Chamberlain Pens Controversial Article

Apr. 8, 1965 - Wilt Chamberlain has an article in the current Sports Illustrated which, from the Philadelphia 76ers’ standpoint, has to be as well timed as today’s discovery that fly balls can’t be seen in Houston’s big dome. 

Entitled “My Life in a Bush League,” Wilt gives a player’s inside views on the NBA, writing with a barbed pencil. One of the men speared is 76er coach Dolph Schayes. He says Schayes is “almost too nice a guy to coach” and likens him to a lamb among hungry lions. 

“We could have won at least seven or eight more games than we did this season with fierce, eat-‘em-up coaching,” Wilt wrote.

Asked to comment on the article, the first in a series, Schayes said calmly: “No comment. The only series I’m interested in now is the series we’re playing.”Chamberlain was asked to comment but declined.

“I haven’t read the story yet,” he said, ignoring the fact that it carries his byline along with that of S.I. associate editor Bob Ottum, who spent almost a month with Wilt while developing the series. 

Wilt’s teammates refused to be quoted on their reaction to the article — but nobody wore smiles.

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