Wilt Chamberlain's 100-Point Game (March 2, 1962)
On March 2, 1962, Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scored 100 points in a single NBA game against the New York Knicks in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The performance remains the highest individual scoring game in NBA history and is unlikely ever to be surpassed.
Background and Context
By the 1961–62 NBA season, Wilt Chamberlain was already recognized as the most dominant scoring force the league had ever seen. Standing 7 feet 1 inch tall and possessing extraordinary athleticism, he had shattered scoring records in each of his first two professional seasons. The game on March 2, 1962 was a regular-season contest played not in Philadelphia but in Hershey, Pennsylvania — a venue the Warriors used occasionally to expand their regional fanbase. Attendance that night was 4,124, a relatively modest crowd that would nonetheless witness the most extraordinary individual performance in professional basketball history.
The Game Itself
Chamberlain scored 23 points in the first quarter and 41 by halftime, already an exceptional performance on its own. As the third and fourth quarters progressed and his total climbed toward unprecedented territory, teammates began deliberately fouling the Knicks to regain possession, and New York responded by fouling Chamberlain repeatedly to prevent him from scoring — though this backfired since Chamberlain shot 28 of 32 from the free-throw line, a remarkable feat given his career average at the stripe. With 46 seconds remaining, he converted a dunk to reach exactly 100 points. The crowd stormed the floor in celebration.
Statistical Breakdown
Chamberlain finished with 36 field goals from 63 attempts (57.1%) and 28 free throws from 32 attempts (87.5%). The Warriors won the game 169–147. Notably, no video footage of the game exists; the only visual record is a post-game photograph of Chamberlain holding a piece of paper with '100' written on it. An audio recording of radio commentary from the final minutes of the game was discovered decades later and provides some documentary evidence of the closing stages.
Legacy and Significance
No player has come close to matching the 100-point game in the more than six decades since. The next-highest individual scoring game in NBA history is Kobe Bryant's 81-point performance in 2006. Analysts debate whether the game reflects the era's more open defensive schemes or stands purely as testament to Chamberlain's extraordinary capability; most conclude it is both. The 1961–62 season as a whole saw Chamberlain average 50.4 points per game — another record that experts consider essentially unbreakable. The 100-point game is enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's permanent exhibition.
