One of the best YouTube channels — for NBA geeks — is the Wilt Chamberlain Archive. Do not be fooled by its name, as it’s an incredible (if not unparalleled) collection of old NBA footage featuring every legend you can name: Kareem, Russell, Oscar, Havlicek, Cousy, Baylor, Dr. J, etc. The man behind the channel is Redditor dantheman9758, who, naturally, is a contributor at the sub-Reddit r/NBA. One of our favorites is an hour-long highlight reel featuring the channel’s namesake. And, it’s not just footage of the Big Dipper’s NBA days. The compilation includes images showcasing his larger-than-life existence, along with footage of him as the goddamn scariest volleyball player ever.
Dan also explains the amount of footage he was able to work with, which is a woefully small:
All known HS, NCAA, NBA Career FGM footage. I counted that only about 2.4% of his total career field goals exists on film. If you take his FGM per-game averages, this equates to approximately 29 random games worth of field goals (though many more games than that are represented here, in smaller incomplete pieces, as many sources are documentary clips that only show a few baskets from a given game).
As a result of the documentary source material rather than the more ideal game broadcast footage not all of the plays contain enough footage to reveal the entire play unfold. Sometimes the entry pass, or even the initial move is missing leaving only the finish, but I’ve done my best to reveal as much of the plays as possible and categorize them accordingly.
This isn’t Dan’s first lengthy Wilt compilation, but it is by far the longest and most comprehensive — and definitely worth a watch if you haven’t seen previous versions.
[YouTube]
