This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 12/10/2003.
The most significant single achievement in NBA history occurred on March 2, 1962, when the New York Knicks traveled to Hershey, Pennsylvania to take on Wilt Chamberlain and the Philadelphia Warriors. During a season in which he would set an NBA record with an unthinkable 50.4 points per game scoring average, and especially after he dropped 78 points on Los Angeles in a December 1961 game, basketball fans around the country wondered what it might be like if Chamberlain were to reach the century mark in a single game. Warriors Coach Frank McGuire was bold enough to predict that Chamberlain was capable of doing so, and it was on that fateful March day that Chamberlain proved him right. Wilt began the game by making his first 12 foul shots, a surprising achievement for a man who made 51 percent of his career free throws. But even more special was the way in which Wilt kept pouring in points. Twenty-three points in the first quarter and 18 in the second gave him 41 at the half, but when he picked up the pace even further with 28 third-quarter points to head into the final quarter just short of his two previous NBA scoring records--73 in a regulation game and 78 in a three-overtime game, both during the 1961-62 season--the Hershey Arena crowd of 4,124 surely anticipated the inevitable. Chamberlain scored his record 79th point with 7:51 remaining and stood at 89 points with five minutes remaining. Though the Knicks attempted to avoid humiliation by using up the 24-second clock on each trip up the floor, McGuire sent substitutes into the game to foul their opponents and regain possession. This was the nail in the coffin, and a Chamberlain dunk with 46 seconds left gave him 100 points and sent the crowd rushing onto the court, causing a five minute delay before order was restored and the game came to a close.
Somehow preserved in the madness was the fantastic centerpiece of this display, the two-page official scorer's score sheet from Chamberlain's 100-point game. Point by point and foul by foul, the sheets include all pertinent information about the game. Imagining the official scorer constantly updating this sheet as the Warriors and Knicks tallied up the 169-147 win is almost remarkable as the sheet's final appearance, which includes a later-added Wilt Chamberlain bold blue Sharpie signature that rates a 9. The 25" x 21" wood framed display also includes three more great items. The first is an original program from the March 2, 1962 game, unsurprisingly featuring Chamberlain on the cover and rating in excellent condition with a light crease in the bottom right-hand corner. Next is an original newspaper box score from the game, signed by Chamberlain in blue Sharpie with a signature that rates an 8 across a box score that has no apparent flaws. The final item in the display, which has a "Wilt's 100" engraved plaque, is an original "working press" ticket from the game that would appear to have belonged to the official scorer. Though the ticket says "Convention Hall Philadelphia Warriors," this could have been used for the occasional game they played at the Hershey Arena rather than printing new passes. Written on the ticket, which is near mint, is "Wilt's 100th Game at Hershey, PA 3-2-62" in blue ink in what appears to be the same handwriting as is present on the official score sheet. The autographs come with a letter from PSA/DNA. All in all, this is a one-of-a-kind grouping that commemorates a record that will never be broken.