposite of now where the only 362 00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:10,480 Speaker 1: thing anybody remembers is who actually won the title. How 363 00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:13,359 Speaker 1: are the Warriors that year? Well, they were good, they 364 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:15,760 Speaker 1: were you know, they won forty nine games. They were 365 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 1: forty nine and thirty one. They finished eleven games behind 366 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:21,440 Speaker 1: the Celtics. They went into the postseason then lost again 367 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:25,760 Speaker 1: to Bill Russell. Um. Uh. And you know, by the way, 368 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:28,399 Speaker 1: there is one statistic from that season, Doug that people 369 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:31,160 Speaker 1: don't know, and they should know because it may last 370 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:35,080 Speaker 1: longer than the hundred point game and uh. And that 371 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:37,960 Speaker 1: is that he averaged that season forty eight and a 372 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:41,200 Speaker 1: half minutes played per game. Now the game, as you know, 373 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:44,119 Speaker 1: it's forty eight minutes minutes. They were overtime games. There 374 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:47,520 Speaker 1: was a triple overtime game and another overtime game. He 375 00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:50,080 Speaker 1: only missed eight minutes and thirty three seconds of the 376 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:53,920 Speaker 1: entire season. That's how is that possible? Well, it's possible 377 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:56,679 Speaker 1: because the referee, Norm Drucker threw him out of a 378 00:20:56,680 --> 00:20:59,720 Speaker 1: game with eight minutes forty three seconds left, and so 379 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:03,280 Speaker 1: he never came out of games. Before the season, he 380 00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:06,879 Speaker 1: told the new coach, the college legend Frank McGuire, a 381 00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:10,440 Speaker 1: dandy from Greenwich Village, to coach, you know you want 382 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:14,280 Speaker 1: me to play. Um, I can't help this team sitting 383 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:16,119 Speaker 1: on the bench. And besides, if you put me on 384 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:18,600 Speaker 1: the bench and then bring me into the game back in, 385 00:21:18,760 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 1: it's gonna take me three minutes to get this body 386 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:24,520 Speaker 1: warmed up. So he was like, okay, Wilty, you'll play 387 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:27,399 Speaker 1: every every game. And so he did. You know you 388 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:30,640 Speaker 1: think of time management of players, you know, keeping their 389 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:34,320 Speaker 1: minutes down, sometimes not playing them at all. Just didn't 390 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:39,199 Speaker 1: happen then, So he played all but eight minutes in 391 00:21:39,359 --> 00:21:42,720 Speaker 1: change of the entire season, never came out in eight 392 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:45,040 Speaker 1: games other than that one time when he was thrown. 393 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:49,560 Speaker 1: That's more mind blowing than anything I've ever heard. Yep, 394 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:54,399 Speaker 1: ever I've ever heard. That's that's incredible. That's incredible. If 395 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:56,760 Speaker 1: you get doing any NBA player today, you probably get 396 00:21:56,840 --> 00:22:00,320 Speaker 1: a lost it the players. I'm not playing Tuesday. It's 397 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:04,879 Speaker 1: the best with my best, my dream to never come out. Um. 398 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:09,440 Speaker 1: So he couldn't beat the Celtics. And my ley father 399 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 1: was a basketball coach. He had the opinion of Will 400 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:14,640 Speaker 1: that he wasn't a winner, that he wasn't a big 401 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:19,440 Speaker 1: game player, that Russell was. When when you're researching Russell. 402 00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:22,320 Speaker 1: What was the general opinion of him, other than his 403 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:28,000 Speaker 1: incredible physical dominance. Well, the thing about Russell was his 404 00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:31,080 Speaker 1: shock blocking and defensive skills. Will it was an offensive player. 405 00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:35,800 Speaker 1: He had his defensive moments too. Um but um, you know, 406 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:38,800 Speaker 1: Russell was surrounded by a constellation of stars. Will had 407 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:41,200 Speaker 1: good players around him at different times during his career. 408 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:43,000 Speaker 1: At the end of the Lakers when he won his 409 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:47,480 Speaker 1: second and final title, Jerry West and and an old 410 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:51,520 Speaker 1: Elgin Baylor. But yes, and he was old too, yeah right, 411 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:54,600 Speaker 1: and and um you know when year Will playing for 412 00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:57,720 Speaker 1: the Philadelphia seventy sixers led the league and assists and 413 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:00,480 Speaker 1: won a title. Any crowd leading the league and says me, 414 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:02,600 Speaker 1: he said, that'd be like Babe Bruce leading league and 415 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:07,600 Speaker 1: sacrifice bunts. Um but but um, the thing about Russell 416 00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:12,480 Speaker 1: is Ross Russell traumatized shooters. I remember I interviewed Pete 417 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:16,120 Speaker 1: Newell for this book, and he had um coached Cal 418 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:20,040 Speaker 1: back in the day Russell was He's playing at USF 419 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:23,720 Speaker 1: and he said Russell would come like almost out of 420 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:27,760 Speaker 1: the shadows and block shots of his best shooters. And 421 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:31,720 Speaker 1: and it's so traumatized Cal's best shooters that they weren't 422 00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:33,520 Speaker 1: the same for another three or four games. It's like 423 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:35,840 Speaker 1: they still feared Russell, who's not even in the game. 424 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:38,760 Speaker 1: It's gonna show up here and block their shot. Um 425 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:41,679 Speaker 1: Will traumatize people with his offense. And this year, nine 426 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:46,200 Speaker 1: sixty two, the big scoring sensation was the rookie Walt Bellamy. 427 00:23:46,359 --> 00:23:48,439 Speaker 1: He average, He was one of five guys to average 428 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:50,960 Speaker 1: thirty points a game that year. And when you know, Will, 429 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:54,200 Speaker 1: Will ramps up his intensity when he plays against somebody 430 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:56,560 Speaker 1: who's getting a lot of attention. So here comes Bellamy 431 00:23:56,640 --> 00:24:00,000 Speaker 1: to center court, shakes Will's hand and said, hello, Mr Chamberlain, 432 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:04,359 Speaker 1: I'm Walter Bellamy. And Will shakes his hand and says, hello, Walter, 433 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:06,920 Speaker 1: you won't get a shot off in the first half, 434 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:10,400 Speaker 1: and Will blocks his first nine shots inside the free 435 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:12,720 Speaker 1: throw line. Now they come back out for the second 436 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:15,879 Speaker 1: half tip, which they did then and uh they and 437 00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:19,960 Speaker 1: Will looks at Bellamy and says, okay, Walter, now you 438 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:24,600 Speaker 1: can play and wild out scores a fourteen and wins 439 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:28,240 Speaker 1: the game. You know that that was a quintessential Wilt moment. 440 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:31,359 Speaker 1: The goliath syndrome. You know, seven ft one, but he 441 00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:34,359 Speaker 1: needs to be bigger, and he pumps up himself and 442 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:40,320 Speaker 1: there he is. Hm um. All these years, all these 443 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:46,040 Speaker 1: years moved What what is the most fascinating takeaway that 444 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:48,800 Speaker 1: people will read this book and go, I mean, the 445 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:52,280 Speaker 1: stat obviously blows my mind. The idea that there's no 446 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:55,240 Speaker 1: live video of it, only the fourth quarter recording, like 447 00:24:55,320 --> 00:24:58,080 Speaker 1: all these other things. But for you, with all the 448 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:01,240 Speaker 1: time and research you spent, what's the what's the nugget 449 00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:05,160 Speaker 1: that somebody's gonna walk away going that one? I had 450 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:08,120 Speaker 1: no idea. I didn't see coming, and I can't believe. Well, 451 00:25:08,119 --> 00:25:10,480 Speaker 1: it's not so much a nugget as it is context, 452 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:13,080 Speaker 1: the symbolism of the game. People view it as a 453 00:25:13,119 --> 00:25:17,119 Speaker 1: carnival act. It was not a carnival act. What people 454 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:22,200 Speaker 1: little remember today, particularly young fans, is that in those 455 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:26,040 Speaker 1: early years, the NBA had a racial quota that limited 456 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:28,359 Speaker 1: the number of black players to just a few per team. 457 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:32,320 Speaker 1: And uh, the Philadelphia Warriors had three black players in 458 00:25:32,359 --> 00:25:35,200 Speaker 1: that game, Will Chamberlain, Aladdles and the guard Guy Rogers, 459 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:37,400 Speaker 1: who had twenty assists at night, almost all of them 460 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:41,840 Speaker 1: to wilt. And what Will did that night in Hershey 461 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:45,760 Speaker 1: and by averaging fifty a game that season was to 462 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:49,600 Speaker 1: symbolically blow apart the quota. This league was not going 463 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:55,080 Speaker 1: to be a white man's enclave anymore. M. I didn't 464 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:57,479 Speaker 1: know the quota. I mean, there's there's all these all 465 00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:01,720 Speaker 1: these incredible things. You didn't know, uh um about it. 466 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:04,600 Speaker 1: There were there were quite a few players, black players 467 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:07,480 Speaker 1: playing in the Eastern League getting fifty seventy five bucks 468 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:10,600 Speaker 1: a game on the weekends, who were far superior players 469 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:14,879 Speaker 1: to Um. You know, the NBA players on the bench, 470 00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:16,480 Speaker 1: the white guys, and some of them in the starting 471 00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:19,040 Speaker 1: lineups as well, And there was a lot of pain 472 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:21,800 Speaker 1: in that for them. These interviews I had with some 473 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:25,640 Speaker 1: of the early black pioneers in the NBA. UM, it's 474 00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:30,520 Speaker 1: important for us to remember this. It's really Chamberlain himself 475 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:32,640 Speaker 1: is such a mythical figure. Right. You have the hunter 476 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:35,439 Speaker 1: point game, you have the bragging about the ten thousand women. 477 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:37,560 Speaker 1: Now I'm learning about the four D eight and a 478 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:40,800 Speaker 1: half minutes. Um, I didn't know. Like he lived in 479 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:45,800 Speaker 1: New York and played in Philadelphia. Those things are amazing. 480 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:49,800 Speaker 1: You mentioned that it took him years to really embrace 481 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:53,359 Speaker 1: the Hunter Points. Did anybody tell you why why why 482 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:56,159 Speaker 1: he eventually? What was the moment or what was the 483 00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:58,800 Speaker 1: reasoning behind him finally embracing it. I think it was 484 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:01,760 Speaker 1: a gradual pros says. It was almost like when he 485 00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:06,480 Speaker 1: came to embrace it, it was like a father embracing 486 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:11,240 Speaker 1: his long estrange son. You know that, Um it had 487 00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:14,960 Speaker 1: meaning and and it was a profound experience for a 488 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:18,080 Speaker 1: lot of people. For Will, it was just one more 489 00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:23,239 Speaker 1: mega scoring night. You know, the numbers were astronomically that 490 00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:26,359 Speaker 1: season he averaged more. He scored more than fifty points 491 00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:30,280 Speaker 1: forty three times that year. So when he goes into 492 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:32,439 Speaker 1: the fourth quarter with sixty nine points, as hard as 493 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:35,800 Speaker 1: it is to for us to just put our rapp 494 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:39,639 Speaker 1: our arms around that, you know, it wasn't that uncommon. 495 00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:43,040 Speaker 1: You know. You think today, with the change in technology, 496 00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:46,199 Speaker 1: what would happen if an NBA player goes into the 497 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:48,840 Speaker 1: fourth quarter with sixty nine points? I mean, fans would 498 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:51,760 Speaker 1: be tweeting it all over the place. ESPN sound trucks 499 00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:54,800 Speaker 1: would be circling Hershey Arena if that happened there, although 500 00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:59,119 Speaker 1: it wouldn't happen in Hershey. Now UM technology would lift 501 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:03,720 Speaker 1: it um in a way that Will's hundred was not lifted. 502 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:06,760 Speaker 1: Look when Kobe scored eighty one points in a game 503 00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:09,600 Speaker 1: in two thousand six, that two against the last place team, 504 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:13,800 Speaker 1: the Toronto Raptors, fifteen minutes after he scored his eighty 505 00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:17,280 Speaker 1: one You could buy a DVD of it online, right, 506 00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:20,080 Speaker 1: And and I wish we could have had a DVD 507 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:23,040 Speaker 1: of Wild's hundred point game. On the one hand. On 508 00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:27,080 Speaker 1: the other hand, it's it's it lives in the imagination. 509 00:28:27,119 --> 00:28:30,840 Speaker 1: It's launched into mythology, you know, it's it's a part 510 00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:34,760 Speaker 1: of Americana. Now, it's a piece of Americana like Andy 511 00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:40,040 Speaker 1: warhol soup games. You know, Will Chamberlain's hundred point game. It's. Uh, 512 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:43,080 Speaker 1: it's a moment that I think the Golden State Warriors, 513 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:48,600 Speaker 1: the lineal descendants of Will's Philadelphia Warriors, should embrace more. 514 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:52,640 Speaker 1: They should, they should, um, you know, promote the fact 515 00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:56,520 Speaker 1: that it's their guy, Will Chamberlain, who later, by the way, 516 00:28:56,640 --> 00:28:58,960 Speaker 1: moved out. And after he scored a hundred points that 517 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:01,840 Speaker 1: season ended. The team was sold to San Francisco and 518 00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:04,640 Speaker 1: they became the San Francisco Warriors. And the next year 519 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:07,440 Speaker 1: Will for that team in San Francisco average forty four 520 00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:09,920 Speaker 1: point eight points a game, and then thirty seven, and 521 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:13,240 Speaker 1: then you know, another season, half season, the average about 522 00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:17,360 Speaker 1: thirty six points a game. Just still astronomical numbers, not fifty, 523 00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:20,920 Speaker 1: but still statistical outliers in the you know, in the 524 00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:24,000 Speaker 1: history of the NBA, numbers that only Will Chamberlain could 525 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:30,440 Speaker 1: have produced. Amazing. I was thinking Rushmore of great individual 526 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:35,160 Speaker 1: single game accomplishments. It's on an it's it is I 527 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:38,640 Speaker 1: cannot I'm trying to think, like you know, I'm trying 528 00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:41,200 Speaker 1: to think if there's if there's who, what the other 529 00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:45,160 Speaker 1: three would be? In American sports, Yeah, I mean GAYL. 530 00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:48,280 Speaker 1: Sayers had a game the running back of the Chicago Bears, 531 00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:51,280 Speaker 1: and I think it was N three, playing on a muddy, 532 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:56,400 Speaker 1: rainy day, and Wrigley Field scored six touchdowns. You know, 533 00:29:56,760 --> 00:29:59,959 Speaker 1: um produced three hundred and thirty six all purpose yards 534 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:03,360 Speaker 1: returned upon eighty five yards for a touchdown, caught a pass. 535 00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:06,880 Speaker 1: I we just had one of those, one of those games. 536 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:12,160 Speaker 1: But basketball allows numbers to be built to the stratosphere 537 00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:15,680 Speaker 1: in ways of oports don't. And and you know, baseball 538 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:18,200 Speaker 1: guys not gonna hit twelve home runs in a game. No, 539 00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:21,320 Speaker 1: Reggie's Reggie's three home runs in the World Series is 540 00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:25,800 Speaker 1: is probably baseball's moment that compares and and maybe but 541 00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:28,920 Speaker 1: three versus a hundred. I mean, I I understand, I'm 542 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:33,800 Speaker 1: I'm just like on the fly thinking what possibly could 543 00:30:34,120 --> 00:30:37,840 Speaker 1: match up? What like? That's that's how powerful this moment is. 544 00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:41,640 Speaker 1: There really isn't anything. And it's not like, well, there's 545 00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:44,040 Speaker 1: a couple of guys that had ninety, Like nobody at ninety, 546 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:48,600 Speaker 1: nobody in five, nobody in eighty two. I mean, you know, 547 00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:51,480 Speaker 1: Kobe's eighty two is like the new base camp from 548 00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:54,440 Speaker 1: which to climb up Everest to get to you know this, 549 00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:56,640 Speaker 1: but you have to have three point shots even to 550 00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:59,719 Speaker 1: make that happen, right so, and which Will didn't have 551 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:05,360 Speaker 1: Will did have a twelve foot lane, right so, Phil Jordan, 552 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:13,040 Speaker 1: The sheer volume of shots is remarkable, the volume of 553 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:15,480 Speaker 1: free throws, you know, so he shot with sixty three 554 00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:20,160 Speaker 1: shots and thirty two free throws. Correct. The whole thing 555 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:23,600 Speaker 1: is nuts. It's nuts, and and some of it's just 556 00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:27,720 Speaker 1: the magic of one hundred, you know, um, in our culture, 557 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:30,640 Speaker 1: it suggests a perfect score on a test a century. 558 00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:35,360 Speaker 1: You know, there's something golden about it. No, seven doesn't 559 00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:39,400 Speaker 1: do it. His teammates would would point out that he 560 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:42,280 Speaker 1: got called for defensive goaltending three times in that game, 561 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:48,360 Speaker 1: so really you scored a hundred. Yeah, that's amazing. Um, Garry, 562 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:50,800 Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining me. This is fascinating 563 00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:54,520 Speaker 1: to anybody who loves the game and maybe even history. 564 00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:58,040 Speaker 1: Like it's it's more of a historical piece that just 565 00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:01,240 Speaker 1: about sports, right, because you're pay being the picture of 566 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:03,840 Speaker 1: a completely different era at a moment in time which 567 00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:07,280 Speaker 1: everybody knows but doesn't actually know. Is that is that 568 00:32:07,320 --> 00:32:10,440 Speaker 1: a fair fair to say? Yes, fair to say? And 569 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:12,160 Speaker 1: that's why I went after it in this book World 570 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:16,479 Speaker 1: ninety two, because, um, it matters. That's a moment that 571 00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:21,280 Speaker 1: needs to be uh understood, not just known, but understood. 572 00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:23,960 Speaker 1: I mean the idea that Will Chamberlain goes out to 573 00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:28,200 Speaker 1: you know, the land of the Amish, um to this 574 00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:33,120 Speaker 1: utopian chocolate town, a company town in Hershey, and and 575 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:36,680 Speaker 1: does you know commits really a revolutionary act that makes 576 00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:42,560 Speaker 1: a statement about race. Um is amazing. It's amazing, Garry. 577 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:44,720 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your time and I really 578 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:47,080 Speaker 1: really appreciate it. I enjoyed talking with you. Thanks for 579 00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:53,320 Speaker 1: having me on. Thank you here. Yeah. What an interesting look, right, 580 00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:56,840 Speaker 1: and a historical moment that you know of, but until 581 00:32:56,840 --> 00:32:59,400 Speaker 1: this pod you didn't know about. Help you appreciate, help 582 00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:01,280 Speaker 1: you enjoyed it. My thanks to Gary for sharing that 583 00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:03,560 Speaker 1: time with us. Reminder you can pick up his book 584 00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:06,080 Speaker 1: on Amazon or go to Barnes and Noble, or of 585 00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:09,400 Speaker 1: course there's the Audible books as well. Reminder of the 586 00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:12,680 Speaker 1: Doug Gotlib shows daily three to six Eastern time, twelve 587 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:15,160 Speaker 1: to three Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. The I Heart 588 00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:18,000 Speaker 1: Radio app where you downloaded this podcast, you can down 589 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:20,560 Speaker 1: load that as a podcast as well. Thanks so much 590 00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:22,720 Speaker 1: for listening. I'm Doug Gottlieb. This is Elball