This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 9/9/2007.
In a meaningless, late season neutral court match on March 2, 1962 at Hershey Park Arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania between the Philadelphia Warriors and the New York Knicks, a young future HOFer Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in perhaps the greatest basketball game of all time. Interest in the game was low. On a cold, rainy Friday night, only 4,124 spectators paid to see the match, partly more to see the footballers from the local Philadelphia Eagles, who played a basketball game against their colleagues from the Baltimore Colts before the NBA game started. Prior to the game there was little excitement. According to the legend, Chamberlain had spent the night in New York, partying all night with a female companion. With no sleep and suffering from a hangover, he boarded the train to Philadelphia at 8:00 AM, met several friends at the Philadelphia train station and had a long lunch with them, thus almost missing the team bus to Hershey.
Ending in a 169-147 victory for Chamberlain's Warriors, although the 316 combined points for the game was a record at the time, it is most remembered for center Wilt Chamberlain's achievement that demolished the NBA single game scoring record. No video footage exists of this phenomenal achievement because the game was not televised, although there is an audio recording of the game's radio broadcast. In the end, Chamberlain made 36-of-63 field goals and 28-of-32 free throws; the latter is remarkable because Chamberlain made barely half his free throws during his career. Once the game started, the Warriors dominated early. By the end of the first quarter, the Knicks trailed 26-42 and Chamberlain had already dropped 23 points. Soon, he had surpassed the 50-point barrier, causing arena speaker Dave Zinkoff to fire up the previously sleepy crowd. Chamberlain was unstoppable, scoring another 28 points to lift his Warriors to a commanding 125-104 lead when the third quarter ended. His own total stood at 69, nine shy of his previous scoring record. Chamberlain himself stated "At the end of the third quarter it seemed I had a good chance to break my record of 78. I didn't even dream of scoring 100." In the fourth quarter with almost eight minutes remaining, Chamberlain scored his 79th point, breaking his own record and sending the crowd into a frenzy. The Warriors suddenly sensed that they could write basketball history, and fed Chamberlain the ball at every attack. However, according to all eye-witnesses, the game soon became a farce. Fearing ultimate humiliation if Chamberlain scored 100 points on them, the Knicks blindly fouled any Warrior not named Chamberlain, to force them to hit free throws and keep the ball out of the center's hands. In retaliation, the Warriors liberally fouled the Knicks, in order to get the ball back after free throws and give Chamberlain the ball. With just under three minutes left, Chamberlain had 94 points, and after scoring on a jump shot and a lay-up, he stood at 98 with less than a minute to play.
14 year old Kerry Ryman was among the fans in attendance that evening. Aware that the 100-point level was being approached, Ryman and the small crowd began to work their way towards the floor. At the next play, Chamberlain passed the ball to Joe Ruklick, and instead of going for an easy lay-up, he immediately passed back, and with 46 seconds left Chamberlain executed a slam dunk to hit the century mark. The arena exploded in a frenzy. Over 200 spectators stormed the floor, wanting to touch the hero of the night. What happened next is what forms the controversy. Ryman's sincere recollection is that he and others ran onto the court, and Ryman stole the bouncing ball from Chamberlain. In a flash, he was gone, racing from the arena to his home with his prized possession. Gabe Basti, a security guard on duty that night, remembers that "After Wilt scored the 100th point...somebody yelled 'hey, a kid stole the ball!' So, I took off after him. I chased the kid...but never caught up with him...We could have gone to his house, gotten the ball back and arrested him. But [Chamberlain] didn't want that ball back..." The event made Ryman a local hero, and for years he did periodic interviews in the press and on television. He tried to give the ball back to Chamberlain, contacting him through his teams, but never received a response. Ryman was later told that Chamberlain wasn't interested in it.
Although some counterclaims have arisen over the years, most famously that after the 100th point, the team trainer and ballboy retrieved the ball and hustled it into the clubhouse where the players signed it, the alleged "other ball" has yet to be produced. In 1984, "the ball" was on display at the Basketball Hall of Fame. Oddly, one panel was painted white to mark the occasion. Why would those signing the ball leave one panel blank for white paint? Commemorative balls were not so common that players would think of that little touch. It is possible that the removal of the 100-pouint ball happened so quickly that Ryman may never have seen it, especially with fans on the floor, and that the ball he swiped may have been the replacement ball. If that is the case, it would be considered by sports tradition the "game ball." Ryman sincerely believes that this is the 100-point ball, and the fact that his claim over more than four decades was never successfully challenged lends credibility to his story. No one doubts that this is a ball from the game. It is the genuine article, albeit slightly aired out and bruised from many playground games in which Ryman used it. It is either the 100-point ball or the game ball. Further, it is documented that even Chamberlain himself believed that this ball was indeed the genuine article. In the end, the ball remains the only ball from that historic game known to exist.