Helena Frye
In basketball, points are accumulated through field goals (two or three points) and free throws (one point). While it is rare for an individual player to score 100 points in a single game, Wilt Chamberlain famously achieved this feat in 1962, setting the single-game scoring record in the NBA. Chamberlain's record is widely considered one of the greatest in basketball history, and it has sparked discussions and analyses about the significance of scoring 100 points in a basketball game.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Rarity | It is rare for an individual player to score 100 points in a single game. |
| Occurrences | Wilt Chamberlain, Bevo Francis, Jack Taylor, Anat Draigor, Lou Salvador, Mats Wermelin, Frank Selvy, Bob Harrison, Herman Saygar, Denise Long, Epiphanny Prince, Marin Ferenčević, Grinnell's Taylor, Kobe Bryant |
| Circumstances | Game length, opponent skill level, and the league may vary. |
| Gender | The highest score by a female player is 136, by Anat Draigor of Israel. |
| Age | The highest score by a male player under 14 is 272, by Mats Wermelin of Sweden. The highest score by a female player under 14 is 139, by Bob Harrison. |
| Difficulty | To score 100 points, a player would need to make at least 10 three-pointers and 20 free throws. |
| Controversy | Some believe Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game never happened due to a lack of recordings. |
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What You'll Learn
- Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in an NBA game in 1962
- Kobe Bryant's 81 points in 2006 is the closest to 100 in the modern era
- It's rare for an individual player to score 100 points in a basketball game
- There have been 25 instances of players scoring 100 points in US high school basketball games
- The highest score by a female player is 136, by Anat Draigor of Israel in 2006
Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in an NBA game in 1962
Scoring 100 points in a basketball game is an impressive feat. It is a rare achievement for an individual player to score 100 points in a single game. In the NBA, it has only happened once. On March 2, 1962, Wilt Chamberlain of the National Basketball Association's Philadelphia Warriors scored 100 points against the New York Knicks during a home game in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The final score was 169-147, with the Warriors winning.
Chamberlain made 36 of 63 field goals and 28 of 32 free throws, the latter being a particularly unusual statistic considering Chamberlain was a 51.1% free-throw shooter for his career. Chamberlain was a dominant offensive force, unstoppable on his way to the basket, yet he was also a fine all-around athlete who took pride in developing the all-around skills to compete with players half a foot shorter. He scored 23 points in the first quarter and had 41 by halftime, then tallied 28 in the third quarter, when the fans began to chant, "Give It To Wilt! Give It To Wilt!"
In the fourth quarter, the Knicks tried fouling other Philadelphia players to keep the ball away from Chamberlain, but the Warriors countered by committing fouls of their own to get the ball back. Finally, Chamberlain took a pass from Joe Ruklick and hit a short shot with 46 seconds left to give him 100 points. Chamberlain set five other league records that game, including most free throws made, despite being regarded as a poor free-throw shooter. The teams broke the record for most combined points in a game (316). That season, Chamberlain averaged a single-season record of 50.4 points per game, and he broke the NBA single-game scoring record of 71 earlier in the season in December with 78 points.
Scoring 100 points in an NBA game is considered a remarkable achievement. It requires a combination of skill, endurance, and strategy. As Los Angeles Lakers star and NBA all-time leading scorer LeBron James said, "Talent is talent no matter what generation it is... great basketball and great scorers are going to be great scorers no matter what era they're in." While it is a challenging feat to replicate, it is not impossible, and with the ever-increasing talent and skill in the NBA, it is possible that we may see another player join Chamberlain in the 100-point club in the future.
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Kobe Bryant's 81 points in 2006 is the closest to 100 in the modern era
Scoring 100 points in a basketball game is a rare feat. The first and only player to achieve this in the NBA was Wilt Chamberlain, who scored 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors against the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962. Since then, no other player has come as close to scoring a hundred points as Kobe Bryant, who scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors on January 22, 2006.
Bryant's 81-point game is considered one of the best performances in NBA history. With his team, the Lakers, trailing by 18 points in the third quarter, Bryant went on a scoring spree, scoring 27 points in the third and 28 in the fourth. He accounted for all but 18 of the Lakers' points in the second half, leading them to a 122-104 comeback victory at home. Bryant's performance was so dominant that even Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who had previously coached Michael Jordan, was impressed. "That was something to behold," Jackson said. "It was another level. I've seen some remarkable games, but I've never seen one like that before."
Bryant's performance was made even more impressive by the fact that he finished the game with 28-of-46 shooting, including 7-of-13 from 3-point range, and 18-of-20 from the foul line. This gave him a total of 55 points in the second half, the second-highest point total in a half in NBA history behind Chamberlain's 59-point second half in his 100-point game. Bryant's performance stunned even himself, with the player saying, "Not even in my dreams... It really hasn't, like, set in for me. It's about the `W,’ that’s why I turned it on. It turned into something special."
Since Wilt Chamberlain's historic 100-point game, the 70-point margin has been crossed six times, and only twice since 1963. David Robinson's 71-point game in 1994 seemed to be the closest anyone would come to Chamberlain's record. However, Kobe Bryant's 81-point performance in 2006 proved that it was possible to get even closer to the elusive 100-point mark. While it has not been achieved in the NBA since Chamberlain, players around the world and at various levels of competition have scored 100 or more points in a single game.
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It's rare for an individual player to score 100 points in a basketball game
It is a rare feat for a basketball player to score 100 points in a single game. In fact, there have only been a handful of occurrences of players reaching this milestone in organised competition. Wilt Chamberlain of the National Basketball Association's Philadelphia Warriors is one of the most notable players to achieve this feat. On March 2, 1962, Chamberlain scored 100 points against the New York Knicks in a game played at Hersheypark Arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Despite some scepticism and lack of video evidence, there is ample evidence of Chamberlain's achievement, including eyewitness accounts, box scores, and a full broadcast of the fourth quarter from the radio.
Chamberlain's teammates also credited him for his accomplishment, acknowledging their efforts in assisting him. Chamberlain himself thanked his teammates, recognising that their support and strategic play were crucial in making his 100-point game possible. This game highlighted Chamberlain's exceptional scoring ability, as he accounted for 59% of his team's points.
Other notable players who have scored 100 or more points in a single game include Bevo Francis, Jack Taylor, Anat Draigor, and Frank Selvy. Bevo Francis scored 116 points against Ashland College in 1953, although this was not recognised as the official college record as Ashland College was not a four-year institution. In 1954, Francis scored 113 points against Hillsdale College, setting the highest total in United States college basketball history at the time. Jack Taylor of Grinnell has recorded multiple 100-point games, including 138 points in 2012 and 109 points in 2013. Anat Draigor of Israel holds the record for the highest total by a female basketball player worldwide, scoring 136 points in a game in 2006 at the age of 46. Frank Selvy of Furman University is the only player to score 100 points at the Division I level, achieving this feat in 1954.
While it is rare for an individual player to score 100 points in a basketball game, it is not unheard of, and there have been several remarkable performances throughout basketball history.
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There have been 25 instances of players scoring 100 points in US high school basketball games
It is a rare feat for a basketball player to score 100 points in a single game. In the US, there have been 25 instances of players achieving this feat in high school basketball games, with 20 of them being male players and seven being female players. The first recorded instance was in 1913 when Herman Saygar of Culver High School, Indiana, scored 113 points. The first female player to score 100 points at the high school level was Denise Long of Union-Whitten High School, Iowa, in 1968. She scored 111 points during a state playoff game and averaged a national record of 68.2 points per game that season.
The highest single-game total in worldwide organised basketball history is 272 points, scored by 13-year-old Mats Wermelin of Sweden in a regional boys' tournament. The highest total by a female basketball player globally is 136 points, scored by 46-year-old Anat Draigor of Israel in 2006. In the US, 100-point games have occurred at almost every level of education, from middle school to college.
At the college level, there have been seven 100-point games, two of which were recorded by Clarence "Bevo" Francis of Rio Grande College. On February 2, 1954, Francis scored 113 points, which stood as the highest total in US college basketball history for 59 years. Frank Selvy of Furman University is the only player to score 100 points at the Division I level, recording exactly 100 points in 1954. Grinnell's Taylor broke the all-time NCAA record by scoring 138 points in 2012, and he recorded another 100-point game in 2013.
Scoring 100 points in an NBA game, however, remains an elusive feat. Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors is the only player to have achieved this, scoring exactly 100 points in 1962. While some players and analysts believe that another 100-point game in the NBA is inevitable, others argue that it would be challenging due to the defensive strategies employed by teams and the difficulty of making a high volume of shots.
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The highest score by a female player is 136, by Anat Draigor of Israel in 2006
In basketball, points are accumulated through field goals (two or three points) and free throws (one point). It is a rare feat for an individual player to score 100 points in a single game. The highest single-game total in basketball history, irrespective of gender, age, or competition level, is 272 points, scored by a 13-year-old Swedish boy named Mats Wermelin.
The highest score by a female player is 136, achieved by Anat Draigor of Israel in 2006. Draigor, then 46 years old, played for Hapoel Mate Yehuda in an Israel Division III League playoff game against Elitzur Givat Shmuel. The final score of the game was 158-41. Draigor's achievement is recognised by Guinness World Records as the most points scored in a single game by a female player.
Anat Draigor was born on 22 March 1960 in Beersheba, Israel. She started playing basketball at the age of 14 and played professionally from the 1985-86 season until 1993-94. She played most of her career in Israel for Elitzur Holon, and also played in France on two occasions: in 1980-81 for Clermont-Ferrand, and in 1991-92 for Racing Club de Paris. Draigor was the first Israeli player, male or female, to be signed to play overseas professionally. She achieved this feat after scoring 31 points against Czechoslovakia in the 1991 European Championship, leading Israel to a historic win.
While 100-point games are rare, they have occurred at least once at most levels of basketball in the United States. In the NBA, Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scored 100 points on 2 March 1962 against the New York Knicks. At the college level, Frank Selvy of Furman University scored exactly 100 points on 13 February 1954 against Newberry College. In high school basketball, there have been 25 verified occurrences of players scoring 100 points or more, with 20 by male players and seven by female players.
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Frequently asked questions
The team that scores 100 points is usually in a good position to win the game. However, there is no specific rule regarding what happens when a team scores 100 points. The team with the most points at the end of a basketball game is declared the winner.
Yes, Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors in a 169-147 win over the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962.
No, but Kobe Bryant scored 81 points, the second-highest in NBA history, for the Los Angeles Lakers in a 122-104 win over the Toronto Raptors on January 22, 2006.
Yes, the highest single-game total in organized basketball history is 272 points, scored by a 13-year-old Swedish boy named Mats Wermelin.
Yes, the highest single player total between national teams is 116 points, scored by the Philippines' Lou Salvador against China in 1923.
