Released Oct. 1, 20-14
By Mark Saunders
U.S. Postal Service Headquarters
Corporate Communications

  Basketball icon Wilt Chamberlain will be immortalized on two towering Limited Edition Forever stamps Dec. 5

  The U.S.Postal Service and Philadelphia 76ers, in conjunction with the National Basketball Association (NBA), will formally dedicate the Wilt Chamberlain Forever stamps — the first of its kind featuring an NBA player — in a halftime ceremony featuring a special three-dimensional tribute video using the team’s state-of-the-art court projection system. Throughout the night, the Sixers will celebrate the life and legacy of the legendary Chamberlain with videos during breaks in play. Tickets for this 7 p.m. game will be available to the general public beginning Oct. 8 via Sixers.com.

  As a 7-foot-1-inch center, Chamberlain dominated the NBA for more than a decade, setting a plethora of individual records. As a pro, Chamberlain led his teams to two NBA championships and in 1962, scored an NBA record 100 points in a single game.

  The stamps, just over two inches tall each, are about a third taller than a typical commemorative stamp height of approximately 1.5 inches. Kadir Nelson, of  San Diego, CA, created the two stamp image portraits of the NBA superstar. One is based on a photograph of Chamberlain in a Philadelphia Warriors uniform; the other is based on an image of Chamberlain in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform. The word “Wilt” is featured in either the top right or left corner of each stamp. Art director Antanio Alcala, of Alexandria, VA, designed the stamps.

  Born Aug. 21, 1936, in Philadelphia, Chamberlain excelled in track and field, but basketball eventually became his sport of choice. By the time he was 10, Chamberlain was six feet tall. He was nearly unstoppable at Philadelphia’s Overbrook High School, scoring more than 2,200 total points, a Pennsylvania record. People began calling him “Wilt the Stilt” and “The Big Dipper,” possibly because his height sometimes forced him to dip under doorways. He preferred the latter nickname.

  He attended the University of Kansas where he averaged 29.9 points and 18.3 rebounds per game before turning pro in 1958. Chamberlain spent a season with the Harlem Globetrotters before joining the Philadelphia Warriors.

  During his rookie season with the Philadelphia Warriors, he averaged 37.6 points and 27.0 rebounds per game to win both the league’s Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player Awards. Chamberlain led the NBA in scoring his first seven seasons, and on March 2, 1962, during a game against the New York Knicks in Hershey, PA, scored an NBA record 100 points — a monumental feat that has not been matched since.

  The Warriors moved to San Francisco in 1962, and in 1965 Chamberlain was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. In 1966–67, Chamberlain led the 76ers to an NBA record 68 regular-season wins and an NBA title.

  In 1968, Philadelphia traded Chamberlain to the Los Angeles Lakers. His winning ways continued in L.A. In 1971–72, he led the Lakers to a stellar 69–13 regular-season record — the best regular-season mark in NBA history — and an NBA title. L.A. won the championship that year, defeating the Knicks in five games in the NBA finals. Chamberlain, who was nursing a broken bone in his hand, captured the series MVP Award. Like the '66–’67 76ers, the ’71–’72 Lakers are still considered one of the best NBA teams of all time.

  When the 13-time NBA All-Star retired in 1973, he held a record number of NBA records, including most total points (31,419), average points per game (30.1), total rebounds (23,924) and rebounds per game (22.9). He won the NBA MVP Award four times (1960, 1966–68), and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1979.

  In 1996, as part of the NBA’s 50th Anniversary season, Chamberlain was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History.