Wilt Chamberlain had the ultimate season in 1961-62, averaging 50.4 ppg and 25.7 rpg. Chamberlain shot 0.506 from the field and averaged an astounding 48.5 minutes per game, nearly every second of a regulation NBA game plus overtime.
His scoring and minutes-played averages are all-time records, while his rebounding average is the third best ever, exceeded only by two earlier Chamberlain seasons in 1962-63 and 1960-61.
Wilt Chamberlain Compared with Michael Jordan
The non-Chamberlain record is Michael Jordan’s 37.1 ppg in 1986-87. Chamberlain’s 1961-62 Philadelphia Warriors scored 125.4 ppg in a league in which teams averaged 118.8 ppg, while Jordan’s 1986-87 Bulls produced 104.8 ppg when teams averaged 109.9 ppg.
Some observers suggest that Chamberlain’s scoring average is inflated by the faster “pace” of his era. Mathematically, this makes some sense. To cite an extreme example, when the NBA did not have a shot clock and teams routinely scored less than 85 points, there was very little chance that someone would average 50 ppg for a season.
Chamberlain scored 50.4 ppg and in nearly six decades of NBA action no one else has come close to matching that. In Chamberlain’s last season he led the NBA with 18.6 rpg, 1.5 rpg better than the second place finisher in a league in which the average team scored 107.6 pgg on 0.456 shooting.
His scoring and minutes-played averages are all-time records, while his rebounding average is the third best ever, exceeded only by two earlier Chamberlain seasons in 1962-63 and 1960-61.
Wilt Chamberlain Compared with Michael Jordan
The non-Chamberlain record is Michael Jordan’s 37.1 ppg in 1986-87. Chamberlain’s 1961-62 Philadelphia Warriors scored 125.4 ppg in a league in which teams averaged 118.8 ppg, while Jordan’s 1986-87 Bulls produced 104.8 ppg when teams averaged 109.9 ppg.
Some observers suggest that Chamberlain’s scoring average is inflated by the faster “pace” of his era. Mathematically, this makes some sense. To cite an extreme example, when the NBA did not have a shot clock and teams routinely scored less than 85 points, there was very little chance that someone would average 50 ppg for a season.
Chamberlain scored 50.4 ppg and in nearly six decades of NBA action no one else has come close to matching that. In Chamberlain’s last season he led the NBA with 18.6 rpg, 1.5 rpg better than the second place finisher in a league in which the average team scored 107.6 pgg on 0.456 shooting.
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