Wilt Chamberlain

Wilt Chamberlain was one of the most dominant big men to ever play in the NBA. During his play, the NBA didn’t have many players that were as tall as him, so he would dominate and dunk the ball all the time. He dunked the ball so much that it forced the NCAA to change the rules on dunking. The NCAA made a rule that players were not allowed to dunk the ball. Also, during Chamberlain’s play he would stand in the paint waiting for the ball to get to him, so the NBA made the paint much wider and created the offensive three second violation. The combination of these two things caused big men to be pushed farther from the basket and making it harder for them to dominate as much as they did.
Chamberlain when shooting a free throw would jump from the free throw line and dunk it. He could do this when he played because the NBA allowed players to take few steps before shooting a few free throws. One of his most important influences was, “A generation of fans grew to love the game of basketball by watching Chamberlain duel Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics, seemingly every Sunday on ABC's Game of the Week in the 1960s, with Chris Schenkel and Jack Twyman at the microphone. (“Wilt Chamberlain: An Appreciation”)” Chamberlain opened the door for the NBA to become popular and for fans to want to watch him and Russell battle against each other. “‘Wilt Chamberlain had a great deal to do with the success of the NBA. (“Wilt Chamberlain: An Appreciation”)’”