Today marks the 70th birthday of the late Wilt Chamberlain, an occasion duly marked at NBA.com (link courtesy True Hoop).
This date in history reminds me that I’m long overdue in recommending John Taylor’s “The Rivals : Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and The Golden Age Of Basketball”. Along with being a fascinating study in contrasts (stylistic, personal, and political) between the era’s two most dominant centers, Taylor does a brilliant job illustrating the Association’s emergence from cult fave to something approaching the mainstream institution it is today. And with all due respect to Freddie Blassie, Red Auerbach might’ve missed his calling as a world-class heel manager.
Darko Milicic scored 18 points in Serbia & Montenegro’s 104-57 defeat of Lebanon in Group A of the FIBA World Championships earlier today. That said, Darko still has to sleep with another 19,998 women (give or take a few hundred) to catch Wilt.