PHILADELPHIA - November 25, 1960
The Sports Time Traveler was here virtually in Convention Hall in Philadelphia last night to see Boston take on Philadelphia, which meant another chance to see the classic confrontation of Russell vs. Chamberlain.
This one delivered more than I expected. Way more!
Both teams are off to hot starts to this 1960-61 season. The defending champion Boston Celtics came into the game in 1st place at 9 - 3, closely followed by the Philadelphia Warriors.
Led by the greatest players in Philadelphia high school history, 2nd year player, Wilt Chamberlain, and 3rd year player, Guy Rodgers (4 double-doubles in his first 4 full games this year), the Warriors reeled off 9 straight wins to open the season. But they’ve recently cooled off and came into the game 11 - 4.
A core reason the Warriors have lost 4 of their last 6 is simple. Wilt Chamberlain is shooting free throws at a shockingly poor percentage. 3 of the losses came by 2 points or less, and in those games, Wilt whiffed on 32 of the 52 free throws he took. In one horrific home loss to Syracuse, Wilt had 45 points, 28 rebounds, 13 blocks and missed 18 of 27 free throws in a 1 point loss.
It got so bad that near the end of the game that Jack Kiser of the Philadelphia Daily News reported this:
Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures
Chamberlain is willing to do anything to make his free throws.
And leading up to last night’s game, at home against the Celtics, Wilt considered something no one had thought of before in the NBA, because no one thought it was physically possible.
Why not try to dunk a free throw?
Two days ago, on November 23rd, Jack Kiser penned a story about it that put the NBA in a tizzy.
Here was the stunning headline in the Philadelphia Daily News:
And here is the fantasy opening to Kiser’s article:
Imagine that! How exciting would that be to watch a player try to dunk their foul shots!
And it would be legal!
Kiser asked NBA referee Jim Duffy about the potential for the Big Dipper to dunk a foul shot. Duffy told him, “Yes, he could get by with it. The rules say only that you can’t make contact with the floor in front of the foul line until the ball either hits the rim or the backboard. And his dunk would already be through the hoop when he landed. I don’t see any way we could legally prevent it.”
Whoa! So It’s Possible!
And it’s not just speculation. Chamberlain told Kiser that he can in fact dunk a foul shot, “I’ve toyed with it in practice, just to see if I could do it.”
Warriors’ coach Neil Johnston toyed with the idea further. He told Jack Kiser, “We might win a game with it… You know, late in a close game with Wilt at the foul line. And have him dunk it. That would shake them up, wouldn’t it?”
Kiser then shared what Johnston said with NBA referee Sid Borgia. Borgia commented, “It would bring down the house. I’d like to see it. Sure it would be legal.”
A Quick NBA Squashing
But prior to last night’s game, Jocko Collins, supervisor of NBA officials, spoiled all the fun. Collins made an announcement that the dunking of a foul shot is now illegal for the NBA.
Collins made the announcement in direct response to Jack Kiser’s article. Collins told Kiser:
The Celtics vs. Warriors Game Begins
After all the dunk drama there was a game last night. Chamberlain started out well. By halftime he had 31 rebounds and the Warriors led the game 63 - 60.
The Warriors extended the lead to 8 points late in the 3rd quarter.
But the Celtics’ Sam Jones scored 14 of his 25 points in the 4th quarter, and the Warriors went “stone cold” according to Kiser. The Celtics went from 8 down to 9 up at 124 - 115 late in the game. The Celtics held on to win by 3 points 132 - 129.
A New Record!
In the loss, Chamberlain managed to grab 55 rebounds, and that set a new NBA single game record.
This is particularly remarkable considering Chamberlain did it playing opposite Bill Russell. And Russell played all 48 minutes of the game, while “only” managing to get 19 rebounds.
Bill Russell by the way, held the old record of 51 rebounds that he recorded in a game last season against the Syracuse Nationals. But in that game, Syracuse didn’t have a single player taller than 6’9”.
NOTE from The Sports Time Traveler
I’ve come back to the present to inform you that Wilt Chamberlain’s 55 rebounds remains the single game rebounding record.
It’s a record that will stand well into the distant future as no one has even pulled down more than 35 rebounds in a single NBA game in the past 40 years.
Now back to 1960.
Chamberlain and Russell Unimpressed
Wilt Chamberlain could have cared less about his new rebounding record. He told Kiser, “If we won, I’d felt good about the record. Now I don’t feel a thing.”
And Bill Russell was equally underwhelmed. He told Kiser, “I knew Wilt would break it sooner or later. I’m glad it came when it didn’t hurt us.”
Yet a New Foul Shot Strategy
Chamberlain who missed 6 of 10 free throws in the 3 point loss, informed Kiser he’s going to adopt another radical approach for free throw attempts, “I’m going back to underhand. I’m going to practice tomorrow, maybe a thousand or two.”
The Sports Time Traveler will continue following Russell and Chamberlain through the 1960s.