Wilt Chamberlin,
who was also known as the "NBA Giant", died at age 63 in his Bel Air,
California home on Tuesday, October 12, 1999. The cause of his death
was possibly a heart attack.
Chamberlin
has a 14-year professional basketball career from 1958-1973. The 7-foot-1-inch
tall, 275 pound player starred for the Philadelphia Warriers, 76ers,
and Lakers. During his career, he won two championship rings, four MVP
awards and had 13 All-Star appearances. He was one of only two basketball
players to win the "Rookie of the Year" and "Most Valuable Player" awards
in the same season.
He scored
31,419 points during his career and still holds the record for career
rebounding with 23,924. Overall, Chamberlin averaged 30.1 points per
game in his career. In the 1961-1962 season he averaged 50.4 points
per game and 25.7 rebounds. One game during that season he scored 100
points!
After he
retired in 1973 he acted in a movie, played volleyball, and wrote an
autobiography in 1991.
NBA Commissioner
David Stern said, "We lost a giant of a man in every sense of the word."
Don't forget
to check out our Fun Facts section for more on Wilt Chamberlin!
