On the night of March 2, 1962, Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors produced the most famous individual performance in basketball history. In front of about 4,000 spectators at Hershey, Pennsylvania, Chamberlain scored 100 points in a 169-147 victory over the New York Knicks – the first time a professional basketball player had ever scored 100 points in a single game, and no one has done so since.
- Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points on March 2, 1962, leading the Philadelphia Warriors to a 169-147 win over the New York Knicks in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
- Chamberlain made 36-of-63 shots from the field and 28-of-32 free throws, despite his career free-throw percentage being 51.1%.
- No player has come within 19 points of breaking the record, and the performance remains one of the most iconic and unchallenged feats in sports history.
The Game in Hershey
The Philadelphia Warriors scheduled some of their home games in Hershey, Pennsylvania, to attract additional fans. On this night, New York’s starting center, Phil Jordan, was sidelined by the flu, leaving Wilt Chamberlain defended by Darrall Imhoff and Cleveland Buckner. Against them, he was unstoppable.
Chamberlain scored 23 points in the first quarter and had 41 by halftime. In the third quarter, he added 28 more, raising his total to 69. By that point, the fans began chanting, “Give it to Wilt! Give it to Wilt!”
The Warriors responded by feeding him the ball at every chance. The Knicks attempted to slow him by fouling other Philadelphia players, but the Warriors countered by committing fouls of their own to regain possession. With 46 seconds left in the game, Chamberlain received a pass from Joe Ruklick and hit a short shot that brought his total to 100 points.
Fans rushed onto the court, halting play. Chamberlain walked to the locker room, where public relations man Harvey Pollack quickly wrote “100” on a piece of paper. Chamberlain held it up for photographers, creating the now-famous image that has come to symbolize the night.
JUST IN: NBA lost the flash drive to Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point game video.
(Via @ESPNNBA) pic.twitter.com/lDUnmHOJVR
— NBACentel (@TheNBACentel) March 2, 2024
Chamberlain shattered his previous record of 78 points, set less than three months earlier. On this night, he made 36-of-63 shots from the field and 28-of-32 free throws, a striking accomplishment given that his career free-throw percentage was 51.1%. He played all 48 minutes of the game.
Wilt Chamberlain Before the Record
Wilt Chamberlain was born on August 21, 1936, in Philadelphia. Standing 7 feet 1 inch tall, he was an exceptional athlete who also competed in the high jump and long jump in college, and later played volleyball, helping to launch a professional league after his basketball career ended.
At Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, he helped his team win two city championships. At the University of Kansas, Chamberlain led the Jayhawks to the NCAA championship game, which they lost to North Carolina in triple overtime, 54-53. In that game, Tarheel Pete Brennan grabbed Chamberlain around the waist and began to wrestle him, a reflection of the aggressive play he often faced. Frustrated by this treatment, he left Kansas after his junior year.
NBA rules at the time did not allow teams to sign underclassmen, so Chamberlain spent a year playing with the Harlem Globetrotters before signing with the Warriors in 1959.
Chamberlain was an immediate star. In the 1959-60 season, his rookie year, he was named Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player. It was the first of four MVP awards he would win. In the 1961-62 season, when he scored 100 points in Hershey, Chamberlain averaged 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds per game. This broke his own record of 38.4 points per game, which he had set in the 1960-61 season.
He went on to win championships with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1967 and the Los Angeles Lakers in 1972.
Chamberlain’s Career and Later Years
Although he was the most dominant offensive player of his era, Chamberlain’s career was marred by frustrations over physical play, particularly in games against the Boston Celtics, led by Bill Russell. Russell was both a close friend and a frequent opponent, and their battles became a central storyline of basketball during that time.
Chamberlain’s difficulties at the free-throw line also attracted constant attention from fans and the media. Despite a career free-throw percentage of 51.1%, his 28-of-32 performance from the line during the 100-point game remains one of the most remarkable aspects of that night.
Chamberlain retired after the 1972-73 season and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978. In 1991, he published his autobiography, A View From Above, in which he claimed that he had slept with 20,000 women. On October 12, 1999, Chamberlain died of a heart attack at his home in Los Angeles. He was 63 years old.
Why the Record Stands Unbroken
In the decades since, no player has managed to surpass Chamberlain’s 100 points. Kobe Bryant scored 81 points for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2006 against the Toronto Raptors, the closest anyone has come. David Thompson scored 73, Elgin Baylor and David Robinson each scored 71, and Devin Booker recorded 70 in 2017.
Carmelo Anthony and Stephen Curry each had 62-point games in the past decade. James Harden has scored 60 points four times, Damian Lillard three times, and both Klay Thompson and LeBron James once each.
Still, Chamberlain’s 100 points remain unmatched. No player has come within 19 points of the record, and only five have come within 30.
To reach 100 points requires two 50-point halves. In the past 25 years, Kobe Bryant had 42 first-half points in a 2003 game, the most by any player in that span. Only Bryant, with 55 in the second half of his 81-point game, and Devin Booker, with 51 in one half of his 70-point game, have recorded 50-point halves.
Another way would be four 25-point quarters. Stephen Curry, known for his scoring bursts, has career highs of 25 points in a first quarter, 26 in a second quarter, 28 in a third, and 21 in a fourth. Those totals, combined, would equal 100 points, but he has never done it in one game.
The numbers underline why the record has stood for more than six decades. Chamberlain attempted 63 field goals in Hershey; no player has taken more than 50 in a game since. He played all 48 minutes, something that is rarely done today, especially in a blowout, when coaches are hesitant to risk injuries.
There is also the irony that no video of the game is known to exist. Fans today cannot watch Chamberlain’s baskets, the crowd’s chants, or his final shot. What remains is the photograph of him holding the “100” sign, an image that has become one of the most famous in basketball history.
Reflecting on the accomplishment years later, Chamberlain himself admitted, “It’s a record I’d hate to try to break myself.”
