On this day 55 years ago, the San Francisco Warriors (who left Philadelphia for The Bay in 1962) traded Wilt Chamberlain to the Philadelphia 76ers (who left Syracuse for Philly in 1963), so he could head back to his hometown and stop annoying everyone on the Warriors.
The Warriors’ haul: Connie Dierking, Lee Shaffer, Paul Neumann and less than $50,000
From Sports Illustrated’s incomparable Frank Deford, in Jan. 1965:
“The trade itself is startling on more than one count. It is the most sensational basketball deal ever, but it is also the first time in the history of professional sports that an athlete of Chamberlain's stature has been traded while at the peak of his career. That he was exchanged for less than $50,000 (not the widely reported $300,000) and three guys named Neumann, Shaffer and Dierking whom most people never heard of is also extraordinary.”
Read the rest of the article, Another big bluff by Wilt, here.
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