Wilt Chamberlain once told a center who averaged 31 ppg that he would not allow him to make a single shot in the first half.
Advertisement
The legend of Wilt Chamberlain grows as we get further and further removed from his playing days. Coming into the NBA in 1959, the league had already seen a dominant 6’10+ man of color put every single ‘superstar’ center of the 50s through the ringer. That of course, was Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics.
While Russell locked down the paint, rebounded like nobody else in the league, and ran the fast-break, Wilt Chamberlain did the opposite; kind of. The narrative surrounding Wilt for well over a decade was that he was selfish and stat-padded. Blocks and steals weren’t a recorded stat until 1973-74, coincidentally, the first season the NBA saw without Chamberlain.
Because his defensive prowess wouldn’t reflect on his stat-sheet, he simply didn’t care for it. Of course, this didn’t mean he stayed in the backcourt and gave up on defense. It’s just that he didn’t try as hard the 11x champ and would instead be content with racking up scoring titles.
What fueled the Warriors legend however, was a direct and individual threat to his offensive dominance. One of the first instances of this came in the 1961-62 season.
Walt Bellamy gets a rude awakening from Wilt Chamberlain.
Coming out of Indiana, Walt Bellamy was drafted first overall by the Chicago Packers (now Washington Wizards). From the get-go, it was clear that Bellamy was going to be one of the most offensively potent big-men in the league all while being a more than competent rebounder.
Despite only having been in the league for a couple of years, Wilt Chamberlain became a household name by the time the 1960s had rolled around. As you would expect, any big-man coming in the NBA would look up to Chamberlain. This was the case for Walt as he exchanged salutations with him on November 19th, 1961.
This was the first meeting between ‘The Big Dipper’ and Bellamy. Prior to tip-off, the latter approached the Warriors superstar and introduced himself by saying, “Hello Mr. Chamberlain. I’m Walter Bellamy” Wilt responded by saying, “Hello Walter. You won’t get a shot off in the first half.”
While blocks weren’t recorded at the time, it been confirmed that this indeed was the case. Bellamy had 9 of his shots blocked in the first half. When the 2nd half came around, Chamberlain told him, “Okay Walter, now you can play.”
The Warriors beat the Packers 122-114 that day with Wilt Chamberlain dropping a casual 51 points and Bellamy scoring 14. His 14 would be less than half of what he averaged that season which was 31 points per game and 19 rebounds.
Also read: Wilt Chamberlain vs. Bill Russell: Who shrunk in the Playoffs more?
