Lakers’ 33-Game Winning Streak Meets the Bucks: January 9, 1972

Fifty years ago, one of the most dynamic games in NBA history was played between my team, the Milwaukee Bucks, and my future team, the Los Angeles Lakers.

Guard Gail Goodrich #25 of the Los Angeles Lakers goes for a lay up against me on January 9, 1972.

Fifty years ago, on January 9, 1972, one of the most dynamic games in NBA history was played between my team, the Milwaukee Bucks, and my future team, the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers had already accomplished the extraordinary feat of a 33-game winning streak that made them an intimidating juggernaut of strength and skill. Lots of teams had bragged how they would end the streak, but all had failed. Now it was our turn to face them. 

It was only my third year as a professional basketball player and I was determined to continue to give everything I had for the Bucks. The previous season, after acquiring the incomparable Oscar Robertson, we had gone on a 20-game winning streak, which was a new NBA record—until the Lakers’ phenomenal run shattered it. We had defeated the Lakers 4-1 in the Western Conference finals, And we had gone on to win the NBA championship by sweeping the Baltimore Bullets 4-0 in the finals. We were juggernauts, too. 

However, we also remembered that we had lost to the Lakers early in their streak, 112-105. We’d been number 11 in their streak. So, while we weren’t intimidated by the Lakers, we were respectful. 

---

This is a reader-supported newsletter. Both free and paid subscriptions are available. The best way to join the community and support my work is by taking out a paid subscription.

---

Still, there was some personal history going into this game. I would be facing one of the greatest players of all time, Wilt Chamberlain. Ten years earlier, Wilt had scored 100 points in a single game, a record that still holds today. He had been a hero of mine when I was still in grade school and had even taken me under his wing, inviting me to play cards at his house, taking me and my date out to his night club. He had fancy cars, lots of fawning friends, and was always in the company of beautiful women. To a young Black kid like me, he embodied what success might look like for me one day.

A young Wilt Chamberlain.

But by 1972, I wasn’t the same Black kid. My idea of success no longer looked like Wilt’s idea. It wasn’t based on flash and conspicuous wealth. I established that during the negotiations my first year in the NBA draft. The Nets and the Bucks both wanted me so I told them to make a one-time offer. There would be no going back and forth because at the time I felt that bidding wars degraded people. The Bucks made the better offer of $1.4 million, which I accepted. Immediately after, the Nets came back with an offer of $3.2 million, which I declined because I’d already given my word to the Bucks. I think the influence of my UCLA coach John Wooden, who always emphasized personal integrity over personal gain, had matured me away from my childhood fascination with Wilt’s glamorous lifestyle.

The difference in my path and Wilt’s was further highlighted the previous year. After winning the NBA championship, the U.S. State Department sent Bucks head coach Larry Costello, Oscar Robertson, and me on a basketball tour of Africa. I had already been studying Islam for several years before the trip but decided to announce by conversion to Islam, as well as my new name, on June 3, 1971 at the State Department. My teammates on the Bucks embraced the change with full support. So did a majority of Milwaukee fans.

When the January 9 game took place, I had been Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for only six months. I had established myself as a tenacious player with a bunch of NBA records, but I had also established myself as a civil rights activist, having participated in the Cleveland Summit and having boycotted the 1968 Summer Olympics. I was not Wilt.

At the Cleveland Summit, I joined Bill Russell, Jim Brown, Carl Stokes, Walter Beach, Bobby Mitchell, Sid Williams, Curtis McClinton, Willie Davis, Jim Shorter, and John Wooten to hear Muhammad Ali discuss his reasons to reject the draft during the Vietnam War.

Wilt recognized that too. When I’d first joined the NBA, he’d been pretty non-committal when discussing me with reporters. We wished me well. In my second year with the Bucks, he even complimented me when I jumped up, snagged a rebound, and slammed it through the hoop. “That was a hell of a basket,” he told me. 

But as my fame and accomplishments increased, so did his animosity. Winning the championship the year before, in my second year in the NBA, seemed to put him over the top. We had won a championship before his team had. He started taking verbal potshots at me with reporters. Once during a game, he threw a punch at me. I’d been boxing him out and during the tussle, our arms got tangled up. He jerked free and threw a half-hearted punch, which didn’t connect. I don’t think he intended to hit me, but his anger in the moment brought out his latent hostility toward me. The refs didn’t see it and I wasn’t mad at him. We just continued play as if nothing had happened.

Chamberlain and I.

When Wilt and I faced off on January 9, he was no longer the unstoppable 25-year-old player who scored 100 points in a single game. He was now 35, slower, less aggressive in shooting. But he was still a powerful force under the basket. And he still wanted to beat me, the 24-year-old who he felt was replacing him.

Aside from Wilt’s formidable defensive and rebounding abilities, the Lakers also had powerhouses Jerry West and Gail Goodrich, two of the best scorers in NBA history. Goodrich was considered by many to be the best all-around player in the league and he led the Lakers with 27-point scoring average. Rounding out the starting team were forwards Jim McMillian, only in his second year as a pro but already a proven threat, and Happy Hairston, who the following year would lead the Lakers in rebounds and field goal percentage. 

Milwaukee Bucks (#1) Oscar Robertson passes backward over Los Angeles Lakers (#44) Jerry West during the Bucks-Lakers game. Lakers Wilt Chamberlain (left) watches. The Bucks stopped the Lakers record winning streak of 33 by winning 120-104.

---

This is a reader-supported newsletter. Both free and paid subscriptions are available. The best way to join the community and support my work is by taking out a paid subscription.

---

A couple nights before, Coach Larry Costello had travelled to Atlanta to watch the Lakers bury the Hawks 134-90.We were facing a team that had just steamrolled their opponents by 44 points. 

Our starting line-up consisted of forwards Bob Dandridge and Curtis Perry and guards Oscar Robertson and Jon McGlocklin. Every one of them was a fierce and focused competitor who left everything they had on the court. Our secret weapon was my friend and former UCLA teammate Lucius Allen, a ferocious player who I knew could be counted on in tough situations. The Lakers may have been an unstoppable force, but we were an immovable object. That physics paradox would be resolved today.

Wilt came out for the tip-off wearing his signature yellow headband. We shook hands. The ball was tossed up, but I controlled the tip. We had possession and quickly scored. 

Wilt and I battled for position, but I had studied the films of him playing and knew that he did not like to guard players who kept moving. Which is exactly what I did. I could tell he was getting annoyed by my constant movement. I’d heard that Gail Goodrich had complained to his team that Wilt needed help guarding me, which I’m sure also nettled Wilt.

Jan 9: I face off against Wilt.

At this point in his career, Wilt’s game was to stand in the middle of the lane so he could better block shots and rebound. He wasn’t trying to score as much as he used to, so he wasn’t as big an offensive threat as he once was. I’d also devised a shot to counter Wilt’s tremendous blocking ability. I would shoot a bank shot high off the backboard over his reach. While this was effective some of the time, he was still able to swat away some of my shots as a rookie. He was still Wilt “the Stilt” Chamberlain.

We also knew that Wilt was a bad free throw shooter. At 51.1% (league average is about 79%), he was one of the worst free throw shooter in NBA history. Yes, worse than Shaq. One of our strategies was to foul him and let him take his chances at the free throw line.

For the most part, we didn’t really change the way we played that night. We didn’t come up with special Laker-busting plays. We knew that they had a lot of great players that would be challenging to guard. But we had youth, determination—and an NBA championship.

The game had some back and forth momentum until I went for a ball that was heading out of bounds. Happy and I grappled for it which resulted in a jump ball. I tapped the ball to one of my teammates and that seemed to shift the momentum back in our direction. After that, we never let up. What we lacked in veteran savvy we made up for with sheer hustle. The Lakers were rattled, turning over the ball 24 times and shooting only 39.3 % from the field. Their defense soon collapsed.

At first, Wilt was doing a good job guarding me, using his superior weight and mass to back me down and force me into less comfortable shots. But as the game went on and Wilt tired, I found my rhythm and was hitting my shots with consistency. 

Up for the dunk.

At one point, I was leaping up for an uncontested slam dunk when Happy suddenly hit my legs. Both of us dropped to the ground. The encounter, which had been totally unnecessary, is extremely dangerous and could lead to career-ending injuries. As a center, I was used to a lot of physical abuse, from elbows in the stomach to gouges to the eyes, but every once in a while, I would get fed up with the abuse that the refs chose to ignore. As we both were getting up, I lost my temper and punched him in the head. The refs rushed out to control the situation. We both received fouls.

After that, the road was pretty smooth. When the whistle blew, we had broken their 33-game streak 120-104. I scored 39 points, had 20 rebounds, and 5 assists. Lucius came in second, scoring 18 points with 3 assists. Jerry West led the Lakers with 20 points, 1 rebound, and 6 assists, followed by Happy Hairston with 18 points, 18 rebounds, and no assists. Wilt had 12 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Despite all the hoopla of stopping the Lakers’ streak—and some pointing out that my jersey number was 33 and we ended the streak at 33—to us it really was just another game in the season, with many more to go. Following their defeat to us, the Lakers’ confidence was shaken and they struggled over the next few games. But they recovered, swept the Chicago Bulls in four games in the first round of playoffs, then beat us in six games in the second round. They beat the New York Knicks in five games to win the NBA championship, their first since the team moved to Los Angeles in 1960. Three years later, I would join them and together we would win five more NBA championships.

---

This is a reader-supported newsletter. Both free and paid subscriptions are available. The best way to join the community and support my work is by taking out a paid subscription.

---