NBA great Chamberlain dead at 63

Chamberlain's body was found by authorities who were called to his Bel-Air home shortly after 3 p.m., said John Black, a Los Angeles Lakers spokesperson.

A fire department spokesperson, Jim Wells, said there were signs that Chamberlain had a heart attack.

Chamberlain was hospitalized with an irregular heart beat in 1992.

Known as "Wilt the Stilt" and "The Big Dipper," the 7-foot-1 Chamberlain dominated the NBA from 1959 through 1973, when he played for the Philadelphia (later the San Francisco) Warriors, the 76ers and the Lakers.

AP PHOTO Wilt Chamberlain, who averaged an unprecedented 50.4 points per game in one season, died yesterday at the age of 63.

He scored 31,419 points during his career, a record until Kareem Abdul-Jabbar broke it in 1984. Chamberlain, who never fouled out in a 1,205 regular-season and playoff games, holds record for career rebounding with 23,924.

"Wilt was one of the greatest ever, and we will never see another one like him," Abdul-Jabbar said.

Chamberlain, who began his professional career with the Harlem Globetrotters in 1958, was one of only two men to win the MVP and rookie of the year awards in the same season (1959).

He was also MVP in 1966 through 1968. He led the NBA in scoring seven straight seasons, 1960-66, and led the league in rebounding 11 of his 14 seasons.

One of his most famous records is the 100 points he scored in a single game in the Philadelphia Warriors' 169-147 defeat of the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962, in Hershey, Pa.

In the 1961-62 season with Philadelphia, he averaged a record 50.4 points a game, and averaged 30.1 for his career. He also was one of the most versatile big men ever, leading the league in assists with 702 in 1967-68.

Chamberlain led his team into the playoffs 13 times, winning two world championships. The first came in 1966-67 with the Philadelphia 76ers, the second in 1971-72 with the Los Angeles Lakers.

A lifelong bachelor, Chamberlain made news after his basketball career by claiming in an autobiography that he had made love to 20,000 women.

"The women who I have been the most attracted to, the most in love with, I've pushed away the strongest," Chamberlain said in a 1991 interview with the Associated Press.

His jersey was raised to the rafters of Allen Fieldhouse in 1998, where Chamberlain starred for the Jayhawks. He led the 1957 team to the NCAA tournament finals, where Kansas lost to unbeaten North Carolina in triple overtime.

10-13-99