 In the 1963 – 64 NBA season , Chamberlain got yet another new coach , Alex Hannum , and was joined by a promising rookie center , Nate Thurmond , who eventually entered the Hall of Fame . Ex @-@ soldier Hannum , who later entered the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach , was a crafty psychologist who emphasized defense and passing . Most importantly , he was not afraid to stand up to the dominant Chamberlain , who was known to " freeze out " ( not communicate with ) coaches he didn 't like . Backed up by valuable rookie Thurmond , Chamberlain had another good season with 36 @.@ 9 ppg and 22 @.@ 3 rpg , and the Warriors went all the way to the NBA Finals . In that series they succumbed to Russell 's Boston Celtics yet again , this time losing 4 – 1 . But as Cherry remarked , not only Chamberlain , but in particular Hannum deserved much credit because he had basically had taken the bad 31 – 49 squad of last year plus Thurmond and made it into a NBA Finalist . In the summer of 1964 Chamberlain , one of the prominent participants at the famed Rucker Park basketball court in New York City , made the acquaintance of a tall , talented 17 @-@ year @-@ old teenager who played there . Soon , the young Lew Alcindor was allowed into his inner circle , and quickly idolized the ten @-@ year older NBA player . Unfortunately , Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul @-@ Jabbar , as Alcindor would name himself later , would develop an intensely personal antipathy . 
