Over & Back: 50-point games in the Wilt era

BOSTON, MA – 1967: Wilt Chamberlain #13 of the Philadelphia 76ers posts up against Bill Russell #6 of the Boston Celtics circa 1967 at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1967 NBAE (Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images)

This week on the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast, Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch examine 50+ point games from 1962-66, an era that is perhaps the equivalent of the MLB’s “juiced ball” era where 50-point games went from rare to almost routine thanks to the heroics of Wilt Chamberlain.

In this episode filled with mind-blowing Chamberlain stats we look at the insane explosion of 50-point game, Chamberlain’s decimating of the record books, the emergence of both Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, oh, and more crazy Chamberlain and NBA stats of the time including that 7% of all NBA games from 1962-66 featured a 50-point game.

We examine backlash related to Chamberlain’s scoring outburst, the NBA having more 50-point games in a two-year period than at any point in the league’s history before or after, why the league couldn’t adjust, the success of Chamberlain teams during these scoring binges and dive into some non-Wilt players to score 50 in this era including Baylor, West, Rudy LaRusso, Hal Greer, Bob Pettit, Oscar Robertson, Rick Barry, Sam Jones, Cliff Hagan and Richie Guerin.

Additional topics include the Baylor vs. Chamberlain rivalry dating back to their schoolyard days in Washington DC, what positions reigstered more of the 50+ point games, team win/loss records when a player scored 50+, what teams had 50+ scored on them more than others and much more!