The New Jersey Nets once offered Wilt Chamberlain $362K to play seven games when he was 50 years old. Starling? Not really, it was Wilt!
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Wilt Chamberlain’s extraordinary abilities were evident from the moment he entered the league in 1959. He became the NBA’s first player to be both MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season.
Wilt Chamberlain, one of the league’s most unstoppable forces, retired as a four-time MVP, two-time NBA champion, and the first player to ever score 30,000 points.
Chamberlain, a towering behemoth, was dubbed “The Big Dipper” by his friends. Chamberlain has several spots in the NBA record book, but his domination is best summed up by his status as the only player to ever record a double – quadruple, which he did multiple times.
The most famous anecdote that stood out in Wilt’s post-career happened in 1986. He was 50 years old but NBA teams were willing to take the chance on him.
The New Jersey Nets once offered 50-year-old Wilt Chamberlain $362K to play for 7 games
Wilt had been retired for nearly 13 years and was 50 years old when the New Jersey Nets decided to sign him for the last few games of the regular season and playoffs. The Nets offered Chamberlain $362,000 to join them.
Wilt could have easily joined the Nets, gotten some additional money, and made a few plays for them. He saw this offer as more of a gimmick than a genuine signing.
“I didn’t think about it all,” “it seemed like a ploy… a joke.” In this LA Times piece, he explained why he declined the invitation, saying, “I respect pro basketball players too much to believe I could go out and compete… You don’t just throw a man out there.”
The Former University of Kansas great and Harlem Globetrotter played 14 NBA seasons. In 1979, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Wilt became a wealthy businessman after his stellar career with the Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers. He invested in real estate, stocks, and venues and moved to Hollywood to attempt an acting career.
