Wilt Quotes

“several things, but most among them was basketball’s oldest lesson: one man can’t do it alone, no matter how big or how good but, given adequate teammates, one dominant figure means championships—as Mikan used to, and as Russell did for so long. Now it was Wilt.”
― Robert Cherry, Wilt: Larger Than Life

“Six players on the 76ers averaged double figures: Wilt (24.1 points), Greer (22.1), Walker (19.3), Cunningham (18.5), Jones (13.2), and Jackson (12.0).”
― Robert Cherry, Wilt: Larger Than Life

“And Wilt was third, with an average of 24 points—15 points per game under his then-career average. (However, on average, Wilt only took 14 shots per game that year.) Just to show he could do it if he wanted to, he threw down 58 points against Cincinnati one night.”
― Robert Cherry, Wilt: Larger Than Life

“Yes, Wilt was playing the best basketball of his career, by far—but not because of any innate deficiency in the past. It was only because he had the right team situation at last—the kind of situation Russell had stepped into from the first when he joined a team that had Cousy, Sharman, Heinsohn, and Auerbach to coach it.”
― Robert Cherry, Wilt: Larger Than Life

“In the 1961–1962 season, Wilt took 35.3 percent of his team’s shots; in 1966–1967, he took 14 percent.”
― Robert Cherry, Wilt: Larger Than Life

“Earl Strom called a technical foul on Wilt Chamberlain for excessive talking. At this point Mr. Strom informed me that Chamberlain made reference to Earl Strom’s old mother. Before the foul shot, Chamberlain yelled at Strom that he must be gambling on the game. This was in earshot of all the front-row spectators. I immediately applied another technical and ejected him from the game. He”
― Robert Cherry, Wilt: Larger Than Life

“The NBA season was then 80 games, and Wilt played in every minute of 79 games (a record) and missed only the last eight minutes and 33 seconds of one game. Wilt averaged 48.5 minutes per game, even though an NBA game has 48 minutes. The Warriors played seven overtime games that season—five single, one double, and one triple—which explains how Wilt could average more than 48 minutes per game. No one has ever come close to that average and, as most basketball people agree, no one ever will. It is one of the most impressive records for stamina in the history of sports. No fluke that, for eight other seasons Wilt led the league in number of minutes played.”
― Robert Cherry, Wilt: Larger Than Life

“In spite of Wilt’s heroics, Boston ran away with the Eastern Division title in 1961–1962. In one game, Wilt scored 62 points, Bill Russell fouled out, and still Boston found a way to prevail. Indeed, the Warriors lost six straight and eight of twelve games to the Celtics that year. With Wilt averaging 50 points a game, how could the Warriors lose—to Boston or anyone else? “It isn’t a one-man game,” said Frank McGuire, the Warriors coach, who was asked the question many times during that season. “We’ve got our weaknesses. Wilt has simply been superhuman.”
― Robert Cherry, Wilt: Larger Than Life

“The most impressive feat I’ve ever seen in sports is the season Wilt averaged 50 points a game. When you’re averaging 50 points a game and you have a 35-point night, you’re 15 points off your average—and 35 points isn’t bad. So for Wilt to get 35 points would have been a terrible night for him. I can’t believe his feat will ever be equaled by anybody. —Paul Arizin, teammate during the record-breaking season”
― Robert Cherry, Wilt: Larger Than Life

“Their first game as Harlem Globetrotters was on January 7, 1927, 48 miles from Chicago in that famous basketball haven of Hinckley, Illinois. They earned a total of $75 for their effort: $20 to Saperstein, $10 to each of the five players, and $5 for expenses. Twenty thousand games, 100 million spectators, and 115 countries later, the Globetrotters probably rank as the best-known and most-”
― Robert Cherry, Wilt: Larger Than Life

“the highest scoring average in a season (30.1); the highest average in a career (29.9); and the highest rebounding averages in a season (18.9) and a career (18.3).”
― Robert Cherry, Wilt: Larger Than Life

“Decades after his last college game, he was still the holder of a slew of Kansas basketball records: the single-game record for points (52), rebounds (36), field goals (20), and free throws (18);”
― Robert Cherry, Wilt: Larger Than Life

“—Jerry West”
― Robert Cherry, Wilt: Larger Than Life

“From his bad knees to his bad hip, basketball had taken a toll on Wilt, and in his later years, the pain kept him from being as active as he would have liked.”
― Robert Cherry, Wilt: Larger Than Life

“Without Wilt I never would have won a world championship. I am forever grateful that I had the opportunity to experience that feeling as a player.”
― Robert Cherry, Wilt: Larger Than Life