Wilt Chamberlain is arguably the most dominant player in NBA history. From his 100-point game to his 50.4 points per game average, Wilt seemingly could do it all.
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On top of his dominant play, Wilt was arguably the most athletic player the game has witnessed as well. It’s been reported that Wilt ran the 440 yards in 49.0 seconds and the 880 yards in 1:58.3 in high school. He’s also been reported to have jumped 6 feet, 6 inches in the high jump.
Wilt was a natural talent in every sport he tried. This includes volleyball, which Wilt took extremely seriously after retiring from the NBA.
Wilt Enjoys A Successful Volleyball Career
Wilt Chamberlain retired from the NBA in 1973, and many thought his sports career was over. Wilt did engage in non-sports activities after retiring, like filming the movie Conan the Destroyer with Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1984.
This wasn’t all Wilt had done after retiring from basketball. He also took up playing another sport, which was volleyball. After retiring from the NBA, Wilt would frequent Muscle and Sorrento Beach on the Santa Monica Pier in Southern California. Here he’d play a friendly game of volleyball with other beachgoers.
There Wilt would meet Gene Selznick, a Hall of Famer in volleyball. Wilt asked Selznick to teach him how to play volleyball, and Selznick agreed.
“One time when Wilt was there, he came up and asked me if I could teach him how to play volleyball. He heard I was the best volleyball player,” Selznick told Volleyball Magazine. “So, I took him to the beach and introduced him to a new way of life. He had passion for volleyball and did pretty well for a guy who never played until he was about 34 years old.”
Wilt would play well, and he would fine-tune his skills, where he would become a dominant player, like how he was in basketball. The more Wilt played volleyball on the beach, the more he attracted fans to come to watch.
Wilt became so big in the volleyball world that he eventually sponsored a traveling indoor volleyball men’s team called The Big Dippers, and a women’s team called The Little Dippers.
Wilt’s popularity grew the game of volleyball so much that he attracted the attention of David L. Wolper. If you don’t know, Wolper was the director of the movie Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory.
Wolper started the first ever coed professional sports league, called the International Volleyball Association, otherwise known as the IVA. Wilt became a player-owner of the Southern California Bangers in the league.
The team would only play one season, and Wilt would only play in five games, but he wowed all that watched him play. Wilt would play off and on for the Orange County Stars in 1977, but where Wilt would really shine would be in the IVA All-Star Game.
The IVA All-Star Game was broadcasted on TV on CBS Sports, and Wilt won the MVP award, showing the world he truly was dominant in any sport he chose to play. In 1978, Wilt played a few times for the Seattle Smashers, and he was also named Commissioner of the league.
The league would eventually find itself in trouble, first financially and in 1979 when the owners of the Denver Comets were arrested at halftime of a match for cocaine and marijuana trafficking. In 1980, halfway through the season, the league ended.
Wilt was so influential in the game of volleyball that he was eventually inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame.
Wilt Chamberlain is in the volleyball hall of fame. Tim Duncan tried to be an Olympic swimmer. Playing other sports will teach you lessons and skills that basketball alone may not. Try things while you can! pic.twitter.com/0xKgZUKNlb
— Five-Star Basketball (@5starbasketball) October 27, 2019
Wilt’s volleyball league may have folded, but that doesn’t mean The Dipper quit playing the new game that he loved. He would go on to play for the remainder of his life.
“I assume that most people know that I’m a volleyballer of some renown. In fact, for a long time, volleyball became as big a part of my life as basketball once was,” Wilt once said.
Wilt Chamberlain sadly passed away on October 12, 1999, from congestive heart failure. It was a sad moment for not only the basketball community but for the volleyball community as well.
Wilt Chamberlain was a phenom in every aspect of life. From basketball to volleyball, to his physical strength, to the number of women he reportedly slept with during his life, Wilt was the real-life “cheat code” that every video game player loves to play with.
Wilt’s legacy is set in stone, and the younger generation should take the time to truly learn about the life of one of the most interesting men that has ever lived. We may never see another person in life, like Wilt Chamberlain, for the rest of eternity.
