The 50th anniversary of a record that may never be broken

Philly. com with a nice oral history of the game.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/20120226_100__The_story_behind_one_of_the_NBA_s_most_historic_games.html?viewAll=y

 

That has always been the most captivating part of Wilt to me, that he could do absolutely anything. Like the time he was getting criticized for being a ballhog, he took 10 less shots a game in 1966-67, so he finished third in the league in assists and the Sixers won his first championship.

 

Oh, I am not diminishing Wilt's 100-point performance at all. It is otherworldly and might not be broken in the next 50 years.

All I'm saying is that from people who were there it wasn't the awe-inspiring moment you would think it might be. Perhaps because Wilt had scored 78 and 73 earlier that year.

To me the fact that Wilt's 100-point game came with so little coverage and fanfare at the time,makes it an even bigger accomplishment than it might otherwise have been.

Speaking of Wilt's athletic prowess, he also wanted to box Ali in his prime and I think there was even a signed contract.

 

I don't know where you came up with that conclusion. I've talkked with two people who were there, Harvey Pollack and Bill Campbell. It was a very big deal.

 

It was a publicity stunt. Was never going to happen.

 

You have a much greater chance of a gaping talent discrepancy in high school basketball than you do the NBA.

 

When the Wilt-Ali thing was going on (and it was all hype by two master hype artists), Wilt wrote a first person article on the NBA for Sports Illustrated and was on the cover with his shirt off. In the article, he said "If you don't think I can beat the champion, I suggest you take another look at the cover of this magazine."
This in turn was relayed to Ali, who responded "Timber-r-r-r-!"

 

I didn't know Avery Schreiber was black.