There was success for Chamberlain and Philly his first two seasons with the team, but there was no ring. There was the “Havlicek stole the ball!” game, though. Finally, in the 1966-67 season, Wilt was able to break through. Fittingly enough, the Sixers and Wilt’s old team the Warriors met up in the NBA Finals. Chamberlain pulled down almost 30 rebounds per game as he won his first ring.

Chamberlain was regularly one of the leading scorers in the NBA, and he led the league in rebounds per game 11 times in his career. This led to a reputation that he was a ball hog who never passed. This got Wilt’s goat, and he set to change minds during the 1967-68 season. Chamberlain decided he wanted to lead the league in assists, and he did just that. Well, total assists, not assists per game. Still, he’s the only center to ever do that, and that season he won his fourth and final MVP.

That season would be Wilt’s final with the 76ers. Chamberlain would leave his hometown to move across the country (again) to play for the Lakers. The storied franchise traded for the center in hopes of getting over the hump and winning a title, for the franchise and the center.

Chamberlain’s first season with the Lakers was tumultuous, which shouldn’t be a surprise at this point, and the second season was even tougher. Wilt hurt his knee and was limited to 12 games during the regular season. It’s the one season he wasn’t an All-Star. Chamberlain was able to return for the playoffs, and the Lakers made it to the NBA Finals to face the Knicks. The series went to seven games, and the Knicks were possibly going to be without Willis Reed. Then, Reed famously gutted it out to play at the beginning of the game, by reputation inspiring the Knicks to the win and the title.

Here’s another weird Chamberlain moment. After the 1971 season he wanted to box Muhammad Ali. Seriously, he was going to go 15 rounds at the Astrodome in Houston that July. Jim Brown was going to be the corner man for Chamberlain. However, reasonable heads prevailed, and the fight never happened.

Wilt didn’t box Ali, and he was able to be healthy for the 1971-72 season. There, the Lakers were able to beat a few tough teams, including a Bucks team led by a young man named Lew Alcindor (later to be known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). In the Finals, the Lakers met up with the Knicks again. This time, Los Angeles won, and Chamberlain was named the Finals MVP.

The 1972-73 season would be the final season for Chamberlain in the NBA. While he only scored 13.2 points per game, he stayed a potent rebounder, leading the league with 18.6 board a night. Once more, the Lakers went to the NBA Finals, and once more they faced the New York Knicks. The Lakers were banged up, though, and the Knicks won the series in five games.

Technically, Chamberlain didn’t retire after that final season with the Lakers. He signed on with the San Diego Conquistadors of the ABA to be a player-coach. However, the Lakers still had an option year on his contract, so they sued him to keep him from playing. Thus, Wilt simply served as the coach, although he quickly tired of that and left coaching duties to his assistant. After one year doing this, Chamberlain happily stepped aside.

His contract over with the Lakers, and the Conquistadors wackiness over, Chamberlain retired for good. He got into movies a bit, forming a film production company that produced films such as “Go For It.” He also acted in the film “Conan the Destroyer” with Arnold Schwarzenegger. However, there was no film career for Chamberlain beyond dribs and drabs.

Obviously, Chamberlain was an easy pick for the Basketball Hall of Fame. He was elected way back in 1979, cementing his legacy in Springfield for future generations.

Being tall can have its disadvantages from a health perspective. In 1999, his health started to deteriorate, and he lost quite a bit of rate. Chamberlain would die October 12, 1999 from congestive heart failure. He was 63.

Chamberlain has one of the strangest reputations of any basketball player. He averaged over 30 points and almost 23 rebounds per game in his career. He was a scoring champ seven times and made 10 All-NBA teams. The man was dominant on the court. And yet, his teams only won two titles. He was compared unfavorable to fellow center Bill Russell, whose Celtics teams won titles left and right. Some accused Chamberlain of not having his heart in it. Or maybe, like he said, nobody likes Goliath.