Wilt - A Cardboard Memorial

Dateline: 10/13/99

When I heard the news of the sudden and unexpected death of basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain I had just finished looking at a new Upper Deck product, Retro Basketball, which features Wilt as one of the legends in the set.  Oftentimes when a big star passes it is following a long illness (as with Joe DiMaggio) and the sport collectibles hobby has time to prepare and adjust.  This week's news was shocking and will certainly have an immediate effect on the collectibility of Chamberlain memorabilia.

Instead of predicting prices of cards or autographs I've decided that today we can just look at some of his cards and career accomplishments.

Wilt Chamberlain
Changing a Sport and a Hobby

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1961-62 Fleer
Although Wilt's career started in 1959 the first set with a Chamberlain card was 1961-62 Fleer which had two cards of the young star.
  • 1959-60
    averaged 37.6 points per game as a rookie
  • 1960-61
    pulled in 27.2 rebounds per game
  • 1961-62
    most amazing season ever averaging over 50 points and 25 rebounds per game
  • March 2, 1962
    scored 100 points in a game

 

  • 30.1 points
    average per game for his whole 14 year career

  • 22.9 rebounds
    average per game, the all-time leader

  • 24.5 rebounds
    per playoff game over 13 years and 160 games

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1972-73 Topps
This would be Wilt's final season although he could be found on cardboard right up through 1999.

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1973-74 Topps
Although Chamberlain retired at the end of the 1973 playoffs he would still have this final "player" card.

Like No One Else

  • Never Fouled Out
    Played 1045 games without ever fouling out
  • 45.8 minutes
    per game over his entire career
  • 32 60-point games
    Of the 51 times a player has scored 60 or more in an NBA game, Wilt owns 32 of them
  • 72.7% shooting
    from the field in his 14th and final season (54% career)

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1999 Upper Deck
Century Legends & Retro
Upper Deck released Century Legends last month and will release Retro this week. Both products have Wilt Chamberlain cards including autographs.

Wilt Chamberlain
1936 - 1999

 

ANDY

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