Wilt Chamberlain was signed as both a coach and a player, but he never showed up for any of the practices while holding the head coaching job.
The late great Wilt Chamberlain was one of the most dominant players in NBA history and a polarizing figure that transcended the game of basketball with his fame and off-the-court impact. Wilt always did things his way, and there are numerous incredible stories about him and all of his endeavors, but the one that stands out is when Wilt decided to be a coach while still playing for the Los Angeles Lakers. That isn’t so surprising, but in Wilt’s case, his “long-distance” coaching method struck the attention alongside the fact that he ended up insulting the starting center on the team by calling him a fat pig.
Wilt aspired to be a Conquistadors player and coach.
Many things may be said about Wilt Chamberlain and his illustrious NBA career, but for the purposes of this discussion, we’ll focus on his brief tenure as the San Diego Conquistadors’ head coach. At the conclusion of his brilliant career as a Los Angeles Lakers player in 1973, Wilt made the decision to try something different in his life and took a position with the ABA team Conquistadors. That one choice alone created a great deal of commotion and was unquestionably one of the worst coaching appointments in NBA/ABA history.
Wilt agreed to a $600,000 deal to join the Conquistadors as a coach and player, but he never dressed for a game and never made the journey to San Diego to be a member of the team. Wilt’s careless actions quickly led the Lakers to pursue legal action against him. In a press conference announcing his new coaching role, Wilt even mentioned that Jerry West was considering a reunion with the franchise. Wilt claims that this was due to some contractual disputes West was having with the Lakers; you might say that this was the final straw that led the Lakers to decide to sue Wilt.
It’s interesting to note that the court decided in favor of the Lakers, ruling that Wilt could coach The Conquistadors but not play basketball for any other team. After that, Wilt made the decision to delegate the majority of his coaching responsibilities to his assistant Stan Albeck, who claimed Wilt had a wonderful sense of the game but was impatient with the long hours a coach must put in every day to be the best at what he does. Furthermore, Albeck recalls that Wilt occasionally prioritized his personal affairs over leading the squad.
Although Chamberlain possesses an excellent sense for professional basketball, he finds the routine aspects of the game boring. He lacked the necessary patience.” Though he was viewed as competent, Chamberlain was not always liked by the players and was more focused on promoting his autobiography Wilt: Just Like Any Other 7-Foot Black Millionaire Who Lives Next Door than on coaching. One time, he left a game early to sign copies of the book.”
Wilt called the starting center a fat pig, insulting him.
Wilt conducted remote coaching from his opulent Bel-Air estate, without even bothering to relocate to San Diego. Wilt’s major priorities were ladies, signings, and living the life of a celebrity; coaching was just something he wanted to do on the side.
There were times when Wilt would indeed show up for the coach’s game; nevertheless, he would frequently be seated near the sidelines with women in tow. The team’s starting center Genee Moore took exception at it and informed the media that he overheard Wilt call someone’s astrological sign “The dollar sign” when she inquired about it.
