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The Great Individual Game Ever Played: Wilt Chamberlain's Quintuple-Double in 1968.
On March 2, 1962, Wilt Chamberlain had what many consider to be the greatest game in NBA history. On that day in Hershey, PA, Chamberlain scored an NBA record 100 points, but also pulled down 25 boards and dished out 2 assists. In that game alone Wilt set 8 NBA records. But that famous game may not even be the best individual game in NBA history, or of Wilt's career. Six years later he may have one upped his infamous 100 point game.
On March 18, 1968, the Philadelphia 76ers hosted the Los Angeles Lakers. The Sixers were playing their best ball of the season and where hoping to repeat as the season prior they had ended Boston's reign as champions and ended their 8 year dominance of the NBA title. The Lakers meanwhile were atop the western division and looking to make it back to the NBA finals where they had lost the season prior to the Sixers. The game looked to be one of the marquee matchups of the season.
Unfortunately, for fans, the game was not the great game they had hoped it would be. The Sixers got out to a blistering start and lead by 17 after the first quarter, by 27 at the half, and ended up winning by 30 points 158-128. The issue for the Lakers - They could not stop Wilt Chamberlain.
Chamberlain got whatever he wanted when he wanted. He shot 24 of 29 from the field, and scored 53 points. 50 point games were nothing new for Chamberlain, even by this time in his career he had set the NBA record for most 50-point games, and no one has ever gotten close even today. Even when the Lakers tried to double and triple team him, Chamberlain would just pass out to open teammates - leading to 14 assists for the Big Dipper.
Chamberlain also dominated on the defensive end, pulling down 32 rebounds and holding opposing center Darrall Imhoff to 5 of 17 shooting. Mel Counts did go 13 of 19, but he played a lot of power forward in that game. Chamberlain's presence in the paint also lead to poor shooting performances from Erwin Miller (7/13), Gail Goodrich (7/13), Archie Clark (10/21) Freddie Crawford (8/21) and Tom Hawkins (5/16). The Lakers as a team went 58 of 125 from the field.
The NBA did not officially record blocks and steals until the 1972-73 season, but Philadelphia stat keeper and the father of sports statistics Harvey Pollack did. Pollack was know for his meticulous record keeping and Pollack credited Chamberlain with 24 blocked shots and 12 steals to go along with the official 32 rebounds.
According to Pollack, Wilt Chamberlain's official box score for the game against the Lakers was 53 points, 32 rebounds, 14 assists, 24 blocks, and 11 steals. This would make Wilt Chamberlain to only player in NBA history to record a quintuple-double. It would also be a quadruple-double, for which there are 5 officially record quadruple-double's in NBA history, and the first 5x5 game in NBA history.
The 24 blocks would also be an NBA record, as the current record of 17 by Elmore Smith has held for over 50 years. The 11 steals would also tie an NBA record, the record currently is 11 steals by Larry Kenon in 1976 and Kendall Gill in 1999.
The game, however, would not be the first unofficial quadruple-double in NBA history. There are at least 4 prior ones known about. The first unofficial quadruple-double in NBA history came in 1961 recorded by Bill Russell of Boston, and Wilt is said of have recorded 3 others in 1967 and 1968, before this game vs the Lakers - he would also go on to record one more in 1970.
While the stat-line is unofficial, the record keeping of Harvey Pollack makes it incredibly likely that these numbers are correct. Pollack was the score keeper for both the Warriors and the Sixers from 1946 until his death in 2015 - he was the last remaining employee from the NBA's first season. Every offseason he would compile the Harvey Pollack's NBA Statistical Yearbook, a book of rare basketball information. These Yearbooks have become some of the most important archives of the early NBA. Pollack also is responsible for giving Wilt Chamberlain the paper with "100" written on it for his 100-point game.
Scoring 100 points is still incredibly impressive and will likely never be done again. But scoring is commonplace in the NBA, and with the rise of 70+ point games in recent years, the feat is becoming less impressive. Put the domination of a game it takes to produce this stat-line is out-of-this-world insanity.
Since the NBA started officially recording steals and blocks, nobody has come close to the kind of numbers Wilt put up against the Lakers. In the 5 official quadruple-doubles the most points scored is 34 by David Robinson in 1994; the most rebounds in 18 by Hakeem Olajuwon in 1990, the most assists is 13, and the most blocks is 12 by Nate Thurmond in 1974, the most steals is 5 by Hakeem Olajuwon in 1990. Only Hakeem Olajuwon's 1990 quadruple-double vs the Warriors is a 5x5, where Wilt's game is technically a double 5x5. Even if you look at the 5x5's in NBA history, nobody has ever gotten more than 7 steals, and only two of the 5x5's are even triple doubles (one being Hakeem's quadruple-double).
Another thing interesting to note is that the Lakers center Darrall Imhoff was the center when Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points. Imhoff was a solid player who made one all-star team in 1967 while playing for the Lakers. He had a 12 year career from 1960 until 1972 playing for six NBA teams.
The Sixers would fail to repeat as champions, falling in 7 games to the Boston Celtics - who reclaimed their crown. The Lakers too would fall to the Celtics, only in the NBA finals. Following their loss to the Celtics Chamberlain would ask for and be granted a trade to the Los Angeles. The Sixers would get Arhcie Clark, Jerry Chambers and Darrall Imhoff for their superstar. The trade to the Lakers would start to mark the decline in Wilt Chamberlain's dominance as he would average career lows in scoring.
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