Wilt Chamberlain Scores 100

On March 2, 1962, that Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain scored an incredible 100 points in a single NBA game.  Chamberlain accomplished the feat while playing for the Philadelphia Warriors in a 169-147 win over the New York Knicks.

Wilt broke five records in that game: points in a quarter with 31, points in a half with 59, field goals made with 36, field goals attempted with 63 and free throws made with 28.  Only one of the these records has since been broken, as George Gervin and Carmelo Anthony have each scored 33 points in a single quarter.

A few years ago Kobe Bryant came relatively close to the record by dropping 81 points against the Toronto Raptors.

Chamberlain would go on to finish his career with 31,419 points, as he led the NBA in scoring seven times, field goal percentage nine times, minutes played eight times, rebounding eleven times, and assists once.

Despite being such a great scorer, Chamberlain's main weakness was his notoriously poor free throw shooting, where he has the third lowest career free throw percentage in NBA history with 51.1% (based on a minimum of 1,200 attempts). Chamberlain claimed that he intentionally missed free throws so a teammate could get the rebound and score two points instead of one, but later acknowledged that he was a "psycho case" in this matter.

He committed surprisingly few fouls during his NBA career, despite the rugged play in the post. Chamberlain never fouled out of a regular season or playoff game in his 14-year NBA career. His career average was only 2 fouls per game, despite having averaged 45.8 minutes per game over his career. He had 5 seasons where he committed less than 2 fouls per game, with a career low of 1.5 fouls during the 1962 season, in which he also averaged 50.4 points per game. His fouls per 36 minutes (a stat used to compare players that average vastly different minutes) was a remarkable 1.6 per game.

Chamberlain was also responsible for several rule changes, including widening the lane from 12 to 16 feet, as well as changes to rules regarding inbounding the ball and shooting free throws.

Chamberlain is most remembered however for his 100-point game, which is widely considered the greatest basketball record of all-time. He is also only one of two basketball players, the other being Michael Jordan to have averaged at least 30 points per game over their entire career, but Chamberlain is the only player to average over 50 points a game for an entire season.

For his feats, Chamberlain was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, ranked no. 2 in SLAM Magazine's Top 50 NBA Players of All-Time and no. 13 in the ESPN list "Top North American athletes of the century" and voted the second best center of All-Time by ESPN behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on March 6, 2007.

Chamberlain’s record would hold up for over 15 years until another former Los Angeles Laker, Kareem Abdul-Jabar, would break his record. After Abdul-Jabar broke Chamberlain’s record, Karl Malone, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant have also surpassed his numbers, out ranking Chamberlain to fifth as they are second, third and fourth respectively behind Abdul-Jabar who is still the NBA’s All-Time leading scorer with 38,387 points.

Spreewell Chokes Out Carlesimo

On Dec. 1, 1997, a bad season for the Golden State Warriors turned much worse when Latrell Spreewell choked P.J. Carlesimo during a team practice.

Apparently, the coach was critical of Spreewell's passing during the practice. At the time, the Warriors were 1-13 and looking into trading the already disgruntled star.

Sprewell was suspended for 10 games without pay. The next day, in the wake of a public uproar, the Warriors voided the remainder of his contract, which included $23.7 million over three years, and the NBA suspended him for one year. Sprewell took the case to arbitration, and, as a result, the contract voiding was overturned and the league suspension was reduced to the remaining 68 games of the season. He sought to vacate the arbitration contract under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.

 His case went through all appeals, and was remanded. During his suspension, Sprewell was charged with reckless driving for his role in a 90-mph accident that injured two people, and spent three months under house arrest as part of a no-contest plea.

It was not Spreewell’s first violent incident with the Warriors; in a 1993 practice, Sprewell fought with Byron Houston, who was 50 pounds heavier than Sprewell and had what many teammates describe as having a Mike Tyson-like demeanor and physique. Then in 1995, Sprewell fought with teammate Jerome Kersey and returned to practice carrying a two-by-four, and reportedly threatened to return with a gun.

After the Warriors suspension of Spreewell he was traded to the New York Knicks who he would help lead to the NBA Finals in 1999, making them the first eighth seeded team to reach the finals. He would spend a few years with the Knicks before being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he would finish his career.

Spreewell would finish his career as one of the NBA’s most prolific scorers totaling 16,712 points, with an average of 18.3 points per game, 3,664 assists, an average of 4.0 assists per game, and 1,294 steals averaging out to be 1.4 steals per game over the span of his career.

Spreewell was a four-time NBA All-Star in 1994-1995, 1997 and 2001. He was also voted to the All-NBA First Team in 1994, as well the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. In his rookie year he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in 1993.

The Knicks Open Up The Garden

On Nov. 11, 1946, the New York Knicks play their first game at Madison Square Garden.

Although the Knicks have played at Madison Square Garden since 1946, the location of the Garden has changed, twice before the Knicks began playing basketball in 1879, and 1890 before its location change in 1925 where the 1946 Knicks played.

The 1925 Garden was located on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets in Manhattan on the site of the city's trolley car barns. It was the first Garden that was not located near Madison Square. 

The Knicks would call this location their arena for home games, although if there was an important college game, they played in the 69th Regiment Armory.

Then in February 1968 the Garden moved to its current location, where it has been renovated three times in 1991, 2011, and 2012. 

The Garden is now the oldest active major sporting facility in the New York metropolitan area and is the oldest arena in the National Hockey League and the second-oldest arena in the National Basketball Association (after the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California). 

 The current configuration at the Garden has been host to several Knicks NBA Finals games including in 1970: when the Knicks won the NBA championship at Madison Square Garden.

The Garden was also host for the Knicks in the NBA finals in 1972, 1973, 1994 and1999: when the San Antonio Spurs won their championship at Madison Square Garden.