The Greatest Stories Never Told

For your please, I have compiled a list of some of the greatest stories in basketball history which, for some reason or another, have been lost throughout the annals of time. Be they fantastic, comedic, dominant, stupid, or just plain zany, here are just a selection of some of the most untold, yet amazing, basketball stories.

Wilt Chamberlain:
- In 1961, a 6-foot-10 rookie center named Walt Bellamy was averaging 30 points a game and taking the league by storm. In Bellamy's first meeting against Wilt, young Walt walked up to 'the Stilt' at half court before the game and politely said "Hello Mr. Chamberlain, I'm Walter Bellamy". They shook hands and Wilt respectfully replied: "Hello Walter. You're not going to get a shot off in the first half". Wilt then proceeded to block Bellamy's first 9 shot attempts, leading to a scoreless first half. Before the second half began, Wilt walked over to Walt and said "Okay, Walter, now you can play".
- The UCLA gym is and always has been a hotbed to competitive summer pickup basketball. Back in the early 1980's, Magic Johnson, at the height of his career with the Lakers, would often show up during the summertime and dominate the games there. The gym was famous for its competitive games and fast pace style. One day, Wilt Chamberlain showed up for a run. Keep in mind, at this point chamberlain was already well into his forties. The game started and was going normally, with Johnson and Chamberlain, the two legends, split onto separate teams. As the game went on, Johnson continuously kept calling weak, ticky-tack fouls. As many observers noticed, Wilt was getting upset with Johnson's refereeing. On one possession, Magic called goaltending when Wilt blocked his layup. Wilt, irate with the call, grabbed the ball and proclaimed to everyone: "There will be no more layups in this gym!". He then proceeded to block nearly every shot that went up. As rumor has it, Magic Johnson was not able to get a single shot up the rest of the day.
- Little known fact: do you know why it is illegal to cross the free-throw line when shooting a free throw? Because Wilt, in high school and during practice at Kansas, would step back to the top of the arc, take a couple steps running start, and take off from the free throw line and dunk it effortlessly.
- Two nights after scoring 100 points against the New York Knicks, Chamberlain played them again, this time in Madison Square Garden. He again tried going for the century mark but was held to a 'mere' 54. Darrall Imhoff, the man guarding him, received a standing ovation from the MSG crowd.
- A couple years after retiring, Wilt considered coming back to play for the New York Knicks, On the day of his visit to the Knicks office, Wilt was leaving the building when he saw two delivery men struggling with a dolly full of boxes of office supplies. The load was so heavy that the elevator was actually a couple inches lower, making it impossible for the two men to lift the dolly up onto ground level and off the elevator. Wilt walked over and offered a helping hand to the two struggling delivery men. They obliged as they stepped back and, in awe, watched him effortlessly lift the dolly, place if on the ground level, and leave as if he'd done nothing at all. After he left, an observer of the whole ordeal asked the two men how much the dolly weighed, and after surveying it for a couple seconds, replied "about 600 pounds".
- In high school, Wilt once scored 90 points in a game. Oh yeah, and he only played 28 minutes. He also scored 60 of those points within a 10 minute span.

Julius Erving:
-Dr.J was actually drafted (12th overall) by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1972 draft, which would have placed him alongside Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Oscar Robertson. Because of the rules back then, though, Erving chose to sign a contract with the Atlanta Hawks and then was forced to return to the ABA.

Lisa Leslie:
- Once scores 101 points in a high school game- in one half! She probably would have finished with more, but the game was called off because the opponents left during half time.

Connie Hawkins:
- First dunked a basketball on a ten-foot rim when he was 11 years old.

Earl Manigault:
- His 'claim to fame move' was the 'double dunk'. He would dunk the ball with one hand, catch it with the other hand after it went through the net, and dunk it for a second time with the other hand while still in the air.
- He once completed 36 consecutive reverse dunks in order to win a 60$ bet.
- Was famous for grabbing quarters off the top of the backboard.
- During a pickup game at famed Rucker park, Earl, standing 6'2", managed to block Wilt Chamberlain, who is 7'1", three consecutive times in the same possession.

Alonzo Mourning:
- This is truly one of the most impressive stories I've ever heard. In a game earlier this season against the New Jersey Nets, Alonzo Mourning went up to block a layup on a fast break and landed poorly. He destroyed his knee, tearing his patella and demolishing practically every ligament in there. Mourning's warrior mentality set in, though, as he refused to be helped up or put on a stretcher. While guys like Shaun Livingston and Jorge Garbajosa, who suffered similar injuries, were carried off in near tears, Mourning had a different mentality. If this were his last time leaving an NBA court, he thought, then he did not want to go out on a stretcher. Alonzo got up, and with minor assistance from teammates, and walked off the court. Hopefully he can use some of that strength in a successful comeback now.

Gilbert Arenas:
- While on the Warriors, Arenas once showered during halftime of a game against the Spurs because he was upset with his and his team's performance in the first half. It should be noted that he was in full uniform and wearing his basketball shoes and then went out and played the second half soaking wet.
- Gil often plays online poker during halftime of Wizards games.
- Gilbert sleeps in a hyperbareck chamber
- While on Golden State, the teammates often played practical jokes on one another. Gilbert took it to the next level by breaking into teammate Chris Mill's house while he wasn't home and stole one of his throwback jerseys. Then, to everyone's shock, Gilbert then wore it to the team flight the following day.
- Before purchasing his hyperbarick chamber, Gilbert slept on a coach in his bedroom.
- Gilbert often wears a cape...as casual wear.

Jalen Rose and Chris Webber:
- Showed up late to the 93' NBA draft because they had to finish their game of Madden.

Rasheed Wallace:
- Sheed managed to become the first and only player in McDonald's High School All American Game history to get ejected.
- During his time with the Blazers, Sheed would often practice in sweatpants and his Timberland boots.
- While teammate Jason Maxiell was conducting a courtside interview before a game this season, Sheed continuously pelted him with basketball. ( http://www.need4sheed.com/videos/target_practice.html )
- Once made Jerry Stackhouse late for an interview because he made him stop at a KFC.
- While at North Carolina, he threw his sneakers over the telephone wire outside the Dean Smith Center.
- During his freshman year at UNC, Sheed walked up to a student in the cafeteria, handed him his glass, and asked the other student if he could fill it up with Cola. It should be noted that they were both standing in front of the Cola machine.
- In 95', Sheed missed the UNC team flight to Maui for a preseason tournament because he overslept. He also missed the next flight, too.
- While at UNC, Sheed never chose a major.

Larry Bird:
- In a game against the Los Angeles Clippers, Larry Bird got sent to the line with seconds left and the game riding on his free throws. The opposing team sent out workers to hold posters of supermodels in bikinis underneath the net in order to distract Larry. As he stood at the line, Larry spun the ball while raising his hands in the air in order to rile up the crowd. The opposing crowd went nuts trying to distract Larry, but that only motivated him as he calmly sank both shots and won the game.
- In a game against Portland, Larry decided he would make things a little more interesting for himself by only taking shots with his left hand. He successfully completed the task and the Celtics pulled off the W.

Kevin Garnett:
- Apparently, during Garnett's prime, he was capable of taking a ball and dunking it over the backboard.

Pee Wee Kirkland:
- Possibly the most talented offensive player to ever touch a basketball, Kirkland chose the street life over the hardwood. In 1969, he was drafted by the Chicago Bulls but turned down their contract offer, claiming that he had more than they were offering in his pocket (he was intensely involved in illegal activities; mainly drug trafficking).
- Pee Wee eventually went to prison because of his illegal activities. While in prison, he played in the highly competitive inter-prison basketball league where he managed to score 465 points in 8 games (58 PPG).
- While playing in the ABL, Pee Wee scored 100 points in one game. In another one, he scored 135.

Not Basketball Related: Jim Brown:

- Jim Brown is widely recognized as one of, if not THE, greatest football player of all time. What is less known, is the fact that the same Jim Brown is widely considered the greatest Lacrosse player of all time as well. 

That should suffice for now, hope you enjoyed and read something you never heard before. More stories to come...