Though Great, Chamberlain's 100 Points Were Deceiving

CLEVELAND - There have been some indomitable offensive players throughout the 63-year history of the NBA. From Elgin Baylor, Jerry West and Rick Barry to Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, and Kobe Bryant, pro hoops has seen its share of indefensible scorers.

Wilt Chamberlain set the standard.

Today marks the 47th anniversary of Chamberlain's historic 100-point game which took place in Hershey, PA in front of a paltry 4,100 or so fans. The game, a 169-147 Philadelphia Warriors triumph over the New York Knicks was amazingly thought of as an afterthought at the time. In the decades since, it has taken on a mythical status, especially since no video footage exists of the contest.

Chamberlain's offensive prowess was very well known at the time. He'd recently scored an amazing 78 points in a triple overtime game earlier that season and hit the 60 point mark on an unreal 16 other occasions during the 1961-62 season.

But that 100-point game wasn't as impressive as one would think.

Wilt, known as The Big Dipper for his propensity to dunk the basketball over anyone in a game towered over everyone in the league. What's more, the NBA was only in its 16th season when this scoring feat occurred and had yet to fully establish itself or its players. Don't get me wrong. Some of the greatest basketball stars in history were around and dominating; Oscar Robertson (who averaged an unthinkable high triple double that season), West, Baylor and Chamberlain's chief rival Bill Russell. But defensive strategies against him weren't the comprehensive, intricate schemes of the NBA of the past 20 years or so.

Not to mention that Wilt was the biggest and strongest guy in the game.

The 100-point game also degenerated into a farce towards its conclusion. Once it became obvious that Wilt was going to set a huge record, his Warriors teammates began dumping the ball down low to him on every play. Ironically, he was drilling his foul shots at an amazing clip -- a stark contrast to his notoriously awful career percentage. So when the Knicks were instructed to not foul him down the stretch, it spoke volumes about their determination to prevent him from hitting the century mark.

But he hit it anyway.

During the past 25 years, the NBA has become much bigger, stronger, faster and more sophisticated. Chamberlain's legendary '61-'62 season saw him average an unreal 50.4 points and an impossible 25.0 rebounds per game, numbers so extraordinarily high that they've been unthinkable for more than 40 years.

Beginning in the mid-1980's, super mid-sized players became the top offensive machines. Wilkins was a major scoring threat, but the 1984 arrival of Jordan took scoring to another level in the modern game. It was Michael that, in 1986-87 became the only player in history outside of Wilt to score at least 3,000 regular season points. With Jordan being a lithe, 6'6" guard, the feat was remarkable, especially since he dominated in a league of much bigger and stronger players.

When Jordan had two 61 point games that season, many suspected he may break Chamberlain's record. Indeed, scoring the basketball was extremely effortless for him, evidenced partly by his record 10 NBA scoring titles. He had a career best 69 points in 1990 and another 64 points three seasons later at age 30. That was his last time scoring in the sixties. A year later, Spurs star center David Robinson netted 71 points, second only to David Thompson's 73 in the previous 16 years.

Bryant entered the league in 1996 as a former prep star in Philadelphia. After eight years playing second fiddle to Shaquille O'Neal, Bryant's overwhelming scoring brilliance flourished without restriction when O'Neal left for Miami in 2004. Less than a year and a half later, Bryant pulled an amazing feat by scoring a Herculean 81 points in a mid-season matchup with Toronto. It was the second most points ever scored and set the stage for Kobe's outrageous scoring spree over the next couple seasons.

Bottom line, the NBA in Chamberlain's day was still in its infancy. On top of that, he had a clear and decided physical advantage over every player in the game. The 100 points are still a marvel, but if he had to face the players and defensive schemes of the '80's, '90's and today, he may have topped out at somewhere in the 60 to 65 point range, with everything else being the same. Even still, he holds the record and set the standard.

That can never be taken away from him.