Unlikely NBA star nears amazing Wilt Chamberlain record

Matthew Legros
Daniel Gafford as a member of the Dallas Mavericks (left), and Wilt Chamberlain as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers (right).

Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford needs eight more field goals to break an unsung Wilt Chamberlain record set in 1967.

NBA MVP candidates like Nikola Jokic, nor low-usage, high-efficiency centers such as Jakob Poeltl have done what Gafford has in the last week.

Gafford has made 28 consecutive shots from the floor. His unmissable streak began in the Mavericks’ 17-point loss to the Indiana Pacers on March 5.

On Monday night, the 25-year-old set the consecutive makes record in the play-by-play era with his 9-9 performance against the Chicago Bulls. He is poised to dethrone the NBA’s all-time leader in scoring average this week.

Daniel Gafford can surpass Wilt Chamberlain’s incredible record

It’s been four flawless scoring games from Gafford as NBA World shared on X.

The Arkansas product’s remarkable achievement has him on pace to leapfrog Chamberlain in one or two more games.

The Philadelphia 76ers Hall-of-Famer, went berserk in his 1966-67 championship season. He set the record in four games.

That included an unheard of 18-for-18 performance against the Baltimore Bullets on February 24 of that season. Gafford has the chance to break one of Chamberlain’s 68 individual records that stand to this day.

It helps that the 6-10 center is a byproduct of a Dallas Mavericks system in which three of its big men, including Dereck Lively II and Dwight Powell, sit atop the league leaderboard in FG%. Statmuse shared an unreal stat about Gafford’s play since the All-Star break:

The former 2019 second-round pick will have his first shot at the feat against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night.

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About The Author

Matthew graduated from Brooklyn College in 2022 with a Bachelor's degree in Communications. In the past, he's written for Heavy Sports, Sports Illustrated, and SB Nation. On top of penning scripts for Empire Sports Media, Matthew covers the latest NBA, NFL and Boxing news for Dexerto. His expertise lies in basketball, with a personal passion for track-and-field. You can contact him at matthew.legros@dexerto.com.