March 2, 1962 — Hershey Sports Arena
The Warriors and Knicks played a regular-season game in Hershey, PA — a neutral-site venue the Warriors used for select games during their original Philadelphia run. There were no TV cameras, only a radio broadcast (Bill Campbell on WCAU) and roughly 4,124 in attendance. No game footage exists.
Chamberlain went 36-for-63 from the floor and a career-high 28-for-32 from the free-throw line — extraordinary because he was a career 51% free-throw shooter. He was a 7’1″ center; the 100-point game came in a season he averaged 50.4 points per game (still an NBA record).
How the box score broke down
Chamberlain had 41 points at halftime, 69 through three quarters, and the entire fourth quarter became a chase for 100. The Knicks intentionally fouled non-Wilt Warriors so they could foul Wilt and force him to the line; Wilt’s teammates, recognizing the goal, started fouling Knicks immediately so the ball would come back to him.
He hit the 100th point with 46 seconds left on a put-back of his own miss. The Hershey PA announcer Dave Zinkoff called it. Fans rushed the floor; the game was paused briefly before play resumed for the final possessions.
Why no one has come close
The next-highest single-game score is Kobe Bryant’s 81 against Toronto in 2006 — 19 points short. David Thompson scored 73 in 1978, David Robinson 71 in 1994, Devin Booker 70 in 2017. Only six other players have ever cleared 70.
The 1961–62 NBA Pace Factor was around 125 possessions per team per game versus today’s ~100. Wilt’s team also actively fed him every possession, an approach modern offenses don’t replicate. Wilt himself scored 78 in another game that same season; his second-best ever was 73 (twice). The 100-point night sits alone.
Background facts cross-referenced with the Wikipedia article on Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game and Pro-Football-Reference / Basketball-Reference public records. Lead image via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).