 Chamberlain is regarded as one of the most extraordinary and dominant basketball players in the history of the NBA . The 1972 NBA Finals MVP is holder of numerous official NBA all @-@ time records , establishing himself as a scoring champion , all @-@ time top rebounder and accurate field goal shooter . He led the NBA in scoring seven times , field goal percentage nine times , minutes played eight times , rebounding eleven times , and assists once . He was also responsible for several rule changes , including widening the lane from 12 to 16 feet , as well as changes to rules regarding inbounding the ball and shooting free throws . Chamberlain is most remembered for his 100 @-@ point game , which is widely considered one of basketball 's greatest records . Decades after his record , many NBA teams did not even average 100 points as fewer field goals per game were being attempted . The closest any player has gotten to 100 points was the Los Angeles Lakers ' Kobe Bryant , who scored 81 in 2006 . Bryant afterwards said Chamberlain 's record was " unthinkable ... It 's pretty exhausting to think about it . " Chamberlain 's main weakness was his notoriously poor free throw shooting , where he has the third lowest career free throw percentage in NBA history with 51 @.@ 1 % ( based on a minimum of 1 @,@ 200 attempts ) . Chamberlain claimed that he intentionally missed free throws so a teammate could get the rebound and score two points instead of one , but later acknowledged that he was a " psycho case " in this matter . On the other hand , he committed surprisingly few fouls during his NBA career , despite the rugged play in the post . Chamberlain never fouled out of a regular season or playoff game in his 14 @-@ year NBA career . His career average was only two fouls per game , despite having averaged 45 @.@ 8 minutes per game over his career . He had five seasons where he committed less than two fouls per game , with a career low of 1 @.@ 5 fouls during the 1962 season , in which he also averaged 50 @.@ 4 points per game . His fouls per 36 minutes ( a stat used to compare players that average vastly different minutes ) was a remarkable 1 @.@ 6 per game . " First he was a scorer . Then he was a rebounder and assist man . Then with our great Laker team in 1972 , he concentrated on the defensive end , " said Sharman . In his two championship seasons , Chamberlain led the league in rebounding , while his scoring decreased to 24 and 15 points per game . By 1971 – 72 at age 35 and running less , his game had transformed to averaging only nine shots per game , compared to the 40 in his record @-@ setting 1961 – 62 season . He also has a signature ' Dipper ' move , whereby he would fake a hook shot , and extends his arm to a short @-@ range finger roll to shoot under a block attempt . 
