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00:00:20,063 --> 00:00:22,607
[Announcer] Sitting majestically
on one of the highest hills

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00:00:22,690 --> 00:00:25,234
in the sumptuous Bel Air section
of Los Angeles

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00:00:25,318 --> 00:00:27,945
it's a domicile
as dazzling as Disneyland

4
00:00:27,987 --> 00:00:31,449
and even larger than its owner,
who is a giant of a man.

5
00:00:31,491 --> 00:00:33,367
Wilt agreed to give us
his own description

6
00:00:33,451 --> 00:00:35,369
of this marvelous pad
on a hilltop.

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Here he is big as life.

8
00:00:38,581 --> 00:00:40,458
Well, like most people,

9
00:00:40,500 --> 00:00:43,961
I always dreamed
of owning a home.

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Wilt built his own house.

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00:00:50,384 --> 00:00:51,969
From the outside,

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00:00:52,053 --> 00:00:56,140
the house looked like
Darth Vader's helmet.

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00:00:56,182 --> 00:00:57,809
There were triangles everywhere.

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00:00:57,850 --> 00:01:01,104
As first I thought
is he doing this right?

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00:01:01,145 --> 00:01:05,316
But then it ended up being
a fabulous, fabulous house.

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00:01:05,399 --> 00:01:08,236
[Wilt Chamberlain]
As you look around the house,

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it really represents me,

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and it's just really too complex

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00:01:11,447 --> 00:01:14,575
to just sum it up
in a sentence.

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It really is
a lot of different things,

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00:01:16,536 --> 00:01:19,872
as I think I'm probably
a lot of different things.

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He had wolf fur on the floor
and over on the couch.

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I'm, like, wow,
this really is wolf.

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I mean, it has whiskers
and everything.

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There were doors
that were nine feet tall

26
00:01:32,510 --> 00:01:33,928
so he wouldn't have to duck.

27
00:01:33,970 --> 00:01:38,266
Then he had water
all through his house.

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00:01:38,349 --> 00:01:39,559
There was a hole.

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00:01:39,642 --> 00:01:42,478
We could literally jump in
from the living room,

30
00:01:42,562 --> 00:01:45,731
and then we would just swim
under the house

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00:01:45,815 --> 00:01:47,984
to take us around the pool.

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I loved the round waterbed.

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We called that
the triple X room.

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We would go in there
and play in there

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and jump in there.

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00:01:58,161 --> 00:01:59,287
As I became an adult,

37
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I wondered to myself, okay,

38
00:02:00,580 --> 00:02:02,623
when was he doing
in that room? [laughs]

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00:02:02,665 --> 00:02:03,666
That was a special room.

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00:02:03,708 --> 00:02:05,376
That was a special room.

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00:02:05,418 --> 00:02:06,460
I am a bachelor,

42
00:02:06,544 --> 00:02:09,130
so I tried to create
a type of house

43
00:02:09,213 --> 00:02:10,381
that would give me the mood

44
00:02:10,464 --> 00:02:12,717
that a bachelor
would normally like to have.

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00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:14,343
If I'm not mistaken,

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00:02:14,427 --> 00:02:16,470
before Hugh Hefner
purchased his mansion,

47
00:02:16,554 --> 00:02:18,639
he used to borrow
Wilt Chamberlain's home

48
00:02:18,681 --> 00:02:20,808
for his parties.

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00:02:20,892 --> 00:02:22,643
Was I thinking in my teens,

50
00:02:22,685 --> 00:02:24,312
you don't wanna get a job,
you wanna invent a job.

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00:02:24,395 --> 00:02:27,398
Wilt Chamberlain
invented the world famous,

52
00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:29,317
photogenic, millionaire,

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00:02:29,358 --> 00:02:30,568
seven-foot-tall
basketball player.

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He created a job
that did not exist before.

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00:02:33,321 --> 00:02:35,072
Hello,MTV Cribviewers.

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00:02:35,114 --> 00:02:36,157
It is I, Shaquille O'Neal.

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This is my house.

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By the time you get to Shaq,

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00:02:38,534 --> 00:02:40,244
Shaq's just applying
for that job.

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When he built his house,

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Wilt called it Ursa Major,

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the Big Dipper.

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00:02:49,795 --> 00:02:52,882
Right next to the bed,
there was a button.

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00:02:52,965 --> 00:02:57,303
Press that button,
the ceiling went back

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00:02:57,345 --> 00:02:58,763
and there was the sky.

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[Gary Pomerantz]
And at night,

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00:03:00,389 --> 00:03:04,769
he would look up
at a starry night.

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00:03:05,728 --> 00:03:08,439
[Robert Cherry] And he liked
to gaze at something

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00:03:08,522 --> 00:03:11,234
even bigger than himself.

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00:03:25,081 --> 00:03:28,709
So we're gonna call this
the Saboteur Hall of Fame.

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Wilt Chamberlain, he's really
kind of the poster boy

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00:03:32,380 --> 00:03:33,923
for the Saboteur Hall of Fame.

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00:03:33,965 --> 00:03:37,260
In 1965, Frank Deford wrote
aSports Illustratedarticle

74
00:03:37,301 --> 00:03:38,469
about how Wilt

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00:03:38,511 --> 00:03:40,721
had just forced his way
out of San Francisco.

76
00:03:40,805 --> 00:03:42,473
He tried to leave Kansas twice.

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00:03:42,556 --> 00:03:44,809
He tried to leave Philly
after his rookie year.

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00:03:44,892 --> 00:03:46,310
And meanwhile they have no idea

79
00:03:46,352 --> 00:03:47,645
he's gonna do it again in 1968

80
00:03:47,728 --> 00:03:50,815
when he forces them
to trade him to the Lakers.

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[Wilt] All satisfying stories
have a bad guy,

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a villain to make the good guy
look even better.

83
00:03:57,905 --> 00:04:01,492
During my playing days,
I was a classic bad guy.

84
00:04:01,534 --> 00:04:04,495
Controversy followed me
wherever I went.

85
00:04:04,537 --> 00:04:08,749
Many times, though,
the bad guy becomes the good guy

86
00:04:08,833 --> 00:04:11,002
as the plot unfolds.

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00:04:13,170 --> 00:04:18,551
If Ike Richman was still alive,
during that period of time,

88
00:04:18,592 --> 00:04:20,219
I think Wilt would have
stayed in Philadelphia

89
00:04:20,303 --> 00:04:21,637
the rest of his career.

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00:04:21,721 --> 00:04:23,097
[Announcer]On the right,
president Irv Kosloff,

91
00:04:23,139 --> 00:04:25,558
sole owner
after the death of Ike Richman.

92
00:04:25,599 --> 00:04:28,686
Back in '68,
we had a situation

93
00:04:28,728 --> 00:04:31,230
where Wilt and Irv Kosloff
had a disagreement.

94
00:04:31,314 --> 00:04:35,484
Ike Richman had promised Wilt
a piece of the 76ers.

95
00:04:35,526 --> 00:04:37,820
That he would have
a share of the team,

96
00:04:37,862 --> 00:04:40,990
and my dad acknowledged
that that may be true.

97
00:04:41,073 --> 00:04:45,161
But there never was
anything in writing,

98
00:04:45,244 --> 00:04:46,954
so was Wilt gonna buy it?

99
00:04:47,038 --> 00:04:49,498
Was it going to be
in lieu of salary?

100
00:04:49,582 --> 00:04:51,083
I think it's highly unlikely

101
00:04:51,125 --> 00:04:54,462
that we were just gonna give him
a share of the team,

102
00:04:54,503 --> 00:04:55,838
because he had no basis for it

103
00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:59,133
other than a verbal promise
that Ike Richman told him.

104
00:04:59,175 --> 00:05:01,218
The 76ers
wouldn't be worth anything

105
00:05:01,302 --> 00:05:02,720
if not for Wilt Chamberlain.

106
00:05:02,762 --> 00:05:05,806
He knew what he was worth.

107
00:05:05,848 --> 00:05:07,099
He was way before his time

108
00:05:07,141 --> 00:05:11,437
to be able to perceive
why can't I own a team?

109
00:05:11,479 --> 00:05:15,691
But my dad felt one owner
making decisions

110
00:05:15,733 --> 00:05:17,735
was the best way to do things.

111
00:05:17,818 --> 00:05:18,986
And Wilt said, look,

112
00:05:19,028 --> 00:05:20,654
if you're not gonna
treat me right, I'm out.

113
00:05:20,696 --> 00:05:22,823
There was no free agency
back in those days.

114
00:05:22,907 --> 00:05:24,241
That didn't come till later.

115
00:05:24,283 --> 00:05:26,744
So the players
really didn't have much say

116
00:05:26,827 --> 00:05:28,579
in what they did.

117
00:05:28,621 --> 00:05:31,457
But Wilt was, like,
if I don't like it here,

118
00:05:31,499 --> 00:05:32,666
I'm gonna figure out a way

119
00:05:32,708 --> 00:05:33,918
that you're gonna
not want me here anymore

120
00:05:33,959 --> 00:05:36,212
so I can get over there.

121
00:05:38,005 --> 00:05:41,050
Wilt did a lot of complaining
to the press.

122
00:05:41,092 --> 00:05:42,718
We're out here to make money.

123
00:05:42,802 --> 00:05:44,762
We're playing something
that we love to do,

124
00:05:44,804 --> 00:05:48,432
but the primary interest for you
is how much you can make.

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00:05:48,474 --> 00:05:51,227
On July 9, 1968,

126
00:05:51,310 --> 00:05:55,398
Wilt's traded
to the Los Angeles Lakers.

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00:05:56,399 --> 00:05:58,025
Sometimes I sit back

128
00:05:58,109 --> 00:06:00,945
and I just wonder
the impact that had

129
00:06:01,028 --> 00:06:02,822
on the whole franchise.

130
00:06:02,905 --> 00:06:04,490
Maybe it could have been
resolved

131
00:06:04,573 --> 00:06:05,616
if he had part of the team.

132
00:06:05,658 --> 00:06:06,992
That might have been the answer.

133
00:06:07,034 --> 00:06:09,995
It would have changed the course
of history, too, by the way.

134
00:06:10,037 --> 00:06:13,958
If that team
could have stayed together

135
00:06:13,999 --> 00:06:15,209
and could have stayed healthy,

136
00:06:15,292 --> 00:06:17,837
no one would have beaten them
for a few years.

137
00:06:17,878 --> 00:06:19,672
They had it all.

138
00:06:19,755 --> 00:06:23,134
The thing that Wilt Chamberlain
often gets criticized for

139
00:06:23,217 --> 00:06:25,010
is the thing that players do now
all the time,

140
00:06:25,052 --> 00:06:27,054
which is moving around a lot.

141
00:06:27,096 --> 00:06:28,889
Player empowerment
has always been

142
00:06:28,973 --> 00:06:31,725
a scary dynamic
in professional sports.

143
00:06:31,767 --> 00:06:33,394
Let me be very specific.

144
00:06:33,436 --> 00:06:34,979
Black player empowerment

145
00:06:35,062 --> 00:06:39,525
has been a scary dynamic
for professional sports.

146
00:06:39,567 --> 00:06:41,610
The people
who did it earliest

147
00:06:41,694 --> 00:06:43,779
often are the ones
that are most villainized,

148
00:06:43,863 --> 00:06:45,614
and in Wilt Chamberlain's case,

149
00:06:45,656 --> 00:06:47,700
it's astounding
that during that time

150
00:06:47,741 --> 00:06:49,994
where speaking up for yourself
as a Black person

151
00:06:50,077 --> 00:06:51,495
could cost you your life,

152
00:06:51,537 --> 00:06:53,372
that he was willing to say

153
00:06:53,414 --> 00:06:56,459
this is what I demand.

154
00:06:56,542 --> 00:07:00,546
Wilt understood people are
treating me like a commodity,

155
00:07:00,629 --> 00:07:02,256
so why don't I act like one?

156
00:07:02,339 --> 00:07:04,633
And you know what?
I wanna go to L.A.

157
00:07:04,675 --> 00:07:07,178
Very happy to announce

158
00:07:07,261 --> 00:07:10,514
that Wilt Chamberlain
has signed

159
00:07:10,598 --> 00:07:13,517
a five year contract

160
00:07:13,601 --> 00:07:16,687
with the Los Angeles Lakers.

161
00:07:18,981 --> 00:07:19,940
You would have thought
the Lakers

162
00:07:20,024 --> 00:07:21,150
had won the lottery, right?

163
00:07:21,233 --> 00:07:22,860
Because you get
Wilt Chamberlain.

164
00:07:22,943 --> 00:07:25,154
You've got Jerry West, one of
the great players of all time,

165
00:07:25,237 --> 00:07:28,491
Elgin Baylor, one of the
greatest players of all time,

166
00:07:28,532 --> 00:07:31,869
This Lakers team in 1969
is so fun

167
00:07:31,911 --> 00:07:34,455
because they were
the first super team ever.

168
00:07:34,538 --> 00:07:37,750
I feel very, very happy
that I've been traded to a team

169
00:07:37,833 --> 00:07:39,752
that I believe
may stand a chance to be...

170
00:07:39,793 --> 00:07:40,920
go down in the records

171
00:07:40,961 --> 00:07:43,088
as one of the best teams
in basketball ever.

172
00:07:43,172 --> 00:07:44,298
Everyone thought the Lakers

173
00:07:44,381 --> 00:07:46,133
were going to walk over
the league,

174
00:07:46,175 --> 00:07:49,094
and that's not quite
what happened.

175
00:07:49,178 --> 00:07:52,681
Butch Van Breda Kolff,
the coach,

176
00:07:52,765 --> 00:07:54,892
got off on the wrong foot
with Wilt

177
00:07:54,934 --> 00:07:57,019
and never got on the right foot.

178
00:07:57,061 --> 00:07:59,813
There was a total
personality clash,

179
00:07:59,855 --> 00:08:01,815
and he was asking things
of me to do

180
00:08:01,899 --> 00:08:05,819
that I didn't feel altogether
that they were right.

181
00:08:05,861 --> 00:08:07,905
The success of great teams

182
00:08:07,947 --> 00:08:12,451
comes from trying to get more
than the sum of your parts.

183
00:08:12,493 --> 00:08:13,702
There's only one ball,

184
00:08:13,786 --> 00:08:15,204
and you need to learn
to share that ball

185
00:08:15,246 --> 00:08:17,790
in a way that
makes you more efficient.

186
00:08:17,831 --> 00:08:20,417
Wilt loved to set up
on the left block,

187
00:08:20,501 --> 00:08:22,586
but Butch Van Breda Kolff

188
00:08:22,628 --> 00:08:24,755
was focusing on spacing,

189
00:08:24,797 --> 00:08:26,632
setting screens,

190
00:08:26,715 --> 00:08:29,927
similar to Bill Russell
in the high post,

191
00:08:29,969 --> 00:08:34,848
creating driving lanes
for West and Baylor.

192
00:08:34,890 --> 00:08:39,061
But Wilt doesn't want to move
up to the high post.

193
00:08:39,103 --> 00:08:42,273
Part of it is probably
selfishly motivated

194
00:08:42,314 --> 00:08:45,985
in the sense that he doesn't
want to play away from the ball.

195
00:08:46,068 --> 00:08:47,695
Well, if you're
Wilt Chamberlain,

196
00:08:47,778 --> 00:08:48,946
you're like, really?

197
00:08:49,029 --> 00:08:51,949
I'm the greatest talent
you've ever coached.

198
00:08:52,032 --> 00:08:53,200
I can score at will,

199
00:08:53,242 --> 00:08:54,535
and you're gonna have me
set screens?

200
00:08:54,618 --> 00:08:58,330
I can understand Wilt
chafing at that, to be honest.

201
00:08:58,414 --> 00:09:01,083
With Van Breda Kolff's
style of play,

202
00:09:01,166 --> 00:09:03,460
you're empowering
Wilt's teammates.

203
00:09:03,502 --> 00:09:06,380
When you play the way they were
in Philadelphia,

204
00:09:06,422 --> 00:09:08,632
you're running more
through Wilt,

205
00:09:08,716 --> 00:09:09,717
and he has the ball.

206
00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:11,927
He's making more decisions.

207
00:09:11,969 --> 00:09:14,471
Wilt wasn't used
to sharing the ball,

208
00:09:14,555 --> 00:09:15,723
and it didn't work.

209
00:09:15,764 --> 00:09:16,932
It didn't work too well.

210
00:09:16,974 --> 00:09:18,267
Those guys had trouble meshing

211
00:09:18,350 --> 00:09:20,853
on the floor and off the floor.

212
00:09:20,894 --> 00:09:23,981
I probably wasn't affected
as much as Elgin,

213
00:09:24,023 --> 00:09:25,232
because
he didn't have enough room

214
00:09:25,316 --> 00:09:26,984
to do the things
he normally did.

215
00:09:27,026 --> 00:09:29,987
It was a chore
to try to find a way

216
00:09:30,070 --> 00:09:33,532
that they could both
be successful at the same time.

217
00:09:33,616 --> 00:09:36,076
It was an awkward period for me

218
00:09:36,118 --> 00:09:37,911
because I was so close to Elgin.

219
00:09:37,995 --> 00:09:40,748
And then Wilt,
I didn't even know him, okay?

220
00:09:40,789 --> 00:09:46,128
And because
he was sort of aloof.

221
00:09:46,170 --> 00:09:48,714
He would tell
some outlandish stories

222
00:09:48,756 --> 00:09:51,425
that, oh, my gosh, I didn't...

223
00:09:51,508 --> 00:09:54,887
He told me he drove from
New York City to San Francisco

224
00:09:54,970 --> 00:09:56,180
in 24 hours.

225
00:09:56,263 --> 00:09:59,892
Elgin and I would kind of
look at each other and...

226
00:09:59,975 --> 00:10:03,228
I don't think
that's true. [laughs]

227
00:10:03,312 --> 00:10:05,439
[Wilt] I love to drive.

228
00:10:05,481 --> 00:10:08,567
I've gone across country
20 times, always alone.

229
00:10:08,609 --> 00:10:10,444
[Reporter] What do you think
about when you're driving?

230
00:10:10,486 --> 00:10:13,072
[Wilt] Who I am.
What I'd like to be.

231
00:10:13,113 --> 00:10:16,367
Going fast. Flirting
a little bit with, um...

232
00:10:16,408 --> 00:10:18,118
not with death,
but, you know,

233
00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:21,330
just those things that seem
to be what we like to do

234
00:10:21,413 --> 00:10:22,623
but are a little bit afraid of.

235
00:10:22,706 --> 00:10:24,708
He wasn't afraid to say things.

236
00:10:24,792 --> 00:10:27,044
If something's bothering him, he
didn't give a damn who it was.

237
00:10:27,127 --> 00:10:28,295
He'd say it.

238
00:10:28,379 --> 00:10:30,297
[Wilt] I'm a loud extrovert

239
00:10:30,381 --> 00:10:32,424
who's not afraid to say
something good about myself

240
00:10:32,508 --> 00:10:34,802
or something bad
about someone else

241
00:10:34,843 --> 00:10:36,804
when the occasion warrants it.

242
00:10:36,845 --> 00:10:39,723
The two of them
were like banty roosters

243
00:10:39,807 --> 00:10:40,849
going at each other.

244
00:10:40,933 --> 00:10:42,393
There was no respect there.

245
00:10:42,434 --> 00:10:45,896
When you don't have respect,
that's what you're gonna have.

246
00:10:47,773 --> 00:10:49,900
Despite having this clash,

247
00:10:49,983 --> 00:10:51,276
at the end of the year,

248
00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:53,904
the Lakers
are still competitive.

249
00:10:53,987 --> 00:10:55,531
They're still a very good team.

250
00:10:55,572 --> 00:10:58,826
With all that great talent,
they start playing better.

251
00:10:58,867 --> 00:11:01,995
And they reach the NBA finals.

252
00:11:02,037 --> 00:11:03,539
And guess who
was waiting for them

253
00:11:03,622 --> 00:11:05,791
in the finals of the NBA?

254
00:11:05,874 --> 00:11:08,669
Number six and friends.

255
00:11:08,752 --> 00:11:10,003
If we tried to write the novel,

256
00:11:10,045 --> 00:11:12,047
it might be dismissed
as, oh, don't give me that.

257
00:11:12,131 --> 00:11:14,174
You're not gonna have them
play the Celtics again, right?

258
00:11:14,258 --> 00:11:15,718
Yes, we are.

259
00:11:16,927 --> 00:11:18,512
And the Lakers are favored.

260
00:11:18,554 --> 00:11:19,972
Everyone's
always been talking about

261
00:11:20,055 --> 00:11:21,724
how the Celtics
have all the talent.

262
00:11:21,807 --> 00:11:23,350
Well, now you finally do.

263
00:11:23,392 --> 00:11:27,146
This was as valuable
an NBA finals

264
00:11:27,187 --> 00:11:29,273
as there had been to that point.

265
00:11:32,025 --> 00:11:35,946
The series has these
back and forth zigzags.

266
00:11:48,083 --> 00:11:50,210
I don't think
it was widely known

267
00:11:50,294 --> 00:11:51,628
that that was Russ's last game,

268
00:11:51,670 --> 00:11:54,298
but certainly those guys knew
on the team.

269
00:11:54,339 --> 00:11:56,842
One of the things I said
before the last game

270
00:11:56,925 --> 00:11:59,595
was that we were
gonna beat the Lakers.

271
00:12:00,429 --> 00:12:03,348
The teams I played on
could play any style.

272
00:12:03,390 --> 00:12:07,394
And the way we were gonna
beat 'em is we were gonna run.

273
00:12:12,733 --> 00:12:15,986
[Announcer]Wilt Chamberlain
driving on Russell.

274
00:12:16,069 --> 00:12:17,946
18 points for Wilt.

275
00:12:18,030 --> 00:12:20,407
Even though Wilt played well...

276
00:12:20,449 --> 00:12:22,951
[Announcer]Chamberlain
with the rebound.

277
00:12:22,993 --> 00:12:25,120
He has over 20 rebounds.

278
00:12:25,204 --> 00:12:27,790
The Celtics take a huge lead

279
00:12:27,831 --> 00:12:29,291
going into the fourth quarter.

280
00:12:29,374 --> 00:12:30,375
[Announcer]Fourth period.

281
00:12:30,459 --> 00:12:33,295
But this time,
he has Jerry West.

282
00:12:34,463 --> 00:12:37,466
Jerry West,
this incredible player

283
00:12:37,549 --> 00:12:39,218
who couldn't call himself
champion.

284
00:12:39,301 --> 00:12:41,595
He was the noble loser in those
days, you know, to the Celtics.

285
00:12:41,637 --> 00:12:43,430
He lost to them
six times in the finals.

286
00:12:43,514 --> 00:12:45,349
Like with Wilt Chamberlain,

287
00:12:45,432 --> 00:12:48,852
it was his misfortune
to play at the same time

288
00:12:48,894 --> 00:12:49,937
that Bill Russell
and Sam Jones

289
00:12:49,978 --> 00:12:51,522
and all the Celtics did.

290
00:12:51,605 --> 00:12:53,524
[Announcer]They have
to make up 17 points

291
00:12:53,607 --> 00:12:56,318
and they've gotta
get that ball down quickly.

292
00:12:56,401 --> 00:12:58,445
They're looking for Jerry West.

293
00:12:58,529 --> 00:13:01,323
Howell switches off on West.

294
00:13:01,365 --> 00:13:04,493
And Jerry West starts
this incredible comeback,

295
00:13:04,535 --> 00:13:06,995
draining jumper after jumper.

296
00:13:07,079 --> 00:13:09,164
Jerry West...another one!

297
00:13:09,206 --> 00:13:12,000
And the Celtics sense trouble.

298
00:13:12,084 --> 00:13:15,629
With five minutes left
in the fourth quarter...

299
00:13:15,671 --> 00:13:16,964
Here's Havlicek.

300
00:13:17,047 --> 00:13:19,842
Rebound coming off
and Chamberlain gets it.

301
00:13:19,925 --> 00:13:21,176
Chamberlain hurt his leg.

302
00:13:21,218 --> 00:13:22,636
Chamberlain can't move, Chris.

303
00:13:22,678 --> 00:13:24,346
He's down there
holding that knee.

304
00:13:24,429 --> 00:13:26,849
[PA Announcer]20 second
official's timeout.

305
00:13:26,890 --> 00:13:28,392
He comes out.

306
00:13:30,143 --> 00:13:33,647
And the lead gets down to seven.

307
00:13:34,439 --> 00:13:36,817
And then to five,
and then to three.

308
00:13:36,900 --> 00:13:40,445
[Announcer]The Lakers
within one point of the lead.

309
00:13:40,487 --> 00:13:42,781
Wilt is on the bench,

310
00:13:42,823 --> 00:13:46,076
so now you're thinking,
is he coming back in?

311
00:13:47,452 --> 00:13:50,163
We could use him now with
the way the tide has turned.

312
00:13:50,247 --> 00:13:53,208
He goes to his coach,
says I'm ready to go back in,

313
00:13:53,250 --> 00:13:56,086
and the coach says,
we don't need you.

314
00:14:01,383 --> 00:14:03,468
[Bob Ryan]
It's a one point game.

315
00:14:03,510 --> 00:14:04,803
The Celtics have the ball.

316
00:14:04,887 --> 00:14:07,014
[Announcer]Havlicek.

317
00:14:07,097 --> 00:14:08,682
Erickson.

318
00:14:08,724 --> 00:14:11,518
Knocked away,
but Nelson gets it.

319
00:14:13,312 --> 00:14:14,521
He goes and tips the ball.

320
00:14:14,605 --> 00:14:16,648
It goes right to Don Nelson,

321
00:14:16,732 --> 00:14:19,610
and Don Nelson
nails a lucky jump shot.

322
00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:24,531
The Celtics win
their 11th championship.

323
00:14:24,573 --> 00:14:27,242
That ball must have gone
in the air 15 feet.

324
00:14:27,326 --> 00:14:29,786
I could not believe it.

325
00:14:29,828 --> 00:14:34,917
The disappointment,
bitter disappointment.

326
00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:37,711
That was probably my lowest ebb

327
00:14:37,794 --> 00:14:40,923
in my life
as a professional athlete.

328
00:14:40,964 --> 00:14:43,592
That one game.

329
00:14:45,135 --> 00:14:47,638
And the coach left after that.

330
00:14:48,513 --> 00:14:51,183
Three weeks after the game,

331
00:14:51,266 --> 00:14:54,186
Russell was speaking
at the University of Wisconsin,

332
00:14:54,269 --> 00:14:57,689
and he started
to criticize Wilt.

333
00:14:57,731 --> 00:15:00,108
[Jackie MacMullan]
He really called Wilt out

334
00:15:00,192 --> 00:15:02,110
and said, you know,
short of a broken back,

335
00:15:02,194 --> 00:15:03,362
you should have been out there.

336
00:15:03,445 --> 00:15:06,740
He felt it took away
from his final game,

337
00:15:06,782 --> 00:15:09,076
from his legacy.

338
00:15:10,869 --> 00:15:11,620
I have to be honest.

339
00:15:11,703 --> 00:15:12,955
I thought Bill
was out of line.

340
00:15:12,996 --> 00:15:13,914
Of all people,

341
00:15:13,956 --> 00:15:15,082
there's no one else on the earth

342
00:15:15,123 --> 00:15:16,249
that would have mattered more

343
00:15:16,291 --> 00:15:19,336
to have his respect
than Russell.

344
00:15:19,378 --> 00:15:21,588
The inference
that somehow he quit

345
00:15:21,672 --> 00:15:24,007
and that Russell
was indignant over it,

346
00:15:24,091 --> 00:15:25,592
it bothered Wilt so much,

347
00:15:25,634 --> 00:15:29,763
they didn't speak for decades.

348
00:15:42,442 --> 00:15:47,030
Wilt loved Los Angeles
from a lifestyle perspective.

349
00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:51,118
Well, he's the highest paid
player in all of sports.

350
00:15:51,868 --> 00:15:54,204
But he wasn't
just getting his money

351
00:15:54,287 --> 00:15:55,455
and just, you know,
hanging out.

352
00:15:55,539 --> 00:15:56,707
He was investing.

353
00:15:56,790 --> 00:16:00,919
Wilt was the first
professional basketball player

354
00:16:01,003 --> 00:16:02,212
that when they retired,

355
00:16:02,295 --> 00:16:04,965
he didn't have to work
another day in his life.

356
00:16:05,549 --> 00:16:06,633
As bad as it was,

357
00:16:06,675 --> 00:16:08,385
we thought,
when he was coming up,

358
00:16:08,468 --> 00:16:10,387
God turned it all around.

359
00:16:10,429 --> 00:16:11,638
My mother was worried about him,

360
00:16:11,722 --> 00:16:14,224
and he was able
to take care of her.

361
00:16:15,058 --> 00:16:17,269
[Wilt] Of course, it didn't
take me long to realize

362
00:16:17,352 --> 00:16:20,313
that it's not the amount
of money you have.

363
00:16:20,397 --> 00:16:23,483
It's what you do with it
that brings contentment.

364
00:16:23,567 --> 00:16:27,195
My parents and several of my
aunts and uncles and cousins

365
00:16:27,279 --> 00:16:28,905
actually lived
in an apartment building

366
00:16:28,989 --> 00:16:29,698
that my uncles owns.

367
00:16:29,781 --> 00:16:31,241
We called it Chamberlain Villa.

368
00:16:31,283 --> 00:16:33,869
28 apartments.

369
00:16:33,952 --> 00:16:35,412
There was a swimming pool

370
00:16:35,454 --> 00:16:37,080
so mom can have a swimming pool.

371
00:16:37,164 --> 00:16:39,708
My dad was loving
sitting on the patio

372
00:16:39,791 --> 00:16:42,002
watching my mother
jump in the pool

373
00:16:42,044 --> 00:16:43,628
like a crazy lady.

374
00:16:43,670 --> 00:16:46,339
But then my mother
was a lot like Dip.

375
00:16:46,381 --> 00:16:49,384
She was a natural.

376
00:16:49,468 --> 00:16:52,179
The adults hung out.

377
00:16:52,220 --> 00:16:53,930
It was really like
a little community,

378
00:16:53,972 --> 00:16:55,849
a really close little community.

379
00:16:55,891 --> 00:16:59,186
And then we'd be in
the back yard shooting shots.

380
00:16:59,227 --> 00:17:00,520
Kids would lose their mind

381
00:17:00,604 --> 00:17:02,981
if they was around the
neighborhood and see his car.

382
00:17:03,065 --> 00:17:05,192
A Ferrari or a Maserati

383
00:17:05,275 --> 00:17:07,694
or a Rolls-Royce.

384
00:17:09,988 --> 00:17:14,451
He bought that Chamberlain Villa
for my father basically.

385
00:17:14,493 --> 00:17:17,204
Because my father
was getting older,

386
00:17:17,287 --> 00:17:19,915
and we didn't trust his health.

387
00:17:19,998 --> 00:17:25,962
My dad died, you know, when
we were still in California.

388
00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:31,176
My mother didn't do well
after my father passed,

389
00:17:31,259 --> 00:17:32,469
and she came to the East coast,

390
00:17:32,511 --> 00:17:34,137
but she didn't want to live
with none of us.

391
00:17:34,179 --> 00:17:36,973
She wanted to live by herself.

392
00:17:37,015 --> 00:17:40,143
I was at home
in my house in Santa Monica

393
00:17:40,185 --> 00:17:41,978
when he called me
from Philadelphia.

394
00:17:42,020 --> 00:17:44,106
His mother was dying.

395
00:17:44,189 --> 00:17:45,774
[monitor beeps]

396
00:17:45,816 --> 00:17:48,902
[Wilt] I lost
both my mother and father

397
00:17:48,985 --> 00:17:50,737
to the disease of cancer,

398
00:17:50,779 --> 00:17:55,283
the most extraneous,
indescribable.

399
00:17:55,367 --> 00:17:58,036
Wilt came home.

400
00:17:58,078 --> 00:17:59,621
That was a good thing.

401
00:17:59,704 --> 00:18:01,498
All the other kids
had been around,

402
00:18:01,581 --> 00:18:04,751
and then he said,
when I got there,

403
00:18:04,835 --> 00:18:09,381
the others left
and it was just me.

404
00:18:09,422 --> 00:18:12,759
There was the incredibly
moving thing I read

405
00:18:12,801 --> 00:18:15,137
about the end of her life,

406
00:18:15,178 --> 00:18:19,015
where he got into bed with her

407
00:18:19,057 --> 00:18:21,518
to nurse her till the end.

408
00:18:21,601 --> 00:18:23,353
[monitor beeps]

409
00:18:25,188 --> 00:18:27,816
[monitor flatlines]

410
00:18:29,109 --> 00:18:31,987
And she died in his arms.

411
00:18:37,659 --> 00:18:40,787
When I think about
my Uncle Dippy,

412
00:18:40,871 --> 00:18:46,042
I think about
just how warm he was.

413
00:18:46,084 --> 00:18:48,461
He was a hands-on uncle,

414
00:18:48,545 --> 00:18:51,131
almost like a father figure.

415
00:18:51,214 --> 00:18:52,382
Do you have any children?

416
00:18:52,465 --> 00:18:54,342
I'm a single man.

417
00:18:54,384 --> 00:18:55,844
I'm not sure.
If I have some children...

418
00:18:55,927 --> 00:18:59,181
Yeah, but wouldn't you like
to be a father?

419
00:19:07,230 --> 00:19:09,357
[ding dong]

420
00:19:10,525 --> 00:19:12,652
Hey-hey.

421
00:19:12,736 --> 00:19:14,446
How you doing, cuz?

422
00:19:14,529 --> 00:19:16,406
Good to see you, man.
Good to see you.

423
00:19:16,489 --> 00:19:17,532
Looking good, looking good.

424
00:19:17,616 --> 00:19:18,658
Welcome back, welcome back.

425
00:19:18,742 --> 00:19:20,744
My full name is Aaron Levi,

426
00:19:20,827 --> 00:19:25,081
and Wilt Chamberlain
was my biological father.

427
00:19:25,123 --> 00:19:28,251
You know, being in his family,
I hate to say it.

428
00:19:28,293 --> 00:19:29,502
We got a lot of stuff

429
00:19:29,586 --> 00:19:32,339
where, like, oh,
I think I could be...

430
00:19:32,380 --> 00:19:35,091
And it's just, like, no, no, no.

431
00:19:35,175 --> 00:19:35,926
Come on, man, you're not.

432
00:19:35,967 --> 00:19:39,012
Aaron brought more than a story.

433
00:19:39,095 --> 00:19:40,555
He brought documentation.

434
00:19:40,639 --> 00:19:42,641
It's called
a non-identifying letter,

435
00:19:42,682 --> 00:19:45,894
and the description
of the biological father

436
00:19:45,936 --> 00:19:48,855
was he's a professional
basketball player,

437
00:19:48,939 --> 00:19:53,360
six-foot-ten, and that
he had a connection to Kansas.

438
00:19:53,443 --> 00:19:57,280
I was born
in San Jose, California.

439
00:19:57,364 --> 00:20:00,075
January 27, 1965.

440
00:20:00,116 --> 00:20:02,410
I knew I was adopted.

441
00:20:02,494 --> 00:20:05,288
I knew our adoptive parents
were Jewish.

442
00:20:05,330 --> 00:20:07,457
I knew I was half Black,
half white.

443
00:20:07,499 --> 00:20:10,543
All my brothers and sisters
were adopted.

444
00:20:10,585 --> 00:20:14,047
I'm a little bit over 6-5.

445
00:20:14,089 --> 00:20:17,509
I definitely felt looked at
as a kid

446
00:20:17,592 --> 00:20:19,302
because I'm tall and Black.

447
00:20:19,386 --> 00:20:22,847
I can only guess
how it would have been

448
00:20:22,889 --> 00:20:26,434
for someone
who looked like Wilt.

449
00:20:29,437 --> 00:20:30,939
It wasn't till
I got a little older

450
00:20:31,022 --> 00:20:33,358
that I started thinking
more about, well,

451
00:20:33,441 --> 00:20:34,985
you know,
where are my parents

452
00:20:35,068 --> 00:20:38,446
and why did they,
you know, let me go?

453
00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:42,117
And it was a long journey

454
00:20:42,158 --> 00:20:44,869
to find my birth mother.

455
00:20:44,953 --> 00:20:47,497
She did confirm immediately

456
00:20:47,539 --> 00:20:49,541
that Wilt was my father.

457
00:20:49,582 --> 00:20:52,585
She met him in a jazz club
in San Francisco.

458
00:20:52,627 --> 00:20:55,380
He was playing for the Warriors.

459
00:20:55,463 --> 00:20:57,090
It was the sixties.

460
00:20:57,173 --> 00:20:59,926
The truth is
it was a one night stand,

461
00:21:00,010 --> 00:21:02,595
and it was very clear to me

462
00:21:02,679 --> 00:21:04,597
that this was
a big secret for her,

463
00:21:04,681 --> 00:21:07,600
and that maybe
only one or two people

464
00:21:07,684 --> 00:21:11,146
even now know
that she had a child.

465
00:21:12,272 --> 00:21:15,859
It's kind of funny. I see
some of the resemblance, though.

466
00:21:15,942 --> 00:21:17,610
-Yeah.
-You know what I mean?

467
00:21:17,694 --> 00:21:20,780
The first thing I noticed
about me and Wilt

468
00:21:20,822 --> 00:21:22,198
is the eyebrows.

469
00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:25,410
What my mother told me

470
00:21:25,452 --> 00:21:28,788
was that she did reach out
to Wilt

471
00:21:28,830 --> 00:21:31,833
and said that, you know,
she was pregnant,

472
00:21:31,916 --> 00:21:35,128
but that she was going
to put me up for adoption.

473
00:21:35,211 --> 00:21:38,840
And according to her,
he said, okay.

474
00:21:38,882 --> 00:21:41,718
Yeah, this is when...because he's
coming out of high school then.

475
00:21:41,801 --> 00:21:43,553
And then there I am right here.

476
00:21:43,636 --> 00:21:44,679
I like your hair.

477
00:21:44,721 --> 00:21:46,806
Finally do our own
little thing, right?

478
00:21:46,848 --> 00:21:47,932
Yeah, it's...

479
00:21:48,016 --> 00:21:49,601
My Aunt Barbara told me

480
00:21:49,642 --> 00:21:51,728
that he would have been
very surprised

481
00:21:51,811 --> 00:21:53,188
that I existed,

482
00:21:53,229 --> 00:21:55,732
because he thought
that my birth mother

483
00:21:55,815 --> 00:21:57,525
was considering abortion.

484
00:21:57,567 --> 00:21:58,860
But he would have been happy.

485
00:21:58,902 --> 00:22:01,237
-How's Peggy doing?
-She's doing well.

486
00:22:01,279 --> 00:22:05,700
But because there's
different versions of the story,

487
00:22:05,784 --> 00:22:06,993
I sometimes
still think about, you know,

488
00:22:07,035 --> 00:22:10,038
what did he actually know?

489
00:22:12,832 --> 00:22:16,252
Once I confirmed
when I did a DNA test

490
00:22:16,294 --> 00:22:17,545
that Wilt was my father,

491
00:22:17,629 --> 00:22:19,297
it was this very strange moment

492
00:22:19,339 --> 00:22:24,260
because I knew his name probably
at three or four years old.

493
00:22:24,302 --> 00:22:27,347
You know, you could not
not see him on TV.

494
00:22:27,389 --> 00:22:30,100
Reaching high

495
00:22:30,141 --> 00:22:33,603
All along the borderline

496
00:22:38,525 --> 00:22:40,110
I'm Wilt Chamberlain.

497
00:22:41,694 --> 00:22:44,072
His life was epic
in so many ways.

498
00:22:45,031 --> 00:22:48,118
He's in a movie
with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

499
00:22:48,201 --> 00:22:48,952
Aah!

500
00:22:48,993 --> 00:22:51,663
I'm more intimidating
in my BVDs.

501
00:22:51,704 --> 00:22:55,625
He's stuffed inside
a Volkswagen bug in an ad.

502
00:22:55,667 --> 00:22:57,794
He's on TV all the time.

503
00:22:57,877 --> 00:23:00,046
Hey, it's nice
to see you guys again.

504
00:23:00,088 --> 00:23:02,340
Oh, it's great to be here, Wilt.

505
00:23:02,382 --> 00:23:05,093
He is spectacular.

506
00:23:05,135 --> 00:23:07,011
It doesn't mean
he's a perfect person.

507
00:23:07,053 --> 00:23:11,307
I suppose if you're a spectacle
all your life

508
00:23:11,349 --> 00:23:12,684
that it would make sense

509
00:23:12,725 --> 00:23:15,145
that you are also spectacular.

510
00:23:15,228 --> 00:23:19,566
Building his own race car
was amazing.

511
00:23:21,192 --> 00:23:22,777
He was gambling.

512
00:23:22,861 --> 00:23:24,195
We were playing them
in this exhibition,

513
00:23:24,237 --> 00:23:27,240
and he said, I gotta be
at a party, you know,

514
00:23:27,282 --> 00:23:29,367
for, you know, the changing
of the showgirls

515
00:23:29,409 --> 00:23:30,577
over at the Stardust.

516
00:23:30,618 --> 00:23:31,744
So he said, go cash these in.

517
00:23:31,786 --> 00:23:34,581
$20,000.

518
00:23:34,622 --> 00:23:35,915
I went and cashed it in.

519
00:23:35,999 --> 00:23:38,334
I was making 15,000
for the season,

520
00:23:38,376 --> 00:23:41,129
and I gave him $20,000
that I cashed in for him,

521
00:23:41,171 --> 00:23:44,299
and he said, hey,
come with me to the party.

522
00:23:45,258 --> 00:23:47,427
The first time
I ever met him in person,

523
00:23:47,469 --> 00:23:50,346
come out of a restaurant
in Santa Monica, California,

524
00:23:50,388 --> 00:23:52,724
and there in a white Rolls-Royce

525
00:23:52,765 --> 00:23:55,310
with two dogs
the size of small horses,

526
00:23:55,393 --> 00:23:59,439
a beautiful blonde woman,
is Wilt Chamberlain.

527
00:23:59,481 --> 00:24:02,859
And he's got the wrap around
tangerine sunglasses.

528
00:24:02,901 --> 00:24:04,569
He's got
an African walking stick.

529
00:24:04,652 --> 00:24:05,862
He's got a beret.

530
00:24:05,945 --> 00:24:07,697
His feet are propped up
against the steering wheel.

531
00:24:07,780 --> 00:24:09,032
No shoes.

532
00:24:09,115 --> 00:24:11,409
I said, Wilt Chamberlain, I'd
love to have you on the show.

533
00:24:11,451 --> 00:24:14,037
He goes, Roy Firestone,
I'd love to do the show,

534
00:24:14,078 --> 00:24:17,624
but you have to understand, I'm
trying to keep a low profile.

535
00:24:20,835 --> 00:24:22,295
He was a peacock.

536
00:24:22,337 --> 00:24:24,964
Man, he looked good.
He had that big medallion on.

537
00:24:25,006 --> 00:24:29,552
And when he wore those suede
velvet shirts he had,

538
00:24:29,594 --> 00:24:30,929
then he was really cool.

539
00:24:31,012 --> 00:24:33,973
Long fringe leather jacket
and pants.

540
00:24:34,057 --> 00:24:35,350
Of course,
they had to be custom made

541
00:24:35,433 --> 00:24:38,269
because who makes clothes
for a seven-footer?

542
00:24:38,311 --> 00:24:41,731
Wilt Chamberlain was the
original gangster of fashion

543
00:24:41,773 --> 00:24:42,774
for NBA players.

544
00:24:42,857 --> 00:24:45,818
[laughs] Well, he thinks
he dresses hard,

545
00:24:45,860 --> 00:24:47,904
but my mother was person
that liked us to look nice,

546
00:24:47,987 --> 00:24:49,697
so we all dressed well.

547
00:24:49,781 --> 00:24:51,449
So because we dressed well,

548
00:24:51,491 --> 00:24:54,285
he thinks he's in fashion, too,
but he's not.

549
00:24:54,327 --> 00:24:58,748
Keeping him in his place.
[chuckles]

550
00:25:00,792 --> 00:25:05,129
Nine games into the 1970 season,

551
00:25:05,171 --> 00:25:07,882
Wilt Chamberlain takes a pass,

552
00:25:07,924 --> 00:25:10,927
starts to dribble
towards the basket

553
00:25:10,969 --> 00:25:13,596
and collapses.

554
00:25:14,847 --> 00:25:17,392
It was the first time

555
00:25:17,475 --> 00:25:22,480
that I saw a distressed look
on his face.

556
00:25:22,522 --> 00:25:27,026
I got the news that
he was gonna miss a long time.

557
00:25:27,110 --> 00:25:33,032
His patellar tendon
in his right knee was ruptured.

558
00:25:33,116 --> 00:25:34,325
It was the same knee

559
00:25:34,409 --> 00:25:38,413
that he wrenched
in the '69 finals.

560
00:25:41,749 --> 00:25:44,127
The orthopedic surgeons thought

561
00:25:44,168 --> 00:25:48,047
that he may never
play basketball again.

562
00:25:48,089 --> 00:25:50,925
[Wilt]
My body was the one thing

563
00:25:51,009 --> 00:25:53,261
I'd always been able
to count on.

564
00:25:53,928 --> 00:25:59,142
Now my body had failed me.

565
00:26:06,149 --> 00:26:08,026
Wilt rehabbed his knee

566
00:26:08,109 --> 00:26:10,236
on the beaches at Santa Monica.

567
00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:13,823
He went and ran on the sand.

568
00:26:14,824 --> 00:26:17,160
Gene Selznick,
the king of the beach,

569
00:26:17,201 --> 00:26:20,246
taught him the game
of volleyball for rehab,

570
00:26:20,288 --> 00:26:21,372
because running around
in the sand,

571
00:26:21,456 --> 00:26:23,124
you get to really
work your legs.

572
00:26:23,166 --> 00:26:26,961
He remembered me from when
he was on the Globetrotters.

573
00:26:27,045 --> 00:26:29,380
I got into volleyball
before basketball.

574
00:26:29,422 --> 00:26:30,965
So I started
playing a lot with Wilt.

575
00:26:31,007 --> 00:26:33,509
And we hung out
and we played cards together.

576
00:26:33,593 --> 00:26:34,969
And they're all cheating.

577
00:26:35,053 --> 00:26:38,014
Wilt cheated at backgammon,
he cheated at cards.

578
00:26:38,097 --> 00:26:40,516
Let's face it. Wilt did not
like to lose at anything.

579
00:26:40,558 --> 00:26:43,269
And then talk about
yelling and screaming.

580
00:26:43,311 --> 00:26:44,854
We were the loudest
on the beach.

581
00:26:44,896 --> 00:26:46,564
Everybody's going,
what's going on over there?

582
00:26:46,648 --> 00:26:47,857
But he had fun.

583
00:26:48,941 --> 00:26:51,235
I think Wilt just loved it.

584
00:26:51,277 --> 00:26:53,488
You go to the beach and
everyone's in a bathing suit,

585
00:26:53,529 --> 00:26:55,323
so you don't know
if they're rich or they're poor.

586
00:26:55,365 --> 00:26:58,076
And everyone
opened their arms to Wilt.

587
00:26:58,159 --> 00:26:59,452
They loved him.

588
00:26:59,535 --> 00:27:01,204
[Wilt] I was forced to do

589
00:27:01,245 --> 00:27:03,873
some serious thinking
about myself

590
00:27:03,956 --> 00:27:08,127
and to take stock
of Wilt Chamberlain the man.

591
00:27:08,211 --> 00:27:11,089
He had a whole new
subculture of friends

592
00:27:11,130 --> 00:27:12,882
that he really did things with

593
00:27:12,924 --> 00:27:14,217
and liked him not just because

594
00:27:14,300 --> 00:27:16,969
he was the best basketball
player for the Lakers,

595
00:27:17,053 --> 00:27:18,262
but for who he was.

596
00:27:18,304 --> 00:27:20,473
I mean, I think
those dudes down on the beach

597
00:27:20,515 --> 00:27:23,601
knew Wilt better
than any of us as teammates.

598
00:27:23,685 --> 00:27:26,312
People left him alone out there
when he was doing...

599
00:27:26,396 --> 00:27:27,980
and maybe that's
where he felt...

600
00:27:28,022 --> 00:27:31,776
he felt, um...more normal.

601
00:27:31,818 --> 00:27:34,487
[Wilt] I found out

602
00:27:34,529 --> 00:27:37,824
I really didn't need
being the center of attention

603
00:27:37,907 --> 00:27:39,867
to be happy.

604
00:27:41,786 --> 00:27:46,457
And that led to him loving
outdoor and indoor volleyball,

605
00:27:46,499 --> 00:27:49,377
and that's another phase
of Wilt's life.

606
00:27:50,211 --> 00:27:53,297
Years later, he didn't go
straight to retirement.

607
00:27:53,381 --> 00:27:55,007
He went straight
into volleyball.

608
00:27:55,049 --> 00:27:58,010
People would flock
to all these volleyball matches

609
00:27:58,094 --> 00:27:59,595
that he would be part of.

610
00:27:59,637 --> 00:28:02,014
Wilt put volley ball on the map.

611
00:28:02,056 --> 00:28:04,934
You know, you would think
he would have been spoiled

612
00:28:05,017 --> 00:28:06,185
in this or that,
but he wasn't.

613
00:28:06,269 --> 00:28:08,312
He had good values
about hard work.

614
00:28:08,354 --> 00:28:09,647
And way back in the seventies,

615
00:28:09,689 --> 00:28:13,025
when he was coming back
from his knee injury,

616
00:28:13,067 --> 00:28:14,986
I'm convinced that the reason

617
00:28:15,069 --> 00:28:16,571
that he came back
so much quicker

618
00:28:16,612 --> 00:28:20,533
was because he was running
in that soft sand every day.

619
00:28:20,616 --> 00:28:25,288
He put in 10 hours of rehab
almost every day.

620
00:28:25,329 --> 00:28:28,166
Now, even with modern surgery,

621
00:28:28,207 --> 00:28:29,542
it's a good year

622
00:28:29,625 --> 00:28:31,127
to where you could come back
and play.

623
00:28:31,210 --> 00:28:36,883
Well, he came back
after four and a half months.

624
00:28:36,924 --> 00:28:38,342
Well, we're hoping
it's strong enough.

625
00:28:38,426 --> 00:28:40,887
You know, it really
feels different, I must say.

626
00:28:40,928 --> 00:28:42,346
The only way
we can really test it

627
00:28:42,430 --> 00:28:43,556
is to try it, you know.

628
00:28:43,639 --> 00:28:47,018
It's unfortunate
that it can only be proven

629
00:28:47,101 --> 00:28:49,896
by an error, which would be
a very costly error.

630
00:28:51,272 --> 00:28:55,026
This is the guy that quit
and didn't wanna play

631
00:28:55,109 --> 00:28:56,360
and came back
four and a half months

632
00:28:56,402 --> 00:28:59,572
after fricking surgery
for the playoffs.

633
00:29:00,364 --> 00:29:03,618
And they make it
all the way to the NBA finals.

634
00:29:04,994 --> 00:29:06,370
[Announcer]NBA basketball

635
00:29:06,454 --> 00:29:08,956
is being brought to you
by Salem filter cigarettes,

636
00:29:08,998 --> 00:29:11,626
with the taste
that's springtime soft,

637
00:29:11,667 --> 00:29:13,169
menthol fresh.

638
00:29:13,252 --> 00:29:15,421
The 1970 finals

639
00:29:15,505 --> 00:29:19,050
were the Lakers
against the New York Knicks,

640
00:29:19,133 --> 00:29:21,052
led by Willis Reed.

641
00:29:21,135 --> 00:29:24,138
And there are very clear clips
in the 1970 finals

642
00:29:24,180 --> 00:29:27,099
where Wilt looks much stiffer.

643
00:29:27,183 --> 00:29:28,976
Just getting up and down
the court,

644
00:29:29,060 --> 00:29:31,521
where you can see him laboring.

645
00:29:33,314 --> 00:29:35,775
In the middle
of a tough series...

646
00:29:39,070 --> 00:29:41,405
Willis Reed injures his hip.

647
00:29:41,489 --> 00:29:43,616
I was there in game five
when Willis went down,

648
00:29:43,658 --> 00:29:46,285
and now the Knicks played
the entire second half

649
00:29:46,369 --> 00:29:48,579
with nobody over 6-6
of consequence,

650
00:29:48,663 --> 00:29:51,165
and Wilt did nothing
in the second half.

651
00:29:51,207 --> 00:29:56,379
And they lost the game
and Wilt got criticized

652
00:29:56,420 --> 00:29:59,382
that he didn't have
that killer instinct.

653
00:30:03,553 --> 00:30:05,346
You know what happened
in game six though, by the way.

654
00:30:05,429 --> 00:30:09,892
After all the ballyhoo,
Wilt went for 45 and 27

655
00:30:09,934 --> 00:30:12,395
and they won the game.

656
00:30:12,478 --> 00:30:14,522
So here it is.
It's game seven.

657
00:30:14,564 --> 00:30:16,357
We have theater.
Theater counts.

658
00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:18,401
[Announcer]Tonight
its a one game showdown.

659
00:30:18,484 --> 00:30:21,153
New York hoping
that Willis Reed will play.

660
00:30:21,195 --> 00:30:23,197
I think we see Willis
coming out.

661
00:30:23,281 --> 00:30:25,575
There he comes right now.

662
00:30:25,658 --> 00:30:30,037
Willis Reed literally limps
onto the floor.

663
00:30:30,079 --> 00:30:32,707
This is certainly amazing.

664
00:30:32,748 --> 00:30:34,750
You never heard anything
like that in your life.

665
00:30:34,792 --> 00:30:36,335
[Announcer]Frazier
then slows it down,

666
00:30:36,419 --> 00:30:37,837
is picked up by Jerry West.

667
00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:40,381
Top of the post, Reed, good!

668
00:30:40,464 --> 00:30:41,757
Makes the first two jumpers.

669
00:30:41,799 --> 00:30:44,719
That was the only two baskets
he made all game.

670
00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:47,680
The momentum shifts,
and you can't stop it.

671
00:30:47,763 --> 00:30:50,016
[Announcer]Frazier.

672
00:30:50,099 --> 00:30:52,101
And then it was
the Clyde Frazier game.

673
00:30:52,143 --> 00:30:54,020
36 points, 19 assists.

674
00:30:54,103 --> 00:30:56,480
We have a new NBA champion!

675
00:30:56,564 --> 00:30:59,025
But the story needs to be...

676
00:30:59,066 --> 00:31:00,026
Congratulations.

677
00:31:00,109 --> 00:31:01,485
You offered I think the best

678
00:31:01,569 --> 00:31:03,321
that the human spirit
can offer.

679
00:31:03,404 --> 00:31:07,241
Willis Reed's almost put on
the sporting Mount Rushmore

680
00:31:07,325 --> 00:31:08,367
for his effort.

681
00:31:08,409 --> 00:31:09,493
It was like a big miracle.

682
00:31:09,577 --> 00:31:10,786
You know what a miracle is?

683
00:31:10,870 --> 00:31:13,247
A miracle is getting on
that freaking court

684
00:31:13,289 --> 00:31:16,459
four months
after patellar tendon surgery,

685
00:31:16,542 --> 00:31:18,085
competing for the NBA title.

686
00:31:18,127 --> 00:31:19,879
That's a freaking miracle.

687
00:31:19,962 --> 00:31:21,339
Winning changes things.

688
00:31:21,422 --> 00:31:24,300
The theater could have been
Wilt Chamberlain,

689
00:31:24,342 --> 00:31:26,385
after rehabbing
from a knee injury

690
00:31:26,469 --> 00:31:27,887
and winning the game
for the Lakers.

691
00:31:27,929 --> 00:31:29,639
Because he didn't win
the championship that year,

692
00:31:29,722 --> 00:31:30,514
no one remembers.

693
00:31:30,556 --> 00:31:31,807
You know, you're talking about

694
00:31:31,849 --> 00:31:34,018
Wilt's surgically repaired knee.

695
00:31:34,060 --> 00:31:35,895
I forgot completely about it.

696
00:31:35,978 --> 00:31:37,480
Because at the end of the game,

697
00:31:37,563 --> 00:31:40,608
there goes Goliath again.

698
00:31:43,444 --> 00:31:46,322
I don't think
it's fair to him at all.

699
00:31:46,405 --> 00:31:48,824
That was one of the most
remarkable recoveries

700
00:31:48,908 --> 00:31:52,703
from an injury ever
in the history of the game.

701
00:31:52,745 --> 00:31:53,454
Ever.

702
00:31:53,496 --> 00:31:55,539
At least here in Los Angeles,

703
00:31:55,623 --> 00:31:58,834
and the fans
gave him a big ovation.

704
00:32:01,462 --> 00:32:04,256
[Wilt] It's almost
as if my injury

705
00:32:04,298 --> 00:32:06,968
freed me of that Superman image.

706
00:32:07,009 --> 00:32:09,220
No one ever roots for Goliath,

707
00:32:09,303 --> 00:32:12,181
but in today's world...

708
00:32:12,223 --> 00:32:14,100
[Announcer]At center,
from the Milwaukee Bucks,

709
00:32:14,183 --> 00:32:16,686
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

710
00:32:16,769 --> 00:32:20,606
The fans are not always sure
who Goliath is.

711
00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:23,651
[Announcer]
Jabbar and Chamberlain.

712
00:32:25,403 --> 00:32:28,781
I was never used to seeing
anyone taller than Wilt

713
00:32:28,864 --> 00:32:30,533
until I saw Kareem.

714
00:32:31,784 --> 00:32:34,537
Wilt said, Sonny,
this is the first time

715
00:32:34,578 --> 00:32:37,415
that I've ever looked around
and said maybe I need some help.

716
00:32:37,456 --> 00:32:41,419
1971, young Kareem
is coming off an MVP season,

717
00:32:41,460 --> 00:32:45,339
and then Milwaukee,
they won the championship.

718
00:32:45,381 --> 00:32:46,882
People probably
never would have guessed

719
00:32:46,924 --> 00:32:50,511
that Kareem met Wilt
when he was a teenager

720
00:32:50,594 --> 00:32:51,595
at Rucker Park.

721
00:32:51,679 --> 00:32:52,722
You know the expression

722
00:32:52,805 --> 00:32:54,598
"he'd give you
the shirt off his back?"

723
00:32:54,682 --> 00:32:55,975
Well, he literally did.

724
00:32:56,017 --> 00:32:58,477
Wilt would give him his clothes.

725
00:32:58,519 --> 00:33:00,229
He wasn't old enough
to get into the clubs.

726
00:33:00,271 --> 00:33:01,480
Wilt got him in.

727
00:33:01,522 --> 00:33:04,233
There was a mentorship
relationship that was there.

728
00:33:04,275 --> 00:33:07,820
[Wilt] When he got to UCLA
and then turned pro

729
00:33:07,862 --> 00:33:11,115
and got so heavily into the
Black pride/Black power thing,

730
00:33:11,157 --> 00:33:12,867
he started to snub me.

731
00:33:12,950 --> 00:33:15,828
He seems to think because
I haven't changed my name

732
00:33:15,911 --> 00:33:18,414
and still have
a lot of white friends

733
00:33:18,456 --> 00:33:20,708
I've abandoned the Black man.

734
00:33:20,791 --> 00:33:23,335
Kareem did not respect the fact

735
00:33:23,377 --> 00:33:25,880
that Wilt was
a Nixon Republican.

736
00:33:25,963 --> 00:33:28,257
Kareem grew up
in a more progressive era.

737
00:33:28,340 --> 00:33:29,884
You know,
they had a rivalry.

738
00:33:29,925 --> 00:33:32,219
[Announcer]
Right hand 12-footer good!

739
00:33:32,261 --> 00:33:34,430
The new king of scoring.

740
00:33:34,472 --> 00:33:36,682
has ascended his throne.

741
00:33:36,724 --> 00:33:38,601
[Wilt] I could have put
the scoring record

742
00:33:38,684 --> 00:33:40,436
so far out of reach,

743
00:33:40,519 --> 00:33:44,398
Kareem would have had to play
30 years to break the record.

744
00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:47,193
I've found big men
are much more sensitive

745
00:33:47,234 --> 00:33:48,527
than we realize.

746
00:33:48,569 --> 00:33:50,529
And I saw it in my interviews.

747
00:33:50,571 --> 00:33:52,656
And this is the open letter
to Wilt.

748
00:33:52,698 --> 00:33:54,033
Which I've never read,
by the way.

749
00:33:54,075 --> 00:33:55,868
So you're gonna read me
something I've never read.

750
00:33:55,910 --> 00:33:58,245
You, Wilt Chamberlain,
complain about the officiating,

751
00:33:58,329 --> 00:33:59,538
your teammates,
and other things,

752
00:33:59,622 --> 00:34:01,499
and then you quit,
leaving college early

753
00:34:01,582 --> 00:34:03,584
to tour with the Globetrotters
and make your fortune.

754
00:34:03,667 --> 00:34:05,336
That seemed
to set a pattern for you.

755
00:34:05,419 --> 00:34:08,380
After any tough test
in which you didn't do well,

756
00:34:08,464 --> 00:34:10,841
you blamed those around you
and quit.

757
00:34:10,883 --> 00:34:13,677
Playing 15 years
of professional basketball,

758
00:34:13,761 --> 00:34:16,263
14 years in the NBA
is quitting?

759
00:34:16,347 --> 00:34:21,060
Their competitive rivalry
continued for years,

760
00:34:21,102 --> 00:34:24,605
but during the 1971/72 season,

761
00:34:24,688 --> 00:34:25,940
Wilt faced a crossroads

762
00:34:26,023 --> 00:34:28,275
that we've seen
a lot of athletes face,

763
00:34:28,359 --> 00:34:30,861
which is the physical gifts
that you once had

764
00:34:30,945 --> 00:34:33,781
are not as dominant
as they used to be.

765
00:34:33,864 --> 00:34:37,368
I just couldn't play this guy
all by myself.

766
00:34:37,409 --> 00:34:41,664
The hardest thing
for a superstar to do

767
00:34:41,705 --> 00:34:43,666
is to not be a superstar
anymore

768
00:34:43,707 --> 00:34:46,377
and to take your game
down a notch

769
00:34:46,460 --> 00:34:47,670
for the better of the team.

770
00:34:47,711 --> 00:34:49,338
Wilt Chamberlain has to decide

771
00:34:49,421 --> 00:34:51,382
whether or not he is able

772
00:34:51,423 --> 00:34:53,217
to become
more of a role player,

773
00:34:53,300 --> 00:34:55,511
as opposed
to being the centerpiece

774
00:34:55,553 --> 00:34:58,639
to ironically
play more like Bill Russell.

775
00:34:58,681 --> 00:35:00,474
The differences with Russell,

776
00:35:00,558 --> 00:35:02,434
he was never the guy
scoring the winning baskets

777
00:35:02,518 --> 00:35:03,686
and getting all the points.

778
00:35:03,769 --> 00:35:06,480
His ego was already in check
in some regards

779
00:35:06,522 --> 00:35:08,232
because of the way
he played the game.

780
00:35:08,315 --> 00:35:09,567
There's things
that Bill Russell does

781
00:35:09,650 --> 00:35:11,777
that are incredible,
but he's not a great scorer.

782
00:35:11,819 --> 00:35:13,696
So there are literally
players on the team

783
00:35:13,737 --> 00:35:15,406
who'd be, like, he needs them.

784
00:35:15,447 --> 00:35:17,575
I need you because
I cannot score the way you can.

785
00:35:17,616 --> 00:35:19,535
Built trust
amongst his teammates.

786
00:35:19,618 --> 00:35:22,955
That seemed to be something
that Wilt maybe struggled with.

787
00:35:22,997 --> 00:35:24,999
Bill Russell,
there was no such struggle.

788
00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:27,501
When I played for
the Boston Celtics as a rookie

789
00:35:27,543 --> 00:35:29,837
with Bill Russell,
the trust was there

790
00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:31,964
because that team
stayed together

791
00:35:32,047 --> 00:35:33,090
for all those years.

792
00:35:33,132 --> 00:35:34,675
They won championships together.

793
00:35:34,717 --> 00:35:38,762
But Wilt, who was so dominant
as an individual,

794
00:35:38,804 --> 00:35:41,140
and with all
the different coaches,

795
00:35:41,182 --> 00:35:43,767
moving and getting traded,

796
00:35:43,809 --> 00:35:46,228
it took him a long time
to learn that.

797
00:35:47,730 --> 00:35:51,734
He came to a place in his life

798
00:35:51,775 --> 00:35:54,486
where if this is what
it's gonna take to win,

799
00:35:54,528 --> 00:35:55,654
I'm gonna do it.

800
00:35:55,696 --> 00:35:57,198
[Announcer]
Screen by Washington.

801
00:35:57,239 --> 00:35:58,949
Shoots a 17-footer. No good.
Tipped by Wilt to himself.

802
00:35:58,991 --> 00:36:00,451
Tight rope act.
Throws the ball to McMillian.

803
00:36:00,492 --> 00:36:01,493
Great play by the big man.

804
00:36:01,577 --> 00:36:02,953
McMillian, bounce to Jerry,

805
00:36:02,995 --> 00:36:04,371
down the middle,
around Maravich, up and in!

806
00:36:04,413 --> 00:36:06,498
They say that Wilt Chamberlain

807
00:36:06,582 --> 00:36:09,001
is now playing sort of
Bill Russell style basketball.

808
00:36:09,043 --> 00:36:10,586
What does this mean?
How does he...

809
00:36:10,628 --> 00:36:14,131
Well, first you have to say
as well as he can.

810
00:36:14,215 --> 00:36:16,842
One of the reasons they call it
a Russell impression

811
00:36:16,926 --> 00:36:20,679
is because Bill Sharman,
former teammate of Bill Russell,

812
00:36:20,763 --> 00:36:23,057
comes in and coaches the Lakers

813
00:36:23,140 --> 00:36:26,560
On defense, Wilt's
protecting the paint,

814
00:36:26,644 --> 00:36:27,728
blocking shots.

815
00:36:27,811 --> 00:36:30,522
He would go out to the perimeter
if he needed to.

816
00:36:30,564 --> 00:36:33,442
He decided to play defense
the way he could,

817
00:36:33,484 --> 00:36:35,903
and of course
he became a great defender.

818
00:36:35,945 --> 00:36:39,823
He is grabbing the rebound
and starting the fast break

819
00:36:39,907 --> 00:36:41,033
and getting Jerry West,

820
00:36:41,116 --> 00:36:44,703
getting Gail Goodrich
out and going.

821
00:36:44,787 --> 00:36:48,165
On offense, now Wilt
is playing up top

822
00:36:48,207 --> 00:36:49,500
off of the ball.

823
00:36:49,541 --> 00:36:50,668
He's setting screens,

824
00:36:50,751 --> 00:36:53,921
creating space
for his teammates.

825
00:36:53,963 --> 00:36:57,675
He was an exceptional passer.

826
00:36:57,758 --> 00:36:59,468
And if we needed
a big bucket,

827
00:36:59,510 --> 00:37:03,847
I mean, Wilt was the Big Dipper.

828
00:37:03,889 --> 00:37:06,725
He was only taking, you know,
nine shots a game then.

829
00:37:06,767 --> 00:37:10,229
He'd do that in a minute
and a half in 1962.

830
00:37:14,775 --> 00:37:18,654
That year
we won 33 games in a row.

831
00:37:18,696 --> 00:37:19,947
It was like magic.

832
00:37:19,989 --> 00:37:22,658
To this day, it is the record

833
00:37:22,741 --> 00:37:25,327
among all professional
sporting teams

834
00:37:25,411 --> 00:37:26,578
in North America.

835
00:37:26,662 --> 00:37:29,456
They had Jim McMillian,
Happy Hairston,

836
00:37:29,498 --> 00:37:30,958
Gail Goodrich, and Jerry West.

837
00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:34,878
They just played together
like a symphony.

838
00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:36,505
[Announcer]Wilt playing
another tremendous game.

839
00:37:36,588 --> 00:37:37,756
Wrap around bounce pass...

840
00:37:37,798 --> 00:37:38,841
And now here's the final

841
00:37:38,924 --> 00:37:40,259
and third stage
of Wilt's career.

842
00:37:40,342 --> 00:37:42,845
They were all scoring points,
and he's okay with that.

843
00:37:42,928 --> 00:37:46,932
He actually felt, I think,
a lot more happy

844
00:37:46,974 --> 00:37:48,892
to play that kind of game.

845
00:37:48,976 --> 00:37:52,521
I think he's one of the most
misunderstood people

846
00:37:52,604 --> 00:37:54,023
that I've ever seen.

847
00:37:54,106 --> 00:37:56,233
I spent a lot of time
with Wilt personally,

848
00:37:56,275 --> 00:37:59,570
particularly our last two years
in the league.

849
00:37:59,611 --> 00:38:02,448
He was a good guy, okay?
A good guy.

850
00:38:02,531 --> 00:38:04,908
I remember a time
in San Francisco.

851
00:38:04,992 --> 00:38:08,454
Wilt, Happy Hairston,
and myself

852
00:38:08,495 --> 00:38:09,788
pile into a cab.

853
00:38:09,872 --> 00:38:12,958
On the radio, all of a sudden
The Temptations come on.

854
00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:14,626
And I looked back
at both of them,

855
00:38:14,668 --> 00:38:18,630
and I said, hey, have you heard
The Temps new one?

856
00:38:18,672 --> 00:38:22,343
You know,
Just my imagination

857
00:38:22,426 --> 00:38:23,552
Running away

858
00:38:23,594 --> 00:38:26,138
And they picked up
in the back seat.

859
00:38:26,221 --> 00:38:28,140
All the way to the arena,

860
00:38:28,182 --> 00:38:30,601
we're singing
Just My Imagination.

861
00:38:30,684 --> 00:38:35,356
And I became one of his
favorite dinner partners.

862
00:38:35,397 --> 00:38:36,857
He took Chris and I to dinner.

863
00:38:36,940 --> 00:38:39,151
He brings out
this great bottle of wine.

864
00:38:39,193 --> 00:38:41,487
So he told me
all about the wine,

865
00:38:41,528 --> 00:38:42,988
the grapes
and where it came from.

866
00:38:43,030 --> 00:38:46,784
Wilt knew everything
and all things about anything,

867
00:38:46,825 --> 00:38:49,787
and whether
he was accurate or not

868
00:38:49,828 --> 00:38:51,789
didn't make
any difference to him.

869
00:38:51,872 --> 00:38:54,750
If I had the savoir faire...

870
00:38:54,792 --> 00:38:56,377
There you go.

871
00:38:58,337 --> 00:38:59,421
What happens to the team,

872
00:38:59,505 --> 00:39:01,256
they win 69 games that year,

873
00:39:01,298 --> 00:39:05,135
and that was the record for wins
at the time,

874
00:39:05,177 --> 00:39:08,555
producing
the most efficient offense

875
00:39:08,639 --> 00:39:10,391
in NBA history.

876
00:39:10,474 --> 00:39:11,600
Everything clicked.

877
00:39:11,683 --> 00:39:14,228
They defeat Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

878
00:39:14,311 --> 00:39:17,815
and the Milwaukee Bucks
for the Western Division title.

879
00:39:17,856 --> 00:39:21,527
They cap the season with
a dominant NBA championship.

880
00:39:23,529 --> 00:39:24,738
[Announcer]
The Los Angeles Lakers

881
00:39:24,822 --> 00:39:28,158
have won their first NBA title.

882
00:39:28,200 --> 00:39:30,911
Of course,
I climbed all over his back

883
00:39:30,953 --> 00:39:34,248
as he drug me
and everybody else there.

884
00:39:35,624 --> 00:39:38,335
Jerry West
finally got a championship.

885
00:39:38,377 --> 00:39:40,379
That was a great team.

886
00:39:40,462 --> 00:39:43,048
A team.

887
00:39:43,090 --> 00:39:45,050
Widely considered one of
the great teams of all time.

888
00:39:45,134 --> 00:39:48,429
And Wilt wins the MVP
of the finals.

889
00:39:53,767 --> 00:39:56,228
When Wilt retired,

890
00:39:56,311 --> 00:40:01,316
he owned over 100 records
in the record book.

891
00:40:01,358 --> 00:40:03,569
No athlete in team sport

892
00:40:03,610 --> 00:40:05,654
has been able
to accomplish that.

893
00:40:05,737 --> 00:40:08,198
I'm a big fan of the lists.

894
00:40:08,240 --> 00:40:11,368
Like, who are the top?
Who are the number one?

895
00:40:11,452 --> 00:40:13,620
If you had to start a team,
who would you pick?

896
00:40:13,662 --> 00:40:15,372
Because in a life
where you can't figure out

897
00:40:15,456 --> 00:40:16,748
why is my dog sick?

898
00:40:16,832 --> 00:40:18,041
Why is my wife mad at me?

899
00:40:18,125 --> 00:40:19,334
Why are the kids upset?

900
00:40:19,376 --> 00:40:21,003
It's one of the reasons
people love sports

901
00:40:21,086 --> 00:40:22,629
is because we keep score.

902
00:40:22,671 --> 00:40:26,216
Wilt is often
not in anyone's top five.

903
00:40:26,300 --> 00:40:28,635
Bill Russell
won 11 championships

904
00:40:28,677 --> 00:40:29,928
in 13 seasons,

905
00:40:29,970 --> 00:40:33,515
and many of those were at
the expense of Wilt Chamberlain.

906
00:40:33,557 --> 00:40:35,976
He had one to do
and one job only.

907
00:40:36,059 --> 00:40:37,394
I had several that I had to do.

908
00:40:37,436 --> 00:40:40,105
I had to score at times
and rebound and play defense.

909
00:40:40,189 --> 00:40:42,149
I don't think as far
as individual talent goes

910
00:40:42,191 --> 00:40:44,485
that Russell even comes close.

911
00:40:44,568 --> 00:40:48,113
A sad thing about Wilt's legacy

912
00:40:48,197 --> 00:40:49,615
is that he gets defined
by Russell,

913
00:40:49,698 --> 00:40:50,741
but not vice versa.

914
00:40:50,782 --> 00:40:52,409
Because he didn't win enough.

915
00:40:52,451 --> 00:40:53,494
Fuck winning.

916
00:40:53,535 --> 00:40:54,661
No one's out here.

917
00:40:54,745 --> 00:40:55,913
We gotta put
three, four people out here

918
00:40:55,996 --> 00:40:56,955
to be able
to match up with this.

919
00:40:57,039 --> 00:40:58,248
Like, just think about that.

920
00:40:58,290 --> 00:41:00,959
You had to start saying,
hey, well, you can't win.

921
00:41:01,001 --> 00:41:03,086
You had to.
You had to go to that.

922
00:41:03,170 --> 00:41:04,755
History's written
by the winners,

923
00:41:04,838 --> 00:41:06,924
and then it becomes about
we wanna tell the story

924
00:41:07,007 --> 00:41:08,926
of why this person
deserved to win.

925
00:41:08,967 --> 00:41:10,302
Why he was guaranteed to win.

926
00:41:10,344 --> 00:41:12,262
Especially
if we like that person.

927
00:41:12,304 --> 00:41:14,973
You don't win repeatedly
by mistake.

928
00:41:15,057 --> 00:41:16,058
You just don't.

929
00:41:16,141 --> 00:41:17,851
There's something about you

930
00:41:17,935 --> 00:41:19,686
that makes that possible.

931
00:41:19,728 --> 00:41:21,480
The legacy of a great player,

932
00:41:21,563 --> 00:41:22,648
they make their own luck.

933
00:41:22,731 --> 00:41:25,817
[Gary Pomerantz]
Russell won the four game sevens

934
00:41:25,901 --> 00:41:27,152
in the playoffs between them

935
00:41:27,194 --> 00:41:29,112
by a total of nine points.

936
00:41:29,154 --> 00:41:32,115
That's very close
if you think about it.

937
00:41:32,157 --> 00:41:34,743
Sam Jones
making an off balance shot

938
00:41:34,785 --> 00:41:38,080
doesn't change
how Wilt Chamberlain played.

939
00:41:38,163 --> 00:41:41,875
Don Nelson hits the crazy bounce
off the back of the backboard

940
00:41:41,917 --> 00:41:42,834
and up and in,

941
00:41:42,918 --> 00:41:44,086
What if that shot misses?

942
00:41:44,127 --> 00:41:46,755
If the ball bounces
a few different ways,

943
00:41:46,838 --> 00:41:49,800
Russell could easily have
seven or eight championships

944
00:41:49,841 --> 00:41:51,802
and Chamberlain
could have four or five,

945
00:41:51,885 --> 00:41:55,847
and Wilt's legacy
would be completely changed.

946
00:41:55,931 --> 00:41:57,432
But does that make sense?

947
00:41:57,516 --> 00:42:01,019
And the need
for these simplified narratives

948
00:42:01,103 --> 00:42:03,063
reflect something in us

949
00:42:03,105 --> 00:42:07,526
even maybe more so
than the athlete themselves.

950
00:42:09,486 --> 00:42:12,406
Wilt lives at the soul
of the game today.

951
00:42:13,657 --> 00:42:15,909
Don't the younger
generations know

952
00:42:15,951 --> 00:42:18,870
about the mighty Dipper?

953
00:42:18,954 --> 00:42:21,290
The way he saved the NBA
when it needed saving?

954
00:42:21,373 --> 00:42:24,209
The way that he symbolically
blew apart the quota

955
00:42:24,293 --> 00:42:28,255
that limited opportunities
for Black players?

956
00:42:30,382 --> 00:42:33,719
The one thing
that Wilt wasn't prepared for

957
00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:35,929
is all this thing
that is very common now:

958
00:42:36,013 --> 00:42:37,472
legacy talk.

959
00:42:37,514 --> 00:42:39,891
How can you write a book

960
00:42:39,975 --> 00:42:42,394
and not say all the things
that make you what you are

961
00:42:42,436 --> 00:42:46,148
to what actually helped you
construct your views?

962
00:42:46,189 --> 00:42:52,029
He couldn't just allow
his legend to rest.

963
00:42:52,070 --> 00:42:53,905
He was always
stoking the embers.

964
00:42:53,989 --> 00:42:57,409
Wilt called me one day
and said, I have a book deal.

965
00:42:57,492 --> 00:43:00,954
This editor wants me
to say that I, like,

966
00:43:01,038 --> 00:43:03,624
that I slept with 20,000 women.

967
00:43:03,707 --> 00:43:05,125
I said, what, are you crazy?

968
00:43:05,208 --> 00:43:07,502
I thought it was
a joke at first.

969
00:43:07,544 --> 00:43:09,338
And I said, don't do it.

970
00:43:09,421 --> 00:43:12,924
You don't need to prove
that women like you.

971
00:43:13,008 --> 00:43:16,887
20,000 liaisons with women.

972
00:43:16,970 --> 00:43:20,432
Wilt did always like
to put up numbers. [laughs]

973
00:43:21,433 --> 00:43:23,894
That averages out
to 1.2 women per day

974
00:43:23,977 --> 00:43:25,228
from the age of 15.

975
00:43:25,270 --> 00:43:28,106
20,000? Come on, man.

976
00:43:28,190 --> 00:43:30,651
But I know about 30 in Rome.

977
00:43:30,692 --> 00:43:31,735
[laughs]

978
00:43:31,777 --> 00:43:34,780
I said, come on.
You know it isn't 20,000.

979
00:43:34,821 --> 00:43:35,906
He just winked at me.

980
00:43:35,989 --> 00:43:38,075
He goes, what's a zero
between friends?

981
00:43:38,116 --> 00:43:41,870
It has been treated more
as a punchline, a joke.

982
00:43:41,912 --> 00:43:44,498
These 20,000 names

983
00:43:44,539 --> 00:43:47,709
are the women who slept
with Wilt Chamberlain.

984
00:43:47,793 --> 00:43:50,170
[audience laughs]

985
00:43:51,129 --> 00:43:52,297
When the reviews came out,

986
00:43:52,339 --> 00:43:54,883
everything
was all about the 20,000.

987
00:43:55,967 --> 00:43:58,345
I said you got six sisters.

988
00:43:58,387 --> 00:44:01,598
You cannot be talking
that dumb talk.

989
00:44:01,640 --> 00:44:04,559
He was devastated.

990
00:44:04,643 --> 00:44:06,812
Why anyway?

991
00:44:06,853 --> 00:44:09,398
He said I don't know why
I did it.

992
00:44:12,734 --> 00:44:16,822
In a way in his mind,
there's constantly a dialogue

993
00:44:16,905 --> 00:44:18,657
with the external world

994
00:44:18,699 --> 00:44:20,534
about who he is.

995
00:44:20,617 --> 00:44:23,078
I mean, everything
he writes in his book

996
00:44:23,161 --> 00:44:28,208
is in response
to a real or imagined critique

997
00:44:28,291 --> 00:44:32,713
or pressure
or view of him.

998
00:44:32,796 --> 00:44:34,423
When you're always in response,

999
00:44:34,506 --> 00:44:39,010
there's certain things that
you don't know how to evaluate.

1000
00:44:39,094 --> 00:44:43,014
If you can't evaluate
by how do I feel about things,

1001
00:44:43,056 --> 00:44:44,766
what do I really want,

1002
00:44:44,850 --> 00:44:46,226
then you go to numbers,

1003
00:44:46,268 --> 00:44:50,439
and you say, okay, if it's
higher than this, it's good.

1004
00:44:51,982 --> 00:44:56,445
[Wilt] I used the 20,000
as a figure of speech.

1005
00:44:56,528 --> 00:44:58,989
I called my relationships
"encounters"

1006
00:44:59,030 --> 00:45:01,032
because that's what they were,

1007
00:45:01,116 --> 00:45:04,536
not conquests
the way some people say.

1008
00:45:04,619 --> 00:45:10,125
I'm sorry if I did an injustice
to my women friends.

1009
00:45:10,208 --> 00:45:13,253
Coming up, our program
with Wilt Chamberlain.

1010
00:45:13,336 --> 00:45:15,088
We taped this show
literally days

1011
00:45:15,130 --> 00:45:17,132
before the story
about Magic Johnson

1012
00:45:17,174 --> 00:45:19,092
contracting the HIV virus broke.

1013
00:45:19,134 --> 00:45:20,427
The tone of it
would have been different

1014
00:45:20,510 --> 00:45:22,596
had we known
about Magic's tragic story.

1015
00:45:22,679 --> 00:45:25,599
And Wilt's on a book tour
at the time in 1991

1016
00:45:25,640 --> 00:45:29,227
that Magic Johnson announces
he's HIV positive.

1017
00:45:29,311 --> 00:45:32,355
So suddenly Wilt is seen
as this symbol

1018
00:45:32,397 --> 00:45:36,443
of the over-sexed athlete.

1019
00:45:37,068 --> 00:45:38,320
Do you think that now

1020
00:45:38,403 --> 00:45:40,906
people are seizing
on the tone of the book,

1021
00:45:40,989 --> 00:45:43,074
women's group especially,
to single you out

1022
00:45:43,116 --> 00:45:44,993
as an example
of everything wrong

1023
00:45:45,076 --> 00:45:47,162
with the way men treat
and feel about women?

1024
00:45:47,204 --> 00:45:49,456
Well, I think
that because of the times

1025
00:45:49,539 --> 00:45:52,042
and because of AIDS
being so prevalent,

1026
00:45:52,083 --> 00:45:54,377
they just think that maybe
I had the wrong attitude.

1027
00:45:54,419 --> 00:45:57,547
I'm not proud of what my life
was all about then,

1028
00:45:57,631 --> 00:46:00,926
but it was my life
and it was of mutual consent.

1029
00:46:00,967 --> 00:46:03,428
With AIDs being as bad as it is,

1030
00:46:03,470 --> 00:46:04,805
have you been tested for AIDS?

1031
00:46:04,846 --> 00:46:06,097
Yeah, I have,

1032
00:46:06,139 --> 00:46:07,516
not that I think
it's anyone's business.

1033
00:46:07,557 --> 00:46:09,601
I think it's hilarious
that you won't announce

1034
00:46:09,684 --> 00:46:11,269
whether or not
you've had AIDS testing.

1035
00:46:11,353 --> 00:46:14,731
You all say in your book
that you've had 20,000 women.

1036
00:46:14,773 --> 00:46:16,149
You have to say whether or not...

1037
00:46:16,191 --> 00:46:17,192
It is people's business.

1038
00:46:17,234 --> 00:46:19,486
Children look up to you.

1039
00:46:21,947 --> 00:46:24,908
It did haunt him.

1040
00:46:24,950 --> 00:46:26,326
He remained upset about that.

1041
00:46:26,368 --> 00:46:30,664
It just put
this overwhelming shadow

1042
00:46:30,747 --> 00:46:34,668
on what was a tremendous
basketball legacy.

1043
00:46:34,709 --> 00:46:36,920
It's one of the first things
that comes up

1044
00:46:37,003 --> 00:46:38,171
when people talk about him.

1045
00:46:38,255 --> 00:46:40,715
People that don't even
follow basketball.

1046
00:46:40,757 --> 00:46:42,259
It's too bad.

1047
00:46:42,300 --> 00:46:44,344
There's more to him than that.

1048
00:46:44,386 --> 00:46:48,056
Wilt, people would be
almost shocked to learn

1049
00:46:48,098 --> 00:46:50,058
that it's been about 20 years

1050
00:46:50,141 --> 00:46:51,935
since you've seen
Bill Russell, right?

1051
00:46:51,977 --> 00:46:53,061
Yeah.

1052
00:46:53,103 --> 00:46:55,230
It wasn't beneficial
to either one of them

1053
00:46:55,313 --> 00:46:58,692
to have all this animosity
between the two of them.

1054
00:46:58,733 --> 00:47:01,027
And then Shaq tells me

1055
00:47:01,111 --> 00:47:03,405
it was his idea
to have this commercial

1056
00:47:03,488 --> 00:47:06,116
about his entrance
into the Big Man's Club.

1057
00:47:06,199 --> 00:47:08,952
[knock knock knock]
Password.

1058
00:47:08,994 --> 00:47:11,079
Don't fake the funk
on a nasty dunk.

1059
00:47:11,162 --> 00:47:12,205
I.D.

1060
00:47:12,289 --> 00:47:15,083
It's a great commercial
because it has Shaq,

1061
00:47:15,125 --> 00:47:19,004
Wilt Chamberlain,
Bill Walton, Bill Russell.

1062
00:47:20,213 --> 00:47:22,924
-That's not enough.
-And Kareem.

1063
00:47:23,592 --> 00:47:25,176
And from what I understand,

1064
00:47:25,260 --> 00:47:28,305
it was Wilt Chamberlain
that was the big enough man

1065
00:47:28,346 --> 00:47:30,181
to extend his hand
to everyone,

1066
00:47:30,265 --> 00:47:31,808
including Bill Russell,

1067
00:47:31,850 --> 00:47:33,768
and break the ice.

1068
00:47:34,853 --> 00:47:37,606
Wilt and I could talk,

1069
00:47:37,689 --> 00:47:41,067
and neither one was asking
the other for anything

1070
00:47:41,109 --> 00:47:43,111
except friendship.

1071
00:47:44,237 --> 00:47:47,908
And friendship that is not
this way or this way.

1072
00:47:47,949 --> 00:47:49,159
It's this way.

1073
00:47:49,242 --> 00:47:54,205
If you keep examining
all the narratives about Wilt

1074
00:47:54,289 --> 00:47:56,625
and discarding these
and discarding those

1075
00:47:56,666 --> 00:47:59,544
and finally getting
to that core of Wilt,

1076
00:47:59,586 --> 00:48:02,672
you're gonna discover kindness

1077
00:48:02,714 --> 00:48:04,758
and sensitivity.

1078
00:48:04,799 --> 00:48:09,137
Wilt's teammate
in his first three seasons

1079
00:48:09,179 --> 00:48:10,513
was Paul Arizin.

1080
00:48:10,555 --> 00:48:14,059
Even though they had
very different lifestyles,

1081
00:48:14,100 --> 00:48:16,353
Wilt really admired my father.

1082
00:48:16,394 --> 00:48:19,189
Now you advance decades later,

1083
00:48:19,272 --> 00:48:22,359
and Paul Arizin's
granddaughter Stephanie

1084
00:48:22,400 --> 00:48:24,736
has an inoperable brain tumor.

1085
00:48:24,778 --> 00:48:29,491
The doctor says your daughter
has 12 to 18 months to live,

1086
00:48:29,532 --> 00:48:32,827
and there's nothing we can do.

1087
00:48:32,869 --> 00:48:35,246
Maybe it was the next day,

1088
00:48:35,330 --> 00:48:37,374
Stephanie said
I just got off the phone

1089
00:48:37,457 --> 00:48:40,001
from a half hour conversation
with Wilt Chamberlain.

1090
00:48:40,085 --> 00:48:42,003
Did grandfather call him
and tell him?

1091
00:48:42,045 --> 00:48:43,546
I said, I don't know.

1092
00:48:43,588 --> 00:48:44,839
I didn't do anything.

1093
00:48:44,881 --> 00:48:46,341
I wouldn't know how
to get in touch with Wilt.

1094
00:48:46,383 --> 00:48:48,843
And I get a phone call
at my house.

1095
00:48:48,927 --> 00:48:50,053
[deep voice] Hello, Mike?

1096
00:48:50,136 --> 00:48:53,598
This is the Dipper.
Remember me?

1097
00:48:53,640 --> 00:48:58,853
He said, do you mind
if I call her

1098
00:48:58,937 --> 00:49:00,689
on a regular basis?

1099
00:49:00,730 --> 00:49:03,108
We had such
a lovely conversation.

1100
00:49:03,191 --> 00:49:05,276
[exhales]

1101
00:49:05,360 --> 00:49:06,903
From that point onward,

1102
00:49:06,987 --> 00:49:10,657
she always had reserved
6:00 to 7:00 on Fridays

1103
00:49:10,699 --> 00:49:12,158
her and Wilt were gonna talk,

1104
00:49:12,200 --> 00:49:14,202
and he would call her.

1105
00:49:14,244 --> 00:49:16,871
She called him Wilty,

1106
00:49:16,955 --> 00:49:19,207
making her smile,

1107
00:49:19,290 --> 00:49:20,542
and we were not sure

1108
00:49:20,583 --> 00:49:23,962
if we would ever see her smile
ever again.

1109
00:49:24,045 --> 00:49:26,881
After each call,
he would call me

1110
00:49:26,965 --> 00:49:28,633
just to see how am I doing.

1111
00:49:28,675 --> 00:49:30,468
There was nothing in it for him.

1112
00:49:30,510 --> 00:49:33,888
Paul Arizin and Wilt
are both named

1113
00:49:33,930 --> 00:49:37,267
to the NBA's All Time
Top 50 Players list,

1114
00:49:37,308 --> 00:49:40,186
and they go to the All Star Game
for a ceremony.

1115
00:49:40,228 --> 00:49:43,898
As we rolled up
to the door to get in,

1116
00:49:43,982 --> 00:49:45,442
out comes Wilt.

1117
00:49:45,525 --> 00:49:47,652
I got her.
She's with me.

1118
00:49:47,694 --> 00:49:50,530
The popular fad among
my daughter and her girlfriends

1119
00:49:50,572 --> 00:49:51,656
was collecting autographs.

1120
00:49:51,740 --> 00:49:53,908
She wanted to collect
the autographs

1121
00:49:53,992 --> 00:49:54,951
of all the players.

1122
00:49:55,035 --> 00:49:57,662
Wilt asked if he could lead her
player to player.

1123
00:49:57,746 --> 00:50:01,332
He took her up to every player.

1124
00:50:01,374 --> 00:50:05,170
He was with her every second.

1125
00:50:05,253 --> 00:50:07,589
And Stephanie says,
who's that guy?

1126
00:50:07,630 --> 00:50:09,591
And I said, that's Bill Russell.

1127
00:50:09,674 --> 00:50:11,634
Can we get his autograph?

1128
00:50:11,718 --> 00:50:14,387
And I said,
he's kind of famous

1129
00:50:14,429 --> 00:50:17,390
for not signing autographs
for anybody.

1130
00:50:17,474 --> 00:50:19,392
Wilt says, hold on.

1131
00:50:19,476 --> 00:50:23,938
Russ, this is Stephanie.
Sign her book.

1132
00:50:24,022 --> 00:50:26,900
Happy to. Bill Russell.

1133
00:50:33,281 --> 00:50:36,409
Stephanie Arizin died
months later.

1134
00:50:36,493 --> 00:50:40,371
Wilt sent a massive
floral arrangement.

1135
00:50:40,455 --> 00:50:42,248
There was a telegram

1136
00:50:42,290 --> 00:50:44,626
that accompanied
the flower arrangement.

1137
00:50:44,667 --> 00:50:46,920
"To the Arizin family,

1138
00:50:47,003 --> 00:50:49,422
I am here for you."

1139
00:50:49,506 --> 00:50:51,341
[clears throat]

1140
00:50:51,424 --> 00:50:54,010
"I am here for you,
all of you.

1141
00:50:54,052 --> 00:50:56,638
"I lost a friend today

1142
00:50:56,721 --> 00:51:00,642
"who was full of strength
and loved life passionately.

1143
00:51:00,725 --> 00:51:04,437
"From Stephanie, I realized

1144
00:51:04,479 --> 00:51:07,065
"you're never too old to learn

1145
00:51:07,107 --> 00:51:09,526
"and never too young to teach.

1146
00:51:09,609 --> 00:51:13,613
Love and peace, Dippy."

1147
00:51:14,948 --> 00:51:20,161
That's how I choose
to remember Wilt Chamberlain.

1148
00:51:22,122 --> 00:51:24,749
He made such an effort.

1149
00:51:24,833 --> 00:51:28,378
I had a relationship,
and a lot of it was by phone,

1150
00:51:28,461 --> 00:51:31,673
for almost 20 years.

1151
00:51:31,756 --> 00:51:33,091
Friend after friend told me

1152
00:51:33,174 --> 00:51:38,138
about Wilt's one hour and
two hour long conversations.

1153
00:51:38,179 --> 00:51:39,722
It was 213-something.

1154
00:51:39,764 --> 00:51:41,432
I have it written down
in my book.

1155
00:51:41,516 --> 00:51:42,600
I haven't scratched it out.

1156
00:51:42,642 --> 00:51:43,852
He'd call late at 11:00.

1157
00:51:43,935 --> 00:51:45,979
We'd talk like an hour
just about everything.

1158
00:51:46,020 --> 00:51:47,564
Sometimes I was doing
something else.

1159
00:51:47,647 --> 00:51:50,191
I'd just hold the phone
out here, let him talk.

1160
00:51:53,778 --> 00:51:55,655
If I could go back,

1161
00:51:55,697 --> 00:51:58,199
I wish I'd spent
more time with him.

1162
00:51:59,200 --> 00:52:00,493
I think that Wilt

1163
00:52:00,535 --> 00:52:04,122
was just about always lonely.

1164
00:52:07,834 --> 00:52:11,546
I wish I had
done the search earlier

1165
00:52:11,588 --> 00:52:14,382
and at least
been able to meet him.

1166
00:52:16,384 --> 00:52:18,136
I really did wait too long.

1167
00:52:18,178 --> 00:52:21,097
What scares you?

1168
00:52:21,139 --> 00:52:23,933
Probably not old age,

1169
00:52:23,975 --> 00:52:26,269
but not being able
to do things

1170
00:52:26,311 --> 00:52:27,562
that I now
am capable of doing.

1171
00:52:27,645 --> 00:52:31,065
I remember him saying one time,

1172
00:52:31,107 --> 00:52:34,444
you know, us big dogs
don't last too long.

1173
00:52:34,527 --> 00:52:37,197
He told me I'm gonna stop by

1174
00:52:37,238 --> 00:52:38,615
when I come from the doctor's.

1175
00:52:38,698 --> 00:52:43,661
I had a purple lavender tree
with these lavender things,

1176
00:52:43,703 --> 00:52:45,914
and he would always
pull one off.

1177
00:52:45,997 --> 00:52:49,959
And he didn't do it.
He hurried up and sat down.

1178
00:52:50,001 --> 00:52:51,211
I said to him,
you want me to stay?

1179
00:52:51,294 --> 00:52:52,378
Because he wasn't feeling good.

1180
00:52:52,462 --> 00:52:54,172
No, I'm okay. I'm fine.

1181
00:52:54,214 --> 00:52:56,466
He didn't share a lot of stuff

1182
00:52:56,549 --> 00:52:58,676
that he thought
might upset us.

1183
00:52:58,718 --> 00:53:02,263
He wouldn't want us
to be burdened down with him.

1184
00:53:06,559 --> 00:53:07,936
[Reporter]
Police and paramedics

1185
00:53:08,019 --> 00:53:10,855
rushed to the Bel Air home of
Wilt Chamberlain this afternoon,

1186
00:53:10,897 --> 00:53:13,775
responding to reports
of a cardiac arrest.

1187
00:53:13,858 --> 00:53:16,277
The 63 year old
basketball great's attorney

1188
00:53:16,319 --> 00:53:17,737
was the first to release news

1189
00:53:17,779 --> 00:53:20,198
that Chamberlain had died.

1190
00:53:20,990 --> 00:53:23,785
It was the gardener
who found his body.

1191
00:53:23,826 --> 00:53:27,330
He called out to Wilt
and he went upstairs

1192
00:53:27,413 --> 00:53:32,418
and saw Wilt motionless in bed.

1193
00:53:34,921 --> 00:53:38,132
[Cherry]
The roof was open.

1194
00:53:38,967 --> 00:53:42,595
Wilt Chamberlain's
last moments on earth

1195
00:53:42,637 --> 00:53:46,224
were looking at the stars.

1196
00:53:50,979 --> 00:53:54,732
As he did
when he was 10 or 11 years old

1197
00:53:54,774 --> 00:53:56,484
in Philadelphia.

1198
00:53:58,528 --> 00:54:00,905
[Wilt]
People always have tried

1199
00:54:00,947 --> 00:54:04,117
to make me feel like a freak,

1200
00:54:04,158 --> 00:54:06,703
but I'm just a person.

1201
00:54:06,744 --> 00:54:09,414
I lived with that loser label

1202
00:54:09,455 --> 00:54:13,251
stuck on me
like some big ugly scar.

1203
00:54:13,334 --> 00:54:16,838
People, just people

1204
00:54:16,879 --> 00:54:20,466
are the only ones that hurt you.

1205
00:54:20,508 --> 00:54:24,762
Wilt, from the standpoint
of the world,

1206
00:54:24,846 --> 00:54:26,889
was one of the toughest people
on the planet.

1207
00:54:26,973 --> 00:54:30,560
But the reality is
he was like a little sweet man

1208
00:54:30,601 --> 00:54:34,522
inside of this giant body.

1209
00:54:34,564 --> 00:54:37,066
Things happened to him

1210
00:54:37,150 --> 00:54:40,987
that he could never
rid himself of these things.

1211
00:54:41,029 --> 00:54:43,489
And everybody's got something,

1212
00:54:43,531 --> 00:54:46,826
and his is such a big life

1213
00:54:46,909 --> 00:54:49,996
that he just had
the biggest version of it.

1214
00:54:51,956 --> 00:54:54,125
[Announcer] At halftime
out at Allen Fieldhouse,

1215
00:54:54,167 --> 00:54:57,003
Kansas State
trailing Kansas 32-31.

1216
00:54:57,086 --> 00:54:59,047
And Wilt Chamberlain
is having his jersey retired

1217
00:54:59,130 --> 00:55:01,215
in a ceremony
just getting underway.

1218
00:55:01,299 --> 00:55:02,717
Let's go out to Tim Ryan.

1219
00:55:02,800 --> 00:55:03,843
Thank you, Michelle.

1220
00:55:03,926 --> 00:55:05,970
It's been 23 years
since Wilt Chamberlain

1221
00:55:06,012 --> 00:55:07,305
has been here in Lawrence.

1222
00:55:07,388 --> 00:55:09,891
A lot of people have wondered
why he hasn't been back.

1223
00:55:09,932 --> 00:55:12,060
I think it was because
Wilt felt

1224
00:55:12,101 --> 00:55:14,562
that he'd let down
the entire state.

1225
00:55:14,604 --> 00:55:17,231
Not the school,
the entire state of Kansas

1226
00:55:17,315 --> 00:55:22,862
when they lost
that painful triple overtime.

1227
00:55:24,072 --> 00:55:26,824
Not until
the year before his death

1228
00:55:26,866 --> 00:55:29,452
did Wilt agree to attend

1229
00:55:29,494 --> 00:55:31,496
to retire his number.

1230
00:55:31,537 --> 00:55:33,664
And he spoke to a journalist,

1231
00:55:33,706 --> 00:55:36,834
and said that I'm afraid
that they'll boo me.

1232
00:55:36,918 --> 00:55:41,422
One of the true legends
in the history of the game,

1233
00:55:41,464 --> 00:55:44,300
welcome back Wilt Chamberlain.

1234
00:55:44,342 --> 00:55:48,096
[cheering]

1235
00:55:50,306 --> 00:55:54,519
[Firestone] He walks out on
that court and received the love

1236
00:55:54,602 --> 00:55:56,562
and he's overcome with emotion.

1237
00:56:03,111 --> 00:56:04,904
It meant the world to Wilt,

1238
00:56:04,987 --> 00:56:07,657
because deep down I think

1239
00:56:07,698 --> 00:56:10,368
the one thing
that eluded this guy

1240
00:56:10,451 --> 00:56:11,744
was love.

1241
00:56:11,786 --> 00:56:15,748
Wilt was always admired
and held in awe,

1242
00:56:15,790 --> 00:56:18,126
but not loved.

1243
00:56:18,167 --> 00:56:20,378
But what he should
have taken to his grave

1244
00:56:20,461 --> 00:56:24,298
is the knowledge that people
thought he was a damn good guy.

1245
00:56:24,382 --> 00:56:27,093
A little over 40 years ago,

1246
00:56:27,135 --> 00:56:31,931
I lost what I thought was
the toughest battle in sports

1247
00:56:32,014 --> 00:56:35,184
in losing to
the North Carolina Tar Heels

1248
00:56:35,226 --> 00:56:37,687
by one point
in a triple overtime.

1249
00:56:37,770 --> 00:56:39,313
It was a devastating thing
for me

1250
00:56:39,397 --> 00:56:43,025
because I felt as though I let
the University of Kansas down

1251
00:56:43,067 --> 00:56:44,777
and my teammates down.

1252
00:56:44,861 --> 00:56:47,363
But when I come back here today

1253
00:56:47,447 --> 00:56:49,073
and realize how many people

1254
00:56:49,115 --> 00:56:50,491
have shown me
so much appreciation

1255
00:56:50,575 --> 00:56:51,993
and love and warmth

1256
00:56:52,034 --> 00:56:54,036
from the University of Kansas...

1257
00:56:54,078 --> 00:56:57,915
[cheers and applause]

1258
00:56:57,957 --> 00:57:01,335
All right, all right.

1259
00:57:01,419 --> 00:57:03,129
I've learned over the years

1260
00:57:03,171 --> 00:57:05,882
that you must learn to take
the bitter with the sweet,

1261
00:57:05,923 --> 00:57:08,509
and how sweet this is
right here.

1262
00:57:08,551 --> 00:57:11,262
[cheers and applause]