Back In The Day NBA

Longtime NBA writer says Wilt Chamberlain Has Most "Consequential" Photo In History

Shandel Richardson

Unknown date; Cincinnati, OH, USA; FILE PHOTO; Philadelphia 76ers center Wilt Chamberlain (13) in action against the Cincinnati Royals at Cincinnati Gardens. Mandatory Credit: Photo By Malcolm Emmons-Imagn Images
Unknown date; Cincinnati, OH, USA; FILE PHOTO; Philadelphia 76ers center Wilt Chamberlain (13) in action against the Cincinnati Royals at Cincinnati Gardens. Mandatory Credit: Photo By Malcolm Emmons-Imagn Images / Malcolm Emmons-Imagn Images
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A book was recently published that highlighted the top 100 photos in NBA history.

The book, titled Basketball: The Impossible Collection, featured an essay by longtime NBA writer Howard Beck of The Ringer. Beck explains why the photo of Wilt Chamberlain holding a piece of paper with "100" written on it is the most "consequential" in league history.

"With Wilt scoring 100, I think every sports fan on Earth would love to able to make time-travel for that one," Beck said in an interview with Mark Medina of Sportskeeda. "It is such a mind-boggling athletic achievement."

The photo was taken after Chamberlain scored 100 points in leading the Philadelphia Warriors past the New York Knicks 169-147 in 1962 in Hershey, Pa. Some have questioned the validity because no game footage exists.

Beck said it makes the photo even more iconic.

"We are fortunate to live in a time where everything is on YouTube or at least accessible somewhere," Beck said. "If nothing else, there are at least detailed accounts that we can read. That's not the case with this. It's one of the most impressive things that anybody has ever done in sports and certainly in the NBA. So with this photo, I called it consequential in part of what he did and because of all that is missing and left out. It sparks the imagination."

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com