I didn’t believe it at first, but after doing research I believe it to be true: before becoming a NBA legend, Wilt Chamberlain played pro ball as a teenager under the pseudonym, George Marcus.
I still don’t know how it was possible. At the age of 16 Wilt Chamberlain played pro ball under the name “George Marcus.”
He played for the Pittsburgh Raiders of the National Basketball League (a disputed assertion) and, later, with the Quakertown Fay’s (there’s local info about this possibility). Evidently, Wilt (I mean George) was a pro while still playing for his high school team, Overbrook High School.
If true, then Wilt figures out a way to play both high school and pro ball simultaneously. He dominated both–then did the same in college–before going on to have a legendary NBA career.
Chamberlain was able to keep his early pro days a secret — pretty much — even though he didn’t fly under the radar as a so-so player. He was anything but that.
Courtesy: Bardown
Reports have it that at 17–and in his second pro season–Wilt averaged 40.5 p.p.g. in the regular season, 74 p.p.g. in the playoffs, and 53.9 p.p.g. overall. He was the league’s MVP.
What?! How??
Born in 1936, Wilt started playing organized ball in the 1950’s. Few games were televised and pro basketball wasn’t big-time back then. No internet existed either, so there weren’t ways to spread information quickly.
Still, though, the name ‘George Marcus’ was all over the papers. Why wouldn’t it be … with the numbers he was putting up.
But why didn’t anybody ask: “Hum, that 7-1 center with a 7-8 wingspan looks awfully familiar?”
But did he really get away with it? Actually, no.
While playing college ball at Kansas, Wilt was interviewed by AAU (Amateur Athletic League) investigators. They wanted to know if he had played professionally while still in high school. He said no and they moved on.
How unbelievable is that?
So let’s imagine how the interview could have gone….
“Hey Wilt, did you play pro ball when you were 16? This picture looks a whole lot like you.”
“Never.”
“Are you sure?”
“Well, what was the name of this guy?”
“George Marcus.”
“Ah! My name is Wilt Chamberlain, not George Marcus.”
“Fair Point. We didn’t think about that. Enjoy your Spring Break.”
Courtesy: BarDown
The truth, though, is that some newspapers back then did refer to Marcus by his real name, Wilt Chamberlain. And some say that Wilt even wrote a newspaper article, “My Next Chapter,” about what he’d do after playing pro ball. But I can’t track down the article to confirm that the article ever existed.
The amazing thing is that this entire story lay dormant for decades. In March 2017 “the ‘Marcus’ story made news again, published in TSN’s BarDown. The story hit the news again, just this week, on FanSided.
What do I think? I’ll never wrap my mind around it. It’s just so improbable … Wilt Chamberlain dominating professional basketball at 16 and doing it under a fake name.
Who’d believe that?!
