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Cover of Wilt, 1962 by Gary M. Pomerantz (2005), which draws parallels between Chamberlain's legendary 100-point game and the rising of Black America.

Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game, named by the National Basketball Association as one of its greatest games,^[1][2] took place between the Philadelphia Warriors and the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962 at Hersheypark Arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

The Warriors won, 169-147, setting what was then a record for the most combined points in a game by both teams. But the game is most remembered for the 100 points scored by Warriors center Wilt Chamberlain, who demolished the NBA single-game scoring record.

There was little advance excitement about the game, which was a meaningless late-season match. Chamberlain, the Warriors' star center, had spent the night in New York, partying all night with a female companion. With no sleep and suffering from a hangover, he boarded the train to Philadelphia at 8 am, met several friends at the Philadelphia train station and had a long lunch with them, thus almost missing the team bus to Hershey.^[2] The other players were similarly bored. Warriors player York Larese said: "The biggest thrill in my life was to see that [the famous Hershey chocolate factories]. There was nothing exciting about the Knicks playing the Warriors in Hershey. Chocolate was more exciting."^[3]

On a cold, rainy Friday night, only 4,124 spectators paid to see the match, partly more to see the footballers from the local Philadelphia Eagles, who played a show basketball game against their colleagues from the Baltimore Colts before the NBA game started.^[2] The opposing Knicks were shorthanded, because their starting center Phil Jordon was injured. So, the inexperienced backup pivot Darrall Imhoff had to play against the scoring champion Chamberlain.^[4]

From the beginning, Chamberlain's Warriors dominated against the Knicks. After a few minutes, the Warriors led 19-3, and their star center had already scored 13 points. At the end of the first quarter, the Knicks trailed 26-42, and in his typical style, Chamberlain had finger-rolled, dunked and jump-shot his way to 23 points.^[2] Imhoff was soon benched in foul trouble.^[5] By halftime, the Warriors had lost some of their edge, but still led with 79-68. After 24 minutes, Chamberlain's point total stood at 41. However, as he scored 60 or more points 32 times, the Warriors felt little excitement about this fact. "I often came into the locker room with 30 or 35 points, therefore, 41 points was not a big deal", he later explained.^[2] Warriors coach Frank McGuire ordered his men to feed Chamberlain: "Wilt is always open, so pass him the ball".

The simple tactic proved unstoppable. Soon, he had surpassed the 50-point barrier, causing arena speaker Dave Zinkoff^[6] to fire up the previously sleepy crowd. Chamberlain was unstoppable, scoring another 28 points to lift his Warriors to a commanding 125-104 lead when the third quarter ended. His own total stood at 69, nine shy of his previous scoring record. Knicks third center Dave Budd, who alternated with the foul-troubled Imhoff at pivot, later stated resistance was practically futile: "You couldn't play [Chamberlain] conventionally because he was so big. The only thing you could attempt to do was either front him, and in that case they'd try to lob it in to him, or beat him down the floor and set up where he wanted to get and force him out a couple of extra steps. The guy weighed 300 or 270 [pounds], so that wasn't easy, either."^[3] Darrall Imhoff later even stated, "He literally stuffed us through the hoop with the ball. It didn't even help we quintuple-teamed him." Chamberlain admitted, "[At the end of the third quarter] it seemed I had a good chance to break my record of 78. I didn't even dream of scoring 100."^[2]

In the fourth quarter, 7:51 minutes were left to play when Chamberlain scored his 79th point, breaking his own record and sending the crowd into a frenzy. The 4,124 spectators screamed: "Give it to Wilt! Give it to Wilt!" The Warriors suddenly sensed that they could write basketball history, and fed Chamberlain the ball at every attack. Warrior Al Attles later explained: "We wanted that Wilt got the record, because we all liked him." Attles himself led by example, passing up on an easy layup so that Chamberlain could score points 88 and 89, five minutes before the end. In addition, Warriors guard Guy Rodgers would end the game with 20 assists.^[2]

However, according to all eye-witnesses, the game became a farce. Fearing ultimate humiliation if Chamberlain scored 100 points on them, the Knicks blindly fouled any Warrior not named Chamberlain, to force them to hit free throws and keep the ball out of the center's hands.^[2] Effectively, they played the opposite of what a normal club would do if they faced a deficit, willingly giving up many easy points instead of making attempts to rally back. In retaliation, the Warriors liberally fouled the Knicks, in order to get the ball back after free throws and give Chamberlain the ball. Thus each team spent the last minutes fouling each other. The majority of the participants put the blame on the Knicks. Warriors forward Tom Meschery said: "The Knicks were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to foul anyone but Wilt. We started inbounding the ball straight to Wilt in the forecourt."^[3] However, Knicks player Richie Guerin, who scored 39 points, put the blame on the Warriors and complained: "The Warriors used any means [i.e., fouling tactics] to get the ball to Chamberlain. This had nothing to do with basketball anymore." In any case, the Warriors ended with 25 personal fouls, and the Knicks with 32, and lost Imhoff and Willie Naulls with six fouls.^[2]

With 2:45 minutes left, Chamberlain had 94 points, and after scoring on a jump shot and a layup, he stood at 98 with less than a minute to play. At the next play, Chamberlain passed the ball to Joe Ruklick, and instead of going for an easy layup, he immediately passed back, and with 46 seconds left, Chamberlain executed a finger roll to hit the century mark.^[2] The arena exploded in a frenzy. Over 200 spectators stormed the floor, wanting to touch the hero of the night.

It remains unclear whether the game's last 46 seconds were played. According to the NBA, play was halted and never resumed,^[7] German sports journalist Gunter Bork wrote that play resumed after a nine-minute break.^[2] The box score notes that Warrior Joe Ruklick hit two free throws after the break.^[4] No video exists of the game, although an audio broadcast survives.

At the end, the Warriors defeated the Knicks 169-147. No known video exists of the game, although an audio recording survives. Chamberlain made 36 of 63 field-goal attempts and 28 of 32 free-throw attempts, the latter a far better rate than his roughly 50-percent career average. (The three-point line had not yet been instituted.) Chamberlain also grabbed 25 rebounds.^[8]

Overlooked in the wake of Chamberlain's performance were Guy Rodgers, who finished with a game-high 20 assists, and Warrior Al Attles, a defensive specialist who rarely scored, yet went 8-8 from the field and hit his single free throw. He later complained: "In the game where I literally couldn't miss, Wilt had to go out and score 100."^[9]

The record of 316 combined points was only surpassed 20 years later when the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 171-166 (3 OT) on March 6, 1982, for a total of 337 points. This record was erased much more quickly: the Detroit Pistons defeated the Denver Nuggets 186-184 (3 OT) on December 13, 1983, for a total of 370 points.^[10]

Two nights later, the Warriors and the Knicks squared off again in Madison Square Garden. This time, Imhoff played all 48 minutes and got a standing ovation for holding Chamberlain to "only" 54 points.^[11]

Astonishingly, there was initially little excitement about Chamberlain's 100-point game. In his prime, Chamberlain was such a dominant scorer that his feat was mostly taken for granted. Warriors player Al Attles said that after Chamberlain's previous record 78-point game, "it was only a matter of time until he reached 100, you could wait for it."^[2] Warriors coach Frank McGuire initially thought the same, but then said: "I always thought it was inevitable that he would do it. But when he did, I stopped and thought about it. I couldn't believe it."^[3] The Warriors' PR director Harvey Pollack said an impossible 40,000 people claimed to have seen the game, and some even testified it took place in Madison Square Garden.

Two other participants were profoundly affected. Firstly, Knicks center Darrall Imhoff was branded as the player who let Chamberlain score 100 on him, although he only played 20 minutes and fouled out in the fourth quarter. On the other hand, the game immortalized little-used Warriors reserve player Joe Ruklick as the man who gave Chamberlain the 100-point assist.

In the book Wilt, 1962 (2005), sports journalist Gary M. Pomerantz uses the 100-point game as a metaphor, saying it proved that blacks could succeed in a world dominated by whites. In this book, Chamberlain acts as a symbol for Black America, and Imhoff is the pendant, standing for White America.^[12]

• Bork, Gunter (1995). Basketball Sternstunden. Munich: Copress. ISBN 3-7679-0456-X. 

• nba.com entry for the 100-point game