As a 24-year-old, Wilt Chamberlain really averaged a mind-boggling 56 points and 27.5 rebounds over a 13-game period in 1961.
Advertisement
Long before the league was dominated by LeBron James in the 2010s or Kobe Bryant in the 2000s or Michael Jordan in the 1990s, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson in the 1980s, it was Wilt Chamberlain who was absolutely terrorizing the league on a nightly basis.
We all know just how dominant the great Wilt Chamberlain was. The 7-foot-1 big man was not only one of the best centers ever, but also one of the greatest players the league has ever come across.
The Hall-Of-Famer was a freak of nature, who reached the height of 6 feet when he was only 10-years-old and 6-foot-10 when he was a freshman. He entered the league as a 250-pound beast, and weighed around 300 pounds by the end of his magnificent career, and was rumored to have an 8-foot wingspan.
There have been several instances in Wilt’s career, which seem absolutely surreal to an NBA fan. Apart from scoring his famous 100-point performance, we have very well seen him stuff the stat sheet throughout the course of his career. And even seen him record an unofficial quintuple-double. During a 21-day period back in 1961, Wilt recorded some of the most unreal numbers of all time.
NBA Twitter reacts as Wilt Chamberlain averaged 56 points and 27.5 rebounds during a 13-game stretch
From 8th August 1961 to 29th August 1961, Wilt Chamberlain dominated on the basketball court like no other. During the 13-game stretch, the madman averaged 56 points and 27.5 rebounds. His performances included 1 70+ point outing, 2 60+ point outings, 9 50+ point games, and only 1 40+ point game.
Here, have a look at the wild numbers he put up during that time.
Wilt Chamberlain’s 13 game stretch from 12-08-61 to 12-29-61:
78 PTS – 43 REB
61 PTS – 36 REB
55 PTS – 16 REB
54 PTS – 25 REB
52 PTS – 30 REB
43 PTS – 22 REB
50 PTS – 21 REB
57 PTS – 25 REB
55 PTS – 19 REB
59 PTS – 36 REB
51 PTS – 29 REB
53 PTS – 30 REB
60 PTS – 26 REB pic.twitter.com/2KqtHTTX0e— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) December 8, 2021
As soon as Chamberlain’s stats went viral on social media, NBA Twitter went crazy with their reactions.
He’s not real I don’t believe he exists
— (@yrnevan_) December 8, 2021
Bro dropped 40 and folks around the league were prolly like “I clamped him tonight”
— jayden s. (OFF MY MIND OUT NOW) (@tgthagod) December 8, 2021
“He played against plumbers”
“He only shot layups”
“I could do what he did in his era”
this guy would murder any era pic.twitter.com/arywOAIsYy— Monk (@honest_laker) December 9, 2021
Time machine ever available I gotta go see that hunnit
— scooter (@scooterjeezy) December 8, 2021
That very 1961-1962 campaign was Wilt’s best season of his life. However, despite averaging a staggering 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds that season, he lost the MVP honors to Bill Russell… who had averaged 18.9 points and 23.6 rebounds, had a lesser win share than Wilt, and even had a lower FG% than him.
