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Wilt Chamberlain Closed 1972 NBA Finals With A Broken Dominant Hand & Won Finals MVP

Wilt Chamberlain was the most dominant player in the NBA during his time in the league. He made his presence felt — grabbing 20 rebounds a game, dropping 50 points on a regular, even 100 once, blocking shots, and tallying double-double and triple-double records.

Just like the freak of natures of the modern NBA in the likes of LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal, Wilt was also one heck of a freak of nature who maximized his size and strength, allowing him to dominate the game. Given the fact that the majority of today’s fans weren’t able to catch a glimpse of Wilt, we really have a little idea of Wilt’s skills and immense power, aside from the insane stats he put up.

When Chamberlain led the Los Angeles Lakers to an NBA title in 1972 against the New York Knicks, he incredibly did so with a fractured dominant hand.

In the Finals deciding Game 5, the Hall of Famer put up 24 points, added 29 rebounds, and 8 blocks, while becoming the oldest Finals MVP to that point at age 35.

While the injury report and general believe was that his hand had been strained, Chamberlain confirmed after the game, that it indeed was broken in Game 4 of the Finals.

Per New York Times:

“I knew it was broken on Saturday, when I saw the Xrays, but no one else really knew it except the doctor and me. At that time, I honestly felt that I couldn’t play on Sunday, couldn’t bend it. But with an anti‐inflammatory injection and ice packs, it improved.”