Basketball legend Chamberlain dead

Chamberlain was discovered in his bed and not breathing in his exclusive Bel Air residence by Joe Mendoza, a long-time employee who first thought Chamberlain was sleeping, police said.

Sy Goldberg, Chamberlain’s personal assistant, said the former player had been experiencing heart problems of late. “He had been complaining off and on. He was on medication,” Goldberg said.

Golden State Warriors vice-president Al Attles, a long-time friend and former teammate, said: “He was always a person that I viewed as being bigger than life in more ways than one.

“I had heard recently through friends and associates that he hadn’t been feeling well, but again, I felt Wilt was a person who was able to overcome anything.”

One of the NationalBasketball Association’s first giants, the 7-foot-2-inch Chamberlain had exceptional skills for a big man.

He could block a shot, run down the loose ball, dribble the length of the court and dunk.

He captured NBA titles with the 1967 Philadelphia 76ers and with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1972.

As an individual player, he was unstoppable, once scoring 100 points in a game and pulling down 55 rebounds in another.

He is one of only two players, along with fellow Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, to score more than 30,000 points in a National Basketball Association career.

“We’ve lost a giant of a man in every sense of the word,” said NBA President David Stern. “The shadow of accomplishment he cast over our game is unlikely ever to be matched.”

Jerry West, who teamed with Chamberlain to lead the Lakers to their first NBA Championship in Los Angeles in 1972, said: “We truly lost one of the icons of pro basketball.”

Rules at both the college and pro level were changed to try and slowChamberlain, but had little effect. His presence brought on the widening of the lane and limitations on in-bound passes and free-throw attempts.

Known as Wilt the Stilt,’ Chamberlain holds 29 of the 41 top single-game scoring totals and 10 of the top 15 rebounding games.

His 31,419 points are second all-time to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and his 23,924 rebounds are the most in history — even more than long-time nemesis Bill Russell.

In 14 years with the Philadelphia and San Francisco Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers and Lakers, Chamberlain won the scoring title seven times and the rebounding crown 11 times.

He joined the Philadelphia Warriors in the 1959-60 season, when he became the first player in NBA history to be named Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year in the same season.

He averaged 37.6 points and 27 rebounds per game in his first season and was named to the All-Star team.

Perhaps his most astonishing statistic was the 50.4 points per game he averaged during the 1961-62 season, when healso averaged 48.5 minutes per game.

While some attributed his success to his size, he was a formidable all-around athlete. He could run the 400m in 48.8sec, and could high jump nearly 6-feet-7-inches.

Chamberlain was also controversial. He criticised the play of younger stars, including Abdul-Jabbar and current Laker star Shaquille O’Neal. He also wrote an autobiography in which he told of thousands of sexual conquests.

THE CHAMBERLAIN FACTFILE

Born: August 21, 1936

NBA titles (2): With Philadelphia 76ers in 1967, Los Angles Lakers in 1972

NBA All-Star Games (13): 1960-69, 1971-73

NBA Most Valuable Player (4): 1960, 1966, 1967, 1968

NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (1): 1972

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1960

All-NBA First Team (7): 1960-62, 1964, 1966-68

All-Defensive First Team (2): 1972, 1973

NBA Single Game Scoring Record: 100 points vs New York Knicks at Hershey, Pennsylvania, March 2, 1962

Record for Most Gameswith 50 or More Points: 118

Second-leading Scorer in NBA History: 31,419 points (second behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. They are the only two players to score more than 30,000 points in a career)

Golden State Warriors All-time Top Scorer: 17,783 points

Elected to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: 1978