One hundred points, and the four things that had to be true

Every few years a scorer has a night in the 70s and the number 100 comes back into the conversation. It is worth knowing exactly what had to line up in Hershey, because 3 of the 4 conditions no longer exist.

First, pace. The 1961-62 league averaged 118.8 points per team per game with no 3-point line. Teams shot early and missed often, and Chamberlain's Warriors ran the fastest of all. He took 63 shots that night without anyone thinking it was strange.

Second, minutes. He averaged 48.5 minutes a game that season, which is the entire game plus overtimes. There was no rest, no rotation and no reason to sit a healthy star.

Third, the free throw line. He was a 51.1% career free throw shooter and he went 28 of 32 that night, which is the single most unrepeatable part of the box score.

Fourth, cooperation. New York's starting center was out. By the fourth quarter his teammates were fouling on purpose to get the ball back and feeding him every possession, and the Knicks were fouling other Warriors to keep it away from him.

So the honest version is not that a modern scorer could not do it. It is that a modern coach would pull him at 78 with 4 minutes left, and nobody in the building would argue.