Segregation due to Jim Crow laws was prominent in the 1940’s. Although Plessis V. Ferguson was passed “separate but equal” in the 1890’s that was not always the case in the segregated institutions. The Jim Crow laws also forbade blacks and whites to marry. African-Americans were discriminated in everything they did, Landlords could refuse to allow them to rent from them, Blacks and Whites lived in separate neighborhoods, and often times people would not allow African Americans the right to register to vote. Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves with the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, but almost hundred years later African Americans are still enslaved due to oppression caused by America’s supremacist ideologies. Even though African Americans had a rough life, they were not just going to sit back and let this injustice happen. African Americans sought out opportunities to further their lives and make a better life for their family and the generations to them. In 1944 the United Negro College Fund was established, which helped fund traditionally black universities and colleges. The Average African-American living stateside was beginning to migrate to the cities such as Detroit, Chicago, and New York during the 1940’s. Due to this migration, more African Americans were creating new works of art creating a whirlwind of new entertainment to help them escape from the feelings of oppression. Richard Wright, the author of “Black Boy,” and blues musician Muddy Waters were active in Chicago during this period, while musicians Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald were performing in New York City. Although there was some stir of a movement for Civil Rights in the 1940’s the average African American was still wary for they were still facing the daily struggle of oppression.
Perhaps one of the greatest Basketball players ever
Wilton Norman “
Wilt”
Chamberlain was born August 21, 1936. Imagine growing up with all the above obstacles. As a child, Wilton At Shoemaker Junior High School Wilt began to play on the basketball team. He also played on the playgrounds against older players who taught him a lot about the game. He later said, “I still think you could pick up a team from the street corners of Philly that would give most colleges a real hard time.” Wilt attended Overbrook High School in Philadelphia beginning in 1952. At that time he was already 6’11” tall, and had developed what he termed a “deep love for basketball.” Wilt was one of nine children raised by William and Olivia Chamberlain. His father worked for a local publishing company, while his mother performed outside housework. The
Chamberlains lived in a racially mixed middle-class neighborhood, and Wilt enjoyed a relatively pleasant childhood.
Black American struggle was very apparent during Wilt childhood yet his athleticism appeared to be enough to survive the struggle.
After high school, he chose the University of Kansas because of the recruiting by Hall of Fame coach Phog Allen. At Kansas Chamberlain continued his brilliant play on the basketball court, scoring fifty-two points in his first varsity game. During his first varsity season, he led the Jayhawks to the finals of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament, but they lost to North Carolina in double overtime. During his college career, he averaged over thirty points per game and was twice selected to All-American teams. Following his junior year, he decided to quit college and become a professional. (Because Chamberlain did not play his final season at Kansas, he was not eligible to join a
National Basketball Association (NBA) team for one more year. He instead joined the
Harlem globetrotters and spent the year traveling the world and entertaining adults and youngsters alike. He later claimed that his year with the globetrotters was his most enjoyable season of basketball).
In 1959 Chamberlain joined the NBA’s Philadelphia Warriors and made an immediate impact on the league. He could score almost at will. Opposing teams gave up trying to stop him and instead tried only to contain him. His scoring average during the 1959-60 season was 37.9 points per game—more than eight points per game higher than anyone else had ever scored in the history of the league. He was named both Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player, the first person to receive both awards in the same season.
For the next six seasons, Chamberlain led the league in scoring. In the 1961-62 season, he averaged 50.4 points and scored 100 points in one game. In 1962-63 he averaged 44.8 points per game. Chamberlain was simply one the greatest scoring machines in the history of basketball.
Despite Chamberlain’s scoring achievements, he and his teammates were not winning NBA championships. The Boston Celtics and their center Bill Russell (1934–) dominated the game in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Russell had revolutionized basketball with his defense as much as Chamberlain had with his offense, and Russell always had a great group of supporting players. Chamberlain always took a great deal of abuse from the media and fans because of his lack of success against Russell.
Finally, in 1967, Chamberlain reversed his fortunes. He had been traded to the new Philadelphia team, the 76ers, and in 1967 they finished the regular season with the best record in the history of the league. In the championship series, the 76ers polished off the San Francisco Warriors to win the first world title for Chamberlain.
Several years later Chamberlain was traded again, this time to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers had featured numerous great players through the years, including Elgin Baylor (1934–) and Jerry West (1938–), but had not won a championship since moving to Los Angeles from Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1960. In 1972, however, the Lakers seemed poised to finally win a championship. They finished the year with the best regular season record in history, breaking the record set by Chamberlain and the 76ers in 1967. In the championship series, the Lakers played the powerful New York Knickerbockers, led by Willis Reed (1942–), Dave DeBusschere (1940–), Bill Bradley (1943–), and Walt Frazier (1945–). In the fourth game of the series, Chamberlain suffered a fractured wrist. Although the Lakers led the series three games to one, the series still seemed in doubt because of Chamberlain’s injury. Despite the understandable pain, Chamberlain played the next game with football linemen’s pads on both hands. He scored 24 points, grabbed 29 rebounds, and blocked 10 shots. The Lakers won the game and the series four games to one, bringing the first world championship to Los Angeles.
Following the 1973 season, Chamberlain left the NBA as the all-time leader in points scored (more than 30,000), rebounds (over 22,000), and with four Most Valuable Player awards and more than forty league records. After retiring from basketball, Chamberlain was involved in a wide variety of activities. He sponsored several amateur athletic groups, including volleyball teams and track clubs. He invested wisely through the years and spent his retirement years as a wealthy man. He also kept in outstanding physical condition. When he walked into a room or onto a basketball court, he was a legendary presence.
Chamberlain gained further notoriety in 1991 with the release of his second and most talked about autobiography, A View from Above. The book contains observations on athletes of the 1990s, gun control, and his fourteen years in the NBA, among other topics. But it was the claim that he had slept with twenty thousand women that landed him in the celebrity spotlight and in the public hot seat. Reflecting upon this claim, Chamberlain regretted the way he discussed sex in the book and became a champion of safe sex. In 1997 Chamberlain published Who’s Running the Asylum?: The Insane World of Sports Today. His last book provides a critical discussion of the sports industry and the NBA, including his own ranking of basketball’s greatest players.
Chamberlain died on October 12, 1999, in his Bel Air, California, home. Chamberlain had been treated for an irregular heartbeat in 1992 and was on medication to treat the condition. Chamberlain is remembered as one of the most dominant players to ever grace a basketball court. His record of 100 points in a game is a record that will be hard to break.
ESPN gave a great overview of Chamberlin NBA career, please check out this link: https://youtu.be/Zv84JlRKhrQ
(Beginning paragraph by Blogger Delaney)
Read more: http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ca-Ch/Chamberlain-Wilt.html#ixzz4bMqM8gpYhttps://youtu.be/Zv84JlRKhrQRead more: http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ca-Ch/Chamberlain-Wilt.html#ixzz4bMq9ZyEARead more: http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ca-Ch/Chamberlain-Wilt.html#ixzz4bMpvwJXiRead more: http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ca-Ch/Chamberlain-Wilt.html#ixzz4bMpUobpTRead more: http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ca-Ch/Chamberlain-Wilt.html#ixzz4bMpM9nVFRead more: http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ca-Ch/Chamberlain-Wilt.html#ixzz4bMpBhZPl
Wilt Chamberlain.
Reproduced by permission of
AP/Wide World Photos.
Because Chamberlain did not play his final season at Kansas, he was not eligible to join a National Basketball Association (NBA) team for one more year. He instead joined the Harlem Globetrotters and spent the year traveling the world and entertaining adults and youngsters alike. He later claimed that his year with the Globetrotters was his most enjoyable season of basketball.Scoring machine
Read more: http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ca-Ch/Chamberlain-Wilt.html#ixzz4bMoPFhqX
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