Wilt might have converted at least one of the 20,000 attempts

In SI, man born in San Francisco in 1965 says he thinks he is The Dipper's son.

A Giant Shadow: Did Wilt Chamberlain have a son? - NBA - SI.com

But until the day he died, at 63, from a heart attack at his Bel-Air mansion in October 1999, Chamberlain made it clear there would be no “little Wilties.” He was right in a way. Levi is 6' 5" and weighs 250 pounds.

... In his email to me, Levi said that after he finally identified a British woman as his biological mother, she told him that he was conceived in a one-night stand with Chamberlain in San Francisco in 1964. She said she had kept his birth a secret from her own family and had struggled ever since with guilt over his birth and adoption. Levi added that in 2010 he reached out to two of Chamberlain’s sisters, by letter and by phone, but they spurned him.

 

Hardly surprising. There are probably others that never bothered to investigate like this guy did.

 

What's a safe number of little Wilt's out there? 2,500?

 

I didn't read the article until today when my wife saw it and realized she went to high school with this guy. I took a couple of philosophy classes from his adoptive father in college.

 

Wilt -- The leading scorer in basketball history. No question.

 

The pic comparison between Levi in his teens and early-20s Wilt certainly do look pretty close, and the circumstantial evidence from the adoption papers pretty strong as well.

Since he has already disclaimed wanting any money from any of Wilt's survivors, you'd think they'd go for the DNA testing just to find out.

The "20,000" of course was always a crock. There had been speculation for years there was another reason there were never any paternity suits.

 

Just finished reading the story. It was incredibly well done. Aaron Levi (Wilt's kid) expresses himself and the complexities of the situation brilliantly. If you haven't already read it, many parts will make you think.

Two thumbs up.

 

Wilt has been dead 15 years and counting.
The average American now probably barely even remembers who Wilt Chamberlain was. Even hardcore basketball fans only think of him once in a while.

Somehow I doubt Aaron Levi will be able to parlay son-of-Wilt status (if confirmed) into worldwide fortune and fame.

 

I didn't get the impression at all that the guy wanted to parlay his son-of-Wilt status into anything. Maybe he just wants to know who his father is. I've never been in his situation, but I can only imagine the questions I would have if I didn't know the background of my parents.

 

There seemed to be some indication that Wilt's surviving sisters were set against doing DNA testing because Levi could 'cash in' if proven to be Wilt's real son.

I think it would be a minor curiosity at most. Levi is 49 and Wilt has been gone 15 years.

These days when people think about monstrous hulking centers from the bygone days of the NBA ... they think of
Shaq.

 

According to the story, the kid's not trying to cash in. He's 50 and self-sufficient. The story points out that Wilt's money's gone anyway. "Flip Wilson"(above) is spot on -- it's really about a kid's search for his father. A poignant search. Kid never got a chance to know his dad while he was alive because he didn't know who his dad was.

Still a great read.

 

It's well written and Levi seems like an interesting person, but I don't think that there is much of a story there. Man knocks up woman, she gives the kid up for adoption and the father dies before the kid learns who his father is.

Levi's soul searching is really about himself, and Wilt is a bit player.