| Wilt, not Bill Willoughby, was the first player drafted by the NBA out of high school. However, he was required to wait 4 years until he could join the NBA. | Wilt played with the Harlem Globetrotters for one season (and during some summers) and played guard. | ||||
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| Wilt wasn't allowed to play his freshman year at Kansas University (NCAA rules). However, at the exhibition varsity vs. freshman game during Wilt's freshman year, 14,000 people showed up to see him. He led the freshmen to victory -- the only time the freshmen ever beat the varsity -- scoring 42 points. | |||||
| The distance from the tip of Wilt's middle finger to the break of his wrist was 9-1/2 inches. |
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Wilt was offered a contract to play for the Kansas City Chiefs. |
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| Wilt could reach 9 feet, 6 inches in the air standing flatfooted. | |||||
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| In Wilt's FIRST varsity game at KU, the Jayhawks beat Northwestern 87-69. Wilt scored 52 points, which is STILL a school record, and grabbed 31 rebounds, which no other player in KU history has ever topped (and is 2nd, only to his 36 rebound game, he had 2 years later). | |||||
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| Wilt's teams never lost to a team in the finals that had less hall of fame players than his had? | In Wilt's first NBA game, he scored 43 points on 17-of-20 shooting, grabbed 28 rebounds, and (unofficially) blocked 17 shots. | ||||
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| In his 143 games against Bill Russell, Wilt averaged 28.7 ppg and 28.7 rpg | |||||
| Wilt was never known for his free throw ability, yet he holds the regular season NBA record for most free throws in a game. |
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The night Wilt scored 100 points, he grabbed 25 rebounds -- and it was a below average rebounding night for that season! | |||
| On the night Wilt scored 100 points, he hit 28 of 32 free throws. | |||||
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| 8 times in NBA history, a player scored 70 or more points. Wilt did it 6 of those times. | Only 3 true 7 footers have led the league in rebounding: Wilt (11 times), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (once), and David Robinson (once -- and only because Hakeem Olajuwon, who says that he is 6'11", missed qualifying for the rebound title by 5 rebounds). | ||||
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| Wilt was not the tallest guy in the NBA in 1962. Swede Halbrook (7'3") was. | Wilt was not the first 7 foot player in the NBA. Walter Dukes (1955) was. | ||||
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| Wilt, unlike other big men, was an amazing leaper. He won the Big 7 in the high jump his junior year of college. | Along with the high jump, Wilt competed in the shot put and the long (broad) jump in college. | ||||
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| Wilt's "go-to" move was not the dunk, but rather the finger roll and the fade away jump shot. | |||||
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| Wilt got his nickname "The Big Dipper" from friends because he dipped under doorways. | Wilt did not like being called "the stilt." | ||||
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| Wilt never fouled out of a game, (however, he was ejected from 2.) | |||||
| In 1962, Wilt played all but 9 minutes for the entire season. | Wilt is one of only 2 players to have won the MVP in his rookie season. (Wes Unseld is the other) | ||||
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| The year before Wilt arrived, the Warriors were 32-40. Wilt's first season, they improved 17 games to 49-26. | |||||
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| Wilt used to lift weights with Arnold Shwartzenegger and Wilt got his bench press up to 500 pounds. | |||||
| In the 1967 Eastern Conference Finals against Bill Russell, Wilt averaged 22 ppg, 32 rpg, and 10 apg. | |||||
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| Wilt has authored 4 books. | |||||
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| Wilt ran the Honolulu Marathon and competed in a 50 mile Canadian race -- when he was over 60 years old! | In his career, Wilt led the league in points, rebounds, field goal percentage and assists. Had blocks been kept officially then, he probably would have led in that as well. | ||||
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| Wilt coached for part of a season. He signed a contract to be a player-coach for the San Diego Conquistadors of the ABA. However, the Lakers took him to court, and prevented him from playing, claiming that he owed them an option year on his contract. | |||||
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| In his final season, at the age of 36, Wilt was voted first team all-defense and led the league in rebounds and shot a record 72.7% from the field. | |||||