1.
National Basketball Association
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The National Basketball Association is the major mens professional basketball league in North America, and is widely considered to be the premier mens professional basketball league in the world. It has 30 teams, and is a member of USA Basketball. The NBA is one of the four professional sports leagues in the United States. NBA players are the worlds best paid athletes by average annual salary per player, the league was founded in New York City on June 6,1946, as the Basketball Association of America. The league adopted the name National Basketball Association on August 3,1949, the leagues several international as well as individual team offices are directed out of its head offices located in the Olympic Tower at 645 Fifth Avenue in New York City. NBA Entertainment and NBA TV studios are directed out of offices located in Secaucus, the Basketball Association of America was founded in 1946 by owners of the major ice hockey arenas in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Canada. On November 1,1946, in Toronto, Canada, the Toronto Huskies hosted the New York Knickerbockers at Maple Leaf Gardens, the first basket was made by Ossie Schectman of the Knickerbockers. During its early years, the quality of play in the BAA was not significantly better than in competing leagues or among leading independent clubs such as the Harlem Globetrotters. For instance, the 1948 ABL finalist Baltimore Bullets moved to the BAA and won that leagues 1948 title, Following the 1948–49 season, the BAA took in the remainder of the NBL, Syracuse, Anderson, Tri-Cities, Sheboygan, Denver, and Waterloo. The new league had seventeen franchises located in a mix of large and small cities, as well as arenas and smaller gymnasiums. The process of contraction saw the leagues smaller-city franchises move to larger cities, the Hawks shifted from the Tri-Cities to Milwaukee in 1951, and then to St. Louis in 1955. The Rochester Royals moved from Rochester, New York, to Cincinnati in 1957, japanese-American Wataru Misaka broke the NBA color barrier in the 1947–48 season when he played for the New York Knicks. He remained the only player in league history prior to the first African-American, Harold Hunter. During this period, the Minneapolis Lakers, led by center George Mikan, won five NBA Championships, to encourage shooting and discourage stalling, the league introduced the 24-second shot clock in 1954. If a team does not attempt to score a goal within 24 seconds of obtaining the ball, play is stopped. In 1957, rookie center Bill Russell joined the Boston Celtics, who already featured guard Bob Cousy and coach Red Auerbach, and went on to lead the club to eleven NBA titles in thirteen seasons. Center Wilt Chamberlain entered the league with the Warriors in 1959 and became a dominant individual star of the 1960s, russells rivalry with Chamberlain became one of the greatest rivalries in the history of American team sports. The 1960s were dominated by the Celtics, led by Russell, Bob Cousy and coach Red Auerbach, Boston won eight straight championships in the NBA from 1959 to 1966
2.
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
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The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as the sports most complete library, in addition to promoting and preserving the history of basketball, dedicated to Canadian physician and inventor of the sport James Naismith, it was opened and inducted its first class in 1959. As of the induction of the Class of 2016 on September 9,2016, the Naismith Hall of Fame was established in 1959 by Lee Williams, a former athletic director at Colby College. In the 1960s, the Basketball Hall of Fame struggled to raise money for the construction of its first facility. The Basketball Hall of Fames Board named four inductees in its first year, in addition to honoring those who contributed to basketball, the Hall of Fame sought to make contributions of its own. In 1979, the Hall of Fame sponsored the Tip-Off Classic and this Tip-Off Classic has been the start to the college basketball season ever since, and although it does not always take place in Springfield, Massachusetts, generally it returns every few years. In the 17 years that the original Basketball Hall of Fame operated at Springfield College, the popularity of the Basketball Hall of Fame necessitated that a new facility be constructed, and in 1985, an $11 million facility was built beside the scenic Connecticut River in Springfield. As the new hall opened, it also recognized women for the first time, with such as Senda Berenson Abbott. In 2002, the Basketball Hall of Fame moved again—albeit merely 100 yards south along Springfields riverfront—into a $47 million facility designed by renowned architects Gwathmey Siegel & Associates, the buildings architecture features a metallic silver, basketball-shaped sphere flanked by two similarly symmetrical rhombuses. The dome is illuminated at night and features 80,000 square foot, including numerous restaurants, the second Basketball Hall of Fame was not torn down but rather converted into an LA Fitness health clubs. The current Basketball Hall of Fame features Center Court, a basketball court on which visitors can play. Inside the building there are a gallery, many interactive exhibits, several theaters. A large theater for ceremonies seats up to 300, the honorees inducted in 2002 included the Harlem Globetrotters and Magic Johnson, a five-time NBA champion, three-time NBA finals MVP and Olympic gold medalist. As of 2011, the current Basketball Hall of Fame has greatly exceeded attendance expectations, despite the new facilitys success, a logistical problem remains for the Basketball Hall of Fame and the City of Springfield. Urban planners at universities such as UMass Amherst have called for the I-91 to be moved, in 2010, the Urban Land Institute announced a plan to make the walk between Springfields Metro Center and the Hall of Fame easier. Since 2011, the induction process employs a total of seven committees to both screen and elect candidates, since 2011, the Veterans and International Committees also vote to directly induct one candidate for each induction class. Contributor Direct Election Committee Note that other committees may choose to elect contributors, for example, the 2014 class included two contributors. However, each screening committee is limited as to the number of candidates it can put forth to the Honors Committee—10 from the North American Committee, any individual receiving at least 18 affirmative votes from the Honors Committee is approved for induction into the Hall of Fame
3.
1992 Summer Olympics
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The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event played in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain in 1992. The games were the first to be unaffected by boycotts since 1972, Barcelona is the second-largest city in Spain, and the birthplace of then-IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch. The city was also a host for the 1982 FIFA World Cup, on October 17,1986, Barcelona was selected to host the 1992 Summer Games over Amsterdam, Belgrade, Birmingham, Brisbane, and Paris, during the 91st IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland. Barcelona had previously bid for the 1936 Summer Olympics, but they ultimately lost to Berlin, at the Opening Ceremony Greek mezzo-soprano Agnes Baltsa sang Romiossini as the Olympic flag was paraded around the stadium. Alfredo Kraus later sang the Olympic Hymn in both Catalan and Spanish as the flag was hoisted, the Olympic flame cauldron was lit by a flaming arrow, shot by Paralympic archer Antonio Rebollo. The arrow had been lit by the flame of the Olympic Torch, Rebollo overshot the cauldron as this was the original design of the lighting scheme. South Africa was allowed to compete in the Olympic Games for the first time since the 1960 Summer Olympics, after a long suspension for its apartheid policy. After a close race in the Womens 10,000 metres event, white South African runner Elana Meyer and black Ethiopian runner Derartu Tulu ran a victory lap together, hand-in-hand. Following its reunification in 1990, Germany sent a single, unified Olympic team for the first time since the 1964 Summer Olympics. As the Soviet Union had been dissolved in 1991, the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania sent their own teams for the first time since 1936, the other Soviet republics competed under the name Unified Team. These nations consisted of present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, the separation of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia led to the Olympic debuts of Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Due to United Nations sanctions, athletes from Federal Republic of Yugoslavia were not allowed to participate with their own team, however, some individual athletes competed under the Olympic flag as Independent Olympic Participants. Fermín Cacho won the 1,500 metres in his home country, chinese diver Fu Mingxia, age 13, became the youngest Olympic gold medalist of all time. In mens artistic gymnastics, Vitaly Scherbo from Belarus, won six gold medals, Scherbo tied Eric Heidens record for individual gold medals at a single Olympics, winning five medals in an individual event. In womens artistic gymnastics, Tatiana Gutsu took gold in the All-Around competition edging the United States Shannon Miller, russian swimmers dominated the freestyle events, with Alexander Popov and Yevgeny Sadovyi each winning two events. Sadovyi also won in the relays, evelyn Ashford won her fourth Olympic gold medal in the 4×100-metre relay, making her one of only four female athletes to have achieved this in history. The young Krisztina Egerszegi of Hungary won three individual swimming gold medals, in womens 200 metre breaststroke, Kyoko Iwasaki of Japan won a gold medal at age of 14 years and six days, making her the youngest-ever gold medalist in swimming competitions at the Olympics. After demonstrated in six previous Summer Olympic Games, baseball became an Olympic sport
4.
Barcelona
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Founded as a Roman city, in the Middle Ages Barcelona became the capital of the County of Barcelona. Barcelona has a cultural heritage and is today an important cultural centre. Particularly renowned are the works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner. The headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean is located in Barcelona, the city is known for hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics as well as world-class conferences and expositions and also many international sport tournaments. It is a cultural and economic centre in southwestern Europe, 24th in the world. In 2008 it was the fourth most economically powerful city by GDP in the European Union, in 2012 Barcelona had a GDP of $170 billion, it is leading Spain in both employment rate and GDP per capita change. In 2009 the city was ranked Europes third and one of the worlds most successful as a city brand, since 2011 Barcelona has been a leading smart city in Europe. During the Middle Ages, the city was known as Barchinona, Barçalona, Barchelonaa. Internationally, Barcelonas name is abbreviated to Barça. However, this refers only to FC Barcelona, the football club. The common abbreviated form used by locals is Barna, another common abbreviation is BCN, which is also the IATA airport code of the Barcelona-El Prat Airport. The city is referred to as the Ciutat Comtal in Catalan. The origin of the earliest settlement at the site of present-day Barcelona is unclear, the ruins of an early settlement have been excavated in the El Raval neighbourhood, including different tombs and dwellings dating to earlier than 5000 BC. The founding of Barcelona is the subject of two different legends, the first attributes the founding of the city to the mythological Hercules. In about 15 BC, the Romans redrew the town as a castrum centred on the Mons Taber, under the Romans, it was a colony with the surname of Faventia, or, in full, Colonia Faventia Julia Augusta Pia Barcino or Colonia Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino. It enjoyed immunity from imperial burdens, the city minted its own coins, some from the era of Galba survive. Some remaining fragments of the Roman walls have incorporated into the cathedral. The cathedral, also known as the Basilica La Seu, is said to have founded in 343
5.
Croatia men's national basketball team
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The Croatia mens national basketball team represents Croatia at international basketball tournaments. It is organized by the Croatian Basketball Federation, the biggest success Croatia has achieved was at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics when the team reached the finals against the United States team and won the silver medal. Croatia has also won one medal at the FIBA World Cup. Petrović, Ćosić, and Novosel are also members of the FIBA Hall of Fame, Ćosić however never played for the Croatian national team, he was a member of the Yugoslavia national basketball team. Croatia played its first unofficial friendly game on 2 June 1964 in Karlovac, Croatian team played against US All Star Team and lost 65,110. USA players coached by Red Auerbach were Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, after independence of Croatia in 1991, the first official tournament played by Croatians were 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Croatia defeated CIS team 75,74 and reached the finals against USA Dream Team led by Michael Jordan, USA won 85,117 but Croatia won its first medal at major tournaments in history. Next tournament was 1993 EuroBasket in Germany, tragically, before the championship Dražen Petrović died in a car accident on 7 June 1993 at the age of 28. Croatia still managed to reach bronze medal beating Greece 99,59, Croatia reached its third medal at 1994 FIBA World Championship in Canada. Croatia lost semifinals 64,66 against Russia but again beat Greece 78,60 for the bronze medal, similar happened at 1995 EuroBasket in Greece. Croatia lost semifinals 80,90 against Lithuania but beat Greece 73,68 for the time in a row in a bronze medal match. That medal was to date the last Croatian medal from major tournaments, at 1996 Summer Olympics Croatia won the 7th place. At 1997 Eurobasket in Spain new Croatian generation emerged and ended in 11th place, Croatia failed to qualify at 2000,2004 and 2012 Summer Olympics but ended 6th in 2008. Croatia also failed to qualify to 1998,2002 and 2006 World Championships, at EuroBaskets Croatias best results were 6th places at 2007 and 2009. The following is the Croatia roster in the basketball tournament of the 2016 Summer Olympics. com
6.
Chuck Daly
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Charles Jerome Chuck Daly was an American basketball head coach. The Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award is named after him, born in St. Marys, Pennsylvania, to Earl and Geraldine Daly on July 20,1930, Daly attended Kane Area High School in nearby Kane. He matriculated at St. Bonaventure University for one year transferring to Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. After serving two years in the military, he began his coaching career in 1955 at Punxsutawney Area High School in Punxsutawney. After compiling a 111–70 record in eight seasons at Punxsutawney High School, during his six seasons at Duke, the Blue Devils won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship and advanced to the Final Four, both in 1964 and 1966. Daly then replaced Bob Cousy as head coach at Boston College in 1969, the Eagles recorded an 11–13 record in Dalys first year at the school, and improved to 15–11 in 1971. Daly became the coach at the University of Pennsylvania in 1971. Penn won twenty or more games and captured the Ivy League title in each of its first four seasons with Daly at the helm. The most successful campaign was his first in 1972, when the Quakers recorded a 25–3 record overall, an additional significant success for Daly was in 1979, when all five starters on Pennsylvanias Final Four team had initially been recruited by Daly. His overall record after six seasons at Penn was 125–38, in 1978, Daly joined the NBAs Philadelphia 76ers as an assistant coach. During the 1981 season, the Cleveland Cavaliers hired him as the head coach that season. He then returned to the 76ers as a broadcaster until he was hired in 1983 by the Detroit Pistons, while serving as the Pistons coach, Daly was also a color commentator for TBSs NBA Playoff coverage. Daly was named coach of the U. S. Dream Team that won the medal at the 1992 Olympics. Daly stayed with the Nets for two seasons, before his first retirement, Daly again took up a role as color commentator for TNTs NBA coverage during the mid-1990s before coming out of retirement to coach the Orlando Magic at the beginning of the 1997-98 season. Daly stayed two seasons with the Magic and then retired permanently, Daly was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March 2009 and died on May 9,2009, at the age of 78. He is survived by his wife Terry and their daughter Cydney and he is buried at Riverside Memorial Park in Tequesta, Florida
7.
Lenny Wilkens
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Leonard Randolph Lenny Wilkens is an American retired basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association. He is also a 2006 inductee into the College Basketball Hall of Fame. S, during the 1994–95 season, Wilkens set the record for most coaching wins in NBA history, a record he held when he retired with 1,332 victories. Wilkens is now second on the list behind Don Nelson, who broke it in 2010 and he won the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award for the 2010–11 NBA season. Wilkens grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn and his father was African American and his mother was Irish American. Wilkens was raised in the Roman Catholic faith, at Boys High School, Wilkens was a basketball teammate of longtime Major League Baseball star Tommy Davis. Wilkens was a two-time All-American at Providence College and he led the team to their first NIT appearance in 1959, and to the NIT finals in 1960. When he graduated, Wilkens was, with 1,193 points, in 1996, Wilkens No.14 jersey was retired by the college, the first alumnus to receive such an honor. In honor of his accomplishments, Wilkens was one of the inaugural inductees into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. Wilkens was drafted sixth overall by the St. Louis Hawks in the 1960 NBA draft and he began his career with eight seasons with the St. Louis Hawks, who lost the finals to the Boston Celtics in his rookie season. The Hawks made the playoffs consistently with Wilkens but never reached the finals. Wilkens placed second to Wilt Chamberlain in the 1967–1968 MVP balloting, Wilkens was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics for Walt Hazzard and spent four seasons there. He averaged 22.4 points,6.2 rebounds, and 8.2 assists per game in his first season for the SuperSonics and he was named head coach in his second season with the team. Wilkens was dealt to the Cleveland Cavaliers before the start of the season in a highly unpopular trade. Wilkens ended his career spending two seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers and one with the Portland Trail Blazers, Wilkens scored 17,772 points during the regular season, was a nine-time NBA All-Star, and was named the 1971 NBA All-Star Game MVP in 1971. With Seattle, he led the league in assists in the 1969–70 season, from 1969 to 1972 with Seattle, and in his one season as a player with Portland, he was a player-coach. He retired from playing in 1975 and was the coach of the Trail Blazers for one more season. After a season off from coaching, he became coach of the SuperSonics when he replaced Bob Hopkins who was fired 22 games into the 1977–78 season after a dismal 5-17 start. He coached in Seattle for eight seasons, winning his only NBA championship in 1979 and he would go on to coach Cleveland, Atlanta, Toronto and New York
8.
Mike Krzyzewski
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Michael William Krzyzewski is an American college basketball coach and former player. Since 1980, he has served as the mens basketball coach at Duke University. At Duke, Krzyzewski has led the Blue Devils to five NCAA Championships,12 Final Fours,12 ACC regular season titles, among mens college basketball coaches, only UCLAs John Wooden, with 10, has won more NCAA Championships. Krzyzewski was also the coach of the United States mens national basketball team and he has additionally served as the head coach of the American team that won gold medals at the 2010 and the 2014 FIBA World Cup. He was also an assistant coach for the 1992 Dream Team, Krzyzewski was a point guard at Army from 1966 to 1969 under coach Bob Knight. From 1975 to 1980, he was the basketball coach for his alma mater. Krzyzewski has amassed a record 88 wins in NCAA tournament games and he is a two-time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, in 2001 for his individual coaching career and in 2010 as part of the collective induction of the Dream Team. Krzyzewskis 903rd victory set a new record, breaking that held by his former coach, Bob Knight. On January 25,2015, Duke defeated St. Johns, 77–68, again at Madison Square Garden, Krzyzewski was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Polish American, Catholic parents Emily M. and William Krzyzewski. The family name was originally Krzyżewski, and while the media and general public pronounces it /ʃəˈʃɛfski/ shə-SHEF-ski, his own pronunciation is /ʒəˈʒɛvski/ zhə-ZHEV-ski. Raised as a Catholic, Krzyzewski attended St. Helen Catholic School in Ukrainian Village, Chicago and, later, Archbishop Weber High School in Chicago, a Catholic prep school for boys. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1969, from 1969 to 1974, Krzyzewski served in the United States Army and directed service teams for three years. In 2005 he was presented West Points Distinguished Graduate Award, Krzyzewski was discharged from active duty in 1974 and started his coaching career as an assistant on Knights staff with the Indiana Hoosiers during their historic 1974–75 season. After one year with Indiana, Krzyzewski returned to West Point as head coach of the Army Cadets and he led the Cadets to a 73–59 record and one NIT berth in five seasons. On March 18,1980, Krzyzewski was named the coach at Duke University after five seasons at Army. Overall, he has taken his program to play in 31 of his 34 years at Duke and is the most winning active coach in mens NCAA Tournament play with an 86–25 record for a.767 winning percentage. His Duke teams have won 13 ACC Championships, been to 12 Final Fours, on February 13,2010, Krzyzewski coached in his 1, 000th game as the Duke head coach. On November 15,2011, Krzyzewski got his 903rd win passing Knights record for most Division I wins, in an interview of both men on ESPN the previous night, Krzyzewski discussed the leadership skills he learned from Knight and the United States Military Academy
9.
Eastern Bloc
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The Eastern Bloc was the group of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact. The terms Communist Bloc and Soviet Bloc were also used to denote groupings of states aligned with the Soviet Union, although these terms might include states outside Central and Eastern Europe. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, who viewed the Soviet Union as a socialist island, Eastern Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Bessarabia in northern Romania were recognized as parts of the Soviet sphere of influence. Lithuania was added in a secret protocol in September 1939. During the Occupation of East Poland by the Soviet Union, the Soviets liquidated the Polish state, Soviet authorities immediately started a campaign of sovietization of the newly Soviet-annexed areas. Soviet authorities collectivized agriculture, and nationalized and redistributed private and state-owned Polish property, the international community condemned this initial annexation of the Baltic states and deemed it illegal. In June 1941, Germany broke the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact by invading the Soviet Union, from the time of this invasion to 1944, the areas annexed by the Soviet Union were part of Germanys Ostland. Thereafter, the Soviet Union began to push German forces westward through a series of battles on the Eastern Front, from 1943 to 1945, several conferences regarding Post-War Europe occurred that, in part, addressed the potential Soviet annexation and control of countries in Central Europe. I think that if I give him everything I possibly can and ask for nothing from him in return, noblesse oblige, he wont try to annex anything and will work with me for a world of democracy and peace. While meeting with Stalin and Roosevelt in Tehran in 1943, Churchill stated that Britain was vitally interested in restoring Poland as an independent country, Britain did not press the matter for fear that it would become a source of inter-allied friction. In February 1945, at the conference at Yalta, Stalin demanded a Soviet sphere of influence in Central Europe. Stalin eventually was convinced by Churchill and Roosevelt not to dismember Germany, after resistance by Churchill and Roosevelt, Stalin promised a re-organization of the current pro-Soviet government on a broader democratic basis in Poland. He stated that the new primary task would be to prepare elections. In addition to reparations, Stalin pushed for war booty, which would permit the Soviet Union to directly seize property from conquered nations without quantitative or qualitative limitation, a clause was added permitting this to occur with some limitations. At first, the Soviets concealed their role in other Eastern Bloc politics, as a young communist was told in East Germany, its got to look democratic, but we must have everything in our control. Moscow-trained cadres were put into crucial power positions to fulfill orders regarding sociopolitical transformation, elimination of the bourgeoisies social and financial power by expropriation of landed and industrial property was accorded absolute priority. These measures were publicly billed as reforms rather than socioeconomic transformations, the bloc system permitted the Soviet Union to exercise domestic control indirectly. Crucial departments such as responsible for personnel, general police, secret police
10.
Soviet Union national basketball team
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The Soviet national basketball team was the basketball side that represented the Soviet Union in international competitions. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the countries all set up their own national teams. Based on the number of titles, the program of the former Soviet Union remains one of the most successful in the history of international basketball competitions. The Soviets first competed in the European championship at EuroBasket 1947, the Soviets outscored their opponents by an aggregate 126 points over their 6 wins, an average margin of victory of 21 points. After refusing to host EuroBasket 1949 as was FIBA Europes expectation of the Soviet Union and skipping the tournament entirely and they dominated the early portions of the tournament, outscoring opponents 312-117 in their four preliminary round wins. The three games of the round also posed little problem for the Soviet team, as the closest any opponent came was the Czechoslovak team losing by only 16. In the first game of the round, which was essentially a semifinal game, the Soviets defeated Bulgaria 72-54 to advance to the championship game. In that match, the Soviet team faced its first true close test in European play, a 44-44 tie was broken by Soviet Ilmar Kullam from the free throw line with 1 second left on the clock to give the Soviets a 45-44 win. Even that was called into question, however, as one of the referees initially signaled that Kullam had stepped on the throw line during the shot. After consultation with another referee, however, the throw was upheld. The Soviets maintained their domination at EuroBasket 1953, which hosted in Moscow. They had no trouble in a 3-0 preliminary round that included a 104-point slaughter of Denmark, through four preliminary round games and the first three final round games, the Soviets extended their winning streak to 31 games. With four games left in the round robin of EuroBasket 1955, the Soviets were facing the pesky Czechoslovakia team. Czechoslovakia, however, had already lost twice in the round, in a shocking result, the 81-74 final score did not favor the Soviet Union. The undefeatable titan had been beaten and they did so once more before the tournament was over, losing to Hungary in a game that essentially determined the gold medal despite being only the 6th of 7 matches each team played. The Soviets 5-2 record in the round matched that of Czechoslovakia, two years later, at EuroBasket 1957 in Sofia, the Soviets returned to form. They won their three preliminary games and then their seven final round games, including an exciting final match of the round robin against similarly undefeated hosts Bulgaria. The Soviets trailed 23-19 at halftime, but battled back to a 60-57 victory to take their 4th European championship, the EuroBasket 1957 followed seven consecutive EuroBasket Championships
11.
FIBA
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A total of 213 national federations are now members, organized since 1989 into five zones or commissions, Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. The FIBA Basketball World Cup is a tournament for mens national teams held every four years. Teams compete for the Naismith Trophy, named in honor of basketballs Canadian creator James Naismith. A parallel event for teams, the FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup, is also held quadrennially, from 1986 through 2014, it was held in the same year as the mens event. The womens tournament will continue to be held in the year as the FIFA World Cup. In 2009 FIBA announced three new tournaments, two 12-team U-17 World Championships to be played in July 2010, and an eight-team FIBA World Club Championship to be launched in October 2010, however, the FIBA World Club Championship did not materialize. In its place, FIBA instead relaunched its original world club championship for men, the newest worldwide FIBA tournaments for national teams are in the three-player half-court variation, 3x3. The FIBA 3x3 U-18 World Championships were inaugurated in 2011, all events include separate tournaments for mens, womens, and mixed teams. The U-18 championships, held annually, feature 32 teams in each individual tournament, the senior championships have 24 teams in each individual tournament, and are held in even-numbered years. The association was founded in Geneva in 1932, two years after the sport was recognized by the IOC. Its original name was Fédération internationale de basket-ball amateur, eight nations were founding members, Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania, and Switzerland. During the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, the Federation named James Naismith, FIBA has organized a World Championship, now known as World Cup, for men since 1950 and a Womens World Championship, now known as the Womens World Cup, since 1953. From 1986 through 2014, both events were held four years, alternating with the Olympics. As noted above, the mens World Cup will be moved to a new cycle, with tournaments in the year before the Summer Olympics. The Federation headquarters moved to Munich in 1956, then returned to Geneva in 2002, in 1991, it founded the FIBA Hall of Fame, the first induction ceremony was held on 12 September 2007, during EuroBasket 2007. During its 81st anniversary in 2013, FIBA moved into its new headquarters, The House of Basketball, patrick Baumann is the current Secretary General of FIBA. Up until that point, even players from some fully registered and licensed professional leagues could qualify to compete at the Olympics, after making this monumental rules change, the Fédération internationale de basket-ball amateur became the Fédération internationale de basket-ball, but it retained FIBA as an abbreviation. The 1994 FIBA World Championship was the first time that the FIBA World Cup allowed current American NBA players that had played in an official NBA regular season game to play
12.
Utah Jazz
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The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Western Conference Northwest Division. Since 1991, the team has played its games at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The franchise began play in 1974 as the New Orleans Jazz, a team based in New Orleans. The Jazz were one of the least successful teams in the league in their early years, although 10 seasons elapsed before the Jazz qualified for their first playoff appearance in 1984, they did not miss the playoffs again until 2004. During the late 1980s, John Stockton and Karl Malone arose as the players for the team. Both Stockton and Malone moved on in 2003, after missing the playoffs for three consecutive seasons the Jazz returned to prominence under the on-court leadership of point guard Deron Williams. However, partway through the 2010–11 NBA season, the Jazz began restructuring after Sloans retirement, the team has made the playoffs once since then, in 2012 under coach Tyrone Corbin. Quin Snyder was hired as coach in June 2014. Valued in 2015 at $850 million by Forbes, the Jazz rank as the 20th most valuable franchise in the NBA ahead of the Indiana Pacers, on June 7,1974, the New Orleans Jazz were admitted as an expansion franchise into the National Basketball Association. Team officials selected the name because of its definition in the dictionary, the team began its inaugural season in New Orleans in the 1974–75 season. Maravich struggled with injuries from that season onward. Venue issues were a problem for the team while it was based in New Orleans. Later, they played games in the cavernous Louisiana Superdome, but things were no better, due to demand for the stadium, onerous lease terms. Years later, founding owner Sam Battistone claimed that there was no plan in case the Jazz ever qualified for the playoffs. The pick would have been the Jazzs had they not traded it to acquire Gail Goodrich two years earlier, despite being barely competitive, the Jazz drew well during their first five years. However, by 1979 the franchise was sinking financially, barry Mendelson, the teams executive vice president for most of the early years, said one factor in the financial trouble was an 11 percent amusement tax, highest in the U. S. at the time. The team also could not attract much local corporate support—an important factor even in those days—or local investors, Battistone concluded that the franchise could not be viable in New Orleans and decided to move elsewhere
13.
Karl Malone
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Karl Anthony Malone is an American retired professional basketball player. Malone also played for the Los Angeles Lakers, Malone was a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player, a 14-time NBA All-Star, and an 11-time member of the All-NBA first team. He is considered one of the best power forwards in NBA history, Malone played college basketball at Louisiana Tech University. In his three seasons with Louisiana Tech, he helped the Bulldogs basketball team to its first-ever NCAA tournament in 1984, the Utah Jazz drafted Malone in 1985 with the 13th overall pick in the first round. Malone appeared in the every season in his career, including the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998 with the Jazz. He played his season with the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he played his third Finals in 2004. However, Malone has the most career postseason losses of any NBA player ever, Malone also competed with the United States national team in the Summer Olympic Games of 1992 and 1996, in both years he won gold medals. After retiring from the NBA, Malone joined the staff of the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball team in 2007 and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. Born in Summerfield, Louisiana, Malone was the youngest child of nine children and his father Shedrick Hay was raising a family with another woman he married and committed suicide when Karl Malone was 14, Malone first disclosed that suicide in 1994. As a child, Malone often worked at the farm and chopped trees, hunted and he attended the local Summerfield High School and led its basketball team to three consecutive Louisiana Class C titles from 1979 to his senior season in 1981. Although recruited by University of Arkansas basketball coach Eddie Sutton, Malone enrolled at Louisiana Tech University and he joined the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball team in his second year because his grades were too low for freshman eligibility, Malone played under coach Andy Russo. In his second season with Louisiana Tech, Malone averaged 18.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, in each of his three seasons with the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, Malone was an All-Southland selection. In the 1985 NBA draft, the Utah Jazz selected Karl Malone with the 13th overall pick, in fact, Malone was so convinced the Dallas Mavericks were going to select him with the eighth choice, that he had already rented an apartment in Dallas. Instead, the Mavericks selected Detlef Schrempf, and Malone lasted until Utahs pick at No.13. Under head coach Frank Layden, Malone averaged 14.9 points and 8.9 rebounds in his first season, on January 14,1986, the Jazz beat the Houston Rockets 105–102 to snap the Rockets 20-game winning streak at home. Malone scored 29 points that game, including four free throws followed by a three-pointer by Pace Mannion to rally from a 96–89 deficit with 5 minutes and 36 seconds remaining to a 96–96 tie. For the third season, the Jazz made the postseason. In the four games, Malone improved in his scoring with a 20 points per game average but was still subpar in shooting
14.
John Stockton
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John Houston Stockton is an American retired professional basketball player. He spent his professional playing career as a point guard for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association. Stockton is regarded as one of the best point guards of all time, holding the NBA records for most career assists, Stockton was previously an assistant coach for the Montana State University womens basketball team. Born in Spokane, Washington, to Clementine Frei and Jack Stockton, Stocktons ancestry is Irish and he attended grade school at St. Aloysius and moved on to high school at Gonzaga Prep and graduated in 1980, after breaking the city record. He became the generation in his family at GU, grandfather Houston Stockton was a well-known football player for the Bulldogs in the 1920s. Fitzgerald was also the director, he stepped away from coaching for four years after Stocktons freshman year. During his senior year for the Bulldogs in 1984, Stockton averaged 20.9 points per game, the Zags posted a 17–11 record, their best in 17 years, and Stockton led the West Coast Athletic Conference in scoring, assists, and steals. He was one of 74 college seniors invited to the tryouts for the 1984 U. S. Olympic team. Stockton made the cut in April to the final twenty. Though not selected, the experience led him to meet his future teammate and friend, in June, Stockton was selected by the Utah Jazz in the first round of the 1984 NBA draft with the 16th overall pick. A relative unknown during his career, his stock rose significantly in the months before the draft. The announcement of his selection to the thousands of Jazz fans gathered at the Salt Palace on draft day was met with a stunned silence, Stockton averaged a career double-double, with 13.1 points and 10.5 assists per game. He holds the NBAs record for most career assists by a margin of more than 3,000 and he had five of the top six assists seasons in NBA history. He held the NBA record for the most games and consecutive games played one team. He had previously held the record for most seasons played with one team until the 2015–16 NBA season and he missed only 22 games during his career,18 of them in one season. He played in 38 games where he tallied 20 or more assists, Stockton appeared in 10 All-Star games, and was named co-MVP of the game in 1993 with Jazz teammate Karl Malone, which was held in Salt Lake City. He played with the 1992 and 1996 US Olympic basketball teams and he was selected to the All-NBA First Team twice, the All-NBA Second Team six times, the All-NBA Third Team three times, and the NBA All-Defensive Second Team five times. He was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history in 1996, Stocktons career highlight came in Game 6 of the 1997 Western Conference Finals
15.
USA Basketball
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USA Basketball is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in the United States. The organization represents the United States in FIBA and the mens and womens basketball teams in the United States Olympic Committee. Its chairman of the board is Jerry Colangelo and its director is Jim Tooley. The organization was founded in 1974 as the Amateur Basketball Association of the United States of America and it was renamed to USA Basketball on October 12,1989, after FIBA modified its rules to allow professional basketball players to compete in international competitions. In 2007, the USA was represented by the University of Northern Iowa, in 2003, the USA was represented by a Big 12 All Star team. In 2007, the USA was represented by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, william Jones Cup Team USA Womens Pan American Team United States womens national 3x3 team Official site Official facebook USA Basketball reports from Insidehoops. com
16.
Michael Jordan
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Michael Jeffrey Jordan, also known by his initials, MJ, is an American retired professional basketball player, businessman, and principal owner and chairman of the Charlotte Hornets. Jordan played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association for the Chicago Bulls and his biography on the NBA website states, By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time. Jordan was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation and was considered instrumental in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s, Jordan played three seasons for coach Dean Smith at the University of North Carolina. As a freshman, he was a member of the Tar Heels national championship team in 1982, Jordan joined the Bulls in 1984 as the third overall draft pick. He quickly emerged as a star, entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring. His leaping ability, demonstrated by performing slam dunks from the throw line in slam dunk contests, earned him the nicknames Air Jordan. He also gained a reputation for being one of the best defensive players in basketball, in 1991, he won his first NBA championship with the Bulls, and followed that achievement with titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a three-peat. Jordan retired for a time in January 1999, but returned for two more NBA seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the Wizards. Among his numerous accomplishments, Jordan holds the NBA records for highest career regular season scoring average and highest career playoff scoring average. In 1999, he was named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN and he became a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2015. Jordan is also known for his product endorsements and he fueled the success of Nikes Air Jordan sneakers, which were introduced in 1985 and remain popular today. Jordan also starred in the 1996 feature film Space Jam as himself, in 2006, he became part-owner and head of basketball operations for the then-Charlotte Bobcats, buying a controlling interest in 2010. In 2015, Jordan became the first billionaire NBA player in history as a result of the increase in value of NBA franchises and he is the third richest African American, behind Oprah Winfrey and Robert F. Smith. Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Deloris, who worked in banking and his family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, when he was a toddler. Jordan is the fourth of five children and he has two older brothers, Larry Jordan and James R. Jordan, Jr. one older sister, Deloris, and a younger sister, Roslyn. Jordans brother James retired in 2006 as the Command Sergeant Major of the 35th Signal Brigade of the XVIII Airborne Corps in the U. S. Army. Jordan attended Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, where he highlighted his athletic career by playing basketball, baseball and he tried out for the varsity basketball team during his sophomore year, but at 511, he was deemed too short to play at that level. His taller friend, Harvest Leroy Smith, was the only sophomore to make the team, motivated to prove his worth, Jordan became the star of Laneys junior varsity squad, and tallied several 40-point games
17.
Scottie Pippen
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Scottie Maurice Pippen is an American retired professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association. Nicknamed Pip, he is most remembered for his time with the Chicago Bulls, Pippen, along with Michael Jordan, played an important role in transforming the Bulls team into a championship team and for popularizing the NBA around the world during the 1990s. Considered one of the best small forwards of all time, Pippen was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team eight consecutive times and he was a seven-time NBA All-Star and was the NBA All-Star Game MVP in 1994. He was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History during the 1996–97 season and he played a key role on both the 1992 Chicago Bulls Championship team and the 1996 Chicago Bulls Championship team which were selected as two of the Top 10 Teams in NBA History. During his 17-year career, he played 12 seasons with the Bulls, one with the Houston Rockets and four with the Portland Trail Blazers, Pippen is also the only player to have won an NBA title and Olympic gold medal in the same year twice. He was a part of the 1992 U. S. Olympic Dream Team which beat its opponents by an average of 44 points and he wore number 8 during both years. Pippen is an inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. On November 8,2005, the Chicago Bulls retired his number #33, while his college, University of Central Arkansas, Scottie Pippen was born on September 25,1965, in Hamburg, Arkansas, the youngest of 12 children born to Ethel and Preston Pippen. Pippens mother was 6 feet tall and his father was 61 and his parents could not afford to send their other children to college. His father worked in a mill until a stroke paralyzed his right side, prevented him from walking. Playing point guard, he led his team to the state playoffs and he was not offered any college scholarships. Pippen began his playing career at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway after being discovered by then-UCA Head coach Don Dyer as a 61 walk-on. He did not receive recognition in college because the school played in the NAIA. He eventually had a growth spurt to 68, and his per game averages of 23.6 points,10 rebounds,4. He was selected fifth overall in the 1987 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics and traded to the Chicago Bulls for Olden Polynice, Scottie made his NBA debut on November 7,1987 when the Chicago Bulls faced the Philadelphia 76ers as their first game of the season. He finished the game with 10 points,2 steals,4 assists and 1 rebound in 23 minutes of play, the Bulls won their season-opening game 104–94. With fellow Bull Michael Jordan as a motivational and instructional mentor, Pippen refined his skills, Jordan and Pippen frequently played one-on-one outside of team practices simply to hone each others skills on offense and defense. Pippen claimed the starting small forward position during the 1988 NBA Playoffs and these feats earned Pippen his debut NBA All-Star selection in 1990
18.
Chicago Bulls
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The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 16,1966, the team plays its home games at the United Center, an arena shared with the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League. The Bulls saw their greatest success during the 1990s and they are known for having one of the NBAs greatest dynasties, winning six NBA championships between 1991 and 1998 with two three-peats. All six championship teams were led by Hall of Famers Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, the Bulls are the only NBA franchise to win multiple championships and never lose an NBA Finals series in their history. The Bulls won 72 games during the 1995–96 NBA season, setting an NBA record that stood until the Golden State Warriors won 73 games during the 2015–16 NBA season. The Bulls were the first team in NBA history to win 70 games or more in a season. Many experts and analysts consider the 1996 Bulls to be one of the greatest teams in NBA history, Michael Jordan and Derrick Rose have both won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award while playing for the Bulls, for a total of six MVP awards. The Bulls share rivalries with the Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, the Bulls rivalry with the Pistons was highlighted heavily during the late 1980s and early 1990s. On January 16,1966 Chicago was granted an NBA franchise to be called the Bulls, the Chicago Bulls became the third NBA franchise in the city, after the Chicago Stags and the Chicago Packers/Zephyrs. The Bulls founder, Dick Klein, was the Bulls only owner to play professional basketball. He served as the Bulls president and general manager in their initial years, after the 1966 NBA Expansion Draft, the newly founded Chicago Bulls were allowed to acquire players from the previously established teams in the league for the upcoming 1966–67 season. The team started in the 1966–67 NBA season, and posted the best record by a team in NBA history. In their first two seasons, the Bulls played most of their games at the International Amphitheatre, before moving to Chicago Stadium. Fan interest was diminishing after four seasons, with one game in the 1967–68 NBA season having an attendance of 891. The Bulls under Williams and head coach Dick Motta qualified for four straight playoffs and had attendances grow to over 10,000, in 1972, the Bulls set a franchise win-loss record at 57 wins and 25 losses. During the 1970s, the Bulls relied on Jerry Sloan, forwards Bob Love and Chet Walker, point guard Norm Van Lier, the team made the conference finals in 1975 but lost to the Golden State Warriors,4 games to 3. After four 50-win seasons, Williams returned to Philadelphia, and Motta decided to become GM as well, the Bulls ended up declining, winning only 24 games in the 1975–1976 season
19.
Magic Johnson
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Earvin Magic Johnson Jr. is an American retired professional basketball player and current president of basketball operations of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. He played point guard for the Lakers for 13 seasons, after winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA draft by the Lakers. He won a championship and an NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in his rookie season, Johnson retired abruptly in 1991 after announcing that he had contracted HIV, but returned to play in the 1992 All-Star Game, winning the All-Star MVP Award. After protests from his players, he retired again for four years. Johnsons career achievements include three NBA MVP Awards, nine NBA Finals appearances, twelve All-Star games, and ten All-NBA First and he led the league in regular-season assists four times, and is the NBAs all-time leader in average assists per game, at 11.2. Johnson was a member of the 1992 United States mens Olympic basketball team, after leaving the NBA in 1992, Johnson formed the Magic Johnson All-Stars, a barnstorming team that travelled around the world playing exhibition games. Johnson was honored as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996, Johnson became a two-time inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame—being enshrined in 2002 for his individual career, and again in 2010 as a member of the Dream Team. He was rated the greatest NBA point guard of all time by ESPN in 2007 and his friendship and rivalry with Boston Celtics star Larry Bird, whom he faced in the 1979 NCAA finals and three NBA championship series, are well documented. Since his retirement, Johnson has been an advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention and safe sex, as well as an entrepreneur, philanthropist, broadcaster and motivational speaker. Named by Ebony magazine as one of Americas most influential businessmen in 2009, Johnson has numerous business interests. Johnson also is part of a group of investors purchased the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012. Earvin Johnson Jr. was born in Lansing, Michigan to Earvin Sr. a General Motors assembly worker, and Christine, Johnson, who had six siblings, was influenced by his parents strong work ethic. Earvin Jr. would often help his father on the garbage route, Johnson grew up in Lansing, and came to love basketball as a youngster. His favorite basketball player was Bill Russell, whom he admired more for his many championships than his athletic ability and he also idolized players such as Earl Monroe and Marques Haynes, and practiced all day. Magic Johnson came from an athletic family and his father played high school basketball in his home state of Mississippi, and Johnson learned the finer points about the game from him. Johnsons mother, originally from North Carolina, had played basketball as a child. By the time he had reached the grade, Johnson had begun to think about a future in basketball. He had become a dominant junior player, once scoring 48 points in a game
20.
Los Angeles Lakers
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The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association, as a club of the leagues Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers are one of the most successful teams in the history of the NBA, as of 2015, the Lakers are the second most valuable franchise in the NBA according to Forbes, having an estimated value of $2.7 billion. The franchise began with the 1947 purchase of a disbanded team, the new team began playing in Minneapolis, calling themselves the Minneapolis Lakers in honor of the states nickname, Land of 10,000 Lakes. The team was propelled by center George Mikan, who is described by the NBAs official website as the leagues first superstar, after struggling financially in the late 1950s following Mikans retirement, they relocated to Los Angeles before the 1960–61 season. Led by Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, Los Angeles made the NBA Finals six times in the 1960s, but lost each series to the Boston Celtics, beginning their long and storied rivalry. After the retirement of West and Chamberlain, the team acquired another center, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who had won multiple MVP awards and this team featured Hall of Famers in Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy, and a Hall of Fame coach, Pat Riley. After Abdul-Jabbar and Johnsons retirement, the team struggled in the early 1990s before acquiring Shaquille ONeal, led by ONeal, Bryant, and another Hall of Fame coach, Phil Jackson, Los Angeles won three consecutive titles between 2000 to 2002, securing the franchise its second three-peat. After losing both the 2004 and 2008 NBA Finals, the Lakers won two championships by defeating the Orlando Magic in 2009 and Boston in 2010. The Lakers hold the record for NBAs longest winning streak,33 straight games,21 Hall of Famers have played for Los Angeles, while four have coached the team. Four Lakers—Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, ONeal, and Bryant—have won the NBA MVP Award for a total of eight awards, Minneapolis sportswriter Sid Hartman played a key behind the scenes role in helping put together the deal and later the team. Inspired by Minnesotas nickname, Land of 10,000 Lakes, Hartman helped them hire John Kundla from College of St. Thomas, to be their first head coach, by meeting with him and selling him on the team. The Lakers had a roster which featured forward Jim Pollard, playmaker Herm Schaefer, and center George Mikan. In their first season, they led the league with a 43–17 record, in 1948, the Lakers moved from the NBL to the Basketball Association of America, and Mikans 28.3 point per game scoring average set a BAA record. In the 1949 BAA Finals they won the championship, beating the Washington Capitols four games to two, the following season, the team improved to 51–17, repeating as champions. In the 1950–51 season, Mikan won his third straight scoring title at 28.4 ppg, one of those games, a 19–18 loss against the Fort Wayne Pistons, became infamous as the lowest scoring game in NBA history. In the playoffs, they defeated the Indianapolis Olympians in three games but lost to the Rochester Royals in the next round, during the 1951–52 season, the Lakers won 40 games, finishing second in their division. They faced the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, which won in seven games
21.
Larry Bird
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Larry Joe Bird is an American professional basketball executive, former coach and former player, currently serving as president of the Indiana Pacers in the National Basketball Association. Since retiring as a player for the Boston Celtics, he has been a mainstay in the Indiana Pacers organization, Bird was a 12-time NBA All-Star and was named the leagues Most Valuable Player three consecutive times. He played his professional career for Boston, winning three NBA championships and two NBA Finals MVP awards. He was a member of the 1992 United States mens Olympic basketball team won the gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Bird was voted to the NBAs 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996 and he served as head coach of the Indiana Pacers from 1997 to 2000. In 2003, he assumed the role of president of operations for the Pacers. After a year away from the position, he announced he would return to the Pacers as president of operations in 2013. In addition to being part of the 50–40–90 club, he is the person in NBA history to be named Most Valuable Player, Coach of the Year. Bird was born in West Baden Springs, Indiana to Georgia and Claude Joseph Joe Bird and he was raised in nearby French Lick, where his mother worked two jobs to support Larry and his five siblings. Bird has said that being poor as a child still motivates him to this day, Georgia and Joe divorced when Larry was in high school, and Joe committed suicide about a year later. Bird received a scholarship to college basketball for the Indiana University Hoosiers in 1974. After less than a month on campus he dropped out of school and he returned to French Lick, enrolling at Northwood Institute in nearby West Baden, and working municipal jobs for a year before enrolling at Indiana State University in Terre Haute in 1975. Indiana State would lose the game 75–64, with Bird scoring 19 points, despite failing to win the championship, Bird earned numerous year-end awards and honors for his outstanding play, including the Naismith College Player of the Year Award. For his college career, he averaged 30.3 points,13.3 rebounds, Bird also appeared in one game for the baseball team, going 1-for-2 with 2 RBI. Bird was selected by the Boston Celtics with the sixth pick in the 1978 NBA draft. He did not sign with the Celtics immediately, instead, he played out his season at Indiana State. After protracted negotiations, Bird inked a five-year, $3.25 million contract with the team, shortly afterwards, NBA draft eligibility rules were changed to prevent teams from drafting players before they were ready to sign, a rule known as the Bird Collegiate Rule. Bird immediately transformed the Celtics into a contender, helping them improve their win total by 32 games from the year before he was drafted
22.
Boston Celtics
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The Boston Celtics are an American professional basketball team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 and one of eight NBA teams to survive the leagues first decade, the Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which they share with the National Hockey League s Boston Bruins. The franchises 17 championships are the most of any NBA franchise, as a percentage of championships won, the Celtics are the most successful franchise to date in the major four traditional North American professional sports leagues. The Celtics have played the Lakers a record 12 times in the Finals, including their most recent appearances in 2008 and 2010, four Celtics players have won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award for an NBA record total of 10 MVP awards. Their mascot Lucky the Leprechaun is a nod to the teams Irish heritage, in 1950, the Celtics signed Chuck Cooper, becoming the first NBA franchise to draft a black player. The Celtics struggled during their years, until the hiring of coach Red Auerbach. In the franchises early days, Auerbach had no assistants, ran all the practices, did all the scouting—both of opposing teams and college draft prospects—and scheduled all the road trips. One of the first great players to join the Celtics was Bob Cousy, Cousy eventually became the property of the Chicago Stags, but when that franchise went bankrupt, Cousy went to the Celtics in a dispersal draft. After the 1955–56 season, Auerbach made a stunning trade and he sent perennial All-Star Ed Macauley to the St. Louis Hawks along with the draft rights to Cliff Hagan in exchange for the second overall pick in the draft. Auerbach also acquired Holy Cross standout, and 1957 NBA Rookie of the Year, Russell and Heinsohn worked extraordinarily well with Cousy, and they were the players around whom Auerbach would build the champion Celtics for more than a decade. With Bill Russell, the Celtics advanced to the NBA Finals and defeated the St. Louis Hawks in seven games, Russell went on to win 11 championships, making him the most decorated player in NBA history. In 1958, the Celtics again advanced to the NBA Finals, however, with the acquisition of K. C. Jones that year, the Celtics began a dynasty that would last for more than a decade. In 1959, the Celtics won the NBA Championship after sweeping the Minneapolis Lakers, during that time, the Celtics met the Lakers in the Finals five times, starting an intense and often bitter rivalry that has spanned generations. In 1964, the Celtics became the first NBA team to have an all African-American starting lineup. On December 26,1964, Willie Naulls replaced an injured Tommy Heinsohn, joining Tom Satch Sanders, K. C. Jones, Sam Jones, the Celtics defeated St. Louis 97–84. Boston won its next 11 games with Naulls starting in place of Heinsohn, the Celtics of the late-1950s–60s are widely considered as one of the most dominant teams of all time. Auerbach retired as coach after the 1965–66 season and Russell took over as player-coach, with his appointment, Russell also became the first African-American coach in any U. S. pro sport
23.
Patrick Ewing
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Patrick Aloysius Ewing is a Jamaican-American retired Hall of Fame basketball player. He played most of his career with the NBAs New York Knicks as their center and played briefly with the Seattle SuperSonics. On April 3,2017, he was named head coach of the Georgetown Hoyas. Ewing played center for Georgetown for four years—where he played in the NCAA Championship Game three times—and was named as the 16th greatest college player of all time by ESPN and he won Olympic gold medals as a member of the 1984 and 1992 United States mens Olympic basketball teams. In a 1996 poll celebrating the 50th anniversary of the NBA and he is a two-time inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 2009, he was inducted into the U. S. Olympic Hall of Fame as a member of the Dream Team. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame on September 5,2008, along with former NBA coach Pat Riley and his number 33 was retired by the Knicks in 2003. Ewing was born in 1962 in Kingston, Jamaica, he excelled at cricket, in 1975, 12-year-old Ewing joined his family in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He learned to play basketball at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School with the help of John Fountain, when Ewing was in high school, opponents threw rocks at his team bus when the squad traveled to play an away game. In order to prepare for college, Ewing joined the MIT-Wellesley Upward Bound Program and he went to Georgetown University in Washington, D. C. and became a United States citizen while attending Georgetown. During his recruitment, Ewing was close to signing a letter of intent with the University of North Carolina, while visiting the campus, he stayed at the Carolina Inn. After witnessing a rally for the Ku Klux Klan, he decided not to sign with UNC. Ewing signed a letter of intent to play for Coach John Thompson at Georgetown University, Ewing made his announcement in a room full of fans who wanted him to play for Boston College or Boston University. When Ewing announced his decision to play at Georgetown, the left the room. As a freshman during the 1981–1982 season, Ewing became one of the first college players to start, while at Georgetown, he developed a habit of wearing a short sleeved T-shirt underneath his jersey. This started a trend among young athletes that lasts to this day. In the 1982 NCAA final against the University of North Carolina, Ewing was called for goaltending five times in the first half, setting the tone for the Hoyas and making his presence felt. The Hoyas led late in the game, but a shot by future NBA supestar Michael Jordan gave North Carolina the lead, in the 1983–84 season, Ewing led Georgetown to the Big East championship and a number one seed in the tournament
24.
New York Knicks
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The New York Knickerbockers, commonly referred to as the Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in New York City. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its games at Madison Square Garden, located in the borough of Manhattan. They are one of two NBA teams located in New York City, the other is the Brooklyn Nets, along with the Boston Celtics, the Knicks are one of only two original NBA teams still located in its original city. The Knicks were successful during their years and were constant playoff contenders under the franchises first head coach Joe Lapchick. Beginning in 1950, the Knicks made three appearances in the NBA Finals, all of which were losing efforts. Lapchick resigned in 1956 and the team began to falter. It was not until the late 1960s when Red Holzman became head coach that the Knicks began to regain their former dominance, Holzman successfully guided the Knicks to two NBA championships, in 1970 and 1973. The Knicks of the 1980s had mixed success that included six playoff appearances, however, the playoff-level Knicks of the 1990s were led by future Hall of Fame center Patrick Ewing, this era was marked by passionate rivalries with the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers, and Miami Heat. During this time, they were known for playing tough defense under head coaches Pat Riley, during this era, the Knicks made two appearances in the NBA Finals, in 1994 and 1999, though they were unable to win an NBA championship. Since 2000, the Knicks have struggled to regain their former glory, in 2012–13, the franchise won its first division title in 19 years, but was eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by the Indiana Pacers. According to a 2016 Forbes report, the Knicks were the most-valuable NBA franchise, in 1946, basketball, particularly college basketball, was a growing and increasingly profitable sport in New York City. Hockey was another sport at the time and generated considerable profits, however. Max Kase, a New York sportswriter, became the editor at the Boston American in the 1930s. Kase developed the idea of a professional league to showcase college players upon their graduation. Brown, intrigued by the opportunity to attain additional income when the teams were not playing or on the road. Ned Irish, a college basketball promoter, retired sportswriter and then president of Madison Square Garden, was in attendance, Kase originally planned to own and operate the New York franchise himself and approached Irish with a proposal to lease the Garden. Irish explained that the rules of the Arena Managers Association of America stated that Madison Square Garden was required to own any professional teams played in the arena
25.
Chris Mullin (basketball)
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Christopher Paul Mullin is an American retired professional basketball player and current head coach of the St. Johns Red Storm. He previously served as advisor for the Sacramento Kings and general manager of the Golden State Warriors. He is a two-time Olympic Gold medalist and a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, Mullin played shooting guard and small forward in the NBA from 1985 to 2001. He returned to the Olympics in 1992 as a member of the Dream Team and he played with the Warriors from the 1985–86 until the 1996–97 season. Thereafter, Mullin played with the Indiana Pacers from 1997 until the 1999–2000 season and he retired after the 2000–01 season, playing for his original team, the Warriors. On March 30,2015, he was named 20th head coach of the St. Johns University mens basketball team, Chris was born in Brooklyn, New York. As a young player in New York, Mullin studied the games of Knicks stars Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe while admiring Larry Bird and wearing #17 in honor of John Havlicek. As a youth, he traveled to the Bronx and Harlem, predominately African American neighborhoods. From a young age, he paved a path for himself to become a legend in the Diocese of Brooklyn and his name began to spread while playing CYO basketball at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish on Flatlands Avenue. Along with playing CYO basketball at St. Mullin began his school career at Power Memorial Academy. He transferred as a junior to Xaverian High School, after being selected as New York States Mr. Basketball, Mullin was recruited by the Hall of Fame coach Lou Carnesecca to play for St. Johns University in nearby Queens. After signing, Mullin averaged 16.6 points per game in his freshman year, as a senior who averaged 19.8 points per game, Mullin led St. Johns to the 1985 Final Four and its first #1 ranking since 1951. Mullin, who averaged 19.5 points per game, finished his career as the Redmens all-time leading scorer with 2,440 career points and he also holds the distinction of being one of only three players in history to win the Haggerty Award three times. From 1983–1985, Mullin was also named the Big East conferences player of the year, in the 1985 NBA draft, the Golden State Warriors selected Mullin in the first round with the seventh pick. In Mullins first three seasons with the Warriors, he was primarily a spot-up shooting guard playing in the backcourt alongside Eric Sleepy Floyd. In his second season, 1986–87, the Warriors advanced to the Western Conference semifinals under George Karl, the next season, Don Nelson became the Warriors coach and had plans to move Mullin to small forward. During his third season in the NBA, Mullin admitted to Nelson that he was an alcoholic, after missing several practices, Mullin was suspended, then entered an alcohol rehabilitation program. For five consecutive seasons, from 1988 until 1993, Mullin scored an average of 25 or more points, additionally, the Warriors made five straight playoff appearances
26.
Golden State Warriors
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The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Western Conference Pacific Division. The team was established in 1946 as the Philadelphia Warriors based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1962, the franchise relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area and was renamed the San Francisco Warriors. In 1971, the changed its geographic moniker to Golden State. Since 1972, the home court has been the Oracle Arena in Oakland. The team is nicknamed the Dubs, the Warriors have reached eight NBA Finals, winning four NBA championships in 1947,1956,1975 and most recently in 2015 when they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers. Golden States four NBA championships are the fifth most in history only the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls. Wilt Chamberlain and Stephen Curry have both named the NBAs Most Valuable Player while playing for the Warriors, for a total of three MVP awards. Golden State holds the NBA record for best regular season with 73–9, the Warriors were founded in 1946 as the Philadelphia Warriors, a charter member of the Basketball Association of America. They were owned by Peter A. Tyrrell, who owned the Philadelphia Rockets of the American Hockey League. Tyrrell hired Eddie Gottlieb, a longtime basketball promoter in the Philadelphia area, as coach, the owners named the team after the Philadelphia Warriors, an old basketball team who played in the American Basketball League in 1925. Led by early scoring sensation Joe Fulks, the won the championship in the leagues inaugural 1946–47 season by defeating the Chicago Stags. The NBA, which was created by a 1949 merger, officially recognizes that as its own first championship, Gottlieb bought the team in 1951. The Warriors won its championship in Philadelphia in the 1955–56 season. The Warrior stars of this era were future Hall of Famers Paul Arizin, Tom Gola, in 1959, the team signed draft pick Wilt Chamberlain. Known as Wilt the Stilt, he led the team in scoring six times, quickly began shattering NBA scoring records, in 1962, Franklin Mieuli purchased the majority shares of the team and relocated the franchise to the San Francisco Bay Area, renaming them the San Francisco Warriors. Prior to the 1963–64 NBA season, the Warriors drafted big man Nate Thurmond to go along with Chamberlain, the Warriors won the Western Division crown that season, but lost the 1964 NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics, four games to one. In the 1964–65 season, the Warriors traded Chamberlain to the Philadelphia 76ers for Connie Dierking, Lee Shaffer, Paul Neumann and $150,000 and won only 17 games
27.
David Robinson (basketball)
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David Maurice Robinson is an American former professional basketball player, who played center for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association for his entire career. Based on his service as an officer in the United States Navy. He is widely considered one of the greatest centers in both basketball and NBA history. To date, Robinson is the player from the Naval Academy to play in the NBA. David Robinson was born in Key West, Florida, the child of Ambrose. Since Robinsons father was in the Navy, the family moved many times, after his father retired from the Navy, the family settled in Woodbridge, Virginia, where Robinson excelled in school and in most sports, except basketball. He was 5 feet,9 inches tall in high school, he tried his hand at basketball. Robinson attended Osbourn Park High School in Manassas, Virginia, just outside Washington, by his senior year in high school he was 6 feet,6 inches tall, weighed 175 pounds, and had not played organized basketball or attended any basketball camps. When the coach added the tall senior to the team, Robinson earned all-area and all-district honors. Robinson scored 1320 on the SAT, and chose to go to the United States Naval Academy, David Robinson is widely considered to be the best basketball player in Naval Academy history. He chose the jersey number 50 after his idol Ralph Sampson, in 1986, Robinson led Navy, a number seven seed, within a game of the Final Four before falling to Duke in the East Regional Final. Robinson played his first three years for the Midshipmen under Paul Evans and his senior season under former University of Georgia interim Head Coach Pete Herrmann. When he was admitted to the Naval Academy, two inches above the limit, but received a waiver from the Superintendent of the Academy. Robinson considered leaving the academy after his year, before incurring an obligation to serve in active duty. As a compromise, Secretary of the Navy John Lehman allowed Robinson to train for, as a result, Robinson was commissioned in the Naval Reserves and had to serve only an initial active-duty obligation for two years. After graduating from the Naval Academy, Robinson became an engineering officer at the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia. He was regularly featured in recruiting materials for the service, despite the nickname Admiral, Robinsons actual rank upon fulfilling his service commitment was Lieutenant, Junior Grade. Since he had not signed a contract, NBA regulations stated that Robinson could have reentered the draft after his naval service
28.
San Antonio Spurs
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The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its games at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. The Spurs are one of four former American Basketball Association teams to remain intact in the NBA after the 1976 ABA–NBA merger, the Spurs five NBA championships are the fourth most in history behind only the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, and Chicago Bulls. The Spurs currently rank first among active franchises for the highest winning percentage in NBA history, in their 40 NBA seasons since 1976–77, the Spurs have won 21 division titles. With their 50th win in the 2016–17 season, the Spurs extended their record for most consecutive 50-win seasons to 18. Thus, since the 1997–98 season, the Spurs have had 20 consecutive seasons with a percentage of.610 or greater during the regular season which is also an NBA record. Only the teams current head coach, Gregg Popovich, who had been the general manager before replacing Bob Hill in 1996, has had a longer tenure with the Spurs. The Spurs are the only team in any of the four major U. S. professional sports leagues. Since 2003, the team has been forced on a road trip for much of February since the AT&T Center hosts the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo. This is informally known as the Rodeo Road Trip, the Spurs have consistently posted winning road records during this period, including an NBA-record longest single road trip winning streak. When the Spurs have won the NBA title, the victory parades have been boat trips on the San Antonio River Walk. The San Antonio Spurs started out as the Dallas Chaparrals of the version of the American Basketball Association. Coached by player/coach Cliff Hagan the Dallas Chaparrals were one of 11 teams to take the floor in the season of the upstart ABA. The Chaps second season was a bit of a disappointment, as the finished in 4th place with a mediocre 41–37 record. In the playoffs the Chaparrals quickly fell to the New Orleans Buccaneers, the team suffered from poor attendance and general disinterest in Dallas. While the Chaparrals had been successful on the court, they were sinking financially by their third season. After missing the playoffs for the first time in their existence in the 1972–73 season, a group of 36 San Antonio businessmen, led by Manager/Angelo Drossos, Chairman of the Board/John Schaefer and President/Red McCombs, worked out a lend-lease deal with the Dallas ownership group
29.
Charles Barkley
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Charles Wade Barkley is an American retired professional basketball player and current analyst on the television program Inside the NBA. Nicknamed Chuck, Sir Charles, and The Round Mound of Rebound, an All-American center at Auburn, he was drafted as a junior by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 5th pick of the 1984 NBA draft. He was selected to the All-NBA First Team five times, the All-NBA Second Team five times and he earned eleven NBA All-Star Game appearances and was named the All-Star MVP in 1991. In 1993, he was voted the leagues Most Valuable Player and during the NBAs 50th anniversary and he competed in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games and won two gold medals as a member of the United States Dream Team. Barkley is an inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, being inducted in 2006 for his individual career. Barkley was popular with the fans and media and made the NBAs All-Interview Team for his last 13 seasons in the league, short for a power forward, Barkley used his strength and aggressiveness to become one of the NBAs most dominant rebounders. He was a player who had the ability to score, create plays. In 2000, he retired as the player in NBA history to achieve 20,000 points,10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists. Since retiring as a player, Barkley has had a career as a television NBA analyst. He works with Turner Network Television alongside of Shaquille ONeal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson as a studio pundit for its coverage of NBA games and is a spokesman for CDW. In addition, Barkley has written books and has shown an interest in politics, in October 2008, he announced that he would run for Governor of Alabama in 2014. Barkley was born and raised in Leeds, Alabama, ten miles outside Birmingham, as a junior, Barkley stood 510 and weighed 220 pounds. He failed to make the varsity team and was named as a reserve, however, during the summer Barkley grew to 64 and earned a starting position on the varsity as a senior. He averaged 19.1 points and 17.9 rebounds per game, an assistant to Auburn Universitys head coach, Sonny Smith, was at the game and reported seeing, a fat guy. Who can play like the wind, Barkley was soon recruited by Smith and majored in business management while attending Auburn University. Barkley played collegiate basketball at Auburn for three seasons, although he struggled to control his weight, he excelled as a player and led the SEC in rebounding each year. He became a popular crowd-pleaser, exciting the fans with dunks and it was not uncommon to see the hefty Barkley grab a defensive rebound and, instead of passing, dribble the entire length of the court and finish at the opposite end with a two-handed dunk. His physical size and skills earned him the nickname The Round Mound of Rebound
30.
Philadelphia 76ers
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The Philadelphia 76ers are an American professional basketball team based in Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 and originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA and they have won three NBA championships, with their first coming as the Syracuse Nationals in 1955. The second title came in the 1966–67 season, a team which was led by Chamberlain, the third title came in the 1982–83 season, won by a team led by Erving and Malone. The 76ers have only been back to the NBA Finals once since then, in 2001, while in the NBL with teams largely consisting of small Midwestern towns, the Nationals put together a 21–23 record, finishing in 4th place. In the playoffs, the Nats would be beaten by the fellow upstate neighbor Rochester Royals in 4 games, in their second season, 1947–48, the Nationals would struggle, finishing in 5th place with a 24–36 record. Despite their struggles, the Nats would make the playoffs, getting swept by the Anderson Duffey Packers in 3 straight games, several teams began to leave the NBL for the BAA as the foundation for an absorption was laid. The Nationals recipe for success began by recruiting Leo Ferris, in the playoffs the Nationals would make quick work of the Hammond Calumet Buccaneers, winning the series in 2 straight games. However, in the semifinals the Nats would fall to the Anderson Duffey Packers for the second season in 4 games. In 1949, the Nationals were one of seven NBL teams that were absorbed by the Basketball Association of America to form the NBA, the Nationals were an instant success in the NBA, winning the Eastern Division in the 1949–1950 season, with a league best record of 51–13. In the playoffs the Nationals continued to play basketball, beating the Philadelphia Warriors in 2 straight. Moving on to the Eastern Finals, the Nationals battled the New York Knickerbockers, in the NBA Finals, the Nationals faced fellow NBL alums the Minneapolis Lakers. In Game 1 of the Finals the Nats lost just their home game of the season 68–66. The Nats did not recover, as they fell behind 3 games to 1 before falling in 6 games, despite several teams leaving the NBA for the National Professional Basketball League before the 1950–1951 season, the Nationals decided to stay put. In their second NBA season the Nationals played mediocre basketball all season, however, in the playoffs the Nats played their best basketball of the season as they stunned the 1st place Philadelphia Warriors in 2 straight, taking Game 1 on the road in overtime 91–89. In the Eastern Finals the Nationals were beaten by the New York Knickerbockers in a hard-fought 5-game series, in the playoffs the Nats knocked off the Philadelphia Warriors again in a 3-game series. However, in the Eastern Finals the Nats fell to the New York Knickerbockers again, the Nationals would finish in 2nd place in a hard fought 3-way battle for first place in the Eastern Division for the 1952–1953 season, with a record of 47–24. In the playoffs the Nationals would face the Boston Celtics dropping Game 1 at home 87–81, the Nationals acquired Alex Groza, and Ralph Beard as the Indianapolis Olympians folded leaving the NBA with just 9 teams for the 1953–1954 season
31.
Clyde Drexler
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Clyde Austin The Glide Drexler is an American retired professional basketball swingman. During his career, he was a ten-time All-Star, and named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, Drexler won an Olympic gold medal in 1992 as part of the 1992 United States mens Olympic basketball team and an NBA Championship in 1995 with the Houston Rockets. He is a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee He currently serves as a commentator for Houston Rockets home games. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Drexler lived in the South Park area in Houston, Texas, and attended Ross Sterling High School in Houston, where he was a classmate of tennis player Zina Garrison. As a sophomore, he made the varsity team, and tried out for the basketball team. Drexler played as a 6 ft 6 in center as a senior and he began receiving attention from college coaches following a 34-point, 27-rebound performance against Sharpstown High School during a 1979 Christmas tournament. Lewis that Drexler was the best player he had faced in high school, Drexler majored in finance and worked at a bank during the summer. Lewis recalled in 2003 that he received hate mail from Houston supporters and alumni for recruiting Drexler. Drexler and Young, along with Larry Micheaux and new recruit Hakeem Olajuwon, comprised the Phi Slama Jama basketball fraternity that gained attention for its acrobatic. New players were initiated into the fraternity by having to stand underneath the basket as Drexler drove in from halfcourt, Houston made the first of Drexlers two straight Final Four appearances in 1982, where they lost to eventual champions North Carolina. He averaged 15.2 points and 10.5 rebounds per game as a forward as Houston finished 25–8. The 1982–83 campaign saw Houston return to the Final Four ranked No.1 and they were matched up against No. Drexler declared for the NBA draft as a junior, leaving Houston with career averages of 14.4 points,3.3 assists and 9.9 rebounds in three seasons. In the 1983 NBA draft Drexler was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 14th overall pick and he averaged 7.7 points in 17.2 minutes per game in his rookie season. His second season was his breakout season, in which he averaged 17.2 points,6 rebounds,5.5 assists and 2.2 steals per game. In his third season, Drexler made his first All-Star team while averaging 18.5 points,5.6 rebounds,8 assists and 2.6 steals. In the 1989–1990 season, Drexler led the Portland Trail Blazers to the NBA Finals, averaging 26.4 points and 7.8 rebounds, in the 1990–1991 season Drexler led Portland to a franchise best 63–19 record. Heavily favored to win the West, the Los Angeles Lakers upset the Trail Blazers by winning the Western Conference Finals, in the 1991–92 season he made the All-NBA First Team and finished second to Michael Jordan in MVP voting
32.
Portland Trail Blazers
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The Portland Trail Blazers, commonly known as the Blazers, are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Western Conference Northwest Division. The team played its games in the Memorial Coliseum before moving to Moda Center in 1995. The team has advanced to the NBA Finals three times, winning the NBA championship once in 1977 and their other NBA Finals appearances were in 1990 and 1992. The team has qualified for the playoffs in 31 seasons of their 45-season existence, including a streak of 21 straight appearances from 1983 through 2003, the second longest streak in NBA history. The Trail Blazers 31 playoff appearances rank third in the NBA only behind the Los Angeles Lakers, six Hall of Fame players have played for the Trail Blazers. Bill Walton is the franchises most decorated player, he was the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player in 1977, four Blazer rookies have won the NBA Rookie of the Year award. Sports promoter Harry Glickman sought a National Basketball Association franchise for Portland as far back as 1955 when he proposed two new teams, the other to be located in Los Angeles. To raise the money for the $3.7 million admission tax, Glickman associated himself to real estate magnates Robert Schmertz of New Jersey, Larry Weinberg of Los Angeles and Herman Sarkowsky of Seattle. Two weeks later, on February 24, team management held a contest to select the teams name, the most popular choice was Pioneers, but that name was excluded from consideration as it was already used by sports teams at Portlands Lewis & Clark College. The name Trail Blazers received 172 entries, and was selected by the judging panel. Despite initial mixed response, the Trail Blazers name, often shortened to just Blazers, along with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Buffalo Braves, the Trail Blazers entered the NBA in 1970 as an expansion team, under coach Rolland Todd. Geoff Petrie and Sidney Wicks led the team in its years. During that span, the team had three coaches, team executive Stu Inman also served as coach. The team won the first pick in the NBA draft twice during that span, in 1972, the team drafted LaRue Martin with the number one pick, and in 1974 the team selected Bill Walton from UCLA. In 1976, the ABA–NBA merger saw those two rival leagues join forces, four ABA teams joined the NBA, the remaining teams were dissolved and their players distributed among the remaining NBA squads in a dispersal draft. The Trail Blazers selected Maurice Lucas in the dispersal draft and that summer, they also hired Jack Ramsay as head coach. The two moves, coupled with the stellar play, led Portland to several firsts, winning record, playoff appearance
33.
Isiah Thomas
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Isiah Lord Thomas III is an American retired basketball player who played professionally for the Detroit Pistons in the National Basketball Association. A point guard, the 12-time NBA All-Star was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, Thomas has also been a professional and collegiate head coach, a basketball executive, and a broadcaster. Thomas played collegiately for the Indiana Hoosiers, leading them to the 1981 NCAA championship as a sophomore and he was taken as the #2 pick by the Pistons, playing for them his entire 1981–1994 career and leading the Bad Boys to the 1988–89 and 1989–90 NBA championships. He was later the basketball coach for the Florida International University Golden Panthers for three seasons from 2009 to 2012. Thomas was born on April 30,1961, in Chicago, Illinois, during his junior year, he led St. Joseph to the State Finals and was considered one of the top college prospects in the country. Thomas was recruited to play basketball for Bob Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers. Although he received mail saying Knight tied up his players and beat them, when Knight visited the Thomas home, one of Isiahs brothers, who wanted him to attend DePaul, embarrassed him by insulting the Indiana coach and engaging him in a shouting match. Nevertheless, Thomas chose Knight and Indiana because he felt that away to Bloomington would be good for him. Thomas quickly had to adjust to Knights disciplinarian style, at the 1979 Pan American Games in Puerto Rico Knight got so mad at Thomas he threatened to put him on a plane home. Knight recalled yelling at the freshman-to-be, You ought to go to DePaul, Isiah, prior to the start of his freshman year, the 1979–80 season, Knight became so upset with Thomas that he kicked him out of a practice. According to Thomas, Knight was making a point that no player, however, Thomas quickly proved his skills as a player and became a favorite with both Knight and Indiana fans. His superior abilities eventually would cause Knight to adjust his coaching style, fans would display bed sheets with quotations from the Book of Isaiah and nicknamed him Mr. Wonderful. Because of Thomas relatively short stature at 6 ft 1 in, Thomas and Mike Woodson led the Hoosiers to the Big Ten championship and advanced to the 1980 Sweet Sixteen. The following year, the 1980–81 season, Knight made Thomas the captain, Thomas responded so positively that, as the season unfolded, Knight and Thomas grew as friends. When a Purdue player took a shot at Isiah in a game at Bloomington. And 19 days later, when Thomas hit an Iowa player and was ejected from a game and that year Thomas and the Hoosiers once again won a conference title and won the 1981 NCAA tournament, the schools fourth national title. The sophomore earned the tournaments Most Outstanding Player award, and made eligible for the upcoming NBA draft. In the 1981 NBA draft, the Detroit Pistons chose Thomas with the No.2 pick, Thomas made the All-Rookie team and started for the Eastern Conference in the 1982 All-Star Game
34.
Detroit Pistons
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The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Eastern Conference Central Division. The team plays its games at The Palace of Auburn Hills and was founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons in 1941. The Pistons joined the Basketball Association of America in 1948, in 1949, the NBL and BAA merged to become the NBA, and the Pistons became part of the merged league. Since moving to Detroit in 1957, the Pistons have won three NBA championships in 1989,1990 and 2004. The Detroit Pistons franchise was founded as the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, owners Fred Zollner and his sister Janets Zollner Corporation was a foundry, manufacturing pistons, primarily for car, truck and locomotive engines. The Zollner Pistons were NBL champions in 1944 and 1945 and they also won the World Professional Basketball Tournament in 1944,1945 and 1946. In 1948, the became the Fort Wayne Pistons, competing in the Basketball Association of America. In 1949, Fred Zollner brokered the formation of the National Basketball Association from the BAA, there are suggestions that Pistons players conspired with gamblers to shave points and throw various games during the 1953–54 and 1954–55 seasons. In particular, there are accusations that the team may have intentionally lost the 1955 NBA Finals to the Syracuse Nationals, in the decisive Game 7, the Pistons led Syracuse 41–24 early in the second quarter, then the Nationals rallied to win the game. Syracuse won on a throw by George King with twelve seconds left in the game. After the 1956–57 season, Zollner decided that Fort Wayne was too small to support an NBA team, although it was the fifth largest city in the United States at the time, Detroit had not seen professional basketball in a decade. In 1947, they had lost the Detroit Gems of the NBL, Zollner decided to keep the Pistons name, believing it made sense given Detroits status as the center of the automobile industry. The new Detroit Pistons played in Olympia Stadium for their first four seasons, the franchise was a consistent disappointment, struggling both on the court and at the box office. During the 1960s and 1970s, the Pistons were characterized by strong individuals. In fact, in their first 27 years in Detroit, they only had three winning seasons, some of the superstars who played for the team included Dave DeBusschere, Dave Bing, Jimmy Walker, and Bob Lanier. At one point DeBusschere was the youngest player-coach in the history of the NBA, DeBusschere became a key player in leading the Knicks to two NBA titles. Detroit qualified for the postseason in four seasons, but never advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs
35.
Christian Laettner
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He was the star player on the back-to-back National Championship teams of 1991 and 1992. He is particularly famous for his shot against Kentucky in the 1992 regional final. Christian Laettner was born and raised in Angola, New York to a blue-collar Roman Catholic family and his father George was of Polish descent and his grandparents spoke Polish as their first language. Christians older brother Christopher was an influence, often bullying young Christian. Both boys also frequently worked as laborers to supplement their allowance. During his career he scored over 2,000 points, setting the record. He was a much sought-after college recruit, Laettner attended Duke University and played for the basketball team under coach Mike Krzyzewski from 1988–92. As the teams player his final two seasons, he led them to the first two national titles in school history. A four-year starter, he contributed to their runner-up finish his sophomore year. Thus, in total, he played 23 out of a maximum possible 24 NCAA tournament games, winning 21, for his career, Laettner averaged 16.6 points and 7.8 rebounds per game while making almost half of his three-pointers. He scored 21.5 points per game his season, garnering every major national player of the year award. His career is widely regarded among the best in college history, Most points scored,407 Most free throws made,142 Most free throw attempts,167 Most games won,21 Most games played,23 Laettner had several clutch performances in the NCAA tournament. He also swished the game-winning free throws against undefeated and heavily-favored UNLV in the 1991 semifinal and he then led Duke to its first championship, defeating Kansas in the final, and was honored as the tournaments most outstanding player. Laettner is especially known for his back-to-the-basket, turn-around jumper that ended the intensely competitive 1992 regional final and he was in rarefied form throughout, shooting a perfect ten of ten field goals and ten of ten free throws for 31 points. He then finished his career by leading Duke to its second consecutive national title. The game-winning shot against Kentucky became an icon, having been frequently televised in college basketball montages. Several companies have also featured it in their commercials, in 2006 The Best Damn Sports Show Period ranked it the fifth most memorable moment in sports history. As the national player of the year, Laettner was the only selected for the prestigious Dream Team that won the 1992 Olympic gold medal in dominant fashion
36.
Duke Blue Devils men's basketball
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The Duke Blue Devils mens basketball team is the college basketball program representing Duke University. The team is fourth all-time in wins of any NCAA mens basketball program, Duke has won 5 NCAA Championships and appeared in 11 Championship Games and 16 Final Fours, and has an NCAA-best.755 NCAA tournament winning percentage. Eleven Duke players have named the National Player of the Year. Additionally, Duke has 36 players named All-Americans and 14 Academic All-Americans, Duke has been the Atlantic Coast Conference Champions a record 20 times, and also lays claim to 19 ACC regular season titles. Prior to joining the ACC, Duke won the Southern Conference championships five times. Duke has also finished the season ranked No.1 in the AP poll seven times and is second, behind only UCLA, in total weeks ranked as the number one team in the nation by the AP with 121 weeks. Additionally, the Blue Devils have the second longest streak in the AP Top 25 in history with 200 consecutive appearances from 1996 to 2007, since that designation, Duke has won two additional national titles in 2010 and 2015. The January 30 issue of The Trinity Chronicle headlined the new sport on its front page, trinitys first game ended in a loss to Wake Forest, 24–10. The game was played in the Angier B, Duke Gymnasium, later known as The Ark. The Trinity team won its first title in 1920, the championship, by beating the North Carolina State College of Agriculture. Earlier in the season they had beaten the University of North Carolina 19–18 in the first match-up between the two schools, Trinity college then became Duke University. Billy Werber, Class of 1930, became Dukes first All-American in basketball, the Gothic-style West Campus opened that year, with a new gym, later to be named for Coach Card. The Indoor Stadium opened in 1940, initially it was referred to as an Addition to the gymnasium. Part of its cost was paid for with the proceeds from the Duke football teams appearance in the 1938 Rose Bowl, in 1972 it would be named for Eddie Cameron, head coach from 1929 to 1942. In 1952, Dick Groat became the first Duke player to be named National Player of the Year, Duke left the Southern Conference to become a charter member of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953. The Duke team under Vic Bubas made its first appearance in the Final Four in 1963, the next year, Bubas team reached the national title game, losing to the Bruins of UCLA, who claimed 10 titles in the next 12 years. Bob Verga was Dukes star player in 1967, the basketball program won its 1000th game in 1974, making Duke only the eighth school in NCAA history to reach that figure. Gene Banks, Mike Gminski and Jim Spanarkel ran the floor, Mike Krzyzewski has been at Duke since 1980
37.
LSU Tigers basketball
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The LSU Tigers basketball team represents Louisiana State University in NCAA Division I mens college basketball. The Tigers are currently coached by Will Wade and they play their home games in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center located on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The team participates in the Southeastern Conference, LSUs lone defeat came to the Southwest Conference co-champion Rice Owls by a score of 56–47 in Houston in one of LSUs three road games. LSU has claimed a championship for the 1935 season. Rabenhorst also led the Tigers to the 1953 Final Four with a team that finished 22–3 overall and 13–0 in conference play, from 1957–1966, LSU was coached by Jay McCreary and Frank Truitt. They combined for a record of 88–135, significant players included George Nattin, Jr. Press Maravich was head coach from 1966–1972. He had a record of 76–86 at LSU. He led the team to three winning seasons, but did not win an SEC championship or make an NCAA tournament appearance and his 1969–70 team advanced to the NIT Final Four. This era is best known for the exploits of Press Maravichs son, Pete dominated at the collegiate level averaging 44.2 points per game and was named National Player of the Year in 1970. Dale Brown was head LSU basketball coach for 25 years from 1972–1997, during his time at LSU, he led the basketball team to two final fours, four elite 8, five sweet sixteen and thirteen NCAA tournament appearances. He also led the Tigers to four regular season SEC championships, in 1996–97, Dale Brown signed Baton Rouge high school phenom Lester Earl. Earl played just 11 games at LSU before he was suspended and transferred to the University of Kansas soon afterward, while at Kansas, Earl said that an LSU assistant coach gave him money when he was at LSU. The NCAA quickly began an investigation and it found no evidence that Brown or his assistants paid Earl. However, it did find that a former booster paid Earl about $5,000 while he was attending LSU, the basketball team was placed on probation in 1998. In September 2007, Lester Earl issued an apology to Brown, then-assistant head coach Johnny Jones, Earl now claims that the NCAA pressured him into making false claims against Dale Brown or else he would lose years of NCAA eligibility. Earl said, I was pressured into telling them SOMETHING, I was 19 years old at that time. The NCAA intimidated me, manipulated me into making up things and they told me if we dont find any dirt on Coach Brown you wont be allowed to play but one more year at Kansas
38.
Shaquille O'Neal
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Shaquille Rashaun Shaq ONeal, nicknamed Shaq, is a retired American professional basketball player and former rapper who is currently an analyst on the television program Inside the NBA. Listed at 7 ft 1 in tall and weighing 325 pounds, ONeal played for six teams throughout his 19-year NBA career. Following his career at Louisiana State University, ONeal was drafted by the Orlando Magic with the first overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft. He quickly became one of the best centers in the league, winning Rookie of the Year in 1992–93, after four years with the Magic, ONeal signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers. They won three championships in 2000,2001, and 2002. Amid tension between ONeal and Kobe Bryant, ONeal was traded to the Miami Heat in 2004, midway through the 2007–2008 season he was traded to the Phoenix Suns. After a season-and-a-half with the Suns, ONeal was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2009–10 season, ONeal played for the Boston Celtics in the 2010–11 season before retiring. He is one of three players to win NBA MVP, All-Star game MVP and Finals MVP awards in the same year. He ranks 7th all-time in points scored, 5th in field goals, 13th in rebounds, largely due to his ability to dunk the basketball, ONeal also ranks 3rd all-time in field goal percentage. ONeal was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016, in addition to his basketball career, ONeal has released four rap albums, with his first, Shaq Diesel, going platinum. He has appeared in films and has starred in his own reality shows, Shaqs Big Challenge. He currently hosts The Big Podcast with Shaq, ONeal was born on March 6,1972 in Newark, New Jersey, to Lucille ONeal and Joe Toney, an All-State guard in high school who was offered a basketball scholarship to play at Seton Hall. Toney struggled with addiction and was imprisoned for drug possession when ONeal was an infant. Upon his release, he did not resume a place in ONeals life and instead agreed to relinquish his rights to ONeals stepfather, Phillip A. Harrison. ONeal remained estranged from his father for decades, ONeal had not spoken with Toney or expressed an interest in establishing a relationship. On his 1994 rap album, Shaq Fu, The Return, ONeal voiced his feelings of disdain for Toney in the song Biological Didnt Bother, dismissing him with the line Phil is my father. However, ONeals feelings toward Toney mellowed in the years following Harrisons death in 2013, ONeal credits the Boys and Girls Club of America in Newark with giving him a safe place to play and keeping him off the streets. It gave me something to do, he said, id just go there to shoot
39.
Rod Thorn
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Rodney King Rod Thorn is an American basketball executive and a former player and coach. He was a three-time all-state selection and was a two-time High School All-American and he was also a highly regarded high school athlete in baseball. Thorn attended West Virginia University, where he was an All-American guard in basketball, in the 1963 NBA draft, Thorn was the second player selected overall, drafted by the Baltimore Bullets. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team, but was traded by the Bullets following his first season, after brief stints with Detroit and St. Louis, he concluded his career as a player with the Seattle SuperSonics. After retiring, Thorn stayed with the SuperSonics as assistant coach, in 1973, former teammate Kevin Loughery hired Thorn as assistant coach of the New York Nets of the American Basketball Association. The Nets won the 1974 ABA championship, led by Julius Erving, in 1978, Thorn became the general manager of the Chicago Bulls and was instrumental in the teams selection of Michael Jordan in the 1984 draft. He also selected track star Carl Lewis much later in the draft, mostly for publicity purposes. Thorn served briefly as head coach of the Bulls in 1981–82. From 1986 to 2000 Thorn was the NBAs Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations, serving as the leagues chief disciplinarian. Thorn rejoined the Nets organization on June 2,2000, during the 2010 offseason, Rod Thorn announced he would step down from the Nets organization. On August 11,2010, Thorn was hired as president of the 76ers, taking over the title from Ed Stefanski, in 2012, Tony DiLeo was named the teams general manager, but Thorn retained his title as president. On July 10,2013, the NBA announced that Rod Thorn had been named President of Basketball Operations, effective August 1, after Stu Jackson decided to step down. On April 26,2014 Thorn, on behalf of the NBA, the suspension came following an incident in game three of the series, in which Nene was ejected for putting his hands on the head of Bulls player Jimmy Butler
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Joe Dumars
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Joe Dumars III is an American retired basketball player in the National Basketball Association. At 63 Dumars could play either shooting guard or point guard on offense and was an effective defender. He played for the Detroit Pistons from 1985 until 1999, during the late 1980s and early 1990s, Dumars and Isiah Thomas combined to form one of the best backcourts in NBA history. Initially a shooting guard, Dumars moved to point guard following Thomas retirement in 1994, Dumars was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. Dumars served as the President of Basketball Operations for the Detroit Pistons from 2000 to 2014, Dumars was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. Dumars mother, Ophelia, was a custodian at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches while his father, Dumars grew up in an athletic family, but basketball was not his favorite sport as a child. Football was more popular in the region and all five of his brothers were defensive standouts at Natchitoches Central High School and his brother David later played professional football in the USFL. Dumars followed in his footsteps playing defensive back on the football team until junior high school when a big hit on the field directed him toward basketball. Big Joe built a hoop, made of an old bicycle wheel and half of a wooden door, in the Dumars backyard where young Joe spent hours practicing his jump shot. During his four years at McNeese State University, Dumars averaged 22.5 points per game and he finished his college career as the 11th leading scorer in NCAA history. Drafted 18th overall in the first round of the 1985 NBA draft, he played guard for the Detroit Pistons for his entire career, from 1985 to 1999. He won two championships as a player in 1989 and 1990, and was voted the 1989 Finals MVP, according to Jordan, Dumars was the best defender he ever faced in the NBA. During his career, he was selected to the All-Star team six times, in 14 seasons, all with the Pistons, Dumars scored 16,401 points, handed out 4,612 assists, grabbed 2,203 rebounds and recorded 902 steals. Although he was a member of the famed Bad Boys teams known for their play and demeanor, he became personally known for his quiet. He was the first recipient of the NBA Sportsmanship Award which has named the Joe Dumars Trophy. His number 4 jersey was retired by the Pistons in March 2000 and he has the distinction as being the only Pistons player to ever wear this number. He played for the US national team in the 1994 FIBA World Championship, Dumars became the Pistons President of Basketball Operations prior to the 2000–01 season. During the 2005–06 season, Detroit recorded its best regular-season record in franchise history, the Pistons made it to the Eastern Conference Finals six straight years under Dumars watch
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