And he allegedly stopped every five minutes to fuck.
Ok-Discipline9998
60s traffic must be infinitely better than what it is today, far less cars, newly built highways everywhere
SolidCat1117
Fastest time ever is 25:39 by experienced people with proper equipment and planning. I love Wilt but there’s no way he breaks the all-time cannonball record.
Vegetable-Tooth8463
CORRECTION – it was NYC to San Francisco, not LA. Still a ridiculous claim haha
gridironk
Wilt walked so Dominic Toretto could run.
DevMahasen
The funny thing is Mr West is dismissing the ridiculous BS around Wilt while, in the same breadth, dropping casual facts like Wilt could sprint and javelin near World Record territory. Wilt lived a full life, that is for sure.
Stallion049
Wilt was an insecure, compulsive liar. You are a bozo if you believe anything that came out of his mouth.
SubcooledBoiling
If Wilt was a trucker he would definitely claim he could drive 2000 miles a day
HatefulDan
I’m not sure how it happened, but over time, people have diminished this guy’s accomplishments. I wasn’t alive to see it, but by all accounts, he was not only one of the greatest basketball players to ever touch a ball, but also one of the greatest athletes who ever lived. He played in the ’60s, and many of his records have endured for over half a century.
That_Guy_JR
Lebron: when I saw Wilt in Kindergarten doing wheelies on his tricycle down the block, I knew he had a 24 hour cannonball run in him
Artimusjones88
Didn’t he invent the question mark too?
Mysterious_Emotion63
I think everybody in these comments are ignoring the legit possibility that Wilt was just dumb and didn’t understand time zones
QuickEchidna749
Wilt is the same guy that said he scored 100 points in a pro basketball game and averaged 50 points for a whole season.
How can we take him seriously?
IanicRR
My favourite Wilt lore is that he defected to the ABA. But the NBA successfully sued, stopping him from playing. Instead he became the team’s head coach.
Apparently he was more concerned with his fits on the bench rather than the team’s performance. And he eventually just stopped showing up. And that was the end of his basketball career.
Why-did-i-reas-this
I remember doing a book report on him at 10 years old and read a passage that he would do that trek in about 2 to 3 days because sometimes he just couldn’t sleep.
ZizzyBeluga
I’m gonna go out on a limb and say Wilt tended to lie.
And by go out on a limb, I mean climb on Wilt’s giant shwang
Peatedcask
Damn Jerry West on Rampage podcast?!
DeepSeaDiving
If anyone is curious, Wired has [a fascinating read](https://www.wired.com/2007/10/ff-cannonballrun/) on someone actually doing the cannonball run, complete with thermal cameras, police scanners, and even spy planes.
run_your_race_5
I went from Bremerton, Washington to Canandaigua, NY in 53 hours by myself.
Arrived with a fried brain due to Mountain Dew and No Doz, smelled like a garbage dump and my car was filled with bottles and fast food wrappers.
My buddy said I looked like death warmed over.
I experienced sleep deprived hallucinations of a tractor trailer in my lane coming at me head on, it was quite the experience.
This was before GPS and iPhones, so timing when to get gas/rest/bathroom breaks was an adventure.
I can’t imagine doing it in half that time!
PanePizzaPasta
I miss Jerry and his stories.
Super42man
I did it in 45 hours flat by myself. It was so brutal.
der_ninong
the moon is closer to NY than LA since you can see it from NY.
JoeyJoeJoeShabadooSr
This is an Uncle Rico type quote
JoelEmbiidismyfather
Maybe he was using Shaq’s gas math technique, so he didn’t have to stop as often.
BuddhistInTheory
“I just drove from New York and boy are my wings tires” – Wilt
Productpusher
He probably meant” 1 day “and not 24 hours
by 1 day he meant leave 12:01 Saturday morning and arrive by 11:58 Sunday night . So technically left on Saturday and arrive Sunday night which is 48 hours if my math is right … moron math is Saturday to Sunday is 1 day
Either way he didn’t do it but it’s more reasonable
BodegaDaddy
what can’t the Big Dipper do?!
thescottreid
Have you seen Wilt? I believe he could drive from New York to LA on 5 dribbles and two steps.
Illustrious-Hand3715
Yeah on coke he can. Known someone who drove from NC to Texas in a day he was on coke.
_Tar_Ar_Ais_
sounds as legit as Shaq’s gas mathematics and saying the moon isn’t that far away
erog84
Great interview, I’m a huge wilt fan and he definitely exaggerates certain things, which makes people not want to believe the legit things he did. Jerry west just said confidently wilt could touch the top of backboard yet plenty of people claim he couldn’t. Do I believe his 48 inch vert? Inaccurate testing and rounding up I could see him coming close. We have had a few big guys in nba get over 40 inches and a young wilt, light and more hops was an insane athletic talent.
He wasn’t benching 600 but his wording also could have had him meaning deadlift instead. Also the big lifting wilt was after basketball when he started to bulk even more. He was probably 350+ with low body fat and used to lifting a bunch.
Rambocat1
What’s the big deal New York to Louisiana in 24 hours is very doable.
chasinjason13
Wait, you’re telling me Mr. 20,000 is an exaggerator???!?!!
Jedi_Pacman
If you look up “Wilt cross country” on Google you can find Wilt talking about this before. Bill Russell even claims he and Wilt raved cross country 😭
manticore16
Wilt “Cannonball Run” Chamberlain
AoE2manatarms
I had some guy yapping like this to me once. About how he couldn’t believe it takes me so long to get to a different city and he could cut my time in half… I’m like dude that’s literally not even fucking possible. You don’t drive a rocket ship…
marksocials97
The fastest cannon ball record(New York city to LA) is 25 hours and 39 minutes, and those dudes averaged 113 mph during Covid when the streets were pretty much empty
TXBornSuburbanRaised
Wilt been lying the whole time…
Jniuzz
Its because of the long legs
PsychdelicCrystal
Lmaooo
Rrekydoc
I think it may be a miscommunication. Wilt claimed much differently in his autobiography:
“I once drove the 1,620 miles from the Muehlebach Hotel in Kansas City to the freeway interchange in downtown Los Angeles in 18 hours and 12 minutes — an average of 90 mph. I’ve also driven from Harlem to Nob Hill in San Francisco (3,041 miles) in **42 hours** flat, and from New York to Los Angeles (2,964 miles) in **36 hours and 10 minutes**. I always thought those had to be some kind of records, but a friend of mine — Dan Gurney, the race-car driver — told me he once made the New York-to-Los Angeles trip in 35 hours and 53 minutes. Of course, Dan had another driver along with him, sharing the load. I always go alone.”
redditmodsdownvote
Wilt is never beating the stat padding allegations….
sloomdonkey
Like the modification of goaltending rules, after Wilt did the drive in a day, God made the day longer.
AdmiralWackbar
I heard that Wilt could also break dance at an Olympic level
46 Comments
New Wilt mythology just dropped
Wilt is the Chuck Norris of basketball
And he allegedly stopped every five minutes to fuck.
60s traffic must be infinitely better than what it is today, far less cars, newly built highways everywhere
Fastest time ever is 25:39 by experienced people with proper equipment and planning. I love Wilt but there’s no way he breaks the all-time cannonball record.
CORRECTION – it was NYC to San Francisco, not LA. Still a ridiculous claim haha
Wilt walked so Dominic Toretto could run.
The funny thing is Mr West is dismissing the ridiculous BS around Wilt while, in the same breadth, dropping casual facts like Wilt could sprint and javelin near World Record territory. Wilt lived a full life, that is for sure.
Wilt was an insecure, compulsive liar. You are a bozo if you believe anything that came out of his mouth.
If Wilt was a trucker he would definitely claim he could drive 2000 miles a day
I’m not sure how it happened, but over time, people have diminished this guy’s accomplishments. I wasn’t alive to see it, but by all accounts, he was not only one of the greatest basketball players to ever touch a ball, but also one of the greatest athletes who ever lived. He played in the ’60s, and many of his records have endured for over half a century.
Lebron: when I saw Wilt in Kindergarten doing wheelies on his tricycle down the block, I knew he had a 24 hour cannonball run in him
Didn’t he invent the question mark too?
I think everybody in these comments are ignoring the legit possibility that Wilt was just dumb and didn’t understand time zones
Wilt is the same guy that said he scored 100 points in a pro basketball game and averaged 50 points for a whole season.
How can we take him seriously?
My favourite Wilt lore is that he defected to the ABA. But the NBA successfully sued, stopping him from playing. Instead he became the team’s head coach.
Apparently he was more concerned with his fits on the bench rather than the team’s performance. And he eventually just stopped showing up. And that was the end of his basketball career.
I remember doing a book report on him at 10 years old and read a passage that he would do that trek in about 2 to 3 days because sometimes he just couldn’t sleep.
I’m gonna go out on a limb and say Wilt tended to lie.
And by go out on a limb, I mean climb on Wilt’s giant shwang
Damn Jerry West on Rampage podcast?!
If anyone is curious, Wired has [a fascinating read](https://www.wired.com/2007/10/ff-cannonballrun/) on someone actually doing the cannonball run, complete with thermal cameras, police scanners, and even spy planes.
I went from Bremerton, Washington to Canandaigua, NY in 53 hours by myself.
Arrived with a fried brain due to Mountain Dew and No Doz, smelled like a garbage dump and my car was filled with bottles and fast food wrappers.
My buddy said I looked like death warmed over.
I experienced sleep deprived hallucinations of a tractor trailer in my lane coming at me head on, it was quite the experience.
This was before GPS and iPhones, so timing when to get gas/rest/bathroom breaks was an adventure.
I can’t imagine doing it in half that time!
I miss Jerry and his stories.
I did it in 45 hours flat by myself. It was so brutal.
the moon is closer to NY than LA since you can see it from NY.
This is an Uncle Rico type quote
Maybe he was using Shaq’s gas math technique, so he didn’t have to stop as often.
“I just drove from New York and boy are my wings tires” – Wilt
He probably meant” 1 day “and not 24 hours
by 1 day he meant leave 12:01 Saturday morning and arrive by 11:58 Sunday night . So technically left on Saturday and arrive Sunday night which is 48 hours if my math is right … moron math is Saturday to Sunday is 1 day
Either way he didn’t do it but it’s more reasonable
what can’t the Big Dipper do?!
Have you seen Wilt? I believe he could drive from New York to LA on 5 dribbles and two steps.
Yeah on coke he can. Known someone who drove from NC to Texas in a day he was on coke.
sounds as legit as Shaq’s gas mathematics and saying the moon isn’t that far away
Great interview, I’m a huge wilt fan and he definitely exaggerates certain things, which makes people not want to believe the legit things he did. Jerry west just said confidently wilt could touch the top of backboard yet plenty of people claim he couldn’t. Do I believe his 48 inch vert? Inaccurate testing and rounding up I could see him coming close. We have had a few big guys in nba get over 40 inches and a young wilt, light and more hops was an insane athletic talent.
He wasn’t benching 600 but his wording also could have had him meaning deadlift instead. Also the big lifting wilt was after basketball when he started to bulk even more. He was probably 350+ with low body fat and used to lifting a bunch.
What’s the big deal New York to Louisiana in 24 hours is very doable.
Wait, you’re telling me Mr. 20,000 is an exaggerator???!?!!
If you look up “Wilt cross country” on Google you can find Wilt talking about this before. Bill Russell even claims he and Wilt raved cross country 😭
Wilt “Cannonball Run” Chamberlain
I had some guy yapping like this to me once. About how he couldn’t believe it takes me so long to get to a different city and he could cut my time in half… I’m like dude that’s literally not even fucking possible. You don’t drive a rocket ship…
The fastest cannon ball record(New York city to LA) is 25 hours and 39 minutes, and those dudes averaged 113 mph during Covid when the streets were pretty much empty
Wilt been lying the whole time…
Its because of the long legs
Lmaooo
I think it may be a miscommunication. Wilt claimed much differently in his autobiography:
“I once drove the 1,620 miles from the Muehlebach Hotel in Kansas City to the freeway interchange in downtown Los Angeles in 18 hours and 12 minutes — an average of 90 mph. I’ve also driven from Harlem to Nob Hill in San Francisco (3,041 miles) in **42 hours** flat, and from New York to Los Angeles (2,964 miles) in **36 hours and 10 minutes**. I always thought those had to be some kind of records, but a friend of mine — Dan Gurney, the race-car driver — told me he once made the New York-to-Los Angeles trip in 35 hours and 53 minutes. Of course, Dan had another driver along with him, sharing the load. I always go alone.”
Wilt is never beating the stat padding allegations….
Like the modification of goaltending rules, after Wilt did the drive in a day, God made the day longer.
I heard that Wilt could also break dance at an Olympic level