by Michael Cannata

Created on: June 16, 2008   Last Updated: April 21, 2012

In the history of the NBA there has never been a player that has come close to equaling the individual accomplishments achieved by Wilt Chamberlain.. His strength was legendary, yet he was as gentle a giant as you could find.In his day, Wilt Chamberlain was the biggest man to ever play the game in his era. He was a monster of a man and absolutely one of the greatest offensive forces in NBA history. He did things on the basketball court that have never been equaled to this day. More than likely, they never will.

He played the first of his games with the Philadelphia\San Francisco Warriors. Just list his accomplishments and you wouldn't need to say any more to show how dominant at his position he was. He once scored 100 points in a single game. He AVERAGED over 50 points and 25 rebounds in a single season; He won seven scoring titles. He led the league in field goal percentage nine times and won eleven rebounding titles. He once even led the league in assists.

He was voted regular-season Most Valuable Player 4 times and earned one NBA Finals MVP award. On top of that he was selected to 13 All-Star Games. Throw in 10 selections to All-NBA First and Second teams and you have about as impressive an NBA career as humanly possible. His only flaw, and it was a big one, was his abysmal free throw shooting.

Chamberlain was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978. He was elected to the NBA's 35th Anniversary Team of 1980. He earned his place as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History of 1996. He won two NBA titles over the course of his career. When his ability to play within the team concept and his failure to make the rest of his team better was questioned he worked hard to change. As a result he led the league in assists for an entire season. And that was while playing center. No center has ever come close to that since.

Yet, for all his individual accomplishments, it was the battles with Bill Russell that still define his career in the NBA. The names of Russell and Chamberlain will forever be linked in the annals of NBA history. Chamberlain played for a number of teams during his years in the NBA while Russell played for the Boston Celtics for his entire career. Russell was the roadblock that kept Chamberlain from more than one chance at winning a championship. In the end, Russell's 11 championship rings were what separated the greatest individual player from the greatest team player.

In the days when the greatest rivalries were between teams, he established

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