How historic is Washington Wizards’ 1-8 record when Beal scores 40+?
By Keith Cork
5. Wilt Chamberlain 1962-63
Wilt Chamberlain is obviously one of the best known names in the entirety of the basketball world, and it’s entirely earned. He’s most famously known for dropping 100 points in a single game, all by himself. A record that stands virtually no chance of being broken (though Kobe certainly tried).
He put up an astonishing, but not at all rare for him, 51 games with 40+ points. This included three 70+ efforts, nine 60+ efforts, and thirty 50+ efforts.
At 7’1″, he was often described as a man among boys, so his scoring can be explained in some small way with this, but these record numbers are still eye-popping even 40+ years later.
But it was the 1962-63 NBA season with the San Francisco Warriors that Chamberlain had maybe his most frustrating season. In those 51 games he dropped 40 or more, his team only managed to win 22 of them.
It was their inaugural season in the San Francisco Bay Area, and they finished with a record of 31-49, failing to qualify for the postseason. The Warriors would quite obviously be renamed the Golden State Warriors. This was the only season in Chamberlain’s 14-year career that he did not make the playoffs.
Wilt the Stilt would win two NBA championships, four Most Valuable Player awards, seven All-NBA First Team Nominations, seven scoring titles, eleven rebounding titles, and he would even led the league in assists one season (1968) in his illustrious and historic career.
Number of games with 40+: 51
Record: 22-29 (.431)