Talk:Wilt Chamberlain

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Good article Wilt Chamberlain has been listed as one of the Everyday life good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can delist it, or ask for a reassessment.

Contents

[edit] Promiscuity

Shouldn't there be something in the article about the oft-repeated claim that he bedded over 1000 women? Matt gies 05:30, 5 Mar 2004 (UTC)

I've heard versions of this too, and even if it's an urban legend, it deserves mention. Anyone know anything? Meelar 17:57, 14 May 2004 (UTC)
Didn't he write a book? Or perhaps I am thinking of Geraldo? - Nat Krause 08:25, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

In his book he said he had about 20,000 women

[edit] Place in history

Uh, anyone else see the claims of such and such of "all time" as ridiculous? Seeing as, oh, Iunno, all time can't be accounted for as of yet? I changed one or two sentences to that effect[notably the one saying Bill Russell was the best defensive of player of all time], as this sounded like a fan page rather than any sort of encyclopedic entry. Also, arguments that support any contention of greatest anything should be viewed with only the greatest suspicion; the sentences under "greatest basketball player of all time" should illustrate a general idea of both sides or general ideas concerning the subject, not suddenly declare that, actually, there is no real argument, he is the most dominate player of all time. It also seems especially ridiculous considering that recent 81 pt game by Kobe, meaning that it's very possible and likely that he isn't in fact the most anything of all time.

--russ.

[edit] POV

Changed a lot of the "greatest ever" section to make it less ridiculously POV. Most especially, deleted:

Celtics forward Tom Heinsohn confessed that his team used dirty tricks to stop him, by abusing him with a flurry of hard fouls, wearing him down and exploiting his only weakness (weak foul shooting) by an early version of the Hack-a-Shaq. Considering that that Celtics team featured seve' Hall of Famers at times, and still had to resort to these tactics to stop one player, says a lot.

Following the link referenced, what Heinsohn said was simply that the Celtics fouled Chamberlain a lot because foul shots were his weakness, and as a result that Chamberlain wound up taking a lot of hard fouls. Characterizing that statement as "confessed that his team used dirty tricks" is absurdly POV. 65.88.178.10 23:20, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

I also feel that the article is rather NPOV in places, but I don't feel up to making the edits myself as I'm pretty new to the whole wikipedia thing. But there's a lot of biased, fannish wording throughout the article that could use revision, I think. Errick 08:42, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Nickname He Hated

Is there some sort of source for this? It doesn't sound that verifiable, especially without a source. 209.33.36.146 02:04, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

I don't have it handy, but if memory serves, he actually wrote in his autobiography that he hated that nickname. Mwelch 02:18, 2 March 2006 (UTC)
I'm pretty sure he wrote that he hated the nickname in his autobiography too; I thought wiki encouraged online sources though, and not long thick books that people had to dig through to verify one simple fact. Billybobjoe786 (talk) 06:58, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Rife with POV

Wow. I think it would be hard to find any article in Wikipedia, outside of Balkan politics, that is more overrun with point-of-view arguments. I mean, just look at the subheadings: "Greatest Basketball Player of All Time?" (Why the "?"? Either he was or he wasn't, as a fact, but no, all we have is opinion, backed up by minutiae and bar talk. Every idiot's opinion too, it seems.); "Personal life" (what other athlete in the Whole Wide World of Sports gets this People Magazine-style treatment?); "Retired jerseys", evidently treated as some kind of stat: say what? Like they're some holy relics, 'cause they soaked up his sweat. And what dictionary has this word "ardrorous"? Very truly yours, an admitted Wilt fan, waiting for the next boob to insert some tiny little factoid or fictoid ...--BillFlis 01:40, 1 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Miscellaneous Quotes

I'm just posting some miscellaneous Wilt Chamberlain related quotes (with sources) that I collected a few years ago . . . they may be of some interest to NBA basketball history buffs, and perhaps some of the contributors to this article may find support for their arguments here.

1. "What's unfortunate is that most people regard the great leapers as being only the short guys who could dunk," said the 7-1 1/16 [Wilt Chamberlain]. "My sergeant [vertical leap] was higher than [Michael Jordan]'s. When I went to Kansas, they had a 12-foot basket in the gym, because Dr. Phog Allen was advocating the 12-foot basket. I used to dunk on that basket. It was an effort, but I could do it." [Source: The Leaping Legends of Basketball, The Los Angeles Times; Feb 12, 1989; Scott Ostler]

2. Wilt Chamberlain claims that his sergeant, during his prime, was "46 to 48 inches, easy." [Source: The Leaping Legends of Basketball, The Los Angeles Times; Feb 12, 1989; Scott Ostler]

3. Legends abound of the truly great leapers who could touch the top of the board. Almost always the feat involves money-claims that the player could grab a dollar bill off the top of the board, or could pluck off a quarter and leave two dimes and a nickel change. Spencer Haywood, for one, claims to have been to the top.

"I defy anyone to say they took change off the top of the backboard," Chamberlain said. "I could. Someone would put a quarter up and I'd snatch it down. I've heard stories about Jackie Jackson doing it, but I've never seen anyone (but himself) come close."

Sonny Hill, a Philadelphia leaping legend of the '60s, backs Wilt, saying, "The only man that's been to the top, that's Wilt. I asked Kareem if he ever did, and he could jump a little bit. He told me, `Sonny, no.' "

Nissalke tells of an informal leaping contest between second-year man Kareem, who then was Lew Alcindor, and Milwaukee forward Don Smith, who now is Zaid Abdul-Aziz. "They were trying to touch the top of the board," Nissalke said. "They took about 10 jumps each. Kareem came the closest. He was about a foot from the top."

Mitch Kupchak witnessed a similar jump-off among 6-4 David Thompson, 6-9 Marvin Barnes and 7-4 Tom Burleson. "David came the closest," Kupchak said. "He was six or eight inches away."

4. "When I was a freshman, I fooled around with shooting free throws this way: For some reason, I thought you had to stay within the top half of that free-throw circle, so I would step back to just inside the top of the circle, take off from behind the line and dunk. They outlawed that, but I wouldn't have done it in a game, anyway. I was a good free throw shooter in college."

Actually he was a 62% free throw shooter, which is poor except in comparison to his 51% as a pro. [Source: The Leaping Legends of Basketball, The Los Angeles Times; Feb 12, 1989; Scott Ostler]

5. Of all his memories of Wilt Chamberlain, the one that stood out for Larry Brown happened long after Chamberlain's professional career had ended. On a summer day in the early 1980s, when Brown was coaching at UCLA, Chamberlain showed up at Pauley Pavilion to take part in one of the high-octane pickup games that the arena constantly attracted.

"Magic Johnson used to run the games," Brown recalled Tuesday after hearing that Chamberlain, his friend, had died at 63, "and he called a couple of chintzy fouls and a goaltending on Wilt. "So Wilt said: 'There will be no more layups in this gym,' and he blocked every shot after that. That's the truth, I saw it. He didn't let one [of Johnson's] shots get to the rim."

Chamberlain would have been in his mid-40s at the time, and he remained in top physical shape until recently. [Source: Giant Towered Over the Rest, The Los Angeles Times; Oct 13, 1999; Larry Stewart]

6. Darrall Imhoff, who as a 6-foot-10 rookie center for the New York Knicks had the misfortune of guarding Chamberlain during his 100-point game in 1962, said, "I spent 12 years in his armpits, and I always carried that 100-point game on my shoulders.

"After I got my third foul, I said to one of the officials, Willy Smith, 'Why don't you just give him 100 points and we'll all go home?' Well, we did."

Two nights later, at Madison Square Garden, Chamberlain tried to go for the century mark again. But Imhoff held him to 54 points. The fans gave Imhoff a standing ovation.

"He was an amazing, strong man," Imhoff said. "I always said the greatest record he ever held wasn't 100 points, but his 55 rebounds against Bill Russell. Those two players changed the whole game of basketball. The game just took an entire step up to the next level." [Source: Giant Towered Over the Rest, The Los Angeles Times; Oct 13, 1999; Larry Stewart]

7. In Denver, Nugget Coach Dan Issel said, "As I grew up, Wilt the Stilt was the player. Just the things he was able to do. I guess one year they told him he couldn't make as much money as he wanted because he couldn't pass the ball, so he went out and led the league in assists.

"Watching Wilt, you always kind of got the idea he was just playing with people. That he was on cruise control and still 10 times better than anybody else that was playing at that time." [Source: Giant Towered Over the Rest, The Los Angeles Times; Oct 13, 1999; Larry Stewart]

8. Former NBA center and Chicago Bull coach Johnny "Red" Kerr, who played part of one season in Philadelphia with Wilt and against him for six-plus years, said, "He was the NBA. He was the guy on the top. Wilt was the guy you talked about--he and Bill Russell. He was the most dominating center--the best center to ever play in the NBA." [Source: Giant Towered Over the Rest, The Los Angeles Times; Oct 13, 1999; Larry Stewart]

9. In 1982, when he was 45 and Philadelphia 76er owner Harold Katz was hot after him, the Houston Chronicle's George White asked Elvin Hayes if Chamberlain could still play. "Some things about Wilt, you never forgot," Hayes said. "He was such an awesome physical specimen. To go up under Wilt Chamberlain, to be down there and look up at him when he's towering up over you waiting to dunk, was a terrifying picture. To see him poised up there, knowing he was about to sweep down with that big jam . . . that must be the most frightening sight in sports. The ball goes shooting through the net and you better have your body covered up because he could really hurt someone. I was scared. Everyone was scared when he got that look in his eye, that don't-try-to-stop-this look that he got when he really wanted it. . . .

"I think Russell realized there was no way he could have stopped Wilt if he had been fully intent on making it a two-man game. No one who ever put on a uniform could have done it. When I played him, I kept this foremost in my mind: Above all, don't make him mad. Don't embarrass him. You wanted to keep him quiet as long as possible." [Source: Larger Than Life, The Los Angeles Times; Oct 13, 1999; Mark Heisler]

10. Several years after Wilt stopped playing, he toyed with the idea of a comeback. On the day he visited the Knicks' offices in Madison Square Garden, he talked to Red Holzman, then strode out to the elevator. When it opened, two deliverymen were struggling with a dolly piled high with boxes of office supplies, mostly letterheads and envelopes.

The load was so heavy, the elevator had stopped maybe four inches below the floor level and now the deliverymen were huffing and puffing, but they couldn't raise the dolly high enough to get it on the floor level.

After maybe two minutes of the deliverymen's huffing and puffing, Wilt, his biceps bulging in a tank top, peered down at them and intoned, "Gentlemen, maybe I can help." They stepped back, he stepped into the elevator, grabbed each end of the rope slung under the dolly and without much exertion, quickly lifted the dolly onto the floor level.

Looking up in awe, the deliverymen said, "Thank you." Wilt said, "You're welcome." Wilt stepped into the elevator and rode down to the street level as another witness followed the two deliverymen toward the Knick offices and asked, "How much does all this weigh?" They quickly surveyed the stack of big boxes of office supplies.

"Close to 600 pounds," one said. [Source: The Good Natured Giant Wasn't Belligerent, Sports of the Times; Oct 13, 1999; Dave Anderson]

11. "I just remember he was dominating, a scoring machine, unstoppable," Walt Frazier, the Knicks' Hall of Famer, said. "The guy looked indestructible. He was such a physical specimen, I never thought something like this would happen to him at 63.

"His legacy is comical. When you read about his records, it makes you laugh. He has records that are just remarkable. I don't care if he was 10 feet tall, the things that he did. I think the season he averaged 50, he averaged almost 30 rebounds, something incredible like that." [Source: Giants of Game Mourning Loss of Biggest Giant of All, The New York Times; Oct 13, 1999; Mike Wise]

12. Years ago, teams could pass the ball over the backboard or take a running start when attempting a foul shot. The former was outlawed because Chamberlain would use the backboard as a screen, cherry-picking passes and converting them into layups; the latter was banned after Chamberlain took a running start, leapt from the foul line and dunked the ball. Yes, Chamberlain dunked foul shots. And that was long before Julius Erving or Brent Barry did it (while stepping on the line in the process) in exhibitions. [Source: Until His Dying Day, Wilt was Invincible, Associated Press; Oct 13, 1999; Chris Sheridan]

13. Connie Hawkins on Wilt: "The first time I met Wilt, we played in a high school game in Brooklyn and he came to watch me play. That was the first time I saw him, and everybody was talking about this guy, Wilt Chamberlain, from Philly. I finally saw him and I couldn't believe how tall the guy was. His nickname was "Wilt the Stilt," and his legs were like the size of my body. When I first met him, I was in high school and I was like 6-2 or 6-3, and he was the biggest man I'd ever seen in my life. I couldn't believe how big he was. That was my first experience.

"My first time playing against him was in the Rucker Tournament. We used to play during the summer time all the time. I've told this story before, about the team from Brooklyn playing the team from New York. I was with the team from Brooklyn and Wilt used to play with the team from New York.

"We had a guy by the name of Jackie Jackson who used to play on our basketball team and he was one of those guys who could jump real high. Well, Wilt used to always have this favorite shot where he would jump and shoot high off the backboard and it would go in. So, we figured out a play in the school yard. We said we were going to overplay him and let him shoot that fade-away jump shot, Jackie would come from the other side of the court and back then you could trap it on the backboard. So we decided we were going to do that.

"It came down, they passed it into Wilt, I overplayed Wilt, he turned around to shoot it, Jackie came from the other side and he went up and blocked it. It was like two or three feet above the top of the basket and he blocked it and everybody just went crazy. Everybody was yelling and screaming and we were running around. Back then we didn't give high fives, so I guess we were doing low fives. Everybody was slapping hands. And this was in the school yards, where the projects were, and people were just hollering and screaming and the place was packed. I turned around and looked and Wilt was just staring at us like this (Hawk glares). He called time out and everybody was still hollering and screaming, but I was focused on Wilt. He just kept staring.

"After the time out was over with, Wilt came up with the next 30 shots and they were nothing but dunk shots. He dunked it every way you could go. In the school yards, they have the baskets with no nets on them. And one time, he dunked the ball so hard, the ball went through the basket, hit the ground and it went over the 15-foot fence. Somebody went to go get the ball and when they brought the ball back, the basket was still shaking. That's how strong this guy was. He was just a dominating guy.

"It's really ironic. I think about it and I don't think people realize just how great he really was. You hear guys talking about Michael Jordan and all these folks, but they really refuse to accept the fact that when you look at the record books, he has some records that will never be broken. [Source: Thoughts on Wilt, NBA.com; 1999]

14. ... former Celtics guard K.C. Jones remembered his casual run-in with Wilt.

"He stopped me dead in my tracks with his arm, hugged me and lifted me off the floor with my feet dangling," Jones said. "It scared the hell out of me. When I went to the free-throw line, my legs were still shaking. Wilt was the strongest guy and best athlete ever to play the game. [Source: Goliath's Wonderful Life, Hoop Magazine; May 1999; Chris Ekstrand]

-- Myasuda

[edit] Expansion of his pre-Laker years

I believe Wilt's Phillidelphia career Warriors/76'ers needs to be expanded. He only played 5 seasons in LA yet it has twice as much article coverage as the above two teams which comprised his first 9 seasons.--Duhon

[edit] Multiple sports?

The category "Sportspeople of multiple sports" has been added to this article. Which other sport did Chamberlain practice professionally? - ChaChaFut 01:52, 7 August 2006 (UTC)


Wilt played professional volleyball for several seasons after retiring from basketball. --Roger Williams 11:32, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

The quote "Chamberlain was the only basketball player to ever block one of Abdul-Jabbar's "sky-hook" shots" is incorrect. I have seen 1970s video footage of Kareem having his sky hook blocked by an unknown defender.

[edit] Failed GA

I would like to see this an GA but it needs much work

  1. The lead section is too short per WP:LEAD
  2. Image problem, the only image is an book cover and that violates WP:FU because it doesn't show the book in question
  3. Few refs, many are not formatted, Lots of citation needed tags
  4. Needs a strong copyedit, lots of stubby paragraphs, listy, some repeated info
  5. Trivia sections are an big no-no, merge what ever encyclopedic parts to the article or remove

There is more work but this would do for now Jaranda wat's sup 01:30, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Draft year

This Sporting News article, written in 1955, says he was drafted right out of high-school in 1955. He turned pro in 1959, after his college class graduated, which was the rule at the time.--BillFlis 19:40, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

I guess it depends on what you consider to be "drafted". The Warriors claimed territorial draft rights on him straight out of high school in 1955. But the actual draft pick was considered to be part of the 1959 NBA Draft, since that was the year he was actually eligible to play. The Warriors still had and used a normal "he's-coming-out-of-college-and-eligible-to-play-right-now" first round pick in the 1955 NBA Draft, taking Tom Gola (also under territoral rights) out of LaSalle. They did not get another first-round pick other than Chamberlain in 1959. So the Chamberlain pick was definitely recorded as being a part of the 1959 draft.
I guess the question would be under the draft rules at the time, even though the Warriors had reserved the right to take Chamblerain way back in 1955, were they then actually obliged to take Chamberlain once 1959 rolled around? Or could they have changed their minds if it had turned out in the meantime that he suffered or career-ending injury, or even if he had just turned out ot suck in college? Would the Warriors have been allowed to change their minds and select someone else instead in the 1959 Draft? I don't know the answer, myself.
If they were committed all the way to Chamberlain and only Chamberlain, no matter what, I guess then you could make a case that he was really "drafted" in 1955, as the Warriors effectively made their 1959 first-round selection in 1955. If they could have changed their minds, though, then you'd definitely have to say he was drafted in 1959. They just reserved the rights to do so back in 1955. Mwelch 22:01, 20 September 2006 (UTC)
Well, I can't answer all your questions, but at least I had a verifiable and reputable reference. The 1959 NBA Draft wikiarticle has absolutely no references at all. Who are we to believe? Also, isn't it much more impressive that he was "drafted" (in some sense of the word) right out of high school? Maybe, even more impressively, he was drafted twice by the same team.--BillFlis 00:25, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
I'd go with the NBA as the source to believe. You won't find Chamberlain in the draft history on nba.com (they don't go back as far as '55, and they don't list any pick for Philly when they list out the first-round selections of '59 [1]; technically, the rule was that territorial picks weren't the same as regular picks — using a territorial meant you were actually giving up your actual first-round selection), but if you look at Chamberlain's bio on nba.com [2], you can see that the NBA regards his official draft year to be '59. Outside of excluding the two territorials (Chamberlain and Bob Ferry), the first round draft order for 1959 that's listed on nba.com agrees with the 1959 NBA Draft article here, which in turn agrees with the 1959 NBA Draft information listed at databasebasketball.com and at basketball-reference.com. Chamberlain is traditionally referred to as the third pick of the '59 draft because that's where Philly would have picked if they hadn't given up their pick for a territorial. The territorials, by their nature, had to be named before the rest of the draft. So depending how you want to look at it, you could argue that he was drafted in 1955, or that he was drafted first in 1959 (by virtue of the territorial exercise being done in '55), or that he was drafted tied for first (along with Ferry--the two territorials that Philly and St. Louis used instead of having first-round picks) in '59, or that he was drafted third in '59. Again, just depends on what precise definition of "drafted" you want to apply.
Agreed wholeheartedly though that it's extremely impressive that the Warriors put dibs on him striaght out of high school, however the technicalities of that actually worked. No argument at all on that. Mwelch 02:59, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Harlem Globetrotters

I was just wondering if something should be added about that fact that he played for the Harlem Globetrotters from 1958-1959. (http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/Chamberlain.htm) Also, I thought that Chamberlain was NOT drafted, he was persuaded to join the team. (Wilt, 1962) KellanFabjance 14:53, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Yes, his draft rights were secured by the Warriors. And his playing for the Trotters is already mentioned in the article. Mwelch 23:31, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] 100 point game condition

Shouldn't we mention Chamberlain's claim that he was suffering from a hangover during the 100 point game? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 209.36.200.2 (talk) 03:19, 24 January 2007 (UTC).

If you've got a source for that, then sure. (Not that the article is exactly diligent about sources the way it stands, of course. But we ought to try and start somewhere.) Mwelch 03:41, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Major rewrite

See topic. Possibly the article is bloated now, but I wanted compile as much verifiable, sourced info as possible before considering a possible split. Now comes the tricky part, FIND SUITABLE PICS!!! —Onomatopoeia 15:05, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

I think wilt's records and feats should get their own page simmilar to Jordan's page dealing speciffically with his statistics and acheivements. Right now they seem kind of cluttered on the page. —Duhon 14 February 2007 (UTC)

I concur; a good starting point for such a page would be the "Records and feats" section of the Wilt Chamberlain article prior to 02/14/2007 (i.e., prior to the major rewrite). Myasuda 05:22, 16 February 2007 (UTC)
I found one pic for the reputation section also included some info about his reputation. I'll keep looking. Quadzilla99 14:09, 17 February 2007 (UTC)
Found another one for the Lakers section. Quadzilla99 15:04, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Merge 100 point game

The 100 point game content should be merged to this article. Individual NBA games do not have names, and the game is only notable in reference to Chamberlain. Cmprince 06:24, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

I'm against. This game is one of the most famous in NBA history. There is plenty of noteworthy material in this article that would not fit into Chamberlains. Warhol13 17:29, 19 February 2007 (UTC)
Oppose. Let's analyse: "Individual NBA games do not have names" -- enter "100 point game" in google and you get as first results hoopshall.com (NBA Hall of Fame, special exhibit for the 100pg), nba.com (NBA history, special exhibit for the 100pg), nba.com/warriors (NBA history of the Warriors, special exhibit for the 100pg), making "the game is only notable in reference to Chamberlain" highly debatable. Also I hope you have seen that Wilt's article is already NINETY-TWO KB, ridiculously far over the Wikipedia:Article_size 32kb "first warning", and even far, far over the 50kb limit where a split is highly recommended (Wikipedia:Article_size#A_rule_of_thumb). Finally, the page appeared on "Did You Know?" already. Thus, for these reasons, I strongly oppose a merge. —Onomatopoeia 10:07, 20 February 2007 (UTC)
Comment (and mild oppose, I guess). I don't have a problem with it staying a separate article, but if it does, then I'd like to see a more descriptive title. Like "Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game" or something like that. Frank Selvy scored 100 points in college once. I think a few high schoolers have done it. Something just called "100 point game" could easiily refer to the act of anyone doing it, as opposed to necessarily referring to Chamberlain's specific instance of it. Heck, when you get down to it, there's nothing in the mere phrase "100 point game" that even specifies you're talking about basketball, or about an individual player accomplishment. Mwelch 20:06, 20 February 2007 (UTC)
Oppose A historic event in the history of basketball and also the product of a DYK?. Quadzilla99 19:08, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

Please note that the merge proposal has been removed from 100 point game. I changed my mind about the article, but I agree with Mwelch's suggestion that it be moved. If you have an opinion on this, please weigh in at Talk:100 point game#Rename?. --Cmprince 04:42, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Triple Jump

It says he triple jumped more than 50 feet... That is frankly impossible and more than world records.

I don't doubt that many of the athletic feats attributed to Chamberlain over the years are exaggerated (often by Chamberlain himself), and this may well indeed be one of them . . . but just for the record, the world record in the triple jump is over 60 feet. There are high school athletes who can do 50 today, so it's certainly not "impossible". Even at the time Chamberlain supposedly did this, the world record was something like 54 or 55 feet.
Again, that doesn't necessarily mean that Chamberlain really did it. I'm just saying . . . Mwelch 22:24, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
If the world record is currently 60 feet ([citation needed] of course), then Chamberlain certainly could have done it, as not only was he a phenomenal athlete, but his height (and long legs) would especially aid in an event like that. JesseRafe 16:18, 1 March 2007 (UTC)
World record progression triple jump. Strange to see Wikipedians so clueless about an Olympic event. --Anshelm '77 (talk) 18:55, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Shortening to 76kb

I just shortened the article to 76kb. It was becoming too large indeed. —Onomatopoeia 07:58, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Even 76kb is not too short, this article sould be checked on becuase there will likely be other additions bringing up its total.Duhon 22:24, 5 March 2007 (UTC)
Now its 64kb. Bill Russell, our FA, is 63kb. Now it should be fine. —Onomatopoeia 10:12, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Copyedit

Might it be a good idea to have the article copyedited by someone respectable? I think substantively, this article has FA content. So with somebody who can tighten up the prose, check for grammar etc., the FAC or GAC should be much smoother. Thoughts? Chensiyuan 16:51, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

You could put it on the League of Copyeditors proofreading list during the FAC if prose issues comes up, if you put it on the waiting list and wait for them to do it first it will take 1-2 months at least. Quadzilla99 12:52, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
So what's becoming of this article in terms of GA/FA noms? Chensiyuan 14:05, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
Given the Ian Thorpe fiasco a lot of these images would have to go before we nominated it for FA, which I think was Onamotapoiea's intention (he appears to be on a wikibreak). Quadzilla99 15:00, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
Well, first of all, I read a lot of the article, skimmed sort of, and found three pretty easily recognizable mistakes. I don't remember the first two and didn't fix them. Here's the third, though technically, it could be correct. In popular culture, it says "Wilt Chamberlain claims to have slept with more than 20,000 women in his lifetime. Chuck Norris calls this 'a slow Tuesday.'"[45] is a quote from the Chuck Norris web site. Well, the " ' " before a obviously doesn't need to be there. So, either it was mistyped on here, or it's an actual quote of something that was mistyped on the Chuck Norris page.

StatisticsMan

The Cuck Norris thing is vandalism, it appears to have been fixed. Quadzilla99 05:24, 19 April 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Good article nomination

I would pass this article, but there are a lot of POV issues.

  1. For example, in the University of Kansas section: "By the time Chamberlain was 21, he had already been featured in the Time, Life, Look and Newsweek magazines, an impressive feat for an amateur player."
  2. Again, in the "Philadelphia/ San Fransisco Warriors section: From the beginning, Chamberlain brought a level of domination to the game which had seldom been seen before.
  3. Again, in the same section: "Chamberlain took his game to even greater heights in his third season, as he set all-time records which have never been threatened since. In 1961-62, he scored a mind-boggling 50.4 points and grabbed 25.7 rebounds per game."
  4. One improper style of prose, in the Philadelphia 76ers section: "So, Bill Russell’s Celtics took the title, and Chamberlain was now 1-6 in series against his perennial nemesis."
  5. Another example, in the San Diego Conquistadors section: "So, Chamberlain became one of basketball's best-paid coaches."
  6. One more, in the "20,000 women" claim section: "Regarding his love life, Chamberlain was never at loss for female company..."
  7. Also, I think the main image could be a copyright violation. Hanuab 00:34, 5 May 2007 (UTC)
    1. This has since been rephrased
    2. I would leave this for the main contributor to resolve
    3. I have taken out the adjective; it's quite hard to describe it otherwise though
    4. I would leave this for the main contributor to resolve
    5. Ditto
    6. Ditto
    7. The image is from the US library of congress, and well although I'm not from the USA, I think based on the further descriptions found in the image page, it is probably a legitimate image for use on WP. I stand to be corrected though. Chensiyuan 12:56, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

I've made the last few minor edits myself, so the article is now fine in my book.

Incidentally, this article could go to FAC if someone wants to do that. Hanuab 02:38, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Points per game

In the introduction to the article, it says "Wilt is the only player to average more than 40 ppg in a season." Well, he's also the only player to average 50ppg in a season. Should that be reworded, rephrased, or is it fine the way it is? Billybobjoe786 (talk) 07:17, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

Although I was fine with how it was phrased, I didn't see any harm in tweaking it. So I did. Myasuda (talk) 14:07, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] So called "big men"

In the days when so-called “big men” like 6 ft 10 in Minneapolis Lakers center George Mikan were still a rare breed in the NBA, Chamberlain, who already stood 6 ft 11 in, terrified his high school opposition with his frame.

strenuously disagree with this characterization of george mikan as a "so called" big man. he was 6'10" - 6' 11" and used his height and strength to great advantage. Would suggest instead as the its reference contributes nothing to the formation of the current text would suggest removing both the sentence and footnote #8 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pastepotpete (talk • contribs) 19:57, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

Reworked that part. —Onomatopoeia (talk) 13:31, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Wilt: Larger Than Life

I have just obtained a copy of Wilt´s bio "Wilt: Larger Than Life" and will be adding info as I proceed with reading. —Onomatopoeia (talk) 13:31, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Rife with POV

Are you kidding me? "Took his game to greater heights" is not a neutral statement. This is just one example among many, makes me wonder if this was just written by a fan. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.34.3.238 (talk) 06:44, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

It's funny, because this seems to be an article that solely praises Chamberlain. Last time I checked, he was just about the worst free throw shooter ever. Last time I checked, he was known to be a stat chaser. Last time I checked, he was notorious for his awful team attitude early in his career, how he thought that he should take every shot on his team. There seems to be no mention of just how his 1961-62 season unfolded, how his coaches told him to try to shoot the ball as much as possible, and set as many records as he possibly could, etc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.34.3.238 (talk) 06:50, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

Feel free to provide views from the other side but please follow the source format used in this article, and avoid original research. Thanks. Chensiyuan (talk) 07:44, 19 January 2008 (UTC)
Can you back these BOLD statements with NEUTRAL, VERIFIABLE sources and not just YOUR P.O.V.? The "gushing homerific tone" you bash w/o naming legit sources (apart from your POV) is at least backed up with sources like nba.com, espn.com and hoophall.com, among others. If you can add something bulletproof, feel free to add, if not, then stay out of the kitchen. —Onomatopoeia (talk) 20:52, 23 January 2008 (UTC)
Now addressed these issues en passant... —Onomatopoeia (talk) 14:10, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Reworked the page

As I said before, I incorporated much info from "Wilt:Larger Than Life". The page is now 90k long, too long yes, but I frankly do not know how to shorten the article w/o sacrificing needs-to-be-told info. —Onomatopoeia (talk) 14:10, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

I think that a large part could be spun off into their own articles, like:

  • 1957 NCAA Finals -- his loss vs Tar Heels
  • 1961-62 Philadelphia Warriors NBA season -- his supreme season
  • 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers NBA season -- the season in which Hannum made him a winner
  • 1968-69 Los Angeles Lakers NBA season -- the season of the feud and the malingerer controversy
  • 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers NBA season -- the 33-win Miracle Lakers

etc etc —Onomatopoeia (talk) 14:15, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Splitting the article is a very reasonable proposal. I would suggest, however, that the article have the following three good-sized components split off from the main article: the seasons he spent with different franchises — the Warriors, 76ers, and Lakers. Chamberlain's professional NBA career naturally divides along these lines, and there's plenty of article-worthy material for each section. These sub-articles could remain focused on Chamberlain's career. As for the 1966-67 76ers and 1971-72 Lakers, I agree that these teams are worthy of articles of their own. — Myasuda (talk) 01:44, 26 January 2008 (UTC)
Addendum. The following articles are present, albeit not in particularly good shape: 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers season, 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers season.
Just added much personal life detail, going in on his egotistical yet good natured ways, his relationships to Russell and Kareem, and of course his 20,000 women. I see your points, and I concur. The difficult part is now how to split it up correctly, but after all, this is all a wiki.—Onomatopoeia (talk) 13:22, 26 January 2008 (UTC)
This may take some time, but the refs need to have a consistent look... i.e. fullstops, accessdates, page dashes, publishers, authors... I'd pick a little now and then, for the simple reason that it's quite boring combing it lol. I'd be happy to do it on my own though, just give me a couple days or so. Chensiyuan (talk) 16:01, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Y Done save for one ref that is unformatted but i seem to have lost it! Chensiyuan (talk) 07:12, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Please keep a lookout for scoreline dashes too... Chensiyuan (talk) 17:22, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Y Done Chensiyuan (talk) 07:12, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

The lead would also need to be reworked in view of the additions; in particular, the college section should be given more extensive treatment. Chensiyuan (talk) 17:23, 26 January 2008 (UTC)
Nice push on the copyedits. Preferred targets for cut-and-paste:

[edit] This has to be the most apologist page I've seen on Wikipedia

It seems that the article tries to make an excuse for every one of Wilt Chamberlain's shortcomings. This page more likely resembles a fan page than an objective article. Please try to clean it up. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.34.6.51 (talk) 09:24, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

Feel free. Chensiyuan (talk) 09:27, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

This is just ridiculous. The article is bloated with apologist excuses, biased perspectives, and unncessary details. I can't fix all of it on my own. Who is Cherry?? Who added all of these quotes from some book?

How do I go about tagging this with a disputed neutrality tag?

  • Feel free to improve. And BTW, note the negative points that Chamberlains biographer Robert Cherry lists up, like Wilt's permanent egotism, his slacking off in Phila, his inability to truly love a woman. Still think this is "apologist" and "biased"? —Onomatopoeia (talk) 11:34, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
So far you (anon that is) haven't provided any sound or reasonable basis to support your claims. Such ranting is at best disruptive; please also do not impose your demands on others and expect them to fulfill your demands. Chensiyuan (talk) 12:05, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] POV claim

Now, anon has put a POV warning on the page. Please be more specific to point out what sections need further inspection. Blanket statements are inconstructive. —Onomatopoeia (talk) 13:28, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

Looking forward to his comments; let's hope they make the article better. As there has been some consensus on the original content, any major changes should preferrably be dicussed first. Unilateral acts won't be very helpful. Chensiyuan (talk) 13:40, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Sock-puppetry

75.34.6.51 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log) is yet another (one of dozens) of sock-puppets of banned user TyrusThomas4lyf (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log · rfcu). An admin has now blocked this IP, but be on the watch for similar edits in the future. He's been an active nuisance on NBA related articles for about a year now. — Myasuda (talk) 17:02, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

LOL! Could have guessed. I assume too much good faith. —Onomatopoeia (talk) 21:03, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
I can't imagine a person who pursues such an agenda (of being disruptive) with such fervour... and persistence. Thanks for spotting the sock btw. Chensiyuan (talk) 00:09, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

He's back! Chensiyuan (talk) 05:13, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

Temp-blocked for now. Chensiyuan (talk) 05:53, 2 February 2008 (UTC)
Perhaps a semi-protect would help. Update: just requested it. —Onomatopoeia (talk) 09:52, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Reminder (how to assert a page is POV)

To the anon who tries to assert this page is POV:

How to initiate an NPOV debate? -- If you come across an article whose content does not seem to be consistent with Wikipedia's NPOV policy, use one of the tags below to mark the article's main page. Then, on the article's talk page, make a new section entitled "NPOV dispute [- followed by a section's name if you're challenging just a particular section of the article and not the article as a whole]". Then, under this new section, clearly and exactly explain which part of the article does not seem to have a NPOV and why. Make some suggestions as to how one can improve the article. Be active and bold in improving the article.

Taken from Wikipedia:NPOVD#How_to_initiate_an_NPOV_debate Essence: blanket POVs w/o explanantions are bad. —Onomatopoeia (talk) 12:23, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] NPOV dispute

Well, basically from what I can see, there are some areas in the article where Chamberlain's feats are glorified without having him take an equal share of credit for his failures - for his lack of success with his team. That's the main thing to modify. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Give me more information (talk • contribs) 02:26, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] 100 point game

Does an audio recording exist of this game? Is it available somewhere to listen to? Kingturtle (talk) 04:39, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

Go to [3] for an audio of the 4th quarter. — Myasuda (talk) 05:04, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] NCAA salary

The article states, near citation 27, that NCAA players earned $9,000 a year--but NCAA is college athletes, not allowed to be paid. Could the article be referring to NBA players? 128.2.17.193 (talk) 00:41, 2 May 2008 (UTC)