TV Show To Feature Search For Wilt's 100-Point Game Ball
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- On Sunday night, a Smithsonian Channel program will feature the search for the one of the most iconic artifacts in Philadelphia sports history; the ball from Wilt Chamberlain's epic 100-point game in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Previous episodes of "Sports Detectives" featured the search for Kirk Gibson's home run ball and Secretariat's saddlecloth. On Sunday night, the show will try to hunt down the game ball used by the Philadelphia Warriors and New York Knicks in March, 1962 at Hersheypark Arena, when the Warriors' Wilt Chamberlain racked up 100 points.
Show co-host Lauren Gardner says the most interesting aspect of the segment, for her, was the access to the players by young fans in Hershey, one of whom, she believes, went home with the ball that night.
"There's photographic evidence of people running onto the floor onto the court, and just like high-fiving Wilt," Garner says. "They're standing right next to him on the court. Could you imagine that happening today in an NBA game?"
"Sports Detectives" can be seen Sunday night at 9 p.m. on the Smithsonian Channel.