962 Wilt Chamberlain 100-Point Game Ticket Stub PSA GD 2

Auction: Spring Classic 2022

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962 Wilt Chamberlain 100-Point Game Ticket Stub PSA GD 2

<p><span style="font-size: 13px;">"No one roots for Goliath," was a comment that Wilt Chamberlain made many times to describe what life was like for the 7'1" center. Presented is an opportunity to secure a ticket stub from one of the most amazing games in basketball history - the March 2, 1962, game when the Big Dipper, the Goliath of the Philadelphia Warriors, dropped 100 points against the New York Knicks. The game was a "home" game for the Warriors held at the Hershey Arena, in Hershey, Pennsylvania. In '62, the NBA was still fighting to become a recognized big-time sport. A number of NBA teams would schedule some of their home games in nearby smaller cities, often because the team was not able to use its normal home court, usually because a hockey game, a circus, or some other event was given priority over the NBA. The attendance in the Hershey Arena was only 4,124, less than half of capacity. There was no televising of the game, and there were no members of the New York Press in attendance. The late season game meant little in the standings. Chamberlain averaged an incredible 50.4 PPG in '62, and in December he had already broken the existing NBA single game scoring record of 71 by scoring 78 points. Chamberlain was playing against back-up centers on the Knicks because the team's starting center, Phil Jordan, was reported sick. By halftime, Wilt had 41 points. In the Warriors' locker room at the half, point guard Guy Rodgers said to the team, "Let's get the ball to Dip. Let's see how many points he can get." Philadelphia head coach Frank McGuire agreed. In the third quarter, the Warriors began feeding Wilt the ball on practically every possession, and by the end of the third quarter, Chamberlain had 69 points, and the Warriors had a 125-106 lead. Then, the game became surreal. The Warriors focused their attention on having Chamberlain break his own 78-point record, and the Knicks became focused on not being embarrassed by Chamberlain breaking his scoring record against them. Soon, the focus was already on a possible 100 points even before Chamberlain soon broke his own scoring record. The Knicks no longer cared about winning the game, so they ran out time on offense just so the Warriors would have less chance to break the record. In turn, the Warriors, to get more time to help Wilt's quest, began to foul the Knicks as soon as New York had possession. The game became farcical, but not to the competing players on each team. As time went on, Dave Zinkoff, the Warriors' public address announcer, began to announce Chamberlain's total points each time Wilt scored. With less than a minute in the game, Chamberlain had 98 points, and the Warriors had possession. Joe Ruklick passed the ball to Chamberlain in the lane, and Wilt scored with 46 seconds to go in the game, either on a lay-in or a dunk, accounts differ. About 200 spectators stormed the court in jubilation. When play resumed, Chamberlain stayed at midcourt. He later said, "I didn't want to score any more. 100 points sounded better than 102." Chamberlain was then living in Harlem, in New York City, and he hitched a ride back to New York with Knick forward Johnny Green and two other Knicks. Chamberlain playfully recalled, "I was dozing on-and-off in the back seat, and I heard the Knicks talking because they thought I was asleep. They said, 'That [expletive deleted] scored a hundred points on us.'" Because the crowd was so small, and with the passage of time, ticket stubs to this historic game are very rare. The ticket stub has been encapsulated and graded by PSA "Good 2." The ticket stub to this out-of-this-world game will enhance any sports memorabilia assemblage, and it should become increasingly valuable over time.</span></p>