1.
Eastern Time Zone
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Places that use Eastern Standard Time when observing standard time are 5 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time. Eastern Daylight Time, when observing daylight saving time DST is 4 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time, in the northern parts of the time zone, on the second Sunday in March, at 2,00 a. m. EST, clocks are advanced to 3,00 a. m. EDT leaving a one-hour gap, on the first Sunday in November, at 2,00 a. m. EDT, clocks are moved back to 1,00 a. m, southern parts of the zone do not observe daylight saving time. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 ruled that daylight saving time would run from the last Sunday of April until the last Sunday in October in the United States, the act was amended to make the first Sunday in April the beginning of daylight saving time as of 1987. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended daylight saving time in the United States beginning in 2007. So local times change at 2,00 a. m. EST to 3,00 a. m. EDT on the second Sunday in March, in Canada, the time changes as it does in the United States. However, a handful of communities unofficially observe Eastern Time because they are part of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area – Phenix City, Smiths Station, Lanett, and Valley. Florida, All of Florida is in the Eastern Time zone except for the portion of the Florida Panhandle west of the Apalachicola River, as the Eastern–Central zone boundary approaches the Gulf of Mexico, it follows the Bay/Gulf county line. Indiana, All of Indiana observes Eastern Time except for six counties in the Chicago metropolitan area. Kentucky, Roughly, the half of the state, including all of metropolitan Louisville, is in the Eastern Time Zone. Historically the entire state observed Central Time, when daylight saving time was first introduced, the Lower Peninsula remained on DST after it formally ended, effectively re-aligning itself into the Eastern Time Zone. The Upper Peninsula continued to observe Central Time until 1972, when all, Tennessee, Most of the eastern third of Tennessee is legally on Eastern Time. Eastern Time is also used somewhat as a de facto official time for all of the United States, since it includes the capital and the largest city. Major professional sports leagues also post all game times in Eastern time, for example, a game time between two teams from Pacific Time Zone will still be posted in Eastern time. Most cable television and national broadcast networks advertise airing times in Eastern time, national broadcast networks generally have two primary feeds, an eastern feed for Eastern and Central time zones, and a tape-delayed western feed for the Pacific Time Zone. The prime time is set on Eastern and Pacific at 8,00 p. m. with the Central time zone stations receiving the eastern feed at 7,00 p. m. local time. Mountain Time Zone stations receive a separate feed at 7,00 p. m. local time, as Arizona does not observe daylight saving time, during the summer months, it has its own feed at 7,00 p. m. local time
2.
Madison Square Garden
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Madison Square Garden, often called MSG or simply The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Located in Midtown Manhattan between 7th and 8th Avenues from 31st to 33rd Streets, it is situated atop Pennsylvania Station. The Garden is used for basketball and ice hockey, as well as boxing, concerts, ice shows, circuses, professional wrestling and other forms of sports. It is close to other midtown Manhattan landmarks, including the Empire State Building, Koreatown and it is home to the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League, the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association, and residency to singer-songwriter Billy Joel. The Garden opened on February 11,1968, and is the oldest major sporting facility in the New York metropolitan area and it is the oldest arena in the National Hockey League and the second-oldest arena in the National Basketball Association. MSG is the fourth-busiest music arena in the world in terms of sales, behind The O2 Arena. At a total construction cost of approximately $1.1 billion and it is part of the Pennsylvania Plaza office and retail complex. Several other operating entities related to the Garden share its name, Madison Square is formed by the intersection of 5th Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in Manhattan. It was named after James Madison, fourth President of the United States, two venues called Madison Square Garden were located just northeast of the square, the first from 1879 to 1890, and the second from 1890 to 1925. The first Garden, leased to P. T. Barnum, had no roof and was inconvenient to use during inclement weather, Madison Square Garden II was designed by noted architect Stanford White. The new building was built by a syndicate which included J. P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, P. T. Barnum, Darius Mills, James Stillman and W. W. Astor. It was 200 feet by 485 feet, and the main hall and it had a 1, 200-seat theatre, a concert hall with a capacity of 1,500, the largest restaurant in the city and a roof garden cabaret. A third Madison Square Garden opened in a new location, on 8th Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, from 1925 to 1968, groundbreaking on the third Madison Square Garden took place on January 9,1925. Designed by the theater architect Thomas W. Lamb, it was built at the cost of $4.75 million in 249 days by boxing promoter Tex Rickard. The arena was 200 feet by 375 feet, with seating on three levels, and a capacity of 18,496 spectators for boxing. Demolition commenced in 1968 after the opening of the current Garden and it finished up in early 1969, and the site is now where One Worldwide Plaza is located. The new structure was one of the first of its kind to be built above the platforms of a railroad station. It was an engineering feat constructed by Robert E. McKee of El Paso, public outcry over the demolition of the Pennsylvania Station structure—an outstanding example of Beaux-Arts architecture—led to the creation of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
3.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
4.
NBA on ESPN
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The NBA on ESPN refers to the presentation of National Basketball Association games on the ESPN family of networks. The ESPN cable network first televised NBA games from 1983 to 1984, ESPN2 began airing a limited schedule of NBA games in 2002. ESPN on ABC began televising NBA games in 2006, on October 6,2014, ESPN and the NBA renewed their agreement through 2025. ESPN on ABC is the broadcast home of the NBA, ESPN airs NBA games on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Most NBA games on the ESPN cable network air on Fridays at 8,00 p. m ET and 7,30 p. m PT as part of Coast to Coast doubleheaders. Games on Wednesdays are mostly single games, televised at 9,00 p. m ET, ESPNs presentation of games is referred to as NBA. The telecast also was known as ESPNBA. Unless specified, ESPNs NBA broadcasts are not exclusive, in local sports networks may still air the game in their home market. Likewise the first round coverage is not exclusive. Most Conference Final games are televised on ESPN itself, with usually Game 4, outside of the Conference Finals, ESPN airs playoff games only on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. ESPN airs the NBA Draft each season, as well as the NBA Draft Lottery, the game between the New York Knicks and the Miami Heat on December 17,2010, was the first NBA game ever aired on 3D, courtesy of ESPN 3D. The network aired 14 NBA regular season games, as well as playoff games. Starting with 2006–07 NBA season, ESPN used ABCs theme music from two years prior, making it the time the network had used its corporate siblings NBA theme. Following the branding merge, ESPN began to use variations of the used on ESPN Monday Night Football for their NBA broadcasts. With an updated graphics package debuting on Monday Night Football during the 2008-09 season, on March 14,2010, the graphics were refreshed and used in the NBA on ABC Sunday Showcase. ESPN then used the refreshed graphics for their NBA telecasts the following day, starting with the 2010-11 season, timeout indicators were added to the score banner, adopting the feature from ESPNs college football broadcasts. Beginning with the 2011 NBA Playoffs, a composition of ESPNs theme Fast Break was introduced for the postseason. The score banner and other graphics retained their design, and the composition of Fast Break remained as the theme song for the regular season
5.
Blake Griffin
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Blake Austin Griffin is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association. He played college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners, when he was named the Consensus National Player of the Year as a sophomore, Griffin was selected first overall by the Clippers in the 2009 NBA draft, and has since been a five-time NBA All-Star and a four-time All-NBA selection. Griffin had a high school career at Oklahoma Christian School, winning state titles each of his four years under his father. Griffin played two seasons of college ball for the Sooners before entering the 2009 NBA draft, when he was selected by the Clippers, during the final pre-season game of 2009, he broke his left kneecap, had surgery, and missed the entire 2009–10 season. Griffin made his NBA debut as a rookie the following season, in which he was selected as an All-Star, won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, in 2011, Sports Illustrated called him one of the NBAs 15 Greatest Rookies of All Time. Griffin was born on March 16,1989, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to Tommy Griffin, who is of Afro-Haitian descent, and Gail Griffin, as a result, Griffin is bi-racial. His father was a center and track standout at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Griffin and his brother, Taylor Griffin, were home-schooled by their mother from first grade until Taylor was in the tenth grade. Growing up, Griffin was good friends with future NFL quarterback Sam Bradford, bradfords father owned a gym where Blake and Taylor played basketball. Before deciding to focus on basketball, Griffin also played baseball as a first baseman and football as a receiver, safety. In 2003, Griffin followed his brother to Oklahoma Christian School and they played together during the 2003–04 and 2004–05 high school seasons, winning two state basketball championships. In his freshman year, the Oklahoma Christian Saints posted a perfect 29–0 season and won the Class 3A boys state championship game at the State Fair Arena against Riverside Indian School, 55–50. In Griffins sophomore year, the Saints repeated as Class 3A state champions, defeating Sequoyah-Tahlequah 51–34, the team finished the season with a 24–2 record, with Griffin averaging 13.6 points per game. He was later named to the Little All-City All-State team in what was his high school season with his brother. Taylor went on to accept a scholarship to college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners. During the summer of 2005, Blake was a member of the Athletes First AAU team, where he played against Kevin Durant and Ty Lawsons AAU team, during Griffins junior season, the Oklahoma Christian basketball team was moved down to Class 2A from Class 3A. As he began his season with the Saints, he was quickly developing as a player. He scored 22 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and recorded 6 blocks in the finals as Oklahoma Christian defeated Washington High School, 57–40
6.
Los Angeles Clippers
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The Los Angeles Clippers, often abbreviated as the LA Clippers, are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Western Conference Pacific Division. The franchise was founded in 1970 as the Buffalo Braves, one of three teams to join the NBA that year. The Braves moved from Buffalo, New York to San Diego in 1978, in 1984, the Clippers moved to Los Angeles. Through much of its history, the failed to see significant regular season or playoff success. The Clippers fortunes turned in the early 2010s with the acquisition of core players Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and Chris Paul. In 2013, the franchise won its first division title, as the made the playoffs for the ninth time in franchise history. They repeated as champions in 2014. They played their games at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, along with another Buffalo team that would begin play that year. After two bad seasons, the Braves fortunes started to change under coach Jack Ramsay and star forward/center Bob McAdoo, McAdoo led the NBA in scoring three consecutive seasons and was named the leagues MVP in the 1974–75 season. The Braves qualified for the three times in a row, losing thrice to the eventual Eastern Conference champions. As a result, after an attempt to sell the team to an owner who intended to move it to South Florida. Brown, Jr. who decimated the roster, traded away all of its stars. Eventually in 1978, Brown dealt with Celtics owner Irv Levin so they would trade franchise ownerships, southern California resident Levin then decided to move the Braves to San Diego, something the league would have never allowed him to do with the Celtics. In 1978, San Diego welcomed the relocation of the Buffalo Braves franchise because the city had lost their Rockets to Houston seven years earlier, when the Clippers moved to Los Angeles in 1984, they kept their nickname. Playing at the San Diego Sports Arena, the Clippers posted a record of 43–39 in their first season in California under new head coach Gene Shue and it would be the Clippers last winning season for 13 years. It was also in that first season in southern California that long-time announcer Ralph Lawler began his association with the club. The 1979–80 season saw the Clippers begin to struggle despite adding center Bill Walton, Walton missed 68 games due to foot injuries
7.
2008 NBA draft
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The 2008 NBA Draft was held on June 26,2008 at the Washington Mutual Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. According to the NBA,44 players,39 collegiate players and five international players and these numbers do not include players who are automatically eligible for the draft. The Chicago Bulls, who had a 1.7 percent probability of obtaining the first selection, won the NBA Draft Lottery on May 22. The Bulls winning of the lottery was the second-largest upset in NBA Draft Lottery history behind the Orlando Magic, the Miami Heat and the Minnesota Timberwolves obtained the second and third picks respectively. For the first time in history the first three draft picks were all freshmen. Another record was set when twelve freshmen were drafted, ten of whom were drafted in the first round, of the players drafted,29 are forwards,19 are guards, and 12 are centers. The 2008 NBA Draft was the time that the Seattle SuperSonics made an NBA Draft appearance. In early July, the relocated to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Thunder made their first NBA Draft appearance in 2009 and this draft also marked the first time that an NBA D-League player was drafted. He had represented the United States internationally at youth level in 2007, since 2010, he has represented Jamaica internationally. ^ d, Kosta Koufos was born and raised in the United States to Greek parents. He has represented Greece internationally. ^ e, Serge Ibaka and he has represented Spain internationally since 2011. ^ f, Donté Greene was born in West Germany to American parents. He has represented the United States internationally at youth level. ^ g and these players were not selected in the 2008 NBA Draft but have played in the NBA. The first 14 picks in the draft belonged to teams that had missed the playoffs, the lottery determined the three teams that would obtain the first three picks on the draft. The remaining first-round picks and the second-round picks were assigned to teams in order of their win-loss record in the previous season. As it is commonplace in the event of identical win-loss records, the lottery was held on May 20,2008, in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Chicago Bulls, who had the ninth-worst record, won the lottery with just a 1. 7% chance to win, the Miami Heat and Minnesota Timberwolves, with the worst and third-worst records, respectively, won the second and third picks. B12 Portland acquired the rights to 11th pick Jerryd Bayless and Ike Diogu from Indiana in exchange for the draft rights to 13th pick Brandon Rush, Jarrett Jack. The trade was finalized on July 9,2008, the trade was finalized on July 9,2008
8.
2010 NBA draft
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The 2010 NBA draft was held on June 24,2010, at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The draft, which started at 7,00 pm Eastern Daylight Time, was broadcast in the United States on ESPN, in this draft, National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur U. S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. This draft set a record with five players being drafted from the school in the first round. The players were John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Patrick Patterson, Eric Bledsoe and this draft also marked the second time that an NBA D-League player was drafted, with the first case coming in 2008. The Washington Wizards, who won the lottery on May 18,2010. The Philadelphia 76ers, who beat the odds in the draft lottery to obtain the second pick. The New Jersey Nets, who had the worst win-loss record in the previous season, the 2010 NBA draft is the last draft conducted at Madison Square Garden until 2014. These players were not selected in the 2010 NBA Draft, but have played in at least one NBA game, the basic eligibility rules for the draft are, All drafted players must be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft. In terms of dates, players eligible for the 2010 draft must be born on or before December 31,1991, the basic requirement for automatic eligibility for a U. S. player is the completion of his college eligibility. Players who meet the CBA definition of international players are eligible if their 22nd birthday falls during or before the calendar year of the draft. U. S. players who were at least one year removed from their high school graduation and have played professionally with a team outside the NBA were also automatically eligible. Former high school player Latavious Williams meets these criteria, having graduated high school in 2009, skipped college basketball, a player who is not automatically eligible must declare his eligibility for the draft by notifying the NBA offices in writing no later than 60 days before the draft. For the 2010 draft, this fell on April 25. Under NCAA rules that take effect with this draft, they only had until May 8 to withdraw from the draft, previously, players who declared for the draft could withdraw as late as 10 days before the draft and still maintain college eligibility. This year, a total of 80 collegiate players and 23 international players declared as early entry candidates, at the withdrawal deadline,48 early entry candidates withdrew from the draft, leaving 50 collegiate players and five international players as the early entry candidates for the draft. A player who has hired an agent will forfeit his college eligibility. Also, while the CBA allows a player to withdraw from the draft twice and this second provision affected Mac Koshwal, Gani Lawal, and Patrick Patterson, all of whom declared for and withdrew from the 2009 draft. The lottery determined the three teams that would obtain the first three picks on the draft, the remaining first-round picks and the second-round picks were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win-loss record in the previous season
9.
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
10.
College basketball
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The history of basketball is traced back to a YMCA International Training School, known today as Springfield College, located in Springfield, Massachusetts. The date of the first formal basketball game played at the Springfield YMCA Training School under Naismiths rules is generally given as December 21,1891, Basketball began to spread to college campuses by 1893. Governing bodies in Canada include U Sports and the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association, each of these various organizations are subdivided into from one to three divisions based on the number and level of scholarships that may be provided to the athletes. The first basketball games in the United States were played at YMCAs in 1891 and 1892, by 1893, the game was being played on college campuses. The original rules for basketball were very different from todays modern rules of the sport, in the beginning James Naismith established 13 original rules, The ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands. The ball may be batted in any direction with one or both hands, but never with the fist, a player cannot run with the ball. The player must throw it from the spot on which he catches it, the ball must be held by the hands. The arms or body must not be used for holding it, no shouldering, holding, pushing, striking, or tripping in any way of an opponent is allowed. A foul will be called when a player is seen striking at the ball with the fist, or when violations of rules 3 and 4, if either side makes three consecutive fouls it shall count as a goal for the opponents. A goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from the grounds into the basket and stays there, if the ball rests on the edges, and the opponent moves the basket, it shall count as a goal. When the ball out of bounds, it shall be thrown into the field. In case of dispute the umpire shall throw it straight into the field, the thrower-in is allowed five seconds. If he holds it longer, it shall go to the opponent, if any side persists in delaying the game, the umpire shall call a foul on them. The umpire shall be the judge of the men and shall note the fouls and he shall have power to disqualify men according to rule 5. The referee shall be judge of the ball and shall decide when the ball is in play, in bounds, to side it belongs. He shall decide when a goal has been made and keep account of the goals, the time shall be two fifteen-minute halves, with five minutes rest between. The side making the most goals in that time shall be declared the winner, the following is a list of some of the major NCAA Basketball rule changes with the year they went into effect. The first known college to field a team against an outside opponent was Vanderbilt University
11.
NBA draft lottery
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The NBA Draft lottery started in 1985. In the NBA draft, the teams obtain the rights to amateur U. S. college basketball players and other eligible players, the lottery winner would get the first selection in the draft. The term lottery pick denotes a draft pick whose position is determined through the lottery, under the current rules, only the top three picks are decided by the lottery, and are chosen from the 14 teams that do not make the playoffs. The team with the worst record, or the team holds the draft rights of the team with the worst record, has the best chance to obtain a higher draft pick. The lottery does not determine the order in the subsequent rounds of the draft. In the earlier drafts, the teams would draft in order of their win-loss record. However, a special territorial-pick rule allowed a team to draft a player from its local area, if a team decided to use its territorial pick, it forfeited its first-round pick in the draft. The territorial pick rules remained until the NBA revamped the system in 1966. In 1966, the NBA introduced a coin flip between the worst teams in each division to determine who would obtain the first overall draft pick. The team who lost the coin flip would get the second pick, in this system, the second-worst team would never have a chance to obtain the first pick if it was in the same division as the worst team. The coin flip meant that teams had an equal chance to draft first. The coin-flip system remained in operation until 1984, the lottery system involved a random drawing of an envelope from a hopper. Inside each of the envelopes was the team names. The team whose envelope was drawn first would get the first pick, the process was then repeated until the rest of the lottery picks were determined. In this system, each team had an equal chance to obtain the first pick. The rest of the first-round picks were determined in order of the win-loss record. Starting from 1987, the NBA modified the system so that only the first three picks were determined by the lottery. After the three envelopes were drawn, the remaining teams would select in reverse order of their win-loss record
12.
University of Oklahoma
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The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma, in Fall 2016 the university had 31,250 students enrolled, most located at its main campus in Norman. Employing nearly 3,000 faculty members, the school offers 152 baccalaureate programs,160 masters programs,75 doctorate programs, David Lyle Boren, a former U. S. Senator and Oklahoma Governor, has served as the president since 1994. The school is ranked first among universities in enrollment of National Merit Scholars. Located on its Norman campus are two prominent museums, the Fred Jones Jr, Museum of Art, specializing in French Impressionism and Native American artwork, and the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, specializing in the natural history of Oklahoma. The school, well known for its programs, has won 7 NCAA Division I National Football Championships. Its baseball team has won 2 NCAA national championships and the softball team won the national championship in 2000,2013. Oklahomas admission into the union in 1907 led to the renaming of the Norman Territorial University as the University of Oklahoma, Norman residents donated 407 acres of land for the university 0.5 miles south of the Norman railroad depot. The universitys first president ordered the planting of trees before the construction of the first campus building because he could not visualize a treeless university seat. Landscaping remains important to the university, the universitys first president, David Ross Boyd, arrived in Norman in August 1892, and the first students enrolled that year. The university established a School of Pharmacy in 1893 because of demand for pharmacists in the territory. Three years later, the university awarded its first degree to a pharmaceutical chemist, the Rock Building in downtown Norman held the initial classes until the universitys first building opened on September 6,1893. On January 6,1903, the only building burned down. Construction began immediately on a new building, as other towns hoped to capitalize by convincing the university to move. President Boyd and the faculty were not dismayed by the loss, mathematics professor Frederick Elder said, What do you need to keep classes going. Two yards of blackboard and a box of chalk, as a response to the fire, English professor Vernon Louis Parrington created a plan for the future development of the campus. Most of the plan was never implemented, but Parringtons suggestion for the core formed the basis for the North Oval
13.
Tanzania
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Tanzania /ˌtænzəˈniːə/, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in Eastern Africa within the African Great Lakes region. Parts of the country are in Southern Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro, Africas highest mountain, is in northeastern Tanzania. Tanzanias population of 51.82 million is diverse, composed of ethnic, linguistic. Dar es Salaam, the capital, retains most government offices and is the countrys largest city, principal port. Tanzania is a one party dominant state with the Chama Cha Mapinduzi party in power, from its formation until 1992, it was the only legally permitted party in the country. Elections for president and all National Assembly seats were last held in October 2015, the CCM holds approximately 75% of the seats in the assembly. Prehistoric population migrations include Southern Cushitic speakers, who are ancestral to the Iraqw, Gorowa, and Burunge and who moved south from Ethiopia into Tanzania. Based on linguistic evidence, there may also have two movements into Tanzania of Eastern Cushitic people at about 4,000 and 2,000 years ago. These movements took place at about the time as the settlement of the iron-making Mashariki Bantu from West Africa in the Lake Victoria. They brought with them the west African planting tradition and the staple of yams. They subsequently migrated out of these regions across the rest of Tanzania, European colonialism began in mainland Tanzania during the late 19th century when Germany formed German East Africa, which gave way to British rule following World War I. The mainland was governed as Tanganyika, with the Zanzibar Archipelago remaining a separate colonial jurisdiction, following their respective independence in 1961 and 1963, the two entities merged in April 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. Tanzania is mountainous and densely forested in the northeast, where Mount Kilimanjaro is located, three of Africas Great Lakes are partly within Tanzania. To the north and west lie Lake Victoria, Africas largest lake, and Lake Tanganyika, the eastern shore is hot and humid, with the Zanzibar Archipelago just offshore. The Menai Bay Conservation Area is Zanzibars largest marine protected area, over 100 different languages are spoken in Tanzania, making it the most linguistically diverse country in East Africa. Among the languages spoken in Tanzania are all four of Africas language families, Bantu, Cushitic, Nilotic, Swahili and English are Tanzanias official languages. In connection with his Ujamaa social policies, President Nyerere encouraged the use of Swahili, approximately 10% of Tanzanians speak Swahili as a first language, and up to 90% speak it as a second language. Most Tanzanians thus speak both Swahili and a language, many educated Tanzanians are trilingual, also speaking English
14.
Hasheem Thabeet
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Hasheem Thabeet is a Tanzanian professional basketball player who is playing for Mighty Sports. He played college basketball for Connecticut before being drafted second overall in the 2009 NBA draft by the Memphis Grizzlies, Thabeet did not begin to play basketball until the age of 15, when he began to watch pick-up games in Tanzania. When first recruited from Tanzania, Thabeet was fluent in Swahili and he played high school basketball at Cypress Christian School in Houston, Texas where he graduated in 2006. As a freshman for the Connecticut Huskies, he averaged 6.2 points and 3.8 blocks per game, on 3 December 2006, Thabeet tied a UConn record for blocks in a game with 10. Thabeet was named to the 2007 All-Big East Rookie Team, along with teammate Jerome Dyson, as a sophomore, he saw increased minutes and he averaged 10.5 points,7.9 rebounds,4.5 blocks on the season. On 5 January 2008, he tied his career high in blocks with 10 in the Huskies 73–67 loss at University of Notre Dame, Thabeet was named Big East Defensive Player of the Year and to the All-Big East second team. As a junior, Thabeet emerged on the scene, averaging 13.6 points and 10.8 rebounds. He earned his first career triple-double against Providence College on 31 January 2009 and he finished with 152 blocks on the season. He was named Big East Defensive Player of the Year and was co-Big East Player of the Year with Pitts DeJuan Blair and he was named second team All-America and National Defensive Player of the Year. Thabeet surpassed the 1, 000-point mark against Purdue on 26 March 2009 and he was the third UConn player that season to do so. Thabeet helped lead UConn to their first Final Four appearance since 2004, in April 2009, Thabeet declared for the NBA draft, foregoing his final year of college eligibility. Thabeet was selected with the second pick in 2009 NBA draft by the Memphis Grizzlies. On 13 December 2009, he had a season-high five blocks, on February 25,2010, he was assigned to the Dakota Wizards of the NBA Development League, becoming the tallest and then-highest drafted player to be sent to the D-League. On 8 March 2010, he was recalled by the Grizzlies, on February 24,2011, Thabeet was traded, along with a future first round pick, to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Shane Battier and Ish Smith. On 21 March 2011, he was assigned with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, on 11 April 2011, he was recalled by the Rockets. On March 15,2012, Thabeet was traded, along with Jonny Flynn, on July 11,2012, Thabeet signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder. On 26 November 2012, in a 114–69 win over the Charlotte Bobcats, on August 26,2014, Thabeet was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for a trade exception and a 2015 protected second round draft pick. On September 1,2014, he was waived by the 76ers, on September 25,2014, Thabeet signed with the Detroit Pistons
15.
University of Connecticut
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The University of Connecticut is a land grant public research university in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881, and is also a sea-grant university, the university serves more than 32,000 students on its five campuses, including more than 8,000 graduate students in multiple programs. UConn is one of the institutions of the Hartford, Connecticut/Springfield, Massachusetts regional economic. UConn is a member of Universitas 21, a network of 24 research-intensive universities. UConn is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, UConn was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two brothers who donated the land for the school. In 1893, the became a land grant college. In 1939, the name was changed to the University of Connecticut, over the next decade, social work, nursing, and graduate programs were established, and the schools of law and pharmacy were absorbed into the university. During the 1960s, UConn Health was established for new medical and dental schools, John Dempsey Hospital opened in Farmington in 1975. Competing in the American Athletic Conference as the Huskies, UConn has been successful in their mens and womens basketball programs. The Huskies have won 21 NCAA championships, UConn was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School. It was named after Charles and Augustus Storrs, brothers who donated the land for the school as well as initial funding. Women began attending classes in 1891 and were admitted in 1893. In 1899, the name changed again to Connecticut Agricultural College, in 1933, to Connecticut State College, in 1940, the school was first divided into individual colleges and schools, reflecting its new university status. This was also the year the School of Social Work and School of Nursing were established, the graduate program was also started at this time, and the schools of law and pharmacy were absorbed into the university. Ph. D. s have been awarded since 1949, during the 1960s, UConn Health was established in Farmington as a home for the new School of Medicine and School of Dental Medicine. John Dempsey Hospital opened in Farmington in 1975 and has operated by UConn ever since. In 1995, a program called UConn 2000 was passed by the Connecticut General Assembly. This 10-year program set aside $1 billion to upgrade facilities, add faculty
16.
Memphis Grizzlies
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The Memphis Grizzlies are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association as a team of the leagues Western Conference Southwest Division. The Grizzlies play their games at FedExForum. The team is owned by Robert Pera, the Grizzlies are the only team in the major professional North American sports leagues based in the city of Memphis. The team was established as the Vancouver Grizzlies, an expansion team that joined the NBA for the 1995–96 season. After the 2000–01 NBA season concluded, the Grizzlies moved to Memphis, the Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. They were part of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association, the team was established in 1995, along with the Toronto Raptors, as part of the NBAs expansion into Canada. Following the 2000–01 season, the relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The Grizzlies played their games at General Motors Place for the entirety of their six seasons in Vancouver. The Vancouver Grizzlies applied with the NBA to relocate to Memphis on March 26,2001, Memphis became the easternmost city in the Western Conference. In their first three seasons in Memphis, the Grizzlies played their games at the Pyramid Arena. In the 2001 NBA draft, the Atlanta Hawks chose Pau Gasol as the 3rd overall pick, forward Shane Battier was selected with the 6th pick in the same draft by the Vancouver Grizzlies. They also acquired Jason Williams from the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Mike Bibby that same year, after the Grizzlies first season in Memphis, Gasol won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. The Grizzlies also drafted Shane Battier, who became an unofficial spokesman for the team. However, despite the strong draft class, general manager Billy Knight was let go, during the 2002–03 season, Hubie Brown was hired to coach the Grizzlies. They also won a then record 50 games under Gasol and Williams, in the playoffs they faced the San Antonio Spurs, who swept them out of the playoffs in four games. Brown stepped down as coach during the 2004–05 NBA season. At the time of his resignation, the Grizzlies had a record but West hired TNT analyst
17.
James Harden
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James Edward Harden Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association. Harden played college basketball for Arizona State, where he was named a consensus All-American, Harden was selected with the third overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder. In 2012, he was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year with the Thunder, Harden was traded to Houston prior to the 2012–13 NBA season. Upon joining the Rockets, Harden became one of the NBAs most prolific scorers and earned recognition as the best shooting guard in the NBA, as well as one of the top overall players in the league. He has earned All-Star nods five times, and has earned All-NBA Team honors three times as well – once to the All-NBA third team and twice to the All-NBA first team. In 2015, Harden was awarded the first National Basketball Players Association MVP Award, Harden is a two-time member of the United States national basketball team, winning gold medals in both the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2014 FIBA World Cup. Harden attended Artesia High School in Lakewood, California, in his sophomore year, he averaged 13.2 points as Artesia went 28–5. He improved his stats to 18.8 points,7.7 boards and 3.5 assists in his season and led Artesia to the California state title. Artesia repeated as champions in Hardens final year after going 33–2. Harden had similar stats as during the season,18.8 points,7.9 rebounds. He was named a McDonalds All-American, and also earned second-team Parade All-American honors and he also helped his AAU team, Pump-N-Run Elite, to the 2006 Las Vegas Adidas Super 64 championship. Harden had 34 points in the victory over a DC Assault team which included Michael Beasley, Nolan Smith, in the game against Houston Hoops, played on the same day, Harden had 33 points. In the final, Pump-N-Run Elite beat Kevin Loves Southern California All-Stars, entering Hardens freshman campaign, Arizona State was picked to finish ninth in the Pac-10 Conference. Behind Hardens 17.8 points,5.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game and they were considered a bubble team for the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Left out of the NCAA tournament, they were selected to the 2008 NIT field and defeated Alabama State, after his freshman year, Harden was named first team All-Pac-10 and was named to the conference all-freshman team. Harden was also named first team All-District by the NABC and the USBWA, entering his sophomore year, Harden appeared on many pre-season All-American lists and appeared on the cover of the Sports Illustrated college basketball preview issue. He was named to the Wooden Award preseason watch list, on November 30,2008, Harden scored a career-high 40 points in an 88–58 victory over UTEP. Harden finished his campaign with averages of 20.1 points,5.6 rebounds
18.
Oklahoma City Thunder
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The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Thunder competes in the National Basketball Association as a member of the leagues Western Conference Northwest Division, the team plays its home games at Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Thunders NBA Development League affiliate is the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder is the only team in the major professional North American sports leagues based in the state of Oklahoma. The team was established as the Seattle SuperSonics, an expansion team that joined the NBA for the 1967–68 season. The SuperSonics moved in 2008 after a settlement was reached between the group led by Clay Bennett and lawmakers in Seattle, Washington following a lawsuit. In Seattle, the SuperSonics qualified for the NBA playoffs 22 times, won their division six times, in Oklahoma City, the Thunder qualified for their first playoff berth during the 2009–10 season. The Thunders previous incarnation, the Seattle SuperSonics, were formed in 1967, in their 41 seasons in Seattle, the SuperSonics compiled a 1745–1585 win–loss record in the regular season and went 107–110 in the playoffs. The franchises titles include three Western Conference championships and one NBA title in 1979, the sale of the SuperSonics and Storm was approved by NBA owners the following October. In 2007, Bennett announced that the franchise would move to Oklahoma City as soon as the lease with KeyArena expired. In June 2008, a lawsuit brought by the city of Seattle against Bennett due to his attempts to break the two years of the Sonics lease at KeyArena went to federal court. Nearly a month later, the two reached a settlement agreement. The terms awarded the city $45 million to get out of the lease at KeyArena. On September 3,2008, the name, logo. The name Thunder was chosen in reference to Oklahomas location in Tornado Alley and Oklahoma City as the home of the U. S. Armys 45th Infantry Division, the Thunder participated in the Orlando Pro Summer League featuring their second-year players, potential free agents and rookies. The players wore black and white jerseys reading OKC-NBA against an outline of a basketball. The Thunder played several games before the 2008–2009 regular season. The Thunder made their first appearance in Billings, Montana on October 8,2008 in an 88–82 preseason loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Thunder played their first Ford Center game on October 14 against the Los Angeles Clippers. In their regular-season home opener, the Thunder faced the Milwaukee Bucks, earl Watson scored the first points of the season with a layup
19.
Sacramento Kings
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The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the team in the major professional North American sports leagues located in Sacramento. The team play its games at the Golden 1 Center. The Kings are the oldest franchise in the NBA, and one of the oldest continuously operating professional basketball franchises in the nation and they originated in Rochester, New York as the Rochester Seagrams in 1923 and joined the National Basketball League in 1945 as the Rochester Royals. They jumped to the Basketball Association of America, forerunner of the NBA, as the Royals, the team was often successful on the court, winning the NBA championship in 1951. However, they found it difficult to turn a profit in the comparatively small market of Rochester. In 1972, the relocated to Kansas City, Missouri. In 1975, the Kings ceased playing home games in Omaha, the team again failed to find success in that market, and moved to Sacramento in 1985. The Royals defected to the NBLs rival, the Basketball Association of America, in 1948. In 1949, as a result of that absorption of the NBL by the BAA, the Royals became members of the newly formed NBA along with the Fort Wayne Pistons, Minneapolis Lakers. A year later, the BAA absorbed the remaining NBL teams to become the National Basketball Association, the move to the BAA took away Rochesters profitable exhibition schedule, and placed it in the same Western Division that Minneapolis was in. Of the two best teams in pro basketball, only one of them could play in the finals from 1949 to 1954. Minneapolis, with George Mikan, was almost always a little better at playoff time than the Royals, Harrison knew that the NBA was outgrowing Rochester, and spent most of the 1950s looking for a buyer for his team. The Royals won the NBA title in 1951 by defeating the New York Knicks 4 games to 3 and it is the only NBA championship in the franchises history. However, the title did not translate into profit for the Royals, the roster turned over in 1955, except for Bobby Wanzer, the team moved to the larger Rochester War Memorial. Now a losing team filled with rookies, the Royals still did not turn a profit, meanwhile, the NBA was putting pressure on Harrison to sell or relocate his team to a larger city. With this in mind, the 1956–57 season was the Royals last in Rochester, in April 1957, the Harrison brothers moved the Royals to Cincinnati
20.
Tyreke Evans
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Tyreke Jamir Evans is an American professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association. He played college basketball at the University of Memphis and was selected by the Kings with the 4th overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft. Evans was the 2010 NBA Rookie of the Year winner and was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans in 2013, Evans grew up in Chester, Pennsylvania, and was mainly raised by his three older brothers. He attended American Christian Academy in Aston, Pennsylvania, and by his sophomore year began drawing comparisons to NBA All-Star Tracy McGrady, as a senior, he averaged 32.1 points,8.8 rebounds,5.7 assists and 4.3 steals. He was named the MVP of the McDonalds High School All-American Game and he was also a first-team Parade All-American. At the age of 16, he was featured in the documentary Gunning for That #1 Spot directed by Adam MCA Yauch of the Beastie Boys, Evans was chosen to be the keeper of the SLAM Magazine High School Diary for the 2008 season. Considered a five-star recruit by Rivals. com, Evans was listed as the No.3 point guard, in April 2008, Evans announced that he would attend the University of Memphis, after also considering Villanova University and the University of Texas. Evans transitioned from playing small forward in high school to guard in college and he struggled at times at the beginning of his freshman season at the shooting guard position. This continued until coach John Calipari inserted him as the point guard in the 11th game of the season. In 33 minutes, Evans nearly put up a triple-double, with 14 points,10 rebounds, the Tigers would not lose another game until falling to the Missouri Tigers in the NCAA Tournament. Evans was named the Conference USA Rookie of the Week eight times, Evans was the only freshman finalist for the 2009 United States Basketball Writers Associations national player of the year award, named in honor of Oscar Robertson. On March 31,2009, Evans declared himself eligible for the 2009 NBA draft, on June 25,2009, he was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the fourth overall pick. On December 1,2009, Evans was named NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month for games played from the beginning of the season through November. During that time, he averaged 18.8 points,5.0 rebounds,4.7 assists, on December 21,2009, he was instrumental in leading the Kings back from a 35-point deficit to beat the Chicago Bulls, 102–98. Evans scored 9 of the Kings last 11 points, single-handedly outscoring the Bulls in the 4th quarter, on January 4,2010, Evans was named Western Conference Rookie of the Month for the second straight month. On February 12, Evans won the 2010 Rookie/Sophomore Game MVP award after recording 26 points,6 rebounds,5 assists, in an act of sportsmanship, he chose to share the award with DeJuan Blair, who had scored 22 points and pulled down 23 rebounds. On March 11,2010, Evans recorded his first career triple-double in a win against the Toronto Raptors on Rally for RekeROY night, Evans scored 19 points,10 assists and 10 rebounds. Evans became just the player in NBA history to average at least 20 points,5 rebounds and 5 assists in his rookie year, joining Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan
21.
NBA Rookie of the Year Award
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The National Basketball Associations Rookie of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association award given to the top rookie of the regular season. Initiated following the 1952–53 NBA season, it confers the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy, the winner is selected by a panel of United States and Canadian sportswriters and broadcasters, each casting first, second, and third place votes. The player with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, the most recent Rookie of the Year winner is Karl-Anthony Towns. Twenty-one winners were drafted first overall, fourteen winners have also won the NBA Most Valuable Player award in their careers, Wilt Chamberlain and Wes Unseld earning both honors the same season. Nineteen of the forty two non-active winners have been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Three seasons had joint winners—Dave Cowens and Geoff Petrie in the 1970–71 season, Grant Hill and Jason Kidd in the 1994–95 season, five players won the award unanimously – Ralph Sampson, David Robinson, Blake Griffin, Damian Lillard, and Karl-Anthony Towns. Prior to the 1952–53 season, the Rookie of the Year was selected by newspaper writers, however, National Basketball Association portal NBA Development League Rookie of the Year Award NBA Rookie of the Month Award General Specific
22.
Oscar Robertson
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Oscar Palmer Robertson, nicknamed The Big O, is an American former National Basketball Association player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks. The 6 ft 5 in,205 lb Robertson played point guard and was a 12-time All-Star, 11-time member of the All-NBA Team and he is the only player in NBA history to average a triple-double for a season. In the 1970–71 NBA season, he was a key player on the team brought the Bucks their only NBA title. His playing career, especially during school and college, was plagued by racism. He also was voted one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996 and he was ranked as the 36th best American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN. Robertson was also a part of Robertson v. National Basketball Assn of 1970. Robertson was born in poverty in Charlotte, Tennessee, and grew up in a housing project in Indianapolis. In contrast to other boys who preferred to play baseball. Because his family could not afford to buy a basketball, he learned how to shoot by tossing tennis balls, Robertson attended Crispus Attucks High School, an all-black high school. At Crispus Attucks, Robertson was coached by Ray Crowe, whose emphasis on a sound game had a positive effect on Robertsons style of play. As a sophomore in 1954, he starred on an Attucks team that lost in the finals to eventual state champions Milan. When Robertson was a junior, Crispus Attucks dominated its opposition, going 31–1 and winning the 1955 state championship, the state championships were also the first ever by an Indianapolis team in the Hoosier tourney. After their championship wins, the team was paraded through town in a regular tradition. Robertson stated, thought the blacks were going to tear the town up, Robertson scored 24.0 points per game in his senior season and was named Indiana Mr. Basketball in 1956. After his graduation year, Robertson enrolled at the University of Cincinnati. Robertson continued to excel while at the University of Cincinnati, recording an incredible scoring average of 33.8 points per game, the third highest in college history. In each of his three years, he won the scoring title, was named an All-American, and was chosen College Player of the Year. Robertsons stellar play led the Bearcats to a 79–9 overall record during his three varsity seasons, including two Final Four appearances, however, a championship eluded Robertson, something that would become a repeated occurrence in his professional career
23.
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
24.
LeBron James
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LeBron Raymone James is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association. James has won three NBA championships, four NBA Most Valuable Player Awards, three NBA Finals MVP Awards, two Olympic gold medals, an NBA scoring title, and the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. He has also selected to 13 NBA All-Star teams,12 All-NBA teams, and six All-Defensive teams. James played high school basketball at St. Vincent–St, mary High School in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, where he was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar. After graduating, he was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers as the first overall pick of the 2003 NBA draft, James led Cleveland to the franchises first Finals appearance in 2007, losing to the San Antonio Spurs. In 2010, he left the Cavaliers for the Miami Heat in a highly publicized ESPN special titled The Decision, James played four seasons with the Heat, reaching the Finals all four years and winning back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013. In 2013, he led Miami on a 27-game winning streak, following his final season with the Heat, James opted out of his contract and returned to the Cavaliers. Off the court, James has accumulated wealth and fame from numerous endorsement contracts. His public life has been the subject of scrutiny, and he has been ranked as one of Americas most influential. He has been featured in books, documentaries, and television commercials and he also hosted the ESPY Awards, Saturday Night Live, and appeared in the 2015 film Trainwreck. James was born on December 30,1984 in Akron, Ohio to a 16-year-old mother, Gloria Marie James, who raised James on her own. Growing up, life was often a struggle for the family, as a youth, James played Amateur Athletic Union basketball for the Northeast Ohio Shooting Stars. The team enjoyed success on a local and national level, led by James and his friends Sian Cotton, Dru Joyce III, the players were inseparable and dubbed themselves the Fab Four, promising each other that they would attend high school together. In a move that stirred controversy, they chose to attend St. Vincent–St. Mary High School, a predominately white private Catholic school, as a freshman, James averaged 21 points and 6 rebounds per game for the St. Vincent-St. The Fighting Irish finished the year 27–0, winning the Division III state title, as a sophomore, he averaged 25.2 points and 7.2 rebounds with 5.8 assists and 3.8 steals per game. For some home games during the season, St. Vincent-St, mary played at the University of Akrons 5, 492-seat Rhodes Arena to satisfy ticket demand from alumni, fans, and college and NBA scouts who wanted to see James play. The Fighting Irish finished the season 26–1 and repeated as state champions, for his outstanding play, James was named Ohios Mr. Basketball and was selected to the USA Today All-USA First Team, becoming the first sophomore to do either
25.
Ricky Rubio
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Ricard Ricky Rubio i Vives is a Spanish professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association. Rubio became the youngest player ever to play in the Spanish ACB League on October 15,2005 and he made his EuroLeague debut on October 24,2006, at age 16, becoming the first player born in the 1990s to play in a EuroLeague game. On June 25,2009, he was drafted with the pick in the first round of the 2009 NBA draft by the Timberwolves. The Timberwolves had an agreement in principle with his former Spanish team, DKV Joventut, to buy out his contract, on August 31,2009, Joventut traded the rights to Rubio to FC Barcelona, and Rubio signed a six-year contract with FC Barcelona the following day. On May 31,2011, Rubio reached an agreement with Minnesota to join the Timberwolves for the 2011–12 NBA season, Rubio was regarded by some as the best European guard prospect ever. Rubio has been compared by some to Pete Maravich, with the 5th pick, Minnesota selected Rubio, making him the first player born in the 1990s to be drafted. The Timberwolves had a total of four first round picks in the 2009 NBA draft and they used the 6th and 18th picks in the first round and chose two other point guards, Jonny Flynn from Syracuse and Ty Lawson from North Carolina, surprising many in the NBA. Lawsons draft rights were traded to the Denver Nuggets. The Timberwolves then used the 28th pick to select Wayne Ellington, the following day, Rubios father told a Spanish media outlet that his son might return to Spain for at least one more season. Rubio did not attend a press conference by the Timberwolves. On July 22, the Associated Press reported that Rubio was seeking to leave Joventut, the report indicated that ACB powers FC Barcelona and Real Madrid were both interested in signing Rubio if he could not immediately come to the NBA. The main stumbling block to Rubios NBA move was a clause in the collective bargaining agreement that prohibited a team from paying more than $500,000 toward a players contract buyout. Barça and Real, as ACB clubs, were not subject to this rule, in another development, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported on August 4 that Rubios representatives had been actively seeking endorsement deals in Minnesota to help finance his buyout. However, on August 31,2009, ESPN reported that Rubio would not come to the NBA until 2011 at the earliest. Joventut expressed a willingness to reduce the buyout, and the Timberwolves apparently had a deal to bring him to the NBA, from an 18-year-olds perspective and his familys perspective, it was very nerve-racking. ESPN reported that his original buyout with Joventut was €5.7 million in both 2009 and 2010, barça bought out Rubios contract for €3.5 million, and announced on September 1 that he had signed a six-year deal with the club. The contract gave him the option to go to the NBA after the 2010–11 season, Rubio debuted in the Spanish ACB League in the 2005–06 season with DKV Joventut. He won the EuroChallenge championship with Joventut that year and he led the Spanish ACB League in steals during the 2006–07 season
26.
Minnesota Timberwolves
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The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association, as a club of the leagues Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 1989, the team is owned by Glen Taylor, the Timberwolves play their home games at Target Center, their home since 1990. Despite losing in the first round in their first seven attempts, Garnett was also named the NBA Most Valuable Player Award for that season. The team has been in rebuilding mode for the past decade since missing the playoffs in 2005, Garnett returned to the Timberwolves in a February 2015 trade and finished his career there, retiring in the 2016 offseason. NBA basketball returned to the Twin Cities in 1989 for the first time since the Minneapolis Lakers departed for Los Angeles in 1960. The NBA had granted one of its four new teams on April 22,1987 to original owners Harvey Ratner. The franchise conducted a name the team contest and eventually selected two finalists, Timberwolves and Polars, in December 1986, the team then asked the 842 city councils in Minnesota to select the winner and Timberwolves prevailed by nearly 2-1. The team was named the Minnesota Timberwolves on January 23,1987. Minnesota is home to the largest population of timberwolves in the lower 48 states, the Timberwolves debuted on November 3,1989, losing to the Seattle SuperSonics on the road 106–94. Five days later, they made their debut at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Two nights later on November 10, the Wolves got their first win, the Timberwolves, led by Tony Campbell with 23.2 ppg, went on to a 22–60 record, finishing in sixth place in the Midwest Division. Playing in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, the expansion Timberwolves set an NBA record by drawing over 1 million fans to their home games. This included a crowd of 49,551 on April 17,1990, the next season, the team moved into their permanent home, the Target Center, and improved somewhat, finishing 29–53. However, they fired their coach, Bill Musselman. They fared far worse in the 1991–92 NBA season under Musselmans successor, ex-Celtics coach Jimmy Rodgers, finishing with an NBA-worst 15–67 record. One of the few highlights from that era was when the Target Center served as host of the 1994 All-Star Game where Rider won the Slam Dunk Contest with his between-the-leg East Bay Funk Dunk. As winning basketball continued to elude the Wolves, Ratner and Wolfenson nearly sold the team to New Orleans interests in 1994 before NBA owners rejected the proposed move, eventually, Glen Taylor bought the team and named Kevin McHale general manager
27.
Nikoloz Tskitishvili
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Nikoloz Tskitishvili is a Georgian professional basketball player. He is a 70,245 lb. forward-center, who was selected fifth overall by the Denver Nuggets in the 2002 NBA draft, Tskitishvili has also played for the Georgian national basketball team. From January to July 2002 he played in Italy for Benetton Treviso and he played in 13 games, averaging 6.6 points per game. On February 25,2005, Tskitishvili was traded by the Nuggets to the Golden State Warriors along with Rodney White, in exchange for Eduardo Nájera, Luis Flores, and a 2007 future first-round pick. In three seasons with the Nuggets, Tskitishvili averaged 3.8 points,1.9 rebounds, after playing just 12 games for the Warriors, he signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Timberwolves after playing on their summer league team. He was traded half way through the 2005-06 season to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for a draft pick. On June 30,2006, Tskitishvili was claimed off of waivers by the Portland Trail Blazers and he was waived five days later, after the team announced they would re-sign center Joel Przybilla. On October 2,2006, Tskitishvili was signed by the New York Knicks and was waived on October 25. With career averages of 2.9 points and 1.8 rebounds per game over his first four NBA seasons, ESPN writer Bill Simmons claimed that Tskitishvili is the worst-case scenario for any foreign pick in the NBA. Tskitishvili won a championship in 2012 with Mahram in Irans Superleague after stints in the Italian and he started the 2012-13 season with Irans Foolad Mahan Esfahan, but was released in November 2012. The next month, he signed with Champville from Lebanon’s Division A, on 27 October 2014 he signed for a second stint with Champville. On September 25,2015, Tskitishvili signed with the Los Angeles Clippers, however, he was later waived by the Clippers on October 3,2015. On October 11, he signed with the Fujian Sturgeons of the Chinese Basketball Association, however, he left the team before the season began and signed with Link Tochigi Brex on November 2. On December 24, he left Tochigi Brex after averaging eight points, the next day, he returned to Champville. On April 3,2016, he left Champville and signed with Chemidor Tehran of the Iranian League, NBA. com Profile FIBA Profile Euroleague. net Profile Asia-Basket. com Profile Draftexpress. com Profile NBA Draft Busts
28.
2002 NBA draft
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The 2002 NBA draft was held on June 26,2002, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. In this draft, National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting 57 amateur college basketball players and other eligible players. The draft was broadcast on TNT at 7,30 PM, the NBA announced that about 42 college and high school players, and five international players, had filed as early-entry candidates for the draft. The Bulls and Warriors were second and third, respectively, as punishment for salary-cap violations during the 2000–01 season, the Minnesota Timberwolves forfeited their first-round draft pick. The 2002 draft set a record with 17 international selections, with six coming in the first round alone, although he underwent an intense rehabilitation program, Williams never played a game in the NBA again. When it became clear Williams would not be returning to the Bulls because of his injuries, the Bulls could have voided Williams contract, since riding a motorcycle was contractually prohibited. Instead the Bulls completed a $3 million buyout of the contract instead of having him walk away with nothing and this draft has been deemed as one of the worst of all time, while one sports outlet deemed it THE worst NBA draft ever. These players were not selected in this draft but played at least one game in the NBA
29.
Yao Ming
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Yao Ming is a Chinese retired professional basketball player who played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association. He was selected to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game eight times, at the time of his final season, he was the tallest active player in the NBA, at 2.29 m. He is the player outside of the United States to lead the NBA in All-Star voting. After negotiating with the CBA and the Sharks to secure his release and he reached the NBA Playoffs four times, and the Rockets won a first-round series in the 2009 postseason, their first playoff series victory since 1997. In July 2011, Yao announced his retirement from basketball because of a series of foot. In eight seasons with the Rockets, Yao ranks sixth among franchise leaders in points and total rebounds. Yao is one of Chinas best-known athletes, with sponsorships with major companies. His rookie year in the NBA was the subject of a film, The Year of the Yao, and he co-wrote, along with NBA analyst Ric Bucher. In April 2016, Yao was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, alongside Shaquille ONeal, Yao is the only child of 6 ft 7 in Yao Zhiyuan and 6 ft 3 in Fang Fengdi, both of whom were former professional basketball players. At 11 pounds, Yao weighed more than twice as much as the average Chinese newborn, when Yao was nine years old, he began playing basketball and attended a junior sports school. The following year, Yao measured 5 feet 5 inches and was examined by sports doctors, Yao first tried out for the Shanghai Sharks junior team of the Chinese Basketball Association when he was thirteen years old, and practiced ten hours a day for his acceptance. After playing with the team for four years, Yao joined the senior team of the Sharks. His next season was cut short when he broke his foot for the time in his career. The Sharks made the finals of the CBA in Yaos third season and again the next year, when Wang Zhizhi left the Bayi Rockets to become the first NBA player from China the following year, the Sharks finally won their first CBA championship. During the playoffs in his year with Shanghai, Yao averaged 38.9 points and 20.2 rebounds a game, while shooting 76. 6% from the field. Yao was pressured to enter the NBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yaos earnings, but the contract was later determined to be invalid, when Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as Team Yao. Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall, however, some teams were concerned about Yaos NBA eligibility because of uncertainty over whether the CBA would let Yao play in the United States
30.
Andrea Bargnani
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Andrea Bargnani is an Italian professional basketball player for Baskonia of the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. The 7 ft 0 in power forward-center played for Benetton Treviso in the Italian LBA, Bargnani began his professional basketball career in 2002–03 with Stella Azzurra Roma in the Italian Serie B2, averaging 13.2 points and 4.5 rebounds in 23 games. He then signed with LBA side Benetton Treviso for the 2003–04 season, in 2003–04, he posted averages of 4.2 points and 1.6 rebounds in 10 games for his first LBA season with Benetton. He made eight appearances in the EuroLeague, recording 2.4 points and 1.5 rebounds per outing, incidentally, Bargnani faced his future team, the Toronto Raptors, on 20 October 2003 in a pre-season game at the Air Canada Centre. He tallied 13 points, five rebounds, one steal and two blocks in 22 minutes in an 86–83 defeat to the Raptors. In 2004–05, he averaged 6.8 points and 3.1 rebounds in 28 LBA games for Benetton, in the 2005–06 LBA season, he averaged 12 points,5.6 rebounds,1.3 blocks and 1.4 steals in 47 games for Benetton. He posted a high of 25 points against Rome. He shot.483 from the field and.399 from three-point range, in the process, he helped lead Benetton to the 2006 LBA title. In the 2005–06 EuroLeague season, he contributed 10.9 points,4.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals, while shooting.508 percent from the floor and he posted a season-high 20 points against Panathinaikos and Strasbourg. Bargnani was subsequently named the EuroLeague Rising Star, the given to each EuroLeague seasons best EuroLeague player aged 22 or under. As a prospect, Bargnani drew many comparisons to German NBA player Dirk Nowitzki, mainly due to his ability to shoot from the perimeter, his mobility despite his size, Bargnani entered the 2006 NBA draft and was selected first overall by the Toronto Raptors. He is the first European player, sixth non-American player, and second player without U. S. college or high school experience to be drafted first overall, after Yao Ming. Bargnani made his season debut against the New Jersey Nets on 1 November 2006. In the process, he became the fourth ever Italian-born player to play in the NBA. Like many rookies, Bargnani took some time to adapt to the league and as he improved his game, his confidence. In turn, the fans soon warmed up to Bargnani. As the mid-season approached, Bargnani was selected as NBAs Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month, together with Garbajosa, Bargnani was also selected to play in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge game. After the All-Star break, Bargnani continued to work on his defence and shooting, Bargnani became the third Raptor ever to win the award twice, joining Vince Carter and Damon Stoudamire
31.
2006 NBA draft
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The 2006 NBA draft was held on June 28,2006 at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur U. S. college basketball players and other eligible players, Italian Andrea Bargnani was selected first overall by Toronto Raptors, who won the draft lottery. He became the player without competitive experience in the United States to be drafted first overall. Prior to the draft he was playing with Italian club Benetton Treviso for 3 years, sixth overall pick Brandon Roy from University of Washington was named Rookie of the Year for the 2006–07 season. Roy was originally drafted by Minnesota Timberwolves but his rights were traded to Portland Trail Blazers on draft day. Portland also acquired the rights to second overall pick from University of Texas. The University of Connecticut had four players selected in the first round, tying the record set by Duke University in 1999 and these players were Rudy Gay, Hilton Armstrong, Marcus Williams, and Josh Boone. With Denham Brown also selected in the round, Connecticut became the first school ever to have five players selected in a two-round draft. Connecticut joined eight other schools that had five players selected in a draft, second only to the UNLV. Some of these players not selected in this years draft have played in the NBA, the new collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association took into effect starting in this years draft. Under the new agreement, high school players were not eligible for selection, the new rules stated that high school players must wait one year after their high school class graduates and must be at least 19 years old to be eligible for the draft. The basic requirements for eligibility are, All drafted players must be at least 19 years of age during the calendar year of the draft. Any player who is not a player, as defined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The basic requirement for automatic eligibility for a U. S. player is the completion of his college eligibility, Players who meet the CBA definition of international players are automatically eligible if their 22nd birthday falls during or before the calendar year of the draft. A player who is not automatically eligible must declare his eligibility for the draft by notifying the NBA offices in writing no later than 60 days before the draft. An early entry candidate is allowed to withdraw his eligibility for the draft by notifying the NBA offices in writing no later than 10 days before the draft. The first 14 picks in the draft belonged to teams that had missed the playoffs, the lottery would determine the three teams that would obtain the first three picks on the draft. The remaining first-round picks and the second-round picks were assigned to teams in order of their win-loss record in the previous season
32.
2003 NBA draft
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The 2003 NBA draft was held on June 26,2003, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The NBA announced that 41 college and high school players and a record 31 international players had filed as candidates for the 2003 NBA draft. The Detroit Pistons and the Denver Nuggets were second and third respectively, the 2003 draft is known for having one of the most talented draft pools in draft history. Four of the top five picks are NBA All-Stars and Redeem Team Olympic Gold Medalists, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony won the 2013 NBA Scoring Title and is the only player in NBA history to win at least three Olympic gold medals. Chris Bosh left Toronto in 2010 as its leader in points, rebounds, blocks, double doubles, free throws made and attempted. LeBron James, who was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003, left for the Miami Heat in 2010, ^ a, Chris Kaman was born in the United States, but also has German citizenship through his great-grandparents and competes internationally for Germany. These players were not selected in the 2003 NBA draft, but have played at least one game in the NBA, archived from the original on April 19,2007. Player profiles with their career transaction information, archived from the original on April 19,2007. ESPN. com Draft 2003 databaseBasketball. com Draft 2003
33.
Pau Gasol
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Pau Gasol Sáez is a Spanish professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association. He is a six-time NBA All-Star, and a four-time All-NBA selection, twice on the second team and he has won two NBA championships, both with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2002 with the Memphis Grizzlies and he is the older brother of fellow NBA player Marc Gasol. Gasol was selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the third pick in the first round of the 2001 NBA draft. He currently holds the Grizzlies franchise record for free throws made, after seven seasons with the team, Gasol was traded to the Lakers in 2008. In 2014, he signed with the Chicago Bulls, Gasol has won two Olympic silver medals, an Olympic bronze medal, a FIBA World Cup title and three EuroBasket titles with the Spanish national basketball team. Pau Gasol was born in Barcelona and he began playing basketball as a center with his school team, Alvirne, and he eventually signed with Cornellà. When he was sixteen, he began playing for Barcelonas junior team and he also won both the 1998 Albert Schweitzer Tournament and the 1998 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. After moving to the team of Barcelona, Gasol played just 25 total minutes in the Spanish ACB Leagues 1998–99 season. However, in his season in the ACB, Gasol averaged 12.4 points and 5.8 rebounds in 24.7 minutes per game. Barcelona was victorious in the Spanish National Cup finals championship game in 2001, in his first season with the Grizzlies, Gasol became the first foreign player to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. He averaged 17.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, Gasol led the team in scoring in his second year with the Grizzlies, and for the second year in a row, played in all 82 games. Gasol missed the first game of his career, during his year, with a foot injury on April 5,2004. He grabbed the 1, 500th rebound of his career on November 12,2003, against the Orlando Magic and scored his 3, 000th career point on October 31,2003 and this was both the Grizzlies and Gasols first trip to the NBA Playoffs. He also helped his team make it to the playoffs for the time in his career. In his fifth year with the Grizzlies, he became the franchises all-time leading rebounder on March 24 against the New York Knicks when he grabbed his 3, Gasol and the Grizzlies returned to the playoffs for the third time in his and his teams history. Once again, they were eliminated in the first round and did not win a game against the Dallas Mavericks. On February 9,2006, making his first appearance, Gasol was selected to play in the 2006 NBA All-Star Game in Houston, Texas as a reserve center for the Western Conference
34.
2001 NBA draft
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The 2001 NBA draft took place on June 27,2001 in New York City, New York. Kwame Brown became the first high school player to be drafted with the first overall pick in the history of the NBA, several international players from this draft, Pau Gasol, Tony Parker and Mehmet Okur, became NBA All-Stars. This was the last draft the Vancouver Grizzlies participated in while in their original city, minnesota Timberwolves forfeited their first-round pick due to salary cap violations. It would be the first of two first rounders that would have to forfeit their picks during the early 2000s and these players were not selected in the draft but have played at least one game in the NBA. NBA. com,2001 NBA Draft Basketball Reference,2001 NBA Draft
35.
Omri Casspi
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Omri Moshe Casspi is an Israeli professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association. He is 6 ft 9 in tall, and plays the forward position. He was drafted 23rd overall in the 2009 NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings, with his Kings debut in 2009, Casspi became the first Israeli to play in an NBA game. The Cleveland Cavaliers traded for him in June 2011 and he signed with the Houston Rockets in July 2013. In July 2014, Casspi was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans as part of a three-team trade and he then returned to Sacramento prior to the 2014–15 season. In February 2017, he was traded to to the Pelicans alongside DeMarcus Cousins, Casspi is Jewish, was born in Holon, Israel, and grew up in Yavne. He is the son of Shimon and Ilana, and has a brother, Eitan. Both of Casspis parents are Israeli-born and of Moroccan Jewish heritage, as a child, Casspi played for junior programs at Elitzur Yavne and Maccabi Rishon LeZion. When he was 13, he moved to the Maccabi Tel Aviv youth team, having previously played for Maccabi Tel Aviv youth team, Casspi made his professional debut at age 17 with Maccabi Tel Aviv during the 2005–06 season. In his rookie season as the player, he had averages of 4.2 points and 2.1 rebounds in 9.4 minutes per game in the Israeli League. In 2006, he was loaned to Hapoel Galil Elyon for the 2006–07 season, going on to win the 2007 Discovery of the Year award and he averaged 11.1 points and 3.1 rebounds over 28 games. In April 2007, he scored 14 points for the World Select team at the Nike Hoop Summit in Memphis, Casspi returned to Maccabi for the 2007–08 season. The team reached the Euroleague Finals in 2008, Casspi received the 2008 Israeli League Sixth Man of the Year award, averaging 10.4 points and 4 rebounds per game. In February 2009, he finished in place in voting for the FIBA Europe Young Mens Player of the Year Award for the 2008–09 season, behind Ricky Rubio, Danilo Gallinari. Maccabi won a championship in 2009. In the same season, Casspis role in the increased in the Israeli League. Over 27 league games, Casspi averaged 12.8 points,4.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists, all career-highs. In 2008, Casspi declared himself eligible for the 2008 NBA draft, on June 25,2009, Casspi was selected with the 23rd overall pick by the Sacramento Kings in the 2009 NBA draft, becoming the first Israeli player selected as a first-round draft pick
36.
Israel
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Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. The country contains geographically diverse features within its small area. Israels economy and technology center is Tel Aviv, while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, in 1947, the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Mandatory Palestine recommending the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states and an internationalized Jerusalem. The plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency for Palestine, next year, the Jewish Agency declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied territories including the West Bank, Golan Heights and it extended its laws to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, but not the West Bank. Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories is the worlds longest military occupation in modern times, efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have not resulted in peace. However, peace treaties between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have successfully been signed, the population of Israel, as defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, was estimated in 2017 to be 8,671,100 people. It is the worlds only Jewish-majority state, with 74. 8% being designated as Jewish, the countrys second largest group of citizens are Arabs, at 20. 8%. The great majority of Israeli Arabs are Sunni Muslims, including significant numbers of semi-settled Negev Bedouins, other minorities include Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Black Hebrew Israelites, Circassians, Maronites and Samaritans. Israel also hosts a significant population of foreign workers and asylum seekers from Africa and Asia, including illegal migrants from Sudan, Eritrea. In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish, Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and universal suffrage. The prime minister is head of government and the Knesset is the legislature, Israel is a developed country and an OECD member, with the 35th-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product as of 2016. The country benefits from a skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentage of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree. The country has the highest standard of living in the Middle East and the third highest in Asia, in the early weeks of independence, the government chose the term Israeli to denote a citizen of Israel, with the formal announcement made by Minister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Sharett. The names Land of Israel and Children of Israel have historically used to refer to the biblical Kingdom of Israel. The name Israel in these phrases refers to the patriarch Jacob who, jacobs twelve sons became the ancestors of the Israelites, also known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel or Children of Israel. The earliest known artifact to mention the word Israel as a collective is the Merneptah Stele of ancient Egypt. The area is known as the Holy Land, being holy for all Abrahamic religions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam
37.
Stephen Curry
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Wardell Stephen Curry II is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association. Many players and analysts have called him the greatest shooter in NBA history, in 2014–15, Curry won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award and led the Warriors to their first championship since 1975. The following season, he became the first player in NBA history to be elected MVP by a unanimous vote and that same year, the Warriors broke the record for the most wins in an NBA season. Curry is the son of former NBA player Dell Curry and older brother of current NBA player Seth Curry and he played college basketball for Davidson. There, he was twice named Southern Conference Player of the Year, during his sophomore year, he also set the single-season NCAA record for three-pointers made. During the 2012–13 season, Curry set the NBA record for three-pointers made in a season with 272. He surpassed that record in 2015 with 286, and again in 2016 with 402, the son of Sonya and Dell Curry, Stephen Curry was born in Akron, Ohio, while his father was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, where his father spent most of his NBA career with the Charlotte Hornets, Dell often took Curry and his younger brother, Seth, to his games, where they would shoot around with the Hornets during warm-ups. The family briefly relocated to Toronto, Ontario, where Dell finished out his career as a member of the Toronto Raptors, during this time, Curry played for the Queensway Christian College boys basketball team, leading them to an undefeated season. He was also a member of Toronto 5–0, a team that plays across Ontario, pitting him against fellow future NBA players Cory Joseph. Curry led the team to a 33–4 record, en route to winning the provincial championship. Because of his fathers storied career at Virginia Tech, Curry wanted to play basketball for the Hokies. He ultimately chose to attend Davidson College, who had been aggressively recruiting him from the tenth grade, before Curry even played one college game, head coach Bob McKillop said at a Davidson alumni event, Wait til you see Steph Curry. In his first collegiate game, against Eastern Michigan, Curry finished with 15 points, in the next game, against Michigan, he scored 32 points, dished out 4 assists, and grabbed 9 rebounds. Curry finished the leading the Southern Conference in scoring with 21.5 points per game. He was second in the nation among freshmen in scoring, behind only Kevin Durant of Texas, Currys scoring ability helped the Wildcats to a 29–5 overall record and a Southern Conference regular season title. Curry eclipsed the school scoring record with his 502nd point against Chattanooga on February 6,2007. On March 15,2007, Davidson marched into the NCAA tournament as a 13 seed set to play Maryland, despite Currys game-high 30 points and he was also honorable mention in Sports Illustrateds All-Mid-Major
38.
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
39.
Gerald Henderson Jr.
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Jerome McKinley Gerald Henderson Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association. Henderson played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils and he was drafted with the 12th overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft by the Charlotte Bobcats. Henderson attended high school at Episcopal Academy in Merion, Pennsylvania and he also lettered and earned all-conference honors in golf as a freshman and scratch golfer, and was two-time league champion in the high jump and triple jump in track and field. Henderson was ranked as the 18th-best high school senior by The Recruiting Services Consensus Index, after seeing limited playing time off the bench during his freshman year, Henderson moved into the starting lineup as a sophomore and averaged 12.7 points per game. During his junior year, Henderson led the team in scoring 16.5 points per game on the way to a First-Team All-ACC award, Duke earned a 2nd seed in the NCAA tournament. Henderson decided to forgo his senior season and enter the 2009 NBA draft where he was drafted 12th overall by the Charlotte Bobcats, on July 8,2009, Henderson signed a multi-year deal with the Bobcats. On October 29,2010, Bobcats picked up the option on Hendersons contract. The 2011–12 season would be something of a year for Henderson with the Bobcats. Despite finishing with the worst record in the history of the NBA, Henderson saw career numbers in minutes per game, field goal percentage, rebounds per game, assists per game, and points per game. He would prove to be the offensive weapon for the Bobcats. On March 12,2013, Henderson had a high in points scored in a win over the Boston Celtics when he scored 35 points. He matched that total against the New York Knicks on March 29,2013, on June 28,2013, the Bobcats extended a qualifying offer to Henderson, thus making him a restricted free agent. On July 30,2013, the team officially re-signed Henderson, on January 8,2015, Henderson scored a season-high 31 points to help the Hornets win the fourth straight game with a 103-95 victory over the Toronto Raptors. On June 17,2015, Henderson exercised his option with the Hornets for the 2015–16 season. On June 24,2015, Henderson was traded, along with Noah Vonleh, on July 9,2016, Henderson signed with the Philadelphia 76ers. Henderson is the son of former NBA player Gerald Henderson,2009 NCAA Mens Basketball All-Americans 2006 high school boys basketball All-Americans Career statistics and player information from NBA. com, or Basketball-Reference. com
40.
Charlotte Hornets
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The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association, as a club of the leagues Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team is owned by former NBA player Michael Jordan. The Hornets play their games at the Spectrum Center in Uptown Charlotte. The original Hornets franchise was established in 1988 as an expansion team, in 2002, Shinns franchise relocated to New Orleans and became the New Orleans Hornets. In 2004 the NBA established the Charlotte Bobcats, which was regarded as a new team at the time. In 2013, the New Orleans franchise announced it would rebrand itself the New Orleans Pelicans, ultimately returning the Hornets name, records, the Bobcats were officially renamed the Charlotte Hornets for the 2014–15 NBA season. In 1985, the NBA was planning to expand by four teams by the 1988–1989 season, the Charlotte area had long been a hotbed for college basketball. On April 5,1987, then-NBA Commissioner David Stern called Shinn to tell him his group had been awarded the 24th NBA franchise, franchises were also granted to Miami, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, and Orlando. Originally, the new team was going to be called the Charlotte Spirit, the team received further attention when it chose teal as its primary color, setting off a sports fashion craze in the late 80s and early 90s. The teams uniforms, designed by designer and North Carolina native Alexander Julian. Similar designs by other teams followed, as became a hit. Shinn hired Carl Scheer as the teams first President and General Manager, Scheer preferred a roster of veteran players, hoping to put together a competitive team as soon as possible. Former college coach and veteran NBA assistant Dick Harter was hired as the teams first head coach, in 1988, the Hornets and the Miami Heat were part of the 1988 NBA Expansion Draft. The team also had three draft picks at the 1988 NBA draft, the Hornets first NBA game took place on November 4,1988, at the Charlotte Coliseum, losing 133–93 to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Four days later, the team notched its first-ever victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, on December 23,1988, the Hornets really gave their fans something to cheer about, beating Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls 103–101 in Jordans first return to North Carolina as a professional. The Hornets finished their season with a record of 20-62. Scheer left prior to the 1989–90 season, despite initial concerns that the Coliseum was too big, the Hornets were a runaway hit, leading the NBA in attendance, a feat they would achieve seven more times in Charlotte
41.
Austin Daye
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Austin Darren Daye is an American professional basketball player for Galatasaray Odeabank of the Turkish Basketball Super League and the Euroleague. The 611 small forward played college basketball for Gonzaga before being drafted 15th overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 2009 NBA draft. He has previously played for the Pistons, Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors, San Antonio Spurs and Atlanta Hawks, while spending time in Russia, Italy. Daye attended Woodbridge High School in Irvine, California where he played for coach John Halagan. As a junior in 2005–06, he averaged 16 points,9 rebounds and 3.4 blocks per game as he named to the All-CIF Southern Sectional Division II A first team and was an All-Orange County third team pick. In November 2006, Daye signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball for Gonzaga. As a senior in 2006–07, Daye averaged 30.9 points,12.4 rebounds and 5.4 blocks per game as he was named to the Orange County Register first team after leading Orange County in scoring. He was also named Sea View League Player of the Year, CIF-Southern Section Division I Player of the Year, considered a five-star recruit by Rivals. com, Daye was listed as the No.7 small forward and the No.25 player in the nation in 2007. In his freshman season at Gonzaga, Daye earned WCC All-Freshman Team, in his sophomore season, Daye earned All-WCC Honorable Mention honors for the second straight year, in addition to earning NABC Division I All-District 9 second team honors. In 34 games, he averaged 12.7 points,6.8 rebounds,1.1 assists and 2.1 blocks per game, in April 2009, Daye declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his final two years of college eligibility. Daye was drafted by the Detroit Pistons with the 15th overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft, on August 7,2009, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Pistons. On September 23,2011, Daye signed a contract with Khimki of the Russian Professional Basketball League. In December 2011, he returned to the Pistons following the conclusion of the NBA lockout, on January 30,2013, Daye and Tayshaun Prince were traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for José Calderón as part of a three-way deal that landed Rudy Gay in Toronto. On August 1,2013, Daye signed with the Toronto Raptors, on February 20,2014, he was traded to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Nando de Colo. On March 15,2014, he was assigned to the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League and he was recalled the next day. On January 10,2015, Daye scored a season-high 22 points, in addition to grabbing 10 rebounds, to help the Spurs defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves, a week later, he was waived by the Spurs. On February 16,2015, he was acquired by the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League, on March 15,2015, he signed a 10-day contract with the Atlanta Hawks. He then signed a second 10-day contract with the Hawks on March 25, on July 9,2015, he was waived by the Hawks
42.
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
43.
Brandon Jennings
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Brandon Byron Jennings is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association. After a year in Italy, Jennings declared for the 2009 NBA draft and was selected 10th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks and he played his first four seasons in Milwaukee before being traded to the Detroit Pistons in 2013. Jennings spent his three seasons in Detroit before he was traded to the Orlando Magic in 2016. Jennings was born in Compton, California to Alice Knox and he has a half brother named Terrence Phillips. His father died when he was young, Jennings attended Dominguez High School in Compton, California for his freshman and sophomore year. Before his junior year, Jennings transferred to powerhouse Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, in his last year of high school, Jennings averaged 35.5 points per game and set the school record for points in a season. He led his 2006–2007 team to a 41–1 record and the top ranking in the USA Today Super 25 list of school teams. He was rated as the nations #1 high school prospect in the class of 2008 by Scout. com, the #1 prospect in the ESPNU150. In August 2006, he chose to attend USC, on April 24,2007, he decided instead to join the Arizona Wildcats, citing Arizonas quality academic faculty and his desire to play with Jerryd Bayless. In November 2007, SLAM Magazines third edition of PUNKS featured Jennings on the cover along with three other top-rated high school guards, in June 2008, Jennings attended the premiere of Beastie Boys Adam Yauchs basketball movie Gunnin For That #1 Spot at the Magic Johnson Theater in Harlem. Also attending were Kevin Love, Stephenson, Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez, DJ Augustin, the film follows eight top high school players—including Jennings—from their hometowns to New York City, for the 2006 Elite 24 at Rucker Park. In June 2008, Jennings announced that he was considering becoming the first American to skip college to play professionally in the Euroleague, on July 16,2008, Jennings signed with Lottomatica Roma of the Italian Serie A. The contract he signed with Roma was for $1.65 million net income guaranteed, after earning the contract with Lottomatica, Under Armour gave Jennings a $2 million contract to showcase their products in the Euroleague. Jennings was the first player to play for a European team rather than play for a basketball team since the NBAs age restriction rule was implemented. In the Italian Serie A 2008–09 season, Jennings averaged in 27 games,5.5 points,1.6 rebounds,2.2 assists and he shot 35.1 percent from the field and 20.7 percent from 3 point range in Serie A play. In 16 Euroleague games, Jennings averaged 7.6 points,1.6 rebounds,1.6 assists, in the Euroleague he shot 38.7 percent from the field and 26.8 percent from 3 point range. Jennings was selected tenth overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2009 NBA draft and he became the first player who skipped college to play professional basketball in Europe to be drafted by an NBA team. Jennings also made an appearance at the draft
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