Little Man, What Now?

Professional basketball this season is dominated by a rookie: Wilt ("The Stilt") Chamberlain, center for the Philadelphia Warriors--the agile Negro giant (7 ft. 2 in., 250 lbs.) who can nearly reach the basket by raising an arm. Last week Chamberlain was well on his way to smashing every record on the books. Even with 14 games still to play, he had scored more points and snared more rebounds than any other player ever had in a full season. Against the Detroit Pistons he scored 41 points to raise his total to 2,134, break by 29 the season record of St. Louis' Bob Pettit (6 ft. 9 in., 215 lbs.). In the same game he pulled down 16 rebounds for a total of 1,613, one more than the record set last year by Boston's Bill Russell (6 ft. 10 in., 220 lbs.).

Sure Palm. The best--or worst--is still to come. At 23, Chamberlain is far from his peak, even with a 37.5-point game average that has hoisted the Warriors from the cellar of the N.B.A.'s Eastern Division in 1959 to a strong second place this year. For most of the season. Chamberlain's favorite maneuver in the pivot has been to step away from the basket, turn and jump for a righthanded, banked shot. Essentially, this is the shot a short man might take to overcome the height of his opponent, has the serious disadvantage of moving Chamberlain away from the rebound. Now Chamberlain is beginning to exploit his size and strength by bulling straight for the hoop, overpowering his man with a leap so high that he merely lets the ball roll off his palm for a sure basket.

To stop Chamberlain, the pros have tried every trick in the book. They may double-team him (one man in front, one behind) with the hope of blocking off passes. When Chamberlain does get the ball, the defense swirls about him like a pack of hounds circling a bear at bay.

Under the hoop, they beat a tattoo on him with elbow and hip. Last week Chamberlain had to take two games off for the extraction of two teeth jammed back by an elbow. Says Warrior Coach Neil Johnston: "They're getting away with murder against Wilt. It would help if Wilt would belt a few. but he's only fought back a couple of times when he got mad."

What About Five? But Chamberlain's record-breaking performance raises a troubling question: Is basketball becoming the private preserve of the good big man? Grumbles Detroit's Guard Gene Shue: "The big men make it look easy. They take the skill out of basketball." Like most pros, Shue (6 ft. 2 in.) classifies as small anyone under 6 ft. 6 in.

Even the finest small man in the game is beginning to worry. Boston's great Bob Cousy (6 ft. 1 in., 176 lbs.) sees little point in raising the basket to offset sheer height ("Why penalize someone just because he's 7 ft. tall?"), is more interested in the proposal to zone the floor: one point for successful shots within 6 ft. of the basket; two points for shots from 6 to 25 ft.; three points for shots from farther out.

"Until Chamberlain came along, it wasn't too bad," says Cousy. "What about the day when you find yourself playing against five Chamberlains? The way things are going, unless something is done, there just won't be any small men in professional basketball."

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