November 24, 2025 • 11 mins
On November 24, 1960, Wilt Chamberlain walked into Boston Garden and delivered the greatest rebounding performance the NBA has ever seen: 55 rebounds against Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics. This episode takes you inside that night, quarter by quarter, breaking down how Wilt finished with 34 points, 55 boards, and played all 48 minutes in a 132–129 classic.
You’ll get context on the 1960–61 Philadelphia Warriors and dynasty-era Celtics, why rebounding numbers were so wild in that era, and how this one game helped cement Wilt’s reputation as the most dominant big man in league history. We also explore Wilt’s path from Philly high school legend to Harlem Globetrotters star, to territorial pick of the Warriors, and how his record-shattering rookie year set the stage for this performance.
If you love NBA history, old-school rivalries, and stories that feel larger than life, this deep dive into Wilt’s 55-rebound masterpiece is for you. Stick around to the end for thoughts on why this record is essentially unbreakable in the modern game and what it tells us about greatness, endurance, and legacy in sports.
#wiltchamberlain #nbaHistory #basketballhistory #billrussell #bostonceltics #philadelphiawarriors #nbalegends #sportsdocumentary #sportshistory #nbastats
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You’ll get context on the 1960–61 Philadelphia Warriors and dynasty-era Celtics, why rebounding numbers were so wild in that era, and how this one game helped cement Wilt’s reputation as the most dominant big man in league history. We also explore Wilt’s path from Philly high school legend to Harlem Globetrotters star, to territorial pick of the Warriors, and how his record-shattering rookie year set the stage for this performance.
If you love NBA history, old-school rivalries, and stories that feel larger than life, this deep dive into Wilt’s 55-rebound masterpiece is for you. Stick around to the end for thoughts on why this record is essentially unbreakable in the modern game and what it tells us about greatness, endurance, and legacy in sports.
#wiltchamberlain #nbaHistory #basketballhistory #billrussell #bostonceltics #philadelphiawarriors #nbalegends #sportsdocumentary #sportshistory #nbastats
Listen now! 👉 DailySportsHistory.com 📲 Follow for more daily sports history insights!
Email: dailysportshistory@gmail.com
YouTube: YouTube.com/@dailysportshistory
Twitter: twitter.com/dailysportshis
Facebook: facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551687917253&mibextid=ZbWKwL
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dailysportshistory.bsky.social
https://www.instagram.com/dailysportshis/profilecard/?igsh=OWl1MzIyYndqOGU2
Threads
https://www.threads.net/@dailysportshis
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
On November twenty fourth, nineteen sixty, Wilt Chamberlain does something
superhuman again. We all know Wilt for setting the record
for the most point in the single game with one hundred,
but his all around game was more than that, and
he did that in nineteen sixty facing off against his
rival Bill Russell in the Boston Celtics, setting the record
(00:23):
for the most rebounds in a single game at fifty five,
a number just as crazy as his one hundred point game.
Wilt Tamberlain truly was a video game type player before
video games were even around. Join us today as we
dive into the build up to this game and what
(00:43):
all happened to set this incredible record that will never
be broken in the history of the NBA. Today on
Davy Sports History, Welcome to daily'sport History. I'm Ethan Reese,
(01:05):
your guide, because rebounding is literally the only thing I
can do on a basketball court. So let's go back
to the nineteen sixties. See, the NBA was not what
it is today. Back then, it was growing in popularity
(01:25):
and it exploded because of one man by the name
of a Wilt Chamberlain. And he had a great adversary
with the Boston Celtics and Bill Russell. If we look
back in history, these great players and rivalries really helped
shape the NBA. In the nineteen sixties, it was Wilt
(01:45):
and Bill Russell. In the nineteen eighties it was Magic
and Bird, and each of these rivalries really ramped up
the NBA's popularity. Now, Wilt Chamberlain was literally a freak
of nature. The closest thing we have today to Wilt
Chamberlain would be Gianni's Antitokumpo. But he was bigger and
(02:07):
faster and could jump higher. That's a scary thought to
think of in today's basketball. He stood seven to one,
weighing over three hundred pounds, but reportedly had over a
forty inch vertical and could run a hundred yard dash
in ten seconds while bingch pressing over five hundred pounds,
(02:27):
and he dominated at every level. He grew up in
the Philadelphia area and dominated in high school and was
a prize recruit for everyone across the country. He ended
up going to Kansas, who was a blue blood university
started by the creator of basketball, James Naismith, and he
put together some of the greatest college basketball seasons ever.
(02:50):
While at Kansas, The problem was he didn't want to
be there anymore. He was ready to go make money.
At the time, amateurism was very rigorous. Amaturism was the
end all be all, so there was no taking money
of any kind. You just had your scholarship for the school.
And he was ready to leave after his junior year
(03:13):
of college. And he based dilemma. At that time. You
had to finish four years out of high school to
enter the NBA, and he had only three years. So
there's a great team in the Harlem Globe Trotters that
offered him a fifty thousand dollars contract for his first year.
That's huge. That's more than any other basketball player was
(03:35):
making at the time, and he dominated with the Globetrotters,
and then his name came up the next year after
his four years were up from high school and the
NBA draft at that time gave preference to local teams,
so if a kid grew up or played college in
the area of the team, they got territory rights to
(03:56):
draft them. So the Philadelphia Warriors had tarot tory wrights
to draft Will Chamberlain, which they did at great cost.
They gave him a thirty thousand dollars contract, the highest
rookie contract ever and he made more than any other
basketball player. The reason being is he came out and dominated.
(04:16):
His rookie year was the stuff of legends. It's the
greatest rookie years ever. The year was nineteen fifty nine
and he averaged thirty seven point six points and twenty
seven rebounds in seventy two games. These are all rookie
(04:37):
records and some of the highest totals in the season
all time. And he also averaged forty six point four
minutes a game. He barely came off the floor. He
was in that good of shape and able to dominate
like crazy. Now at the time, Sinners were smaller than
he was. They were normally around six', nine so he
(04:58):
was a taller, player had more athletic, ability and he
really used that ability to dominate on multiple ends of the.
Court he would go on to Win rookie of The
YEAR mvp as well as being THE mvp of The
All Star game that. Year so coming into the nineteen sixty,
season he was already one of the greatest players in THE.
(05:19):
Nba maybe ever after one year in nineteen sixty was
a banner year for. Him he would go on to
do what he's most known, for his one hundred point,
game but he also had another record game against his,
Rival Bill. Russell, now if you don't Know Bill, russell
he was a stalwarth with The Boston. Celtics he was
known for his defense and his rebounding, ability and him
(05:43):
And Wolk chamberlain would go back and forth In Eastern
conference finals and in the finals for, years with him
getting the best because his team was overall a better.
Team will it was a better player, overall And russell
did get the best of him a lot of, times
but arguably The celtics at the time had the better
(06:04):
overall team most of the. Time so On november twenty
four to nineteen, sixty The warriors were hosting The Boston.
Celtics at the, time they were both at the top
of The, east with The warriors at eleven and five
And boston at ten and. Three so this was a
big matchup for the league as two of the top
teams were facing. Off so they come into the game
(06:26):
and The celtics back then were led By Bill, russell
and they Had Bob, Coosey Sam, Jones Tom, hyson and
this was a team that would go on to win
championship after, championship and The, warriors of course Had Wilt,
chamberlain Al, adoles who was a good player and would
have his number retired by The, warriors And Paul, areason
(06:48):
who was basically the running mate For Wilt. Chamberlain he
was a ten Time All, star two time scoring, champ
would Be ALL nba four times and make The hall Of.
Fame but he was at the tail end of his
career at this, time but still very. Good so The
warriors came out put physicality above. Everything they knew they
needed to be physical against a very Physical celtics. Team
(07:12):
they really asserted themselves on the. Boards will himself didn't
focus on, scoring which he was great. At he really
focused on the. Boards and at the end of the
first quarter it was twenty six to thirty, four The
celtics in the lead And will had eight points and ten.
Rebounds and the second Quarter will really put in his
(07:34):
offensive prowess on, display getting to about twenty points and
having another twelve to fifteen. Rebounds, now WHEN i give
you these, NUMBERS i might give you a range because
we don't know exactly the box scores kept in that
day were not kept quarter by. Quarter we were lucky
to have what we had at the end of the.
Game so at the, half The celtics have been on offensive.
(07:55):
Juggernaut they have sixty nine points opposed to fifty twenty
three for The. Warriors it's a hard fought battle and
even though they're crashing the, boards it's still not enough
for The. Warriors for the second, half they come out
and they take a jump on The. Celtics will ups
his game even, more scoring about fourteen points and having
(08:16):
almost twenty rebounds in this quarter, alone enough for any
player to think it was a good game rebound. Wise
this helped energize them and bring the lead to only
thirteen and in the fourth, Quarter will puts it all. Online,
now mind, You will has not come out of the
game this entire. Time he ends up playing the entire
(08:37):
forty eight minutes of the. Game that's how important this
game was To Wilton warriors. Team The celtics haven't really
become the rivals, yet but this was the. Beginning as
he grabbed rebound after, rebound Keeping Bill russell and. Check
he ends up with almost twenty rebounds at the end
of this, quarter getting him fifty five rebounds for the.
(08:59):
Game he only ends up with thirty four points on the,
game which is a great number for any, player especially
in today's day and. Age For, wilt that was a
low average game because he was facing Against Bill, russell
one of the best center defenders of all. Time but
the physicality he put on the rebounding front was what
(09:19):
really pushed. Him and just for, context he had fifty
five rebounds The celtics had fifty nine as a. Team
he almost out redbounded the Entire celtic team and he
wasn't the only one on The. Warriors the rest of
the team had thirty five rebounds and they came back
to make it a game at the end of the,
(09:40):
fourth but it was too, little too, late and they
lost by three. Points in this iconic, game Giving Wilt,
chamberlain whose star was rising, rapidly it gave him a
record that stands to this. Day fifty five rebounds is
an unheard of. Stat no one has come close. Since
(10:00):
the closest one Was Bill russell around the same, era
and he would And Wilt chamberlain And Bill russell account
for twenty two of the twenty FOUR nba games where
someone rebounded over forty rebounds in a. Game well is
always remembered for his, scoring but his rebounding was. Ridiculous
(10:21):
his career rebounding rate was just under twenty three rebounds a.
Game it wasn't just a double, double he was averaging
over twenty a. Game it just shows you how dumbinant
he was as a player in all aspects of the.
Game and Though Bill russell usually got the best of
him when it came to winning, championships he got the
(10:41):
best of him this, night getting fifty five, rebounds a
record that if he did not, play would be owned By.
Russell but at least he's able to have that Above
russell for his legendary. CAREER i want to thank you
you're listening To Today's Daily Sports. History if you like,
(11:02):
this please make sure you like, them subscribe wherever you're,
listening and leave us a. Review it helps me immensely
do things to make this an even better podcast for,
you and we'll see you on the next. One
On November twenty fourth, nineteen sixty, Wilt Chamberlain does something
superhuman again. We all know Wilt for setting the record
for the most point in the single game with one hundred,
but his all around game was more than that, and
he did that in nineteen sixty facing off against his
rival Bill Russell in the Boston Celtics, setting the record
(00:23):
for the most rebounds in a single game at fifty five,
a number just as crazy as his one hundred point game.
Wilt Tamberlain truly was a video game type player before
video games were even around. Join us today as we
dive into the build up to this game and what
(00:43):
all happened to set this incredible record that will never
be broken in the history of the NBA. Today on
Davy Sports History, Welcome to daily'sport History. I'm Ethan Reese,
(01:05):
your guide, because rebounding is literally the only thing I
can do on a basketball court. So let's go back
to the nineteen sixties. See, the NBA was not what
it is today. Back then, it was growing in popularity
(01:25):
and it exploded because of one man by the name
of a Wilt Chamberlain. And he had a great adversary
with the Boston Celtics and Bill Russell. If we look
back in history, these great players and rivalries really helped
shape the NBA. In the nineteen sixties, it was Wilt
(01:45):
and Bill Russell. In the nineteen eighties it was Magic
and Bird, and each of these rivalries really ramped up
the NBA's popularity. Now, Wilt Chamberlain was literally a freak
of nature. The closest thing we have today to Wilt
Chamberlain would be Gianni's Antitokumpo. But he was bigger and
(02:07):
faster and could jump higher. That's a scary thought to
think of in today's basketball. He stood seven to one,
weighing over three hundred pounds, but reportedly had over a
forty inch vertical and could run a hundred yard dash
in ten seconds while bingch pressing over five hundred pounds,
(02:27):
and he dominated at every level. He grew up in
the Philadelphia area and dominated in high school and was
a prize recruit for everyone across the country. He ended
up going to Kansas, who was a blue blood university
started by the creator of basketball, James Naismith, and he
put together some of the greatest college basketball seasons ever.
(02:50):
While at Kansas, The problem was he didn't want to
be there anymore. He was ready to go make money.
At the time, amateurism was very rigorous. Amaturism was the
end all be all, so there was no taking money
of any kind. You just had your scholarship for the school.
And he was ready to leave after his junior year
(03:13):
of college. And he based dilemma. At that time. You
had to finish four years out of high school to
enter the NBA, and he had only three years. So
there's a great team in the Harlem Globe Trotters that
offered him a fifty thousand dollars contract for his first year.
That's huge. That's more than any other basketball player was
(03:35):
making at the time, and he dominated with the Globetrotters,
and then his name came up the next year after
his four years were up from high school and the
NBA draft at that time gave preference to local teams,
so if a kid grew up or played college in
the area of the team, they got territory rights to
(03:56):
draft them. So the Philadelphia Warriors had tarot tory wrights
to draft Will Chamberlain, which they did at great cost.
They gave him a thirty thousand dollars contract, the highest
rookie contract ever and he made more than any other
basketball player. The reason being is he came out and dominated.
(04:16):
His rookie year was the stuff of legends. It's the
greatest rookie years ever. The year was nineteen fifty nine
and he averaged thirty seven point six points and twenty
seven rebounds in seventy two games. These are all rookie
(04:37):
records and some of the highest totals in the season
all time. And he also averaged forty six point four
minutes a game. He barely came off the floor. He
was in that good of shape and able to dominate
like crazy. Now at the time, Sinners were smaller than
he was. They were normally around six', nine so he
(04:58):
was a taller, player had more athletic, ability and he
really used that ability to dominate on multiple ends of the.
Court he would go on to Win rookie of The
YEAR mvp as well as being THE mvp of The
All Star game that. Year so coming into the nineteen sixty,
season he was already one of the greatest players in THE.
(05:19):
Nba maybe ever after one year in nineteen sixty was
a banner year for. Him he would go on to
do what he's most known, for his one hundred point,
game but he also had another record game against his,
Rival Bill. Russell, now if you don't Know Bill, russell
he was a stalwarth with The Boston. Celtics he was
known for his defense and his rebounding, ability and him
(05:43):
And Wolk chamberlain would go back and forth In Eastern
conference finals and in the finals for, years with him
getting the best because his team was overall a better.
Team will it was a better player, overall And russell
did get the best of him a lot of, times
but arguably The celtics at the time had the better
(06:04):
overall team most of the. Time so On november twenty
four to nineteen, sixty The warriors were hosting The Boston.
Celtics at the, time they were both at the top
of The, east with The warriors at eleven and five
And boston at ten and. Three so this was a
big matchup for the league as two of the top
teams were facing. Off so they come into the game
(06:26):
and The celtics back then were led By Bill, russell
and they Had Bob, Coosey Sam, Jones Tom, hyson and
this was a team that would go on to win
championship after, championship and The, warriors of course Had Wilt,
chamberlain Al, adoles who was a good player and would
have his number retired by The, warriors And Paul, areason
(06:48):
who was basically the running mate For Wilt. Chamberlain he
was a ten Time All, star two time scoring, champ
would Be ALL nba four times and make The hall Of.
Fame but he was at the tail end of his
career at this, time but still very. Good so The
warriors came out put physicality above. Everything they knew they
needed to be physical against a very Physical celtics. Team
(07:12):
they really asserted themselves on the. Boards will himself didn't
focus on, scoring which he was great. At he really
focused on the. Boards and at the end of the
first quarter it was twenty six to thirty, four The
celtics in the lead And will had eight points and ten.
Rebounds and the second Quarter will really put in his
(07:34):
offensive prowess on, display getting to about twenty points and
having another twelve to fifteen. Rebounds, now WHEN i give
you these, NUMBERS i might give you a range because
we don't know exactly the box scores kept in that
day were not kept quarter by. Quarter we were lucky
to have what we had at the end of the.
Game so at the, half The celtics have been on offensive.
(07:55):
Juggernaut they have sixty nine points opposed to fifty twenty
three for The. Warriors it's a hard fought battle and
even though they're crashing the, boards it's still not enough
for The. Warriors for the second, half they come out
and they take a jump on The. Celtics will ups
his game even, more scoring about fourteen points and having
(08:16):
almost twenty rebounds in this quarter, alone enough for any
player to think it was a good game rebound. Wise
this helped energize them and bring the lead to only
thirteen and in the fourth, Quarter will puts it all. Online,
now mind, You will has not come out of the
game this entire. Time he ends up playing the entire
(08:37):
forty eight minutes of the. Game that's how important this
game was To Wilton warriors. Team The celtics haven't really
become the rivals, yet but this was the. Beginning as
he grabbed rebound after, rebound Keeping Bill russell and. Check
he ends up with almost twenty rebounds at the end
of this, quarter getting him fifty five rebounds for the.
(08:59):
Game he only ends up with thirty four points on the,
game which is a great number for any, player especially
in today's day and. Age For, wilt that was a
low average game because he was facing Against Bill, russell
one of the best center defenders of all. Time but
the physicality he put on the rebounding front was what
(09:19):
really pushed. Him and just for, context he had fifty
five rebounds The celtics had fifty nine as a. Team
he almost out redbounded the Entire celtic team and he
wasn't the only one on The. Warriors the rest of
the team had thirty five rebounds and they came back
to make it a game at the end of the,
(09:40):
fourth but it was too, little too, late and they
lost by three. Points in this iconic, game Giving Wilt,
chamberlain whose star was rising, rapidly it gave him a
record that stands to this. Day fifty five rebounds is
an unheard of. Stat no one has come close. Since
(10:00):
the closest one Was Bill russell around the same, era
and he would And Wilt chamberlain And Bill russell account
for twenty two of the twenty FOUR nba games where
someone rebounded over forty rebounds in a. Game well is
always remembered for his, scoring but his rebounding was. Ridiculous
(10:21):
his career rebounding rate was just under twenty three rebounds a.
Game it wasn't just a double, double he was averaging
over twenty a. Game it just shows you how dumbinant
he was as a player in all aspects of the.
Game and Though Bill russell usually got the best of
him when it came to winning, championships he got the
(10:41):
best of him this, night getting fifty five, rebounds a
record that if he did not, play would be owned By.
Russell but at least he's able to have that Above
russell for his legendary. CAREER i want to thank you
you're listening To Today's Daily Sports. History if you like,
(11:02):
this please make sure you like, them subscribe wherever you're,
listening and leave us a. Review it helps me immensely
do things to make this an even better podcast for,
you and we'll see you on the next. One
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