The highlight shines vibrant on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as he approaches one among Wilt Chamberlain’s scoring data.
After Kareem Abdul-Jabbar lastly surpassed Wilt Chamberlain’s mark for probably the most factors scored in NBA historical past, the latter was gracious in an April 1984 ceremony on the Forum, then the Lakers’ area, congratulating and dapping up Abdul-Jabbar as dwelling followers cheered.
Later, although, it rankled Chamberlain that such a large deal was made about somebody chasing down a record that few had celebrated because it was being set. He famous the positive Mercedes-Benz motorcar Abdul-Jabbar was gifted for the accomplishment, saying “nobody gave me a popsicle.”
Then he touched on the problem that faces pioneers, trailblazers and the first-in throughout all pursuits and eras: When is sufficient sufficient?
“If I had known you were going to break my record,” Chamberlain stated – not simply of Abdul-Jabbar however of all rivals, “I would have put it a lot farther out of reach.”
The Dipper (Chamberlain’s most popular nickname) in all probability would assume the identical now that Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is on the point of matching and topping one other of the large man’s Bunyan-esque scoring achievements.
From Oct. 19, 1961 via Jan. 19, 1963 – 14 months on the calendar, a season and a half on the NBA schedule – Chamberlain scored a minimum of 20 factors in 126 consecutive video games. Now the Thunder’s MVP guard is days away from that mark; assuming he scores 20 or extra Saturday in opposition to Golden State, SGA can tie Wilt’s mark in opposition to Denver on Monday and make it his personal in opposition to Boston on Thursday. Each is an OKC dwelling recreation.
It’s form of a manufactured “record,” to which nobody paid a lot consideration till Gilgeous-Alexander began stacking video games on Nov. 1, 2024. He saved it up via the remainder of 2024-25 and proper into this season. It doesn’t have the luster or notoriety of Yankee legend Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak in 1941 in baseball. And it’s not one of many NBA’s Mount Rushmore data, like Wilt’s 100-point recreation, Michael Jordan’s 10 scoring titles, LeBron James passing Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) in 2023 and lengthening the factors mark by one other 5K, or – the league’s holy grail – Bill Russell’s 11 championship rings in 13 seasons.
Still, as soon as somebody wonders, “Has anyone done this before?” and the reply comes again, “Yeah, Wilt,” individuals do perk up. No one else in NBA historical past has had a streak of 20-point nights hit triple digits. Oscar Robertson received to 79 video games. Jordan and Kevin Durant maxed out at 72. Abdul-Jabbar reached 71; Kobe Bryant, 63; and LeBron James’ 49 rank twenty first.
Unstoppable Force vs. King of the Counters
Wilt Chamberlain, an unstoppable participant within the paint, received 4 MVP awards, was named to 13 All-Star groups and received the NBA title twice throughout his Hall of Fame profession.
It says a lot in regards to the sport, too, that Chamberlain and Gilgeous-Alexander took such completely different paths to the identical vacation spot.
Chamberlain was the sport’s most unstoppable power – larger and stronger than predecessor George Mikan, extra expert, athletic and highly effective than the bigs who adopted. At 7-foot-1 and 275 kilos, he dominated not simply the alleged “plumbers and firemen” who populated the league – as Lakers coach JJ Redick snarkily claimed on his outdated podcast – however a staggering record Hall of Famers (Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Rusell, Elvin Hayes, Willis Reed, Walt Bellamy, Bob Lanier, Wes Unseld, Bob Pettit, Nate Thurmond and extra).
His dunking was ferocious, able to breaking a careless defender’s wrist on the rim, many feared. But he had different strikes, from a dependable jumper to his finger rolls and fadeaway financial institution pictures. Then there have been his free throws – he took an NBA record 11.35 per recreation, although his infamous wrestle from the foul line was one of many few breaks he gave opponents. Had Chamberlain merely sank the league common of about 73% (he shot 51.1%) he would have pushed his profession scoring common to from 30.1 to 32.7.
“Wilt was the greatest offensive player I have ever seen,” stated Russell, broadly thought-about the best defender. “Because his talents and skills were so super-human, his play forced me to play at my highest level. If I didn’t, I’d risk embarrassment and our team would likely lose.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander earns the nod as a starter for the 2026 NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles.
Gilgeous-Alexander is a completely completely different scorer, a ball handler with elusive strikes, a inexperienced mild within the mid-range like few others within the fashionable NBA, and a knack for drawing fouls that drives foes and their followers to distraction.
“You gotta keep him off the free throw line, which is hard,” James stated in December. “He uses these angles, he knows how to manipulate the game, in a good way. He knows what to do, what not to do, he’s always looking for hands and arms and elbows if you’re in his space.”
Said the OKC guard early this season: “If they stop something, I have a few counters. And if they stop those, I have a few more counters.”
Not all scoring streaks are created equal: Chamberlain averaged 49.2 factors in his 126 video games, means past the 20-point threshold to maintain it alive. In reality, he scored 30 or extra 120 instances through the streak, with 65 video games of a minimum of 50, 22 of 60 and 5 of a minimum of 70, together with the legendary 100 on March 2, 1962.
Wilt’s streak ended on Jan. 20, 1963 when he was ejected simply 4 minutes into a recreation in St. Louis, exiting with six factors after arguing about a foul name on a teammate. Not to fret, although: On Feb. 26, he began one other streak of 20-pointers that reached 92 video games.
By the Numbers
Through his first seven seasons, earlier than Chamberlain started to shift his focus to passing and protection (successful titles in 1967 and 1972), he scored a minimum of 20 in 528 of 543 video games. He received scoring titles annually and posted double-doubles in 968 of the 1,045 video games he performed.
Gilgeous-Alexander, in 514 video games throughout eight seasons, has hit or topped 20 factors 365 instances. He’s had 5 video games of fifty or extra, 18 within the 40s and 84 with a minimum of 30. There have been solely two video games wherein he saved the streak alive by simply scoring 20.
The Thunder star has averaged 32.5 factors throughout his streak, totaling 4,030 factors to Chamberlain’s 6,193. And regardless of all of the complaints about his free throw alternatives, he has averaged 8.13 factors on 9.08 foul pictures through the streak. Wilt received to the road 2,048 instances in his 126 video games, making 1,247.
One space wherein Gilgeous-Alexander’s streak outshines Chamberlain’s is in its match inside the staff – OKC has gone 100-24, in comparison with the Warriors’ 66-60 mark throughout Wilt’s. It has been extra of a “thing” for the Thunder than it was for anybody 64 years in the past, nevertheless it hasn’t gotten in the way in which or stubbed teammates’ toes. Gilgeous-Alexander’s work habits and consistency received them over way back.
“He is ruthlessly consistent in the invisible spaces that I see but you guys don’t,” stated coach Mark Daigneault. “And there’s probably 100 more that I don’t see. … It’s no accident – he has chiseled himself into this player.”
Consecutive video games of 20 factors won’t have the heft of a 30-point streak (Chamberlain, 65), by no means thoughts 40 (Chamberlain, 14 twice) or 50 (Chamberlain, 7). It’s not gaudy or mind-boggling like a few of Wilt’s different numbers: 50.4 ppg and 48.5 minutes per recreation in 1961-62, 4,029 factors (solely Jordan one time barely cracked 3,000), 55 rebounds in a 1960 recreation in opposition to Russell, 124 nights with a minimum of 30 factors and 30 boards (solely 32 different such performances in NBA historical past) or his 70 video games with a minimum of 50 factors and 25 rebounds (9 for everyone else).
But a nod Chamberlain gave to Abdul-Jabbar later in his life suggests he would have appreciated Gilgeous-Alexander’s pursuit and atomic-clock reliability.
“It’s a record of longevity, not a flash in the pan,” he stated in 1994, of the all-time factors whole. “The important records are the ones that take an athlete many games or years to amass. Anyone can have a great game, but having 1,000 good games has more significance.”
Or on this case, 127.
Steve Aschburner has written in regards to the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, discover his archive here and follow him on X.
