Wilt Chamberlain Biography: Net Worth, Salary, Family and Career Stats

Who does not know the 100-point spree that Wilt Chamberlain had put up while playing in the NBA in a single game? The game was not captured on cameras, but it resides to this day in the minds of the fans who witnessed it. They had a blast witnessing such a performance on the court. However, Wilt had put up many great performances in his career thanks to his never-ending stamina, agility, and athleticism.

Even teams had to adopt foul play to stop a player like him. The league changed many rules because of players like the Goliath. However, today, we will not only go through the professional aspect of his life. This piece will shed light on his personal life and interesting trivia as well.

Wilt Chamberlain Early Life

Wilt Chamberlain was born to William Chamberlain and Olivia Ruth Johnson on August 21, 1936, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His first competitive sport was track, in which he ran the 300-yard shuttle in the 1946 Penn Relays among older teammates. Surprisingly, he achieved this feat as a fourth grader. He was exceptionally tall from an early age because he was 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) at the age of 10 years old.

Also, he nearly died of pneumonia in his early years and missed a whole year of school as a result. Initially, his first love was not basketball because he called it “a game for sissies.” But he realized that the game had a great following in Philadelphia, so he started playing it as a seventh grader at Shoemaker Junior High School.

Wilt Chamberlain Biography

Wilt’s biography cannot be covered as a chart because even a book is shot for that. However, we have curated some details regarding his personal information along with his professional milestones, which can be mentioned as follows:

Player Information	Details
Full Name	Wilton Norman Chamberlain
Position	Center
DOB	August 21, 1936 (Died: October 12, 1999)
Height	7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)
Weight	275 lbs (125 kg)
Hometown	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Teams Played For	Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Lakers
Draft	1959 NBA Draft (Territorial Pick)
Debut	October 24, 1959
Nickname	“Wilt the Stilt,” “The Big Dipper,” “Goliath”
Net Worth	Estimated $10 million (at the time of his death)

Wilt Chamberlain Career

Wilt Chamberlain’s career is like a professional study of basketball among game enthusiasts. He was a generational record-setter when it came to balling due to his unusual advantages as an athlete. He could do it all and excel at every sport he played, like shot-put, track sports, and basketball.

Wilt Chamberlain High School Career

Wilt entered aș a 6 feet 11 inches kid in the Overbrook High School. He was a monster for the students because he possessed immense athleticism, stamina, and such big stature without compromising his skills. He led his high school team to two city championships over his three seasons with them. Furthermore, when he left the team after graduating, he broke Hall of Fame guard Tom Gola’s Philadelphia high school scoring record (2,222 points) with his 2,252 points. During his high school career, he tallied 37.4 points per game and the following accolades:

Year	Points Per Game (PPG)	Championships Won
1952-53	31	No
1953-54	37.4	Yes
1954-55	–	Yes

Also Read: Markelle Fultz Biography: Net Worth, Salary, Family and Career Stats

Wilt Chamberlain Professional Career

Wilt was a star even before entering his collegiate life as 200-plus colleges tried to approach him. However, Chamberlain wished to experience life away from home, so he eliminated colleges from the East Coast. Wilt also checked out the South because of racial segregation and felt West Coast basketball was of a lower quality than in other regions. Later on, he signed with the Kansas University. Wilt was good at everything. He ran the 100-yard dash in 10.9 seconds, shot-putted fifty-six feet (17 m), triple jumped more than fifty feet (15 m) and won the high jump in the Big Eight Conference track-and-field championships in three consecutive years.

Coming to basketball, he made his KU basketball debut on November 18, 1955, before 14,000 fans at the Allen Field House in the annual scrimmage between the freshman and varsity teams. He dished out 42 points and grabbed 29 rebounds, leading his team to a win. However, after his freshman season, Phog Allen left the KU when he turned 70 and had to retire. Late Wilt made his varsity basketball debut as a center for the Kansas Jayhawks on December 3, 1956. In his first game, Chamberlain got 52 points and 31 rebounds against the Northwestern Wildcats.

Individually, Wilt was performing his best and took the KU to the NCAA Championship Finals against the North Carolina Tar Heels. But they triple-teamed him, and the game went into overtime. Eventually, the Tar Heels secured the game and won the championship. During the junior season in 1957-58, Wilt averaged 30.1 points. But the basketball was not fun for him now because teams were intentionally targeting him. So, after his junior season, he decided to leave his collegiate career.

At that time, the Goliath could not enter the league because the NBA could only admit graduated individuals. So, Chamberlain signed with Harlem Globetrotters for $50,000. Then, after a year, he made his NBA debut on October 24, 1959. He signed with the Philadelphia Warriors for $30,000 in his rookie contract. In the 1959-60 season, the Bill(Bill Russell)-Goliath rivalry bloomed and turned into one of the greatest rivalries. He averaged 37.6 points and 27.0 rebounds during his freshman season, and he was not in the mood to continue the game. However, he returned to the league with a better offer of $65,000.

During his second season, Wilt Chamberlain became the first player to score more than 3,000 points and the first and still the only player to exceed 2,000 rebounds in a single season, grabbing 2,149 boards. Next season, Wilt became a menace as he dished out 50.4 points and grabbed 25.7 rebounds per game. Even his 4,029 regular-season points made him the only player to score more than 4,000 points. He reached the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics, but lost with a 4-3 record. The same season, he tallied 11 points against the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962.

In the 1964–65 NBA season, the NBA widened the lane from 12 to 16 feet (3.7 to 4.9 m), especially because of centers like Chamberlain. So, he got transferred to the Philadelphia 76ers. With this team, he won the NBA Finals in 1967. Later on, he inked a deal with the Los Angeles Lakers on July 9, 1968 for $$2.3 million. With this squad, Wilt lost twice to the Knicks in the Finals. However, he also secured his second NBA title in 1972. In 1969-70, he made it to the NBA finals but the team lost to the New York Knicks. After the 1972-73 season, he retired from the court and put up the following numbers on the career chart according to the basketball reference data:

Season	Age	Team	Position	Games	Minutes	FG%	AST	PTS
1959-60	23	Philadelphia Warriors	Center	72	46.4	.461	2.3	37.6
1960-61	24	Philadelphia Warriors	Center	79	47.8	.509	1.9	38.4
1961-62	25	Philadelphia Warriors	Center	80	48.5	.506	2.4	50.4
1962-63	26	San Francisco Warriors	Center	80	47.6	.528	3.4	44.8
1963-64	27	San Francisco Warriors	Center	80	46.1	.524	5.0	36.9
1964-65	28	2TM	Center	73	45.2	.510	3.4	34.7
1964-65	28	San Francisco Warriors	Center	38	45.9	.499	3.1	38.9
1964-65	28	Philadelphia 76ers	Center	35	44.5	.528	3.8	30.1
1965-66	29	Philadelphia 76ers	Center	79	47.3	.540	5.2	33.5
1966-67	30	Philadelphia 76ers	Center	81	45.5	.683	7.8	24.1
1967-68	31	Philadelphia 76ers	Center	82	46.8	.595	8.6	24.3
1968-69	32	Los Angeles Lakers	Center	81	45.3	.583	4.5	20.5
1969-70	33	Los Angeles Lakers	Center	12	42.1	.568	4.1	27.3
1970-71	34	Los Angeles Lakers	Center	82	44.3	.545	4.3	20.7
1971-72	35	Los Angeles Lakers	Center	82	42.3	.649	4.0	14.8
1972-73	36	Los Angeles Lakers	Center	82	43.2	.727	4.5	13.2

Wilt Chamberlain Awards and Achievements

Wilt Chamberlain had accumulated various accolades in the league from both ends of the court. It included the scoring and rebounding prowess that had a greater impact on the players of that time. His prodigious nature earned him 13 times All-Star appearances and four times NBA MVP awards in the league.

Award	Year
NBA Champion	1967, 1972
NBA MVP	1960, 1966, 1967, 1968
NBA Scoring Champion	1960-1966
NBA All-Star	13x (1960-1969, 1971-1973)
NBA All-Star Game MVP	1960
NBA Finals MVP	1972
NBA Rookie of the Year	1959-60

Wilt Chamberlain Record

Wilt Chamberlain slayed the NBA records during his playing time, setting monumental milestones for the upcoming players in the league. He was one of the greatest players in the league who could score double- and triples in stats at will. Even his opponents had to use foul tactics to stop him from scoring since Wilt was capable of blocking a dunk or stopping from scoring without even committing a foul. Here are the records that he put up in the league during his playing time:

Record	Statistic
Most points in a single game	100(March 2, 1962 against the New York Knicks)
Highest scoring average in a single season	50.4 PPG(1961-62)
Most rebounds in a game	55
Most consecutive field-goals	18
Highest rookie scoring average	37.6
Most games with 50+ points	118

Also Read: Hakeem Olajuwon Biography: Net Worth, Salary, Family and Career Stats

Wilt Chamberlain Net Worth and Salary

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Wilt Chamberlain had a net worth equal to $10 million at the time of his death. His net worth included a number of assets, including his share in the real estate and stock market. He also owned a night club in Harlem that gained significance just on Wilt’s name.  Apart from these investments, Chamberlain also did advertisements for brands like TWA, American Express, Volkswagen, Drexel Burnham, Le Tigre Clothing, and Foot Locker.

He also has a mansion that expands across 9,395 square feet of living space and six bedrooms. Along with a vast space, the real estate property also has a pool, a sauna, enough parking space for ten vehicles, and exceptional views of the Stone Canyon Reservoir and the city in the distance. The mansion is built of concrete, steel, and stone. According to the HoopsHype, Wilt got the following salary numbers during his NBA stint:

Year	Team	Salary
1959-60	San Francisco Warriors	$30,000
1965-66	Philadelphia 76ers	$100,000
1968-69	Los Angeles Lakers	$250,000

Wilt Chamberlain Wife/Girlfriend

In his 1991 memoir, “The View From Above,” Wilt Chamberlain claimed that he had slept with 20,000 different women in his lifetime. However, his comment gained a lot of buzz from the media as well as the league fans from the NBA. However, the NBA player did not marry in his lifetime and had no kids of his own.

Wilt Chamberlain Parents

Parent	Name
Father	William Chamberlain
Mother	Olivia Ruth Johnson

Wilt Chamberlain was born to William and Olivia Ruth Johnson. He was the sixth of the nine children that his parents had. Wilt’s mother was a domestic worker, while his father was a welder and handyman. His parents pushed him to be consistent with his passion because his interest in sports like track and basketball was already there.

How Many Rings Does Wilt Chamberlain Have?

Wilt Chamberlain has won two championships in the NBA. His first NBA ring came while he was playing for the Philadelphia 76ers in 1967. The Big Dipper then went through a dormant phase to get another championship in 1972 while representing the Los Angeles Lakers. Let’s dive deep into the contribution of Chamberlain to the championships of his career as follows:

Year	Team	Opponent	Finals Stats
1967	Philadelphia 76ers	San Francisco Warriors	17.7 PPG, 28.5 RPG, 6.8 APG
1972	Los Angeles Lakers	New York Knicks	19.4 PPG, 23.2 RPG, 2.6 APG

1967 NBA Championship:

Chamberlain’s then team, the Sixers, played against his former team, the San Francisco Warriors in the 1967 NBA Finals. The Warriors included the future Hall-of-Famers like forward Rick Barry and center Nate Thurmond. At first, Chamberlain and Greer took the charge, giving the Sixers. However, the Warriors made a comeback in game 3. But the tug of war went on, and the Sixers won game 4 with Chamberlain contributing an official 10 blocked shots, and the Warriors won game 5. Ultimately. The Philadelphia team was up 3–2 before the commencement of crucial Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

It was a clutch game where the Warriors were trailing 123–122 with 15 seconds left. As a last resort, Thurmond and Barry tried a pick and roll to face Chamberlain and Walker. However, the Sixers ruined this attempt as Walker held up Thurmond’s ability to roll, and Barry was defended by Chamberlain, making it impossible to shoot. By the time Barry made his move, Walker had recovered back to Barry, who was stuck in the air and fumbled the shot.

Jackson saw a chance and scored on the jump ball. Eventually, the Sixers won the championship. The Goliath said after the victory, “It is wonderful to be a part of the greatest team in basketball … being a champion is like having a big round glow inside of you.”

1972 NBA Championship:

It was a dominant phase of Wilt Chamberlain through which the Los Angeles Lakers clinched the Finals series from the New York Knicks in just five games(4-1). The Goliath’s scoring ability had improved this time. However, his playmaking and rebounding abilities were not as impressive as it was in the previous championship. But in terms of scoring, it was a record-breaking finals series for Chamberlain as he nearly had a quadruple-double with 24 points, 29 rebounds, 7 blocked shots, and 9 assists during the Game 5.

Wilt even had the NBA Finals MVP award that year despite being injured and kept everyone on edge with his performance.

Also Read: Klay Thompson Biography: Net Worth, Salary, Family and Career Stats