A Look into the Life of Wilt the Stilt (part 5)
Chamberlain joined the Los Angeles Lakers on July 9th, 1968. He was given a contract that paid him 250’000 dollars, making him the highest paid Lakers player. Chamberlain joined the squad which contained Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Mel Counts, Keith
Erickson, Tom Hawkins, and Johnny Egan.
Chamberlain was not a leader, nor was he a follower. This made it difficult for him to fit in with the team. The greatest problem was his relationship with Coach Butch Van Breda Kolff, who actually said that Chamberlain was egotistical, slacked off during
practice and that he did not give him the respect that he deserved. As a rebuttal, Chamberlain claimed that Van Breda Kolff was the worst coach ever. Chamberlain had a frustrating season, as Von Breda Kolff benched the player in mid season. The Big Dipper
only played two games total!
In the playoffs of 1969, the Lakers defeated Chamberlain’s old team (the Warriors) by winning 4 games and only losing 2. After defeating the Atlanta Hawks as well, the team went on to face their old rivals, Boston Celtics. Even though the Lakers won a couple
of games, Chamberlain did not perform as well as they had hoped, and lost the title to the Celtics. Even though the Lakers lost, Jerry West was awarded the NBA Finals MVP, making him the only person to win the award from the losing team. To top things off,
Butch Van Brenda Kolff resigned as the Lakers coach that season as well.
In Wilt’s second year as a Lakers player, he injured his knee and was forced to miss the next few months. He came back in the last three games. In the 1970’s playoffs, the Lakers were played against the New York Knicks. Due to Chamberlain’s injury, he was
too slow to block some of the shots made by the Knicks’ Willis Reed. However the Lakers won the second game by two points and lost game three by three points. Chamberlain helped tie the series by winning game 4. He scored 18 points and managed to get 25 rebounds.
Even though, the Lakers were doing well in the series, they lost Game 7.
Willis Reed managed to stay in the lime light, by making the first four baskets of the game even though he was injured. This over shadowed the fact that Chamberlain himself was coming back into the game sporting a nearly career ending injury.
In the next season, the Lakers signed on Gail Goodrich from the Phoenix Suns. In the season, Chamberlain once again led the NBA rebounding scores, and the Lakers won the Pacific Division title. The Lakers joy was not to last for long, as they lost Elgin
Baylor to a career ending injury to the Achilles tendon, and Jerry West to a knee injury.
It was because of this that fans thought that the Lakers were going to lose to the Milwaukee Bucks, who sported the iconic players Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson in the Western Conference Finals. The fans were right this time round, as the Bucks
floored the Lakers in the finals. Although there was one positive thing that came out of this loss; even though Chamberlain lost the game, he was praised for being able to play against Abdul-Jabbar despite being older and being injured.
In 1971, the Lakers hired Bill Sharman as the lead coach. Sharman had some interesting ideas to make the team better than it already was. He introduced morning practice, which to everyone’s surprise, Chamberlain also attended. These practices changed him
into a more defensive player. In addition to this, Chamberlain was to use his rebounding and passing skills to help his team perform “fast breaks” to Happy Hairston, MacMillian, Goodrich, West, Flynn Robinson, and LeRoy Ellis. Chamberlain was named the new
captain of the Lakers due to Baylor’s departure from the world of basketball. Chamberlain led his new flock to a 33 game win streak and a 69 win regular season record.
During the 1972 NBA finals, the Lakers faced off with the New York Knicks, who were missing Willis Reed due to his injury. The Knicks won the first game due to Lucas and lost to the Lakers in game 2. In game 3, chamberlain managed to pull off 26 points and
20 rebounds which led the Lakers to win another game in the series. While playing aggressively during game 4, Chamberlain fell down and broke his hand (he claimed that it was only sprained even thought the hand was in fact broken). Chamberlain helped the Lakers
win the 5th game in the series, earning them their first championship. Chamberlain received the NBA Finals MVP award for his efforts.
In 1973, Chamberlain was signed as a player-coach for the San Diego Conquistadors, a team in the ABA, for a whopping 600’000 dollars salary. Sued by the Lakers, Chamberlain was unable to play in the sport, thus was left to coaching. He retired from basketball
a season later. After basketball, Chamberlain went into the business and entertainment fields and started to make money from stocks and real estates. He also opened a night club by the name of “Harlem”. After basketball, Chamberlain took a liking to volleyball.
He was good at the sport due to his tall height and strength. He also took up acting for a little bit, and starred next to Arnold Schwarzenegger, in the movie “Conan the Destroyer”. Chamberlain passed away in 1999 due to deteriorating health conditions.
In his career, Chamberlain was 7 feet 1 inches tall, two time championship winning player. He is known as the most amazing basketball player, who reached the level of excellence in basketball that very few other players have reached. He enjoyed success not
only in basketball, but in other aspects of his life as well.
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