Pomerantz reveals the true man behind the ‘13′ - “Wilt, 1962″ unravels history of his famous 100-point game

Review by Gerard Martinez

By the time of his death in 1999, Wilt Chamberlain publicly claimed to have had sex with 20,000 women. If you do the math, that averages to 1.2 women per day, every day, starting at the age of 15. Or something like that. 2,000 is a more reasonable number, according to Chamberlain’s longtime friend and occasional lover, Lynda Huey. When privately questioned about the sensational claim, he responded, “What’s a zero between friends?” It gives you an idea as to what kind of man Wilt Chamberlain was: audacious and boastful, charismatic and egotistical, captivating and enigmatic. He was an individualist, both on and off the basketball court. One has to be a bit self-centered to accomplish what Chamberlain accomplished. Today he is recognized as one of the top offensive players in NBA history. He’s legendary for having scored 100 points in a single game on March 2, 1962, in Hershey, Penn. Gary Pomerantz’s “Wilt, 1962: The Night of 100 Points and the Dawn of a New Era” reads as a fresh and fascinating history of this elusive sports icon and his career with the Philadelphia Warriors. It is a thrilling account of his 100-point game and all that it entailed for the budding NBA franchise. Chamberlain, at 7-feet-1-inch tall, sparked numerous changes to professional basketball. The lane was widened to keep big players like him from staying too close to the basket. “Wilt, 1962″ is a book that not only knows the facts and stats behind Chamberlain’s prosperous career with the Warriors and Harlem Globetrotters, but also understands the significance behind the numbers. Pomerantz realizes that Chamberlain not only “changed the speed and geometry of the game,” but also played a significant role in the social revolution of a racially segregated America. Professional basketball in 1962 was still a white man’s game. Unofficial, but well known, was the quota limiting the number of black players a team could have. Chamberlain, nicknamed “The Dipper” - probably because of how he had to dip down when passing through a doorway –would help shatter that quota. Eventually, he would earn a place among great black athletes like Willie Mays, Henry Aaron, Jim Brown and Muhammad Ali. “His hundred-point game,” writes Pomerantz, “was … a hyperbolic announcement of the ascendancy of the black superstar in professional basketball.” More to the point, the Dipper helped define the African-American struggle for racial equality. The Dipper earned people’s respect. It was he who popularized the slam dunk. In 1962, NBA players seldom slam dunked. It wasn’t considered sportsmanlike. Giants like Chamberlain, who could dunk the ball with an effortless jump, were seen as aberrations; their height was considered an unfair advantage. As if to purposely irritate white basketball traditionalists, the Dipper continued to dunk. He was unstoppable. No wonder Pomerantz, once a sportswriter for the Washington Post, is so passionate about his subject. Chamberlain was a man easy to admire. The book, so attentive to little details, yet meticulously focused, suffuses the reader with passion for the Dipper, for his talent and charisma. However, unlike more traditional biographies, Pomerantz isn’t concerned here with details of birth and childhood and things like that. The focus of the book is the 100-point game and the history surrounding the 100-point game. In this context, “Wilt, 1962″ is a fully-realized history. Since his death, America has become fixated on the legacy of Wilt Chamberlain. “Wilt, 1962″ is essential reading in the understanding of that legacy. What’s amazing is that this fixation wasn’t always there. During the 100-point game, there were only two photographers present. One of them left during the first quarter, and the other took only a few shots. Few people realized the implications of what they were witnessing that March 2. Yet, somehow, word got around about the monumental accomplishment. The Dipper was finally, rightfully recognized for his great achievements. He didn’t even need the hype that surrounded his name. 100 points is a lot of points. And 2,000 women is still a lot of women.