1961–62 NBA season

1961–62 NBA season
League	National Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
Number of games	80
Number of teams	9
TV partner(s)	NBC
Regular season
Season MVP	Bill Russell (Boston)
Top scorer	Wilt Chamberlain (Philadelphia)
Playoffs
Eastern champions	Boston Celtics
Eastern runners-up	Philadelphia Warriors
Western champions	Los Angeles Lakers
Western runners-up	Detroit Pistons
Finals
Champions	Boston Celtics
Runners-up	Los Angeles Lakers

The 1961–62 NBA season was the 16th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning their 4th straight NBA Championship, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.

Notable occurrences

• The Chicago Packers entered the league, bringing the number of teams to nine.
• The NBA schedule was expanded for the third consecutive season. This time it went from 79 games per team, to 80.
• The Philadelphia Warriors played their final season before their transcontinental relocation to San Francisco for the following season. The NBA would return to Philadelphia in 1963.
• The 1962 NBA All-Star Game was played in St. Louis, Missouri, with the West beating the East 150-130. Local favorite Bob Pettit wins the game's MVP award.
• In a game played in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Wilt Chamberlain made history by scoring 100 points in the Philadelphia Warriors 169–147 win over the New York Knicks. It still stands as one of the greatest individual feats in sports history. Chamberlain would go on to average 50.4 points per game that season, another record.^[1]
• This year witnessed the only occurrence of a player averaging a triple-double throughout an entire season when Oscar Robertson averaged 30.8 points, 11.4 assists, and 12.5 rebounds per game.^[1]
• This was the last season of the NBA on NBC; the network would regain NBA coverage starting in the 1990–91 season.

Final standings

Eastern Division

Eastern Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-Boston Celtics	60	20	.750	–	23–5	26–12	11–3	26–10
x-Philadelphia Warriors	49	31	.613	11	18–11	19–19	12–1	18–18
x-Syracuse Nationals	41	39	.513	19	18–10	11–19	12–10	17–19
New York Knicks	29	51	.363	31	19–15	2–23	8–13	11–25

Western Division

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-Los Angeles Lakers	54	26	.675	–	26–5	18–13	10–8	33–13
x-Cincinnati Royals	43	37	.538	11	18–13	14–16	11–8	29–17
x-Detroit Pistons	37	43	.463	17	16–14	8–17	13–12	24–22
St. Louis Hawks	29	51	.363	25	19–16	7–27	3–8	16–30
Chicago Packers	18	62	.225	36	15-23	3-39	0–0	10–30

x – clinched playoff spot

Statistics leaders

Category	Player	Team	Stat
Points	Wilt Chamberlain	Philadelphia Warriors	4,029
Rebounds	Wilt Chamberlain	Philadelphia Warriors	2,052
Assists	Oscar Robertson	Cincinnati Royals	899
FG%	Walt Bellamy	Chicago Packers	.519
FT%	Dolph Schayes	Syracuse Nationals	.899

Note: Prior to the 1969–70 season, league leaders in points, rebounds, and assists were determined by totals rather than averages.

NBA awards

• Most Valuable Player: Bill Russell, Boston Celtics
• Rookie of the Year: Walt Bellamy, Chicago Packers

All-NBA First Team: Bob Pettit, St. Louis Hawks Elgin Baylor, Los Angeles Lakers Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati Royals Jerry West, Los Angeles Lakers Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia Warriors

All-NBA Second Team: Richie Guerin, New York Knicks Tom Heinsohn, Boston Celtics Bob Cousy, Boston Celtics Jack Twyman, Cincinnati Royals Bill Russell, Boston Celtics

A Season for the Ages

The 1961-62 season was arguably the greatest ever, in terms of individual player statistics. Many of the statistics recorded in that season would easily win the league leader award in today's league. Below is a table showcasing some of the most impressive individual per game statistics of the season.

Player	Team	GP	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG
Wilt Chamberlain	Philadelphia	80	48.5	50.4	25.7	2.4
Bill Russell	Boston	76	45.2	18.9	23.6	4.5
Oscar Robertson	Cincinnati	79	44.3	30.8	12.5	11.4
Elgin Baylor	Los Angeles	44	44.4	38.3	18.6	4.6
Bob Pettit	St Louis	78	42.1	31.1	18.7	3.7
Jerry West	Los Angeles	75	41.2	30.8	7.9	5.4
Richie Guerin	New York	78	42.9	29.5	6.4	6.9
Walt Bellamy	Chicago	79	42.3	31.6	19.0	2.7
Cliff Hagan	St Louis	77	36.2	22.9	8.2	4.8
Willie Nauls	New York	75	39.7	25.0	11.6	2.6
Red Kerr	Syracuse	80	34.6	16.3	14.7	3.0

Just of these players, compared to the 2014-15 NBA league leaders, 7 of these players would win the scoring title, 5 would win the rebounding title and 1 would win the assist title. ^[2]

References

• 1961–62 NBA Season Summary basketball-reference.com. Retrieved March 30, 2010.

1. Robertson, Oscar (December 24, 2011), "N.B.A. Should Honor Its History and Learn From It", The New York Times
2. "2014-15 NBA Leaders | Basketball-Reference.com". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2016-04-02.