Wilt Chamberlain signed a $600,000 contract to coach in the ABA but instead got sued by the Los Angeles Lakers.
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Wilt Chamberlain capturing 2 titles from 1959 to 1974 says quite a lot just as much about Bill Russell as it does himself. Wilt’s reluctance to get teammates involved, keep them at least moderately happy, defend at a high level, and overall be the team’s leader cost him what could’ve been at least 3 more rings.
‘The Big Dipper’ did manage to get his second championship when with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1971-72 season. Credit to Chamberlain here as he molded his game after Bill Russell in this season, deferring to Jerry West on offense and being the absolute anchor on defense. They still hold the record for the longest win streak with 33 games.
The following year in 1973, the Lakers under Bill Sharman would be just as successful in the regular season with 60 wins. However, come Finals time, they would lose to the 1970 champs, the New York Knicks.
When the 19773-74 season rolled around, Wilt Chamberlain wanted a change of scenery. So, he decided to head towards the ABA.
Wilt Chamberlain got sued by the Lakers.
Going into the 1974 season, Wilt Chamberlain set his sights on once again replicated what Bill Russell had done but this time in the ABA. He decided to become a player/coach for the San Diego Conquistadors and signed a $600,000 contract to carry this forward.
However, in classic Wilt fashion, the 37 year old began to no-show games almost immediately. What was more pressing at the time for the Conquistadors however was the fact that Chamberlain was being sued by the Los Angeles Lakers for wanting to play for San Diego when he was still under contract with them.
The Lakers actually won the suit and the court ruled that the 2x NBA champion could not play in the ABA. He could however coach in that league. Even with this being the case, Wilt Chamberlain didn’t pay much attention to his newest coaching gig.
A fun tidbit here is that his assistant coach on the Conquistadors was Stan Albeck, the same man who welcomed Michael Jordan into the league as his first coach on the Chicago Bulls. Wilt started to defer to Stan for the entirety of the season, with Albeck confirming that the day-to-day grime of coaching was boring to him.
Despite never having stepped foot on ABA hardwood for San Diego, ‘The Stilt’ still managed to snag every last bit of that $600,000.
