Philadelphia Basketball Legend Finally Going To Be Immortalized On US Postage Stamp
By Matt Leon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A grassroots movement has been underway for years to get Philadelphia basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain featured on a US Postage stamp -- and it looks like that goal is about to be realized.
According to the USPS website's Stamp services page, there will be a pair of commemorative Wilt Chamberlain stamp issued later this year in December. Donald Hunt of the Philadelphia Tribune started the movement back in 2008 and has been the driving force behind it.
Hunt says he did it because, "I felt as though it would be great for people, that didn't grow up during the time Wilt played, or didn't follow his career, a lot of the younger people, to get the opportunity to learn more about him. And then as I got into the effort and the campaign just started growing, I found out how much it really meant to a lot of Wilt's family and friends and colleagues that played with him."
One stamp is based on a photograph of the 7'1" Chamberlain in a Philadelphia Warriors uniform, while the other is based on an photo of Chamberlain in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform. The stamps are typically 1.5 inches tall, but Chamberlain's is two inches tall.
The Wilt Chamberlain Forever stamps will be formally announced in a halftime ceremony at a Dec. 5 game in Philadelphia between the 76ers and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
(Stamp pictured below...)
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