wilt-and-rasheed
There are a lot of big-name players in the NBA, and when fans get a chance to meet them, they can be pretty starstruck at the moment. Sometimes, it also happens to the athletes, especially when they meet guys that they grew up watching before they made it to the league.
Rasheed Wallace is one such person who has experienced that feeling despite the fact that he was one of the biggest names in the league during his peak. It didn’t happen frequently, but as Wallace recalled, things were different for him when he met Wilt Chamberlain for the first time.
Sheed recalls meeting Wilt
There have been a lot of superstars that have played in the NBA, but Chamberlain was the first big name to ever take the league by storm during the 1960s. ‘Wilt the Stilt’ was absolutely dominant, and he still holds a handful of records that may never get broken.
Wallace never got to see Chamberlain play, but both guys are from Philadelphia, and of course, Wilt spent three-and-a-half seasons playing for the 76ers. Sheed said he doesn’t get starstruck often, but his encounter with the legendary center was a rare exception.
“They were retiring Wilt’s number from Overbrook, and Sonny Hill called my coach, and my coach was like, ‘Alright,’” Rasheed Wallace said on That’s What Sheed Said. “So I went down that day, my coach and Sonny Hill took me down there, and I had a chance to meet The Big Dipper. Starstruck. One of three times in my life I’ve ever been starstruck, and I’ve met a lot of people.”
Wallace was rightfully starstruck by Chamberlain
Chamberlain was so dominant during his time in the NBA that he holds records to this day that he set 50 years ago. He is the only guy to score 100 points in a single game, and he still holds the record for most points and rebounds per game in a single season in NBA history.
If there was a guy for a former Pistons’ forward to be starstruck by, it was the legendary center. Given their roots in Philadelphia and what Wilt accomplished in the NBA with the Sixers, it makes sense for Sheed to be particularly fond of the legendary big man.
Wallace would end up having an impressive career in his own right, even though he didn’t manage to put up the same numbers as Chamberlain did. Still, it’s abundantly clear that their meeting had quite an impact on him at the time.
Chamberlain unfortunately passed away in 1999, which makes Wallace’s interaction with him all the more special. It takes a lot to leave someone like Raheed in awe, but meeting his hometown hero was enough to do that, and he certainly wasn’t the only person who Wilt had starstruck.
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