Wednesday, October 13, 1999
At Klum Gym,
Chamberlain was
a gentle giant
The Hall of Famer showed
By Pat Bigold
a softer side in local
pickup games
Star-BulletinThree local residents who used to play pickup basketball games with the late Wilt Chamberlain in Klum Gym recalled that the Hall of Famer never wanted to post up.
"He just wouldn't do it," said Doc Martin, director of Rainbow intramurals.
"He'd play the guard spot but never the big man's game because, well, that would be the end of the pickup basketball game."
Martin said Chamberlain owned a penthouse in a condominium across from the Hilton Hawaiian Village during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and would saunter into Klum a couple of times a week at noon when the pickup games were on.
He had bought the penthouse from former Hawaii head coach Red Rocha and he was a good friend of another former Rainbows head coach, Bruce O'Neill.
Many of the local participants were former college players like Chuck Kozak, who'd take a break from his law practice every day to lace on sneakers.
"He (Chamberlain) said he'd had enough of posting up and wanted to play something else," said Kozak.
"He wanted to be a guard or a forward and shoot the shot he never could in the pros."
Chamberlain by the numbers A look at Wilt Chamberlain's professional basketball numbers. Points scored in a single game, an NBA record
100
Rebounds in a single game, an NBA record
55
Career points, 2nd all-time
31,419
Rebounds in one season, an NBA record
2,149
Career rebounds per game average, 1st all-time
22.9
Career rebounds, 1st all-time
23,924
Points per game average in 1961-62, an NBA record
50.4
Associated Press
Rainbows associate head coach Bob Nash was the only local resident playing in those pickup games who had an NBA background with Chamberlain.
"The last time I talked to him was back in Klum Gym," said Nash, whose 1972-73 rookie year with the Detroit Pistons was the season Chamberlain retired from the Los Angeles Lakers and the NBA.
The Pistons and Lakers played four times that season.
Nash said he was never actually on the floor with Chamberlain, but admitted, "I had the best seat in the house" to watch him battle Pistons' big man Bob Lanier.
"He (Chamberlain) was just an amazing man, even at the tail end of his career," said Nash. "I remember he hated to have to guard Lanier because Lanier could take him outside and shoot the jump shot over him. He hated to be taken away from the basket to guard somebody."
Nash said it was never a good idea to anger Chamberlain in an NBA game.
"Once he got riled, he was unbelievable," he said. "If you got him upset, it was over. You never got a shot off."
Nash said he never had a chance to speak more than a few words to Chamberlain in the NBA, but had lengthier conversations with him at Klum.
"He was down-to-earth, easy to laugh," said Nash. "But you had to be in his circle of friends to hang out with him. He was a big target and he didn't want to let his guard down."
Nash smiled when he recalled how Chamberlain had a passion for playing horse at Klum.
"He was still competitive and he always wanted to play horse. You could never beat him at horse. If he didn't win, he could cheat."
Martin said one thing that surprised him about Chamberlain at Klum was that he had an exceptional outside shot.
"Hardly anyone could beat me at horse but Wilt was really a great outside shooter," said Martin. "And everybody used to think he couldn't shoot because he couldn't shoot free throws. I guess that 15-foot distance to the basket was just wrong for him."
Nash said Chamberlain developed a love for Hawaii in the years he lived here.
"He loved the beach, he loved the sun and beach volleyball," he said. "He could come over here and be totally relaxed, not have everybody climbing over him, wanting him to do things."
WILT CHAMBERLAIN CAREER STATS
Regular Season
Year, Team GP Reb RPG Pts PPG 59-60, Philadelphia 72 1941 27.0 2707 37.6 60-61, Philadelphia 79 2149 27.2 3033 38.4 61-62, Philadelphia 80 2052 25.7 4029 50.4 62-63, San Francisco 80 1946 24.3 3806 44.8 63-64, San Francisco 80 1787 22.3 2948 36.9 64-65, S.F.-Phila 73 1673 22.9 2534 34.7 65-66, Philadelphia 79 1943 24.6 2649 33.5 66-67, Philadelphia 81 1957 24.2 1956 24.1 67-68, Philadelphia 82 1952 23.8 1992 24.3 68-69, L.A. Lakers 81 1712 21.1 1664 20.5 69-70, L.A. Lakers 12 221 18.4 328 27.3 70-71, L.A. Lakers 82 1493 18.2 1696 20.7 71-72, L.A. Lakers 82 1572 19.2 1213 14.8 72-73, L.A. Lakers 82 1526 18.6 1084 13.2 Totals 1045 23924 22.9 31419 30.1Playoffs
Year, Team GP Reb RPG Pts PPG 59-60, Philadelphia 9 232 25.8 299 33.2 60-61, Philadelphia 3 69 23.0 111 37.0 61-62, Philadelphia 12 319 26.6 420 35.0 63-64, San Francisco 12 302 25.2 416 34.7 64-65, S.F.-Phila 11 299 27.2 322 29.3 65-66, Philadelphia 5 151 30.2 140 28.0 66-67, Philadelphia 15 437 29.1 326 21.7 67-68, Philadelphia 13 321 24.7 308 23.7 68-69, L.A. Lakers 18 444 24.7 250 13.9 69-70, L.A. Lakers 18 399 22.2 398 22.1 70-71, L.A. Lakers 12 242 20.2 220 18.3 71-72, L.A. Lakers 15 315 21.0 220 14.7 72-73, L.A. Lakers 17 383 22.5 177 10.4 Totals 160 3913 24.5 3607 22.5At Hershey, Pa. CHAMBERLAIN'S 100-POINT BOX
NEW YORK
FG FT Min M-A M-A Reb A PF Pts Naulls 43 9-22 13-15 7 2 5 31 Green 21 3-7 0-0 7 1 5 6 Imhoff 20 3-7 1-1 6 0 6 7 Guerin 46 13-29 13-17 8 6 5 39 Butler 32 4-13 0-0 7 3 1 8 Buckner 33 16-26 1-1 8 0 4 33 Budd 27 6-8 1-1 10 1 1 13 Butcher 18 3-6 4-6 3 4 5 10 Team 4 Totals 240 57-118 33-41 60 17 32 147PHILADELPHIA
FG FT Min M-A M-A Reb A PF Pts Arizin 31 7-18 2-2 5 4 0 16 Meschery 40 7-12 2-2 7 3 4 16 Chamberlain 48 36-63 28-32 25 2 2 100 Rodgers 48 1-4 9-12 7 20 5 11 Attles 34 8-8 1-1 5 6 4 17 Conlin 14 0-4 0-0 4 1 1 0 Ruklick 8 0-1 0-2 2 1 2 0 Luckenbill 3 0-0 0-0 1 0 2 0 Larese 14 4-5 1-1 1 2 5 9 Team 3 Totals 240 63-115 43-52 60 39 25 169 New York 26 42 38 41--147 Philadelphia 42 37 46 44--169A--4,124. Officials--Willie Smith, Pete D'Ambrosio.
CHAMBERLAIN BY PERIOD
FG FT Min M-A M-A Reb A PF Pts First 12 7-14 9-9 10 0 0 23 Second 12 7-12 4-5 4 1 1 18 Third 12 10-16 8-8 6 1 0 28 Fourth 12 12-21 7-10 5 0 1 31 Totals 48 36-63 28-32 25 2 2 100
