Wilt Chamberlain Remembered

Some of basketball's greatest came to Los Angeles Saturday to pay their respects to one of the game's legends, CBS News Correspondent Vince Gonzales reports.

Laughter punctuated the memorial service at City of Angels Church of Religious Science, where about 800 people celebrated the 7-foot-1 Hall of Famer.

Chamberlain died Tuesday of apparent heart failure. He was 63. His body was cremated.

" We salute Michael Jordan -- but look at the record book, it belongs to Wilt Chamberlain," noted former basketball player Tommy Hawkins.

That's true even more than 25 years after he retired. Chamberlain still holds an amazing number of NBA career records. He is the only player to score 4,000 points in a season. And on one magical night in 1962, he scored 100 points in a single game -- a record that no other player has ever matched.

"When you saw him play it was obvious he was a man among boys," former football player Bernie Casey explained. "He totally dominated."

Basketball even changed its rules because of Chamberlain. The three-second violation was added and offensive goal tending was banned to lessen his impact on the court. It didn't work.

According to former Boston Celtic Bill Russell, "He sent me through hell many nights. But it wasn't a rivalry, it was a competition."

AP

Barbara Lewis, sister of the late basketball star Wilt Chamberlain, and the Rev. O.C. Smith embrace during memorial services.

Chamberlain's long-time friend and attorney said there was much more to the man than just athletic ability. "He wasn't just a basketball player," eulogized Sy Goldberg. "He was a great human being who happened to play basketball."

Sportswriters called him a Goliath. Chamberlain once told a reporter he wasn't sure if he liked that, because "nobody loves Goliath." Maybe not, but many say there will never be another like this gentle giant who towered over the game of basketball.