The NBA jersey advent calendar: 25 days of hoops history for the holidays

13. Wilt Chamberlain — Harlem Globetrotters

Okay, maybe one small surprise.

Wilt the Stilt is one of the greatest players to ever play the game, no matter how you look at it. The Hall-of-Famer is a two-time NBA champion, four-time MVP, 13-time All-Star, seven-time scoring champ, and the only man to ever score 100 points in a single NBA game.

He also spent some time playing with the Original Harlem Globetrotters after playing in college at the University of Kansas and before joining the NBA.

Selecting his jersey as a member of the Globetrotters allows for representation of the great basketball institution on this list, provides a reminder of a time when the greatest player in the world chose to join a novelty basketball team over the NBA, and avoids the redundancy that would occur by selecting Wilt’s “PHILA” jersey, already represented proudly by Allen Iverson.

Chamberlain said of his decision to join the Globetrotters: “You must understand as a kid of color in those days, the Harlem Globetrotters were like being movie stars.”

The Big Dipper fulfilled his movie-star-like dreams of playing for the team while wearing their wonderfully designed blue jerseys with proud, red “Harlem” lettering arching across the center, and smaller font above and below proclaiming them as the “Original Globetrotters”. It sounds like it would be too much, and create clutter, especially when adding the four corner stars, but it’s not. It’s beautifully balanced.

Just like the man wearing it.

Honorable Mention: Paul George (Indiana Pacers), James Harden (Houston Rockets), Moses Malone (Spirit of St. Louis), Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns)