“7’1 Wilt Chamberlain dislocated Bullets legend’s shoulder in 1 blow”: Billy Cunningham described just how much brute strength ‘The Big Dipper’ possessed

Wilt Chamberlain dislocated a Baltimore Bullets legend’s entire shoulder while trying to get back at him for dunking on him. 

The legend of Wilt Chamberlain feels more like a fable than an actual recount of what had taken place in the NBA during his 14-year career. Having a Wikipedia page dedicated solely to how many records you still hold in the NBA despite having retired half a century ago is a true testament to how dominant Chamberlain was. 

His dominance didn’t just stem from the fact that he was as skilled as a big man could’ve been at the time with his footwork and 12-foot fadeaways. The main source of his dominance came from his seemingly Herculean physical prowess over the rest of the players in the league. 

‘A man amongst men’ would be a great way to describe Wilt Chamberlain. He clocked a 4.4 on the infamous 40-yard dash, had a 45+ inch vertical, long jumped 22 feet, and according to Arnold Schwarzenegger, could bench press 500 pounds at age 48. 

With all this in mind, hearing about ‘The Big Dipper’ dislocating a grown man’s elbow inadvertently shouldn’t be that much of a surprise.

Also read: “Wilt Chamberlain, me and Michael Jordan!”: When 6’5″ Kobe Bryant named himself in his list of greatest players while dominating James Harden in the Drew League

Wilt Chamberlain dislocated Gus Johnson’s elbow. 

Gus Johnson wasn’t a ‘run of the mill’ type player during his 10 year career in professional basketball. Half of his career saw him be an All-Star and he most definitely deserved it, being a powerful player who banged down low at a sturdy 6’6 and 230lbs of pure muscle. 

With Gus playing in the post quite often for the Baltimore Bullets, he would clash with Wilt quite on several occasions. On one fateful November 26th night in 1966, Gus would get the full ‘Wilt Chamberlain experience’. 

According to fellow NBA legend, Billy Cunningham, who spoke to the Philadelphia Inquirer on October 26th, 1986, Gus ticked off Wilt on that night in ‘66. The 5x All-Star dunked around Chamberlain and taunted Philly for it and when he tried to do it again, Chamberlain blocked him so emphatically that he dislocated Johnson’s shoulder. 

“It was Gus against Wilt. Gus went in to dunk and Wilt caught the ball, threw Gus to the floor. They had to take Gus off the floor with a dislocated shoulder,” said Cunningham. 

Seems as though Chamberlain couldn’t get a grip on how much strength he needed to use in certain situations.

Also read: “7 footer Wilt Chamberlain is the best basketball player I’ve watched”: Atlanta Hawks legend Dominque Wilkins considers “Wilt the Stilt” G.O.A.T over Michael Jordan