Wilt Chamberlain was not only one of the greatest basketball players ever but also one of the strongest people alive as Arnold Schwarzenegger found out.
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Schwarzenegger, better known for his roles in the Terminator movies, is a bodybuilder himself, and he was at one point, one of the strongest people in the world.
His workout plans and diets were incredible and helped him achieve a level of muscularity normal people can only dream about. However, even he was humbled by how strong the former Warriors and Lakers legend was.
Chamberlain is, of course, known for his 100 point game and insane scoring stats in the NBA. He once averaged 50 points per game and 24 rebounds per game. Wilt was simply dominant back then.
However, Schwarzenegger didn’t care about his basketball prowess. He was way too mesmerized by how strong Wilt really was, and he found out first hand.
Wilt Chamberlain once lifted a 3,000 pound car and lifted Arnold Schwarzenegger with one hand
There are some incredible stories about Wilt’s strength, and we can get right into it by talking about how he once lifted a 3,000 pound car.
A normal midsize car can weight about 3,000 pounds, but this was no problem for Wilt. Former NBA PR Chief Haskell Cohen needed help changing his tires once, and Wilt was glad to offer his services.
Instead of using a jack though, Wilt resorted to his bare hands. “One day up here I found a flat on my car and no jack to change the tire,” Cohen recalled. “Wilt was only 17 then, but he started to lift the back of the car off the ground with his bare hands when I stopped him. I was afraid the kid would give himself a hernia.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger had a very personal experience with Wilt which showed him his strength. Supposedly, Wilt used to wow him with his gymming skills, and he even once lifted Schwarzenegger up with one hand.
“He came to the gym and he would do a tricep extension — the big guys, the strongest guys would do 120 pounds, let’s say — he would come and do 150, 170 pounds. That’s how strong he was. He lifted me up with one hard like nothing,” Schwarzenegger recalled.
Wilt and bodybuilder Andre the Giant (who weighed 500 pounds) would also bully around Schwarzenegger, making the massive man himself look tiny in comparison.
“I remember Andre the Giant and Wilt Chamberlain — we both went out to dinner several times in Mexico City when we did a movie down there — and both of them were joking about who could pick me up and make me look lighter and like a little fly. They were so powerful it was ridiculous.”
So, yeah Wilt was essentially as strong as a 7-foot man who weighed 500 pounds. It’s incredible, and it’s something that doesn’t get talked about as much when discussing Wilt’s legacy.
