“We traveled and played on the same day” – Wilt Chamberlain recalls the brutal travel demands NBA players faced in his era

Today’s generation of NBA players has the luxury of traveling in extreme comfort and style, and all they have to do is take care of their bodies, show up to the game and perform well.

Read more College Football Saturday: Oregon, Oklahoma Go Down and Other Big Game Takeaways

It doesn’t matter if a player is a superstar who has a max contract or the 15th man on the roster; they all get on the same chartered flight and enjoy amenities like curated food, spacious seats and a team of physical therapists who work around the clock to ensure the players’ bodies are optimized for the game ahead.

It is a luxury that older NBA players didn’t have. Instead of flying on private planes, they most of the time flew on commercial flights, seated next to average Joes who may or may not recognize them at all. Legendary center Wilt Chamberlain remembers those days like they happened yesterday, reflecting on how difficult their travel accommodations were.

Flew out in the morning, played the game at night

Today’s players have no problem flying from one city to another. After they finish playing and fulfilling their media obligations, they hop on a bus and are driven straight to the tarmac, where a private plane awaits to take them to their next destination. Although they usually arrive in the wee hours of the morning, they still have more than enough time to get some sleep and regain their strength for the next game.

Chamberlain said their travel schedule was way different back in the day.

“We traveled and played on the same day,” Chamberlain declared. “How about flying out at 7 o’clock in the morning and flying to Los Angeles. You can fly all day long and play at night.”

To make matters worse, first-class seats were hardly a thing back then, which meant he and his fellow giants had to shove their behinds into these tiny seats that were obviously made for mere mortals, not basketball demigods.

“We flew coach … big 7-footers sitting up there like this (He brings his knees to his chest). ‘Hi, Wilt, let’s play some cards. OK, sure. Can you imagine that?’” he added.

In case anyone thought Wilt was making any of these up, former NBA Coach of the Year Bill Fitch echoed the big man’s recollections, saying it wasn’t surprising to see All-Stars sit next to mothers holding crying babies during long-haul flights.

“You’ve got your two centers sitting wherever they seat them with their knees up over their heads. You look back, and there’s a crying baby, and your point guard is sitting right next to him. That was the way it was back all through the ’70s,”Fitch remarked.

Read more Report: Astros considering Carlos Correa at 2B upon return

“When they talk about back-to-backs now, it’s a lot different than when you have to play a back-to-back and you have to catch the first available flight out the next day and go commercial and you don’t have assigned seating and even if you do get first-class seats, there weren’t enough to take care of your whole ball club,” he added.

Related: “You are playing with people’s lives” – Tim Hardaway blasts Glen Davis for stealing money from other NBA players

Subpar arenas

Unlike today, when NBA teams mostly play in state-of-the-art arenas like the Intuit Dome and the Chase Center, Chamberlain recalled having to play in ice-cold arenas like the one in Detroit, where every time a door opened, freezing air swept onto the court, leaving them all shivering in their short shorts.

“Can you imagine playing when your hands are so cold and the ball is hard as a brick?” Wilt said. “I can remember going to Detroit and playing in the old Detroit Arena and there’s about 3,000 people in this big old huge thing. Every time they opened the door, the wind blows through.”

“Guys were shooting 37 percent; these were great shooters,” he continued. “People look at that and say, ‘Is that a basketball player or was he on a blind team?’”

NBA players today have it made, playing in high-tech arenas and being flown in luxury and comfort from one city to another. Their predecessors certainly didn’t have such amenities and were forced to make do with what they had, yet still performed night after night.

Related: Derrick Rose explains why fans will forget about him, just as they did with Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain

Read more BRICS nations call for ‘maximum restraint’ in Middle East

Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This story was originally published September 12, 2026 at 6:11 PM.