The Changing of the Forwards
61 years ago last weekend there was an epic battle for the all-time leading scorer in NBA history
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The Sports Time Traveler
February 8 - 10, 1964
This past weekend, The Sports Time Traveler took a trip back precisely 61 years to February, 1964, to experience the changing of the all-time NBA scoring leadership that took place between two legends of the game - Dolph Schayes and Bob Pettit.
BACKGROUND
The 2 greatest power forwards in the NBA in the 1950s were Dolph Schayes of the Syracuse Nationals and Bob Pettit of the St. Louis Hawks.
The 6 foot 8-inch Schayes was first or second-team All-NBA in each of his first 12 seasons in the NBA starting in 1950, including 6 times on the first team. Schayes was a sensational shooter. Lofting the ball with a high arc, he could hit from deep outside. And he was stellar at the free throw line, leading the league at 90% in 1958 and hitting 85% for his entire career.
Pettit, at 6 foot 9 inches, was first-team All-NBA in every one of his first 10 seasons beginning with his rookie year in 1955. Pettit averaged over 20 points a game every year he played in the NBA, including a league-leading 29 per game in 1959.
The All-Time Leaders in Scoring
During the 1957-58 season, Dolph Schayes, who was several years older than Pettit, became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. Schayes continued pouring in points and became the first NBA player to surpass 15,000 points in 1960.
At the close of the 1962-63 season, Dolph had amassed 19,115 points including his rookie season with Syracuse, in the old National Basketball League in 1949, prior to the advent of the NBA in 1950.
At the end of the 1962-63 season, Bob Pettit was the 2nd all-time leading scorer in the NBA with 17,566.
Prior to the start of the 1963-64 season, Syracuse moved south and became the Philadelphia 76ers. 35-year-old Dolph Schayes became the head coach. He also stopped being a full-time player, but remained on the roster inserting himself into games only as needed. Schayes played just 3 games in November and just 1 in January.
Bob Pettit was just 31 going into the 1963-64 season and wasn’t showing any signs of slowing down. He had averaged 28 points per game in 1962-63. In the opening game of the season, on October 16, 1963, he scored 39 points. One month later he struck for 52 on 20 for 29 shooting in a game against Baltimore.
Going into the games of Saturday, February 8, 1964, Pettit had scored 1,631 on the season. His career total now stood at 19,197.
Coming into the weekend, coach Schayes was averaging just 7 points a game in limited minutes in just 13 games played. He had scored a total of 88 points on the season, raising his NBA career leading points total to 19,203.
The stage was set for Bob Pettit to become the all-time leading scorer.
And now here is my report from my virtual time travel trip.
Saturday Morning February 8, 1964
A UPI article appeared this morning in the Evansville Press that began with this sentence, “If all goes well, big Bob Pettit will go down in history tonight as the all-time high scorer in professional basketball.”
The article quoted Bob Pettit on his feelings regarding the upcoming achievement. It was regarded as a virtual certainty, that by the end of the night, following his game in St. Louis against the visiting San Francisco Warriors, he would be the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. Pettit said, “It’s a great feeling no doubt about it.”
Pettit comes into the game just 6 points shy of Dolph Schayes on the pro basketball all-time points list:
1. 19,203 - Dolph Schayes
2. 19,197 - Bob Pettit
Schayes also has a game tonight. The 76ers are hosting the Lakers. But given that Schayes only scored 3 points last night against Cincinnati, while Pettit scored 30 in his most recent game on Wednesday night at Baltimore, and is averaging 28 per game, it’s a cinch that the “changing of the forwards” will come on this night.
The Sports Time Traveler will be keeping tabs on both games tonight, waiting for the moment that Bob Pettit becomes the all-time leading scorer.
Sunday February 9, 1964
The 76ers game against the Lakers at Convention Hall in Philadelphia started last night at 8:30pm ET. You could listen to the game on the radio on AM 930 KHJ Los Angeles.
Dolph Schayes did not put himself in the opening line up for the 76ers game against the Lakers that started at 8:30pm ET. But Dolph did get into the game later as a sub. He scored 6 points in the 76ers 109 - 101 victory.
An hour and a half after the 76ers game started, the St. Louis Hawks tipped off at St. Louis Arena against the San Francisco Warriors. AM 610 KFRC radio in San Francisco started their broadcast at 10:05pm ET.
In the 1st quarter, Pettit was held to just 3 points.
Wilt Chamberlain of the Warriors scored 9, while Warriors guard Guy Rodgers “was pesky slipping in for 3 goals,” as described by John J. Archibald in the St. Louis Dispatch. The Warriors took a 29 - 26 lead at end of the quarter.
By this time in the evening the 76ers game was finished.
Here’s how the career scoring list stood:
10:30pm ET - Feb 8, 1964
1. 19,209 - Dolph Schayes
2. 19,200 - Bob Pettit
Now Bob Pettit needed 10 points to pass Dolph Schayes as the all-time leader in points.
Early in the 2nd quarter, Pettit made a 30 foot basket according to the St. Louis Dispatch. Those 2 points gave him 19,202 points, still 7 points behind Schayes.
NOTE from The Sports Time Traveler
This is where things get really interesting.
Back here in 1964 communications are not instant as they are in 2025. There are no cell phones.
It was difficult, if not impossible for officials in St. Louis Arena to keep track of what was going on in Convention Hall in Philadelphia in real time. As a result, a decision was apparently made not to take into account Dolph Schayes’ scoring in Philadelphia and to make the assumption that when Bob Pettit surpassed Dolph’s total coming into Saturday’s game, of 19,203, that he will have set the new career scoring record.
Now back to 1964.
With a little over 2 minutes elapsed in the 2nd quarter in St. Louis, and Pettit with 19,202 career points, let’s pick up the action as reported in The St. Louis Dispatch, “The Big Hawk forward scored the decisive points on a difficult drive under the basket in heavy traffic… Pettit made the shot that gave him his sixth and seventh points - and the apparent title of the National Basketball Association’s greatest scorer.”
A Golden Basketball for Bob
The game was stopped briefly for a ceremony to recognize Bob Pettit as pro basketball’s all-time scoring king.
A golden basketball was presented to Pettit by another St. Louis sports hero, Stan “The Man” Musial, who played 22 seasons for the Cardinals before retiring last year.
Pettit posed for several photos, but did not speak to the crowd in the spirit of keeping this ceremony short so the game could continue.
Here is a photo of Musial presenting Pettit with the golden basketball.
NOTE from The Sports Time Traveler
The Sports Time Traveler can only observe games virtually. I don’t actually travel back in time. So I could not alert officials in St. Louis Arena that Bob Pettit was still 5 points behind Dolph Schayes at the time of the golden basketball ceremony.
Here is the all-time scoring list at the time the game was stopped in St. Louis to confer upon Pettit the all-time scoring crown:
10:45pm ET - Feb 8, 1964
1. 19,209 - Dolph Schayes
2. 19,204 - Bob Pettit
When the game resumed in St. Louis, Pettit kept on putting up points. He tallied 11 for the 2nd quarter. Although the Warriors still led the game 58 - 52 at the half.
NOTE from The Sports Time Traveler
Pettit’s last 2 points before halftime in St. Louis are in actuality the points that put him over the top. This was the moment of the true “changing of the forwards.”
It is interesting to note that the last line of one of the articles in the St. Louis Dispatch this morning recognized that it was only at halftime that Pettit in fact became the scoring leader. This was the line in the article, “Pettit went on to score 14 points in the first half, thus putting him one ahead of Schayes in career total.”
But even that wasn’t 100% correct. Pettit was in fact it was 2 points ahead.
Here is what the all-time scoring list looked like at halftime of the St. Louis - San Francisco game:
Halftime in St. Louis - approx. 11:15pm ET - Feb 8, 1964
1. 19,211 - Bob Pettit
2. 19,209 - Dolph Schayes
Now back again to 1964.
The Remainder of the Game
Bob Pettit scored just 4 points in the 2nd half on Saturday night and the Warriors defeated the Hawks 103 - 97. Chamberlain and Rodgers were just too much for the Hawks. Wilt finished with 30 points and 17 rebounds, while Guy had 25 points and 9 assists.
Here’s what the all-time scoring list looked like after both games had finished:
AFTER THE GAMES OF FEBRUARY 8, 1964
1. 19,215 - Bob Pettit
2. 19,209 - Dolph Schayes
Monday February 10, 1964
It was common in the NBA here in 1964 for teams to play multiple days in a row.
Yesterday afternoon, the 76ers suited up for the 3rd game 3 days. Tip off was at 2:30pm ET in Boston. Yes, the 76ers also had to travel to Boston late Saturday night to get to Boston on time for the afternoon game.
Due to injuries to his players, and no doubt some level of exhaustion, coach Dolph Schayes found it necessary to put in 19 minutes on the court.
Dolph Schayes recorded a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
In scoring the 11 points, Dolph Schayes re-passed Bob Pettit to become once again the all-time leading scorer.
The AP article on the game this morning, that ran in most newspapers across the country contained this line, “The 11 points raised his career total to 19,220, five more than St. Louis’ Bob Pettit, who had overhauled Schayes Saturday night.
Here is what the all-time points totals looked like including Dolph’s game.
4:30pm ET - Feb 9, 1964
1. 19,220 - Dolph Schayes
2. 19,215 - Bob Pettit
NOTE from The Sports Time Traveler
FYI - there was no ceremony for Dolph Schayes in the Boston Garden when he re-claimed the all-time scoring crown on February 9, 1964.
Now back again to 1964.
Pettit Plays Again
Wait a minute! While Dolph’s game was still finishing up in Boston, The St. Louis Hawks were also back in action yesterday. And the Hawks didn’t have to travel, they were playing yet another game in St. Louis against the same team - the San Francisco Warriors.
The only difference was the time and the venue. Instead of St. Louis Arena, the game was in Kiel Auditorium, also in St. Louis, and tip off was at 4pm ET, about 90 minutes after the 76ers game had started in Boston.
NOTE from The Sports Time Traveler
There is yet another conundrum here. The AP in their story on February 10, 1964 assumed that Dolph Schayes passed Pettit and became the all-time leading scorer again after his 11 point effort in just 19 minutes of playing time on February 9th.
And it very well may be that he did pass Pettit.
But what we don’t know is how many points Pettit scored in the early going on February 9th in St. Louis before the 76ers game ended in Boston, and at what time did Pettit score any points.
Now back again to 1964.
Fireworks in St. Louis
Early in the Hawks game there were some fireworks from Bob Pettit as reported by John J. Archibald in the St. Louis Dispatch.
But these fireworks had nothing to do with scoring points.
Archibald described what happened, “Pettit startled everybody in the auditorium by bouncing the ball off the chest of (Guy) Rodgers because the Frisco guard had been heckling him as he prepared to make a free throw. That brought players from both benches rushing onto the floor.”
Things quickly settled down. And the game continued. No one was ejected.
It is unclear how many points Bob Pettit had in the 1st quarter of the game while the 76ers game was finishing up in Boston, but it could not have been a large amount as the Warriors held the Hawks entire team to just 19 points in the opening quarter.
At this point, after the 1st quarter in St. Louis, the game in Boston would have finished.
NOTE from The Sports Time Traveler
If Pettit scored 4 or less points in the 1st quarter, then Schayes definitively ascended to the all-time leader position again after having relinquished it the day before.
Alternately, if Schayes scored his 11 points in the first 3 quarters of the game in Boston, then he also definitively sat atop the all-time scoring position.
There are simply no publicly available records I have access to that would confirm the exact timing of Schayes and Pettit’s points.
We have to assume that since the AP made a definitive statement, that ran in headlines in many newspapers, that Dolph Schayes was again on top of the all-time points list at about 4pm - 5pm on February 9, 1964.
Here is the headline of the AP story that appeared in many newspapers on Monday, February 10, 1964:
And here is the AP story:
We just have to take the AP’s word for it that Dolph was #1 at some time on Sunday afternoon.
Now back once more to 1964.
Hawks Bounce Back
After a slow start and a near brawl in the 1st quarter, the Hawks soared. They outscored the Warriors 33 - 25 in the 2nd quarter to take a halftime lead at 52 - 50. And they scored 64 points in the 2nd half to win the game 116 - 111.
Pettit was the star of the game. He outscored Wilt Chamberlain 33 - 32 and equaled Wilt in rebounds with 20, while also dishing out 5 assists (Wilt only had 2).
A New All-Time Scoring Leader… Again
The 33 points put Bob Pettit solidly back again on top as the all-time leading scorer.
At the end of the day here’s how the all-time list looked:
AFTER THE GAMES OF Feb 9, 1964
1. 19,248 - Bob Pettit
2. 19,220 - Dolph Schayes
Later That Evening
The excitement over the all-time scoring leadership changing 3 times in one weekend was minimal across America.
There was something much bigger happening last night.
On Sunday, February 9, 1964 at 8pm ET the Beatles made their debut appearance in America performing on the Ed Sullivan show. The TV audience was estimated at 73 million making it the largest TV ratings in history up to this point.
You can read about the Beatles first performance in America in The Music Time Traveler at this link:
The Beatles Invade America
POSTSCRIPT
When Bob Pettit re-passed Dolph Schayes as the all-time leading scorer in the late afternoon of February 9, 1964, it marked the end of the “changing of the forwards.”
Schayes double-double that day was also the last one of his great career.
ANOTHER RECORD BROKEN
Dolph Schayes actually had another NBA record that was broken just one month prior to the all-time leading scorer mark. It was the record for consecutive games played.
Earlier in his career, Dolph Schayes had established a record of 766 consecutive NBA games played, including playoff games.
On January 12, 1964, Dolph’s teammate, Johnny “Red” Kerr, broke the record, by playing in his 767th consecutive game.
MY CONNECTION TO DOLPH
I have a personal connection to Dolph Schayes. I am friendly with Dolph’s grandson Mickey. We were teammates in 2005 on the USA Track & Field team to the World Maccabiah Games.
Dolph came to watch the two-day track meet and I had the incredible opportunity to meet him.
Here is a photo of Dolph Schayes, me and my dad Stanley in July, 2005:
I traded messages with Mickey as I was writing this article.
Here is what Mickey told me about his grandfather, and the NBA all-time scoring and consecutive games records he once held:
“Len, these are two tremendous Dolph Schayes’ records that were broken, and it’s exciting for you to be writing about them.
Dolph had a competitive spirit, and he took pride in all the records he set as one of the early pioneers of the NBA. At the same time, he was a mentor and a coach, and it was an honor for him to pave the way for future players.
He would often talk of the importance of the consecutive games played streak, and he held that record in especially high regard, I think because it showed his dedication, loyalty, and sacrifice for his teammates and for the game of basketball. It was fitting that his longtime teammate Johnny Kerr surpassed him for the record of consecutive games. Two men who were both so dedicated to the game during their careers, and also throughout the rest of their lives.”
The Sports Time Traveler will continue following the all-time leading scoring race in the NBA. 27-year-old Wilt Chamberlain, who is in just his 5th season, has already obliterated every single game and single season scoring record, and will be bearing down on Bob Pettit shortly. Wilt has a career total of 15,431 points, putting him less than 4,000 behind Pettit.
Thanks for reading.