I did my African American report on Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain. Wilt Chamberlain was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 21, 1936. He was born with ten brothers and sisters, and had two great parents who loved them all. His father was a welder in a shipyard. Later on, Wilt's father also became a janitor and eventually a handy man. Wilt's mother was a stay-at-home mom who took care of all eleven children. Since the family had a lot of children to care for, while growing up, Wilt took as many odd jobs as he could to help his parents pay the bills. Even though times were hard, the Chamberlain family never went without. .
When Wilt was a child, he had a lot of health problems. When he was one, he developed a hernia, in which he ended up in surgery. When Wilt was in the fourth grade, he developed pneumonia. The pneumonia was so powerful, that Wilt almost died. Wilt went into his teen years at a very unusual height. Because of his height, Wilt was always made fun of and the center of a joke. .
When Wilt was in the seventh grade, he stepped on to the basketball court. In basketball, Wilt's height was an advantage. But it was still new to him. Wilt was good because of height, but he had a lot to learn to be a true basketball player. But everything went upward from there. Wilt was a quit learner and he became better and better every game. At his unusual height, Wilt was able to dominate the courts. Throughout middle school, Wilt was unstoppable on the basketball court. But then it was time for high school.
Going into high school at the height of 6"7", Wilt was known as "Wilt the Stilt" and "The Big Dipper". But at the age of fifteen, Wilt grew four inches in three months, now making him a towering height of 6"11". This was highly uncommon, and on the basketball court, Wilt was immensely intimidating. Now at Philadelphia's Overbrook High School, Wilt was still unstoppable. Wilt took the team to three public school titles.
