The Year The Lakers Won the Championship, 1972

[This article is lengthy, so let’s keep the intro brief. As the headline indicates, what follows tells the story of the Los Angeles Lakers’ first NBA title. However, it’s mainly a profile of Lakers center Wilt Chamberlain, and that’s not a bad thing at all. At the keyboard is the great Pete Axthelm, best remembered for the seminal 1970 book The City Game. His article was published in the December 1972 issue of SPORT Magazine. Enjoy!] **** He leaped upward as he had done thousands of times before, his huge arm outstretched above him, his 7-foot-1 frame extended to its limit, his bearded face contorted in a determined scowl. The scene was Madison Square Garden in New York, before 19,500 fans at the fourth game of the playoff series for the [1972] championship of the National Basketball Association. But it could have been any one of the schoolyards or gyms or arenas where Wilt Chamberlain has practiced his competitive art for most of his life. At 35, Chamberlain could no longer soar as…