Gary Pomerantz

My intuitive reaction was, here we go again. My second reaction was something approximating an eye roll. You know, it's a conspiratorial time.

My intuitive reaction was, here we go again. My second reaction was something approximating an eye roll. You know, it's a conspiratorial time.

You go back to the 1960s and there were still a lot of questions about the Kennedy assassination.

You go back to the 1960s and there were still a lot of questions about the Kennedy assassination.

Did Neil Armstrong really touch the moon or was he in a studio somewhere in the United States? So it was that kind of a time. And now, you know, we're unfortunately a bit of a historically illiterate country. If there's no video, then it didn't happen. Well, we know the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, but there's no video of that. We know about Lincoln at Gettysburg. There's no video of that.

Did Neil Armstrong really touch the moon or was he in a studio somewhere in the United States? So it was that kind of a time. And now, you know, we're unfortunately a bit of a historically illiterate country. If there's no video, then it didn't happen. Well, we know the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, but there's no video of that. We know about Lincoln at Gettysburg. There's no video of that.

Do we, though?

Do we, though?

Are we sure about that? We're pretty sure Lincoln was at Gettysburg, yeah. And so, you know, for sports fans, you've got to lock in on how different the NBA was then and how different sports media was then. When Kobe scores 81, 15 minutes later online, you can buy a DVD of his performance. So that's what we're used to. That's the immediacy of today with technology. It wasn't so then.

Are we sure about that? We're pretty sure Lincoln was at Gettysburg, yeah. And so, you know, for sports fans, you've got to lock in on how different the NBA was then and how different sports media was then. When Kobe scores 81, 15 minutes later online, you can buy a DVD of his performance. So that's what we're used to. That's the immediacy of today with technology. It wasn't so then.

Yeah. I mean, there was always questions of how could he have done this? How could anybody score 100 points? Kobe's 81 is second best, and that's not even close. There's something, too, about the number 100, the symbolism of 100. It's a century. It's a perfect score on a test. If Wilton scored 102 or 97, we wouldn't embrace it. or question it even, as we do.

Yeah. I mean, there was always questions of how could he have done this? How could anybody score 100 points? Kobe's 81 is second best, and that's not even close. There's something, too, about the number 100, the symbolism of 100. It's a century. It's a perfect score on a test. If Wilton scored 102 or 97, we wouldn't embrace it. or question it even, as we do.

And so I decided, all these decades later, I gotta find out what happened here. This is one of the most famous and famously unknown stories in sports history. The deeper I went, it became like Ellis in Wonderland, Curiouser and Curiouser.

And so I decided, all these decades later, I gotta find out what happened here. This is one of the most famous and famously unknown stories in sports history. The deeper I went, it became like Ellis in Wonderland, Curiouser and Curiouser.

Wilt was a luminous star at that time. He's just 25 years old. He's got a nightclub in Harlem called Big Wilt Smalls Paradise. Smalls Paradise dates the Halcyon days of the Harlem Renaissance. And Wilt walked through that place like he owned all of Harlem, like he owned all of New York. Redd Foxx, Etta James, Cannonball Adderley. Wilt's the greeter, the tallest greeter in NBA history.

Wilt was a luminous star at that time. He's just 25 years old. He's got a nightclub in Harlem called Big Wilt Smalls Paradise. Smalls Paradise dates the Halcyon days of the Harlem Renaissance. And Wilt walked through that place like he owned all of Harlem, like he owned all of New York. Redd Foxx, Etta James, Cannonball Adderley. Wilt's the greeter, the tallest greeter in NBA history.

Wilt had a Goliath syndrome. He was 7'1", 260 pounds. Dolph Shays of the Syracuse Nationals said his body was the most perfect instrument made by God to play basketball. You know, another writer likened Wilt's body to the first sight of the New York skyline. I mean, think about this. 7'1", 260 pounds. His back triangulates down to a 31-inch dancer's waist. The guy was cut.

Wilt had a Goliath syndrome. He was 7'1", 260 pounds. Dolph Shays of the Syracuse Nationals said his body was the most perfect instrument made by God to play basketball. You know, another writer likened Wilt's body to the first sight of the New York skyline. I mean, think about this. 7'1", 260 pounds. His back triangulates down to a 31-inch dancer's waist. The guy was cut.

The guy could run the floor like a train. Everything about him was magnificent.

The guy could run the floor like a train. Everything about him was magnificent.