Friday, February 17, 2012

Question of the Week

Jeff, New Milford, NJ
Subj: Trade winds are blowing
Has the NBA’s leading scorer ever been traded during the season?

Absolutely, Jeff, but it’s only happened once. This rarest of all NBA transactions occurred for the first and last time on January 15, 1965 when Wilt Chamberlain was traded from the San Francisco Warriors to the Philadelphia 76ers for guard Paul Neumann, forwards Connie Dierking and Lee Shaffer and $150,000 in cash. The trade was necessitated by San Francisco’s perilous financial woes and Wilt the Stilt went on to complete the season with averages of 34.7 points, 22.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Although he only finished fifth in MVP voting that season, The Big Dipper went onto win the award three times in the next three years.