After the game, Wilt Chamberlain lost his cool over the irony of having never seen his 30,000th point go through the hoop.
All it was to Wilt Chamberlain was another record. For everyone others, it was simply history. On February 16, 1972, the guy who once scored 100 points in a single game and broke other records during his NBA career became the first player to reach 30,000 career points.
The Phoenix Suns were playing the Chamberlain’s Lakers, and it was an odd night in Los Angeles. Chamberlain never witnessed his thirty thousandth point pass through the net. He wasn’t really thrilled after the game.
Chamberlain led the NBA in scoring in his first six seasons. He also was tops in rebounding in his first four years. For his career, he led the NBA in rebounding 11 times and led the league in minutes played nine times.
The knock on Chamberlain is his lack of NBA titles. He won two championships, while his rival, Boston Celtics center Bill Russell, collected 11. Russell was consistently on better teams throughout his career, but that always seems to affect Chamberlain’s legacy.
Chamberlain wasn’t too happy after reaching 30,000 career points.
During his first six NBA seasons, Chamberlain led the league in scoring. In his first four years, he also led the league in rebounds. Over the course of his career, he led the NBA in minutes played nine times and in rebounds eleven times.
Chamberlain’s deficiency in NBA titles is a point of criticism. While Bill Russell, the center for the Boston Celtics, won eleven championships, he only won two. Throughout his career, Russell was constantly on superior teams, yet Chamberlain’s legacy seemed to be negatively impacted by this.
When Chamberlain reached 30,000 career points, he wasn’t really pleased.
