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 Wednesday, October 13
14-year-old stole Wilt's historic ball
 
Associated Press

 HERSHEY, Pa. -- Every time Kerry Ryman recounts the night he watched Wilt Chamberlain score 100 points, he feels guilty.

After Chamberlain hit his last shot in the game at Hersheypark Arena on March 2, 1962, Ryman, then 14, dashed onto the court, snatched the ball and ran out the door. The ball remains in a plastic bag in a closet at his Annville, Pa., home.

Chamberlain died Tuesday in Los Angeles at 63.

"If there was some way I could put that ball in his casket, I'd do it," Ryman, 51, told the York (Pa.) Daily Record. "I took something that didn't belong to me."

Ryman said he sneaked into the arena with friends and was sitting courtside for the game between the Philadelphia Warriors and Knicks. When Chamberlain scored with 46 seconds left, Ryman made his move.

"When the ball went through the net, a few friends and I ran out on the court," Ryman said. "Back then, you could do stuff like that. I shook Wilt's hand. ... The ref threw the ball to Wilt. Wilt bounced it on the court, and guess what? That's the last time he saw it. I took it, ran up the steps and ran out the back door."

Gabe Basti was an arena security guard that night.

"Police were stationed around the arena," Basti recalled. "After Wilt scored the 100th point, somebody yelled, 'Hey, a kid stole the ball!' So I just took off after him.

"I chased the kid down through the park but never caught up with him," he said. "Somebody told us it was Kerry, so we knew where he lived. We could have gone to his house, gotten the ball back and arrested him. But (Chamberlain) didn't want that ball back, so the chief said to let it go and we never went to Kerry's house."

Looking back, Ryman realizes what he did was wrong. So why didn't he return the ball?

"My parents tried. They contacted the Warriors," Ryman said. "Wilt didn't want any part of it. They finished the game with a ball, and that's the one Wilt had. That's the one he was presented with, but I have the ball."

It's hardly in mint condition.

"The next morning was Sunday, and I loved to play basketball, so I'm the only kid on the block with a leather ball at the playground," Ryman said. "We used it and abused it through the years. You can't read a thing on it now.

"If I had the chance to do it over again, I never would have taken the ball," he said. "If I could get $1 million for it, I wouldn't want it. I was there and saw what 'Wilt the Stilt' did. That's what has meaning to me."
 


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