One of the most absurd records in the NBA, which you do not even suspect
In the NBA, the statistics have been raised to indescribable levels, and in the strongest basketball league on the planet there are all kinds of records. But would you believe it if we told you that even though the playing time of a basketball game across the ocean is 48 minutes, there is a player in NBA history who averaged 48.5 minutes per game over an entire season?
It certainly sounds unbelievable, but it is an absolute fact. In the 1961/1962 season, Wilt Chamberlain - one of the greatest legends in the history of the NBA, recorded an average of 48.5 minutes on the floor during the entire campaign, then in the composition of the Philadelphia Warriors.
At that time, the center was at the peak of his physical strength and recorded mind-blowing numbers, including 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds per contest. This is also the season in which he registered another monstrous record that is unlikely to be bettered - 100 points against the New York Knicks. Chamberlain's campaign has been nothing short of incredible, but the surprising thing is that he didn't win the season's Most Valuable Player award despite leading most of the season's individual stats.
But how can there be more minutes than a basketball game? Then the rotations in the NBA were not as serious as they are now, and Chamberlain played without a change all season. Also, his team played 5 overtime games with him playing all the minutes. Of those 5 games, the one with the Los Angeles Lakers went to 3 overtimes, while another matchup against the New York Knicks ended with two extra periods of 5 minutes each. In this way, Chamberlain managed to record 48.5 minutes on average per match.
During his storied career, he averaged 45.8 minutes per game, playing over 1,000 games and logging 14 years in the most intense basketball league on the planet. The closest to him in average minutes per game is his great rival in the era Bill Russell, who averaged 42.3 minutes per game (just 0.1 more than Oscar Robertson, who is also a member of the greatest basketball players of the 60s) .