Wilt Chamberlain

Chamberlain always wore a rubber band around his wrist, due to a superstition, and was fond of saying that "Nobody roots for Goliath." He died unexpectedly of a heart attack in his sleep in his Los Angeles, California home. Since the advent of the free software movement, these terms have entered frequent use for categorising computer programs according to the licenses and legal fetters that cover them, and both this expression and the term gratis are used to distinguish freeware (gratis software) from free software. He also noted that he never tried to sleep with a woman who was married. It can be contrasted with the expressions free as in speech, free as in freedom, or free as in rights, which refer to something which is free of restrictions, as in the freedom of speech. Chamberlain defended himself, saying "I was just doing what was natural — chasing good-looking ladies, whoever they were and wherever they were available". Free as in beer refers to things which are available at no monetary cost (like free beer at a party). He drew heavy criticism from many public figures, who accused him of fulfilling stereotypes about African Americans, and of behaving irresponsibly (especially given the AIDS crisis, which was well underway by the 1980s, when many of the conquests were made). In hacker slang, another common term for gratis is free as in beer.

Many people doubted his specific number, though few questioned the fact of wild sexual behavior. Free software usually means the former. He authored four books before his death on October 12, 1999, including an autobiography, A View from Above, in which he controversially claimed to have had sex with almost 20,000 women — this would have averaged 1.2 women per day from age 15 until his death. GNU programmers often talk about free speech (libre) and free as in beer, as the word free in English does not distinguish between these meanings. He also could bench press 500 pounds. Spanish and French (but not Latin itself, where the spelling is līber) that denotes the state of being free, as in "having freedom". In 1984, he co-starred (along with future Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger) in Conan the Destroyer. Libre is a word in various Romance languages, e.g.

He also was an actor, celebrity and businessman after his playing career concluded. Gratis is an adjective in Latin and various Romance and Germanic languages meaning free, in the sense that one does not have to pay for some good or service (free of charge). He flirted with boxing, and was offered a pro football contract by Kansas City Chiefs in 1966. . Wilt also earned accolades for other sports, including track and field (in which he ran the 100-yard dash in 10.9 seconds in high school), volleyball (he founded and starred in a pro league) and auto racing, among others. Gratis is borrowed from Latin, and libre is borrowed from Spanish or French. His battles with center Bill Russell were legendary; they were fierce competitors on the court, yet were close personal friends off the hardwood. This distinction is of utmost importance in dealing with information as property.

Chamberlain ranked #2 in SLAM Magazine's Top 75 NBA Players of all time in 2003. Gratis versus Libre is the distinction between no cost and freedom, a distinction not made by the word free in the English language. His career scoring average of 30.06 points per game (ppg) is second-highest in league history, fractionally behind Jordan's 30.12 ppg. This was the best in the league when he retired in 1973, though his scoring total has since been exceeded by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone, both of whom played several more seasons than Chamberlain, and by Michael Jordan. Chamberlain scored 31,419 points in 1,045 professional games.

Chamberlain is also the only player in NBA history to achieve a double-triple-double (20 points, 20 rebounds, 20 assists), in one game. The next closest player is Elgin Baylor, who averaged 38.3 ppg in the same '61-62 season in which Chamberlain set the record. Chamberlain also holds the next three spots on the NBA's season scoring average list with 44.8, 38.9 and 38.4 points per game. His 1961-62 scoring average of 50.4 ppg, accomplished with the Philadelphia Warriors, is by far the NBA record.

In his 14 years in the NBA, he never once fouled out of a game, despite being the centerpiece on defense for each team he played for. He led the NBA in rebounding 11 times, led in shooting percentage seven times, led in scoring seven times, and even led in assists one season. He averaged 30.1 points and 22.9 rebounds per game for his career. The 7-foot 1-inch (2.16 m) Chamberlain holds nearly 100 NBA records, including the record for most points in a game -- 100, which he scored on March 2, 1962, against the New York Knicks in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

The Lakers sued to keep Chamberlain off the court, and he never played another game, coaching the Conquistadors for only one year. In 1973, the San Diego Conquistadors of the American Basketball Association offered Chamberlain a $600,000 contract as player-coach. "And they were all on the road.". "I played with the Harlem Globetrotters and we won 445 in a row," he said at the time.

Chamberlain, however, was not that impressed. Only two years later, he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he won another title in 1972, and was instrumental in setting a new records for most victories in a season (69), as well as that team's 33-game winning streak, the longest such streak in any American professional sport. However, he was the centerpiece of the Sixers team that finally ended the Celtics dynasty in 1967, winning a then-record 68 games en route to the NBA title. Again, he was blocked from the finals by the presence of the Celtics in the Eastern Division.

After that season, Chamberlain was traded back to Philadelphia, where the Syracuse Nationals had recently moved to become the 76ers. By this time, the Warriors had moved to San Francisco, where, ironically, they lost to the Celtics. The presence of the Celtics in the same Eastern Division as the Warriors (his rookie year saw the first of the Celtics' record eight straight NBA titles) kept Chamberlain out of the NBA Finals until 1964. The Warriors lost to the Boston Celtics in the Conference Finals that year, which would be an ongoing occurrence in Chamberlain's career.

He became the first player to be named MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season. In his first year with the Warriors, Chamberlain lead the league in scoring, with 37.6 points per game, and rebounding, with 27 rebounds per game. He was listed as third pick in the NBA draft but was actually a territorial pick. He played two years with the Harlem Globetrotters until finally becoming eligible to join the Warriors.

However, he wasn't eligible to play in the NBA until his college class graduated in 1959. The Philadelphia Warriors owned his NBA rights, having picked him in 1955 as a territorial pick. After that game, he decided to turn pro, citing that he wanted to be paid for being double and triple teamed every night. He played two years for the University of Kansas, where he earned All-American honors twice and led the Jayhawks to the 1957 championship game (which they lost to North Carolina 54-53 in three overtimes).

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Chamberlain drew national attention playing at Overbrook High School in the city. Known as Wilt the Stilt (a nickname he hated) or The Big Dipper, he is regarded as one of the greatest and most dominant basketball players of all time[1] for the incredible statistical achievements he attained throughout his playing career. Wilton Norman Chamberlain (August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was a former NBA basketball player.