1.
Washington Wizards
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The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D. C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association, as a club of the leagues Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its games at the Verizon Center, in the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington. The team now known as the Wizards began playing as the Chicago Packers in 1961, as the first modern expansion team in NBA history, an expansion prompted by Abe Sapersteins American Basketball League. Rookie Walt Bellamy was the star, averaging 31.6 points per game,19.0 rebounds per game. During the All-Star game, Bellamy represented the team while scoring 23 points, Bellamy was named the league Rookie of the Year, but was the team finished with the NBAs worst record at 18-62. The teams original nickname was a nod to Chicagos meatpacking industry, their home arena, however, it was extremely unpopular since it was the same nickname used by the NFLs Green Bay Packers, bitter rivals of the Chicago Bears. After only one year, the changed its name to the Chicago Zephyrs. Their only season as the Zephyrs boasted former Purdue star Terry Dischinger, in their first year in Baltimore, the Bullets finished fourth in a five–team Western Division. Prior to the 1964–65 NBA season the Bullets pulled off a trade, sending Dischinger, Rod Thorn and Don Kojis to the Detroit Pistons for Bailey Howell, Don Ohl, Bob Ferry. The trade worked out well, Howell proved to be a hustling, in the 1965 NBA Playoffs, the Bullets stunned the St. Louis Hawks 3–1, and advanced to the Western Conference finals. In the finals, Baltimore managed to split the first four games with the Los Angeles Lakers before losing the series 4–2. In the late 1960s, the Bullets drafted two future Hall of Fame members, Earl Monroe, in the 1967 draft, number two overall, and Wes Unseld, in the 1968 draft, also number two overall. The team improved dramatically, from 36 wins the season to 57 in the 1968–69 season. The Bullets reached the playoffs with high expectations to go far, the next season the two teams met again in the first round, and although this one went to seven games, the Knicks emerged victorious again. In the 1970–71 season, the 42–40 Bullets again met the 1970–71 Knicks and they were swept in four games by the powerful Milwaukee Bucks led by future Hall of Fame members Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson. Even after the trades of Earl Monroe and Gus Johnson, the Bullets remained a playoff contender throughout the 1970s. Following a less than spectacular 1971–72 season, Baltimore acquired Elvin Hayes from the Houston Rockets and drafted Kevin Porter in the third round, out of St. Francis in Pennsylvania
2.
Cleveland
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Cleveland is a city in the U. S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the states second most populous county. The city proper has a population of 388,072, making Cleveland the 51st largest city in the United States, Greater Cleveland ranked as the 32nd largest metropolitan area in the United States, with 2,055,612 people in 2016. The city is the center of the Cleveland–Akron–Canton Combined Statistical Area, the city is located on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles west of the Pennsylvania border. Clevelands economy has diversified sectors that include manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, Cleveland is also home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Residents of Cleveland are called Clevelanders, Cleveland has many nicknames, the oldest of which in contemporary use being The Forest City. Cleaveland oversaw the plan for what would become the downtown area, centered on Public Square, before returning home. The first settler in Cleaveland was Lorenzo Carter, who built a cabin on the banks of the Cuyahoga River, the Village of Cleaveland was incorporated on December 23,1814. In spite of the swampy lowlands and harsh winters, its waterfront location proved to be an advantage. The area began rapid growth after the 1832 completion of the Ohio, growth continued with added railroad links. Cleveland incorporated as a city in 1836, in 1836, the city, then located only on the eastern banks of the Cuyahoga River, nearly erupted into open warfare with neighboring Ohio City over a bridge connecting the two. Ohio City remained an independent municipality until its annexation by Cleveland in 1854, the citys prime geographic location as a transportation hub on the Great Lakes has played an important role in its development as a commercial center. Cleveland serves as a point for iron ore shipped from Minnesota. In 1870, John D. Rockefeller founded Standard Oil in Cleveland, other manufacturers located in Cleveland produced steam-powered cars, which included White and Gaeth, as well as the electric car company Baker. Because of the significant growth, Cleveland was known as the Sixth City during this period, by 1920, due in large part to the citys economic prosperity, Cleveland became the nations fifth largest city. The city counted Progressive Era politicians such as the populist Mayor Tom L. Johnson among its leaders, many prominent Clevelanders from this era are buried in the historic Lake View Cemetery, including President James A. Garfield, and John D. Rockefeller. In commemoration of the centennial of Clevelands incorporation as a city, conceived as a way to energize a city after the Great Depression, it drew four million visitors in its first season, and seven million by the end of its second and final season in September 1937. The exposition was housed on grounds that are now used by the Great Lakes Science Center, following World War II, the city experienced a prosperous economy. In sports, the Indians won the 1948 World Series, the hockey Barons became champions of the American Hockey League, as a result, along with track and boxing champions produced, Cleveland was dubbed City of Champions in sports at this time
3.
Minneapolis
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Minneapolis is the county seat of Hennepin County, and the larger of the Twin Cities, the 16th-largest metropolitan area in the United States. As of 2015, Minneapolis is the largest city in the state of Minnesota, Minneapolis and Saint Paul anchor the second-largest economic center in the Midwest, after Chicago. Minneapolis lies on both banks of the Mississippi River, just north of the confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Saint Paul. It was once the worlds flour milling capital and a hub for timber, the city and surrounding region is the primary business center between Chicago and Seattle, with Minneapolis proper containing Americas fifth-highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies. As an integral link to the economy, Minneapolis is categorized as a global city. Noted for its music and performing arts scenes, Minneapolis is home to both the award-winning Guthrie Theater and the historic First Avenue nightclub. The name Minneapolis is attributed to Charles Hoag, the citys first schoolteacher, who combined mni, a Dakota Sioux word for water, and polis, Dakota Sioux had long been the regions sole residents when French explorers arrived around 1680. For a time relations were based on fur trading, gradually more European-American settlers arrived, competing for game and other resources with the Dakota. In the early 19th century, the United States acquired this territory from France, fort Snelling was built in 1819 by the United States Army, and it attracted traders, settlers and merchants, spurring growth in the area. The United States government pressed the Mdewakanton band of the Dakota to sell their land, the Minnesota Territorial Legislature authorized present-day Minneapolis as a town in 1856 on the Mississippis west bank. Minneapolis incorporated as a city in 1867, the rail service began between Minneapolis and Chicago. It later joined with the city of St. Anthony in 1872. Minneapolis developed around Saint Anthony Falls, the highest waterfall on the Mississippi River, forests in northern Minnesota were a valuable resource for the lumber industry, which operated seventeen sawmills on power from the waterfall. By 1871, the west river bank had twenty-three businesses, including mills, woolen mills, iron works, a railroad machine shop, and mills for cotton, paper, sashes. Due to the hazards of milling, six local sources of artificial limbs were competing in the prosthetics business by the 1890s. The farmers of the Great Plains grew grain that was shipped by rail to the citys thirty-four flour mills, a father of modern milling in America and founder of what became General Mills, Cadwallader C. Some ideas were developed by William Dixon Gray and some acquired through industrial espionage from the Hungarians by William de la Barre, pillsbury Company across the river were barely a step behind, hiring Washburn employees to immediately use the new methods. The hard red spring wheat that grows in Minnesota became valuable, not until later did consumers discover the value in the bran that Minneapolis
4.
Cuyahoga Heights, Ohio
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Cuyahoga Heights is a village in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 638 at the 2010 census, Cuyahoga Heights is located at 41°26′10″N 81°39′11″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has an area of 3.21 square miles. 91. 6% spoke English,4. 4% Italian, and 4. 0% Polish as their first language, as of the census of 2010, there were 638 people,258 households, and 169 families residing in the village. The population density was 207.8 inhabitants per square mile, there were 278 housing units at an average density of 90.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the village was 97. 3% White,0. 6% African American,0. 2% Native American,1. 4% Asian,0. 2% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 0. 9% of the population. 32. 2% of all households were made up of individuals and 16. 6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.12. The median age in the village was 40.5 years. 25. 9% of residents were under the age of 18,8. 6% were between the ages of 18 and 24,22. 1% were from 25 to 44,27. 2% were from 45 to 64, and 16. 1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 45. 6% male and 54. 4% female, as of the census of 2000, there were 599 people,261 households, and 159 families residing in the village. The population density was 186.7 people per square mile, there were 277 housing units at an average density of 86.3 per square mile. 35. 6% of all households were made up of individuals and 18. 0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.98. In the village, the population was out with 21. 5% under the age of 18,6. 8% from 18 to 24,24. 9% from 25 to 44,23. 0% from 45 to 64. The median age was 42 years, for every 100 females there were 92.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.5 males, the median income for a household in the village was $40,625, and the median income for a family was $54,167. Males had an income of $45,368 versus $28,929 for females. The per capita income for the village was $21,446, about 2. 4% of families and 5. 7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4. 1% of those under age 18 and 10. 6% of those age 65 or over
5.
Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball
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The Minnesota Golden Gophers mens basketball team represents the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. The Golden Gophers have played in the Big Ten since the conference began sponsoring basketball in 1905, the Gophers had great success in the early years of basketball, but have been largely overshadowed by other programs since the end of World War I. In total, the Gophers have won nine Big Ten championships, college basketball research organizations have retroactively awarded Minnesota national championships in 1902,1903, and 1919. The team has also had several instances of NCAA sanctions on the program that have affected performance and recruiting. In the 1970s, the Gophers were in a violent brawl with the Ohio State Buckeyes and were barred from post-season appearances for two seasons after an incident involving the illegal resale of tickets. Still more severe was the academic scandal under then-coach Clem Haskins that resulted in the forfeit of a Final Four appearance. Initially, the Gophers team formed without any organized coach, L. J. Cooke took over the team in 1897. Cooke was put on the University payroll on a basis in early 1897 and full-time by the fall. Cooke remained the coach of the Gophers for 28 seasons, Dave MacMillan, who coached the team from 1927 to 1942 and 1945 to 1948, had the second longest tenure as coach at 18 seasons. The Gophers have had several NBA coaches grace the sidelines, John Kundla took over as Gophers head coach after the Minneapolis Lakers departed for Los Angeles. Bill Fitch and Bill Musselman both coached the team for a couple seasons before departing for the NBA and ABA respectively, the program has had a fair degree of stability with their coaching staff. Tubby Smith became the 16th head coach in Gopher basketball history when hired in 2007, Five coaches led the team for more than 10 seasons, Cooke, McMillan, O. B. Cowles, Jim Dutcher, and Clem Haskins, on March 25,2013, Tubby Smith was fired after failing to reach the Sweet Sixteen again. The Gophers hired Richard Pitino on April 3,2013, the Golden Gophers have had many successful players come through the program throughout its history. In the early years of basketball, when the Gophers had success, george Tuck was a dominant center, and the first All-America for the Gophers in 1905. Frank Lawler was another star, he led the Big Ten in scoring in 1911 and was also named to the All-America team. In 1950, Lawler was named the greatest player in Gopher basketball history, Hall of Fame coach John Kundla was also a Gophers star and helped lead the team to its 1937 Big Ten Championship. With the decline of the stature of the Gophers program, fewer elite players have joined the team, the diminished reputation has not, however, prevented some superior athletes from coming to the Minneapolis campus
6.
Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball
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The Tulsa Golden Hurricane mens basketball team represents the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, in the U. S. state of Oklahoma. The team participates in the American Athletic Conference, the Golden Hurricane hired Frank Haith from Missouri on April 17,2014 to replace Danny Manning, who had resigned to take the Wake Forest job after the 2013–14 season. The team has long been successful, especially since the hiring of Nolan Richardson in 1980, many big-name coaches previously worked at Tulsa, like University of Kansas coach Bill Self and Minnesota coach Tubby Smith. The Hurricane have been to the NCAA Tournament 14 times in their history, in addition, they have won two National Invitation Tournaments, in 1981 and 2001, and one CBI tournament. In 2005, Street & Smiths named the University of Tulsa as the 59th best college basketball program of all time, Clarence Iba, brother of Henry Iba, helped to springboard Tulsa to success when named the head coach in 1949. He coached at the school for 11 years, the longest tenure of any Tulsa coach and he became the first coach in NCAA history to win 50 games in his first two seasons. In the 1990s and 2000s, a succession of Tulsa coaches went on to big name programs across the country, including Tubby Smith, Buzz Peterson, the team remained successful throughout the string of coaches. Doug Wojcik, coach from 2005 to 2012, is the all-time winningest coach at the school with 140 wins, notable assistants in the programs history have included Billy Gillispie, Flip Saunders, Kevin O’Neill, Tom Izzo, Mike Anderson and Ron Jirsa. Tulsa has had a series of players at the program. Among those who did make it to the NBA, James King, who came back to coach the program after his NBA career, and Bingo Smith had the greatest success. King was selected to the 1968 NBA All-Star Game, and Smith scored more than 10,000 points in his career, bergen in 1907, when the school still went by the name Kendall College. It went 1–1 in its first season, following the 1908–09 season, the team went on hiatus for several years before restarting for the 1913–14 season under Harvey Allen. The team hit hard times and achieved occasional modest success until the arrival of Clarence Iba in 1949, of special note is the 1942–1943 winless squad under Mike Milligan, whose team went 0–10. Under Iba, Tulsa reached the post-season for the first time in the 1953 NIT, in 1955, Iba led the Golden Hurricane to their first Missouri Valley Conference title and NCAA tournament appearance. Joe Swank succeeded Iba in 1960 and it was under Swank that the color barrier was broken in the Tulsa basketball program. Swank had some winning seasons, but the program would be without real success until the arrival of Nolan Richardson, Nolan Richardson’s hiring helped to usher in a new era of success at Tulsa that has remained fairly consistent since then. He led the team the NIT Championship in the 1980–1981 season, Richardson also won two MVC regular season and two MVC tournament championships in his five season tenure. His flamboyant personality made him popular, his teams adopted McFadden & Whiteheads Aint No Stopping Us Now as their theme song during the Richardson years
7.
Rapid City Thrillers
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The Rapid City Thrillers were a semi-professional basketball team in Rapid City, South Dakota, that competed in the Continental Basketball Association beginning in the 1987 season. They were reincarnated in 1998 as an International Basketball Association franchise, one of the many notable players of the team was Keith Smart, who played for the Indiana Hoosiers when the won the NCAA tournament in 1987. The Thrillers had some very notable head coaches in its time, first, Bill Musselman coached the team to three consecutive CBA titles during the 1980s. Musselman then moved to the NBA as coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, later, Flip Saunders coached the Thrillers for a season and later became head coach of the NBAs Washington Wizards. Keith Fowler coached the team during one of their losing seasons. This team traced its history back to the Tampa Bay Thrillers of the Continental Basketball Association, which moved to Rapid City in 1987 because of lack of attendance. After ten seasons in Rapid City and by a move that some say ruined professional basketball in the Black Hills, the Beach Dogs lasted only two seasons folding after losing the championship series to the Oklahoma City Cavalry. After the Thrillers left Rapid City, professional basketball continued in the form of the Black Hills Posse of the International Basketball Association, in 1998 the Black Hills Posse were sold to John Tuschman. Tuschman tried to spark the old spirit the Thrillers had from the late 80s and early 90s, by renaming the Posse to the Thrillers, unfortunately, Tuschman was unsuccessful and the new Thrillers folded after the end of the 1998–99 season. The IBA continued for one season in Rapid City, as the Black Hills Gold played in the 1999-2000 season for one year, before moving to Michell, South Dakota. Rapid City has been without professional basketball since
8.
Sioux Falls Skyforce
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The Sioux Falls Skyforce is an American professional basketball team that plays in the NBA Development League. They are based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and currently play at Heritage Court in the Sanford Pentagon, the Skyforce began in the Continental Basketball Association in 1989. They played their games at Sioux Falls Arena from then until the move to the Pentagon in 2013. They participated in four CBA championship finals, winning the trophy in 1996 and 2005. The teams name was chosen from two entries in a contest to name the team in 1989 which yielded 1,045 suggestions, the names Sky and Force were combined to create the Skyforce. The Skyforce have also hosted the CBA All-Star Game three times, in 1996,2000 and 2003, in 2006, the Skyforce joined the D-League. In their first two seasons in the D-League, they were playoff contenders, in 2009, they suffered a 2-1 series loss in the first round to the Tulsa 66ers. In 2014, they fared a bit better, sweeping the Canton Charge in the first round before being swept by the eventual champion Fort Wayne Mad Ants in the semifinals. In 2016, the Skyforce won their first D-League championship, defeating the Los Angeles D-Fenders 2 games to 1, the Skyforce also finished the 2016 season 40-10, the winningest regular season record in D-League history. On June 10,2013, the Miami Heat announced that they had entered into an affiliation partnership with the Skyforce. The Miami Heat signature red/yellow color scheme was adopted into the Skyforces jerseys, logo, =The CBA folded in the middle of the 2000–01 season. Miami Heat Charlotte Bobcats Detroit Pistons Philadelphia 76ers Minnesota Timberwolves Orlando Magic Sioux Falls Skyforce official site
9.
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
10.
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
11.
2004 NBA All-Star Game
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The 2004 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game which was played on February 15,2004 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, home of the Lakers and Clippers. This game was the 53rd edition of the North American National Basketball Association All-Star Game and was played during the 2003–04 NBA season, the West defeated the East 136-132, with Shaquille ONeal of the Los Angeles Lakers winning the Most Valuable Player for the second time in his career. ONeal scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Jamaal Magloire led the East with 19 points and 8 rebounds. The coach for the Western Conference team was Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Flip Saunders, the Timberwolves had a 37-15 record on February 15. The coach for the Eastern Conference team was Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle, the Pacers had a 39-14 record on February 15. The rosters for the All-Star Game were chosen in two ways, the starters were chosen via a fan ballot. Two guards, two forwards and one center who received the highest vote were named the All-Star starters, the reserves were chosen by votes among the NBA head coaches in their respective conferences. The coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players, the reserves consist of two guards, two forwards, one center and two players regardless of position. If a player is unable to due to injury, the commissioner will select a replacement. The Eastern Conference reserves included four selections, Kenyon Martin, Jamaal Magloire, Ron Artest. Jason Kidd, Paul Pierce, and Baron Davis rounded out the team, three teams, Indiana Pacers and New Jersey Nets, and Charlotte Hornets had two representations at the All-Star Game with ONeal/Artest, Martin/Kidd, and Magloire/Davis. The Western leading vote-getter was Kevin Garnett, who earned his seventh consecutive All-Star Game selection with 1,780,918 votes. Steve Francis, Kobe Bryant, Yao Ming, and Tim Duncan completed the Western Conference starting positions, the Western Conference reserves included two first-time selections, Sam Cassell of the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Andrei Kirilenko of the Utah Jazz. The team is rounded out by Ray Allen, Brad Miller, Dirk Nowitzki, Peja Stojaković, and Shaquille ONeal
12.
2006 NBA All-Star Game
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The 2006 NBA All-Star Game was played on Sunday, February 19,2006 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, home of the Houston Rockets. The game was the 55th annual All-Star game, the theme song was by Houston native Chamillionaire who made a new version of his hit Turn It Up. Trailing by 21 points, the East rode the hot shooting of LeBron James, the 21-year-old James, who scored 29 points and grabbed six rebounds, became the youngest player to win MVP. With the score tied, Dwyane Wade, who finished with 20 points, tracy McGrady of the Houston Rockets led all players with a game-high 36 points. ^INJ Jermaine ONeal was unable to due to injury. ^REP Gilbert Arenas was named as ONeals replacement. ^1 Vince Carter was named as starter, replacing ONeal, the Eastern Conference team was coached by Flip Saunders of the Detroit Pistons, along with Sidney Lowe, Ron Harper and Don Zierden as assistant coaches. Ted Arzonico of the Orlando Magic was the athletic trainer, the Western Conference team was coached by Avery Johnson of the Dallas Mavericks. Del Harris, Rolando Blackman and Joe Prunty served as assistant coaches, the T-Mobile Rookie challenge was played on Friday, February 17,2006 with the Sophomores beating the Rookies 106–96. Andre Iguodala was named MVP with a game-high 30 points, * Did not participate due to injury. The Rooks were coached by Sidney Lowe of the Detroit Pistons, the Sophomores were coached by Del Harris of the Dallas Mavericks, along with Moses Malone as the assistant coach. Dirk Nowitzki won with a score of 18, beating Gilbert Arenas, * Did not participate due to a family illness. Nate Robinson won, beating Andre Iguodala in a dunk-off after the first ever tie in a Slam Dunk Contest, robinsons win was highly questioned as he had missed several dunks and many speculate that Robinson was only awarded the title because of his small stature. Dwyane Wade won, beating LeBron James in the final round, Dwyane Wade won with a time of 26.1 seconds. The San Antonio team won the competition with a time of 25.1 seconds
13.
University of Minnesota
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The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Minneapolis and St. Paul campuses are approximately 3 miles apart, and it is the oldest and largest campus within the University of Minnesota system and has the sixth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 51,147 students in 2013–14. The university is the institution of the University of Minnesota system, and is organized into 19 colleges and schools, with sister campuses in Crookston, Duluth, Morris. Minnesota is one of Americas Public Ivy universities, which refers to top universities in the United States capable of providing a collegiate experience comparable with the Ivy League. Founded in 1851, The University of Minnesota is categorized as an R1 Doctoral University with the highest research activity in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, Minnesota faculty, alumni, and researchers have won 25 Nobel Prizes and three Pulitzer Prizes. Notable University of Minnesota alumni include two Vice Presidents of the United States, Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale, and Bob Dylan, who received the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature. The University of Minnesota Twin Cities is also a member of the Association of American Universities which is an association of the 62 leading research universities in the United States and Canada. In its 2017 edition, U. S. News & World Report ranked Minnesota 38th in their Best Global University Rankings, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2015 ranks Minnesota 46th in the world. In 2015, Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked the university 11th in the world for mathematics, the University of Minnesota is ranked 14 over-all among the nations top research universities by the Center for Measuring University Performance. The U. S. News & World Reports 2016 rankings placed the program of the University as the 69th-best National University in the United States. Additionally, nineteen of the Universitys graduate-school departments have been ranked in the nations top-twenty by the U. S. National Research Council, in both 2008 and 2012 U. S. News & World Report ranked the College of Pharmacy 2nd in the nation. 2016 U. S. News & Report now rank the College of Pharmacy 2nd in the nation. In 2011, U. S. News & World Report ranked the School of Public Health 8th in the nation, the University of Minnesota ranked 19th in NIH funding in 2008. Minnesota is listed as a Public Ivy in 2001 Greenes Guides The Public Ivies, the university developed Gopher, a precursor to the World Wide Web which used hyperlinks to connect documents across computers on the internet. However, the produced by CERN was favored by the public since it was freely distributed. The University also houses the Charles Babbage Institute, a research, the department has strong roots in early days of supercomputing with Seymour Cray of Cray supercomputers. Notable faculty of the department are Yousef Saad, Vipin Kumar, Jaideep Srivastava, John Riedl, some notable alumni of the department are Ed Chi, Imrich Chlamtac, Leah Culver, Jeff Dean, Mark P. McCahill, Arvind Mithal, and Calvin Mooers. Puffed rice - Alexander P. Anderson led to the discovery of puffed rice, transistorized cardiac pacemaker - Earl Bakken founded Medtronic, where he developed the first external, battery-operated, transistorized, wearable artificial pacemaker in 1957
14.
Ray Williams (basketball)
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Thomas Ray Williams was an American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association from 1977 to 1987. Born in Mount Vernon, New York, he was the brother of Gus Williams. Williams attended Mount Vernon High School and helped lead the school to two New York State basketball championships, after attending San Jacinto Junior College, Williams played at the University of Minnesota from 1975 to 1977. During that time, he averaged 18.9 ppg and 6.6 rpg, Williams was selected by the New York Knicks in the first round of the 1977 NBA draft. After a quiet first season, he improved his effectiveness in the court, averaging 20.9 ppg,5 rpg, during his time with the Knicks, he reached the NBA Playoffs twice. After four seasons with the Knicks, Williams was traded the New Jersey Nets on October 25,1981, with the Nets, Williams averaged 20.4 ppg,4 rpg, and 6 apg. Williams eventually helped the Nets reach the 1982 NBA Playoffs where he averaged 17 ppg,6 rpg, however, they ended up being eliminated by the Washington Bullets in the first round. On June 29,1982, the Nets traded Williams to the Kansas City Kings for Phil Ford, after one season, they traded him back to the New York Knicks for Billy Knight and an amount of cash. He reached the playoffs again with the Knicks, averaging 11.2 ppg and 8 apg. In the middle of the 1984–85 season, Williams signed as an agent with the Boston Celtics. During this year, he had the chance to play with Larry Bird, with Boston, he reached the playoffs one last time. This time, the Celtics reached the Finals, but were eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers, before the 1985–86 season, Williams signed with the Los Angeles Clippers, with Boston receiving a future draft pick as compensation. The Clippers, however, waived him before the season began, Williams eventually signed with the Atlanta Hawks. After 19 games, he was waived by the Hawks, after 23 games, he was also waived by the Spurs and claimed by the Nets. Williams played the remainder of the season with them and remained with the team during the next season, Williams ended with a career average of 15.5 ppg,5.8 apg, and 3.6 rpg. After his retirement, Williams struggled financially, eventually filing for bankruptcy in 1994, Williams decided to apply early for his NBA pension of $200,000. After he received it, he moved to Florida, where he fell victim to a real estate scam that worsened his financial condition. After that, Williams worked various jobs like groundskeeper at a course in Central Florida, apartment complex maintenance man, part-time girls basketball coach
15.
Mychal Thompson
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Mychal George Thompson is a Bahamian retired basketball player. He played the forward and center positions for the University of Minnesota and the NBAs Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs. He is the father of basketball players Klay Thompson, and Mychel Thompson, Thompson was born in Nassau, Bahamas, but moved to the United States as a youth, settling in Miami, Florida and he attended Miami Jackson Senior High School. The title was won with four key players, including Thompson, on Miami Jacksons team. He then attended the University of Minnesota where he had a collegiate career. The Portland Trail Blazers made 610 Thompson the number one pick in the 1978 NBA draft, Thompson was a fixture in the Portland lineup for eight years, where he started at both power forward and center positions. He was named to the 1979 All-Rookie team, and had arguably his statistically best season in 1981–82, in the 1986 off-season, Thompson was traded to the Spurs in exchange for center/forward Steve Johnson. He was brought to the Lakers in February 1987 to back up Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and this gave the Pat Riley coached Lakers a team that had four players who were overall #1 selections in the NBA draft, the others being Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, and James Worthy. Of those four, Thompson is the one not enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame or to have his number retired by the Lakers. Thompson and his moved back to Portland in 1991 after his career. He worked on local radio in the area. He and his family relocated back to Los Angeles in 2003 when he was offered a job as a commentator for the Lakers. Mychal is currently employed as the Lakers radio color commentator and he first worked with Joel Meyers, then Spero Dedes, and is currently paired with John Ireland. He was a co-host on the Loose Cannons radio show on KLAC AM570 in Los Angeles but was let go, due to the move of Lakers broadcasts from AM570 to KSPN AM710 for the 2009–10 season. With the move to KSPN AM710, he joined Andrew Siciliano as co-hosts on the LA Sports Live radio show on KSPN AM710 until the show was canceled on December 26,2010, as of 2011, he co-hosts ESPNLA NOW, on KSPN AM710 from 10am-noon on weekdays. His partner Mark Willard was let go by the station on August 29,2014, Thompson married his wife Julie in 1987. His oldest son, Mychel, played basketball for Pepperdine University and his middle son, Klay, played basketball for Washington State University and was selected with the 11th pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors who won the 2015 NBA Finals. His youngest son, Trayce, plays baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thompson is nicknamed sweet bells after Walt Bellamy, who was nicknamed bells
16.
Kevin McHale (basketball)
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Kevin Edward McHale is an American retired professional basketball player who played his entire professional career for the Boston Celtics. He is also a Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and he was named to the NBAs 50th Anniversary Team, and also to the official list of the NBAs best 50 players in 1996. McHale began working for the Minnesota Timberwolves immediately following his retirement in 1993, at different times, as a TV analyst, general manager and he was the head coach of the Houston Rockets from 2011-15, until being fired following a 4-11 start to the 2015–16 season. McHale currently works as an on-air analyst for NBA TV and Turner Sportss popular NBA on TNT studio show, McHale was born to Paul Austin McHale and Josephine Patricia Starcevic in Hibbing, Minnesota. In his senior season at Hibbing High School, he was named Minnesotas Mr. Basketball of 1976 and he is of Croatian descent on his mothers side. The 6 ft 10 in McHale played basketball at the forward position for the University of Minnesota from 1976 to 1980. He was named All-Big Ten in 1979 and 1980 and still second in school history in career points. In 1995, to coincide with the University of Minnesotas 100th anniversary, McHale is famous for an encounter with Chuck Foreman in the Gopher locker room. Foreman, a famous Minnesota Viking at the time, was congratulating the Gophers on a hard-fought victory, as Foreman was shaking all the players hands, when he arrived at the then-unknown power forward, McHale displayed his comic wit, Nice to meet you, Mr. Foreman. What do you do for a living, McHales stay in Boston got off to a rocky start as he held out for a large contract, even threatening to play in Italy, before signing a three-year deal with the Celtics. Backing up Larry Bird and Cedric Maxwell at forward, McHale made an impact and was named to the NBAs All-Rookie First Team in his rookie season. Boston finished McHales rookie season with a record of 62-20. In the playoffs, the Celtics swept the Chicago Bulls in the first round, in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics faced a 3–1 deficit against the Philadelphia 76ers, but Boston won the last three games of the series, including Game 6 on Philadelphias home court. McHale helped save the Game 6 win by rejecting an Andrew Toney shot, in the NBA Finals, Boston defeated the Houston Rockets in six games to capture the teams fourteenth championship. The Celtics failed to advance to the NBA Finals the next two seasons, Philadelphia exacted a measure of revenge in the 1982 Eastern Conference Final, beating Boston at home in the seventh game. In the 1983 Eastern Conference semifinals, the Celtics were swept by the Milwaukee Bucks and this embarrassing defeat led to the firing of head coach Bill Fitch and a temporarily unhappy McHale. Following the 1982–83 season, McHales contract with the Celtics expired, auerbach retaliated by signing three of New Yorks top free agent players to offer sheets. The Knicks elected to re-sign their players and give up their pursuit of McHale, McHale eventually re-signed with Boston, his $1 million per season contract making him the fourth-highest paid player in the NBA
17.
Big Ten Conference
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The Big Ten Conference, formerly Western Conference and Big Nine Conference, is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference includes the public university in each of 11 states stretching from New Jersey to Nebraska. The Big Ten Conference was established in 1895 when Purdue University president James H, in 1905, the conference was officially incorporated as the Intercollegiate Conference Athletic Association. Big Ten member institutions are predominantly major flagship research universities with large financial endowments, large student enrollment is also a hallmark of Big Ten universities, as 12 of the 14 members feature enrollments of 30,000 or more students. Northwestern University, one of just two members with a total enrollment of fewer than 30,000 students, is the lone private university among Big Ten membership. Collectively, Big Ten universities educate more than 520,000 total students and have 5.7 million living alumni, Big Ten universities engage in $9.3 billion in funded research each year. Big Ten universities are members of the Big Ten Academic Alliance. In 2014–2015, members generated more than $10 billion in research expenditures, Johns Hopkins University was invited in 2012 to join the Big Ten as an associate member participating in mens lacrosse only. In 2015, it was accepted as an associate member in womens lacrosse. Notre Dame is scheduled to join the Big Ten in 2017 as a member in mens ice hockey. Notes Notes Notes The University of Chicago was a co-founder of the conference, lake Forest College attended the original 1895 meeting that led to the formation of the conference, but did not join it. Full members Full members Sport Affiliate Other Conference Other Conference The Big Ten Conference sponsors championship competition in 14 mens and 14 womens NCAA sanctioned sports, Notes, * Notre Dame will join the Big Ten in the 2017–18 school year as an affiliate member in mens ice hockey. It continues to field its other sports in the ACC except in football where it will continue to compete as an independent, ° Johns Hopkins joined the Big Ten in 2014 as an affiliate member in mens lacrosse, with womens lacrosse to follow in 2016. Ohio State and Penn State, like most NCAA fencing schools, have coed teams,2, Mens rowing, whether heavyweight or lightweight, is not governed by the NCAA, but instead by the Intercollegiate Rowing Association. Rutgers Mens Rowing was downgraded to Club status in 2008,3, Unlike rifle, pistol is not an NCAA-governed sport. 4, Rifle is technically a mens sport, but mens, womens, Ohio State fields a coed team. The eligibility of student-athletes was one of the topics of discussion. The Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives was founded at a meeting on February 8,1896
18.
University of Tulsa
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The University of Tulsa is a private university located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. The university is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. The university is renowned for its programs in law, English, computer science, natural sciences, psychology and its faculty includes prominent scholars, scientists, and writers, including Russian dissident poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko, political scientist Robert Donaldson and others. The campuss design is predominantly Collegiate Gothic, the university manages the Gilcrease Museum, which includes one of the largest collections of American Western art in the world, and in 2016, The Bob Dylan Archive was placed at the university. TUs athletic teams are known as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. The Presbyterian School for Girls was founded in Muskogee, Indian Territory, in 1894, the young school expanded to become Henry Kendall College, named in honor of Reverend Henry Kendall, secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions. The first president was William A. Caldwell, who served a brief, Kendall College, while still in Muskogee, granted the first post-secondary degree in Oklahoma in June 1898. Under King, the college was moved from its location in downtown Muskogee to a larger campus on lands donated by Creek Nation Chief Pleasant Porter. The opening of the new campus coincided with the start of the tenure of the third president, over the next ten years, Evans oversaw the struggling schools growth. At the request of the administration, the Synod of Indian Territory assumed control as trustees, when the administration was approached by the comparatively smaller town of Tulsa and offered a chance to move, the decision was made to relocate. The Tulsa Commercial Club decided to bid for the college, Club members who packaged a bid in 1907 to move the college to Tulsa included, B. Betters, H. O. McClure, L. N. Butts, W. L. North, James H. Hall, stebbins, Rev. Charles W. Kerr, C. H. Nicholson. The offer included $100,000,20 acres of real estate, the school opened to thirty-five students in September 1907, two months before Oklahoma became a state. These first students attended classes at the First Presbyterian Church until permanent buildings could be erected on the new campus and this became the start of higher education in Tulsa. Kendall Hall, the first building of the new school, was completed in 1908 and was followed by two other buildings. All three buildings have since demolished, with Kendall the last to be razed in 1972. The bell that hung in the Kendall Building tower was saved and displayed in Bayless Plaza. In 1918, the Methodist Church proposed building a college in Tulsa, the proposed college was to be named McFarlin College
19.
Continental Basketball Association
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The Continental Basketball Association was a professional mens basketball minor league in the United States. For most of its existence the CBA was the second-tier of mens basketball in the United States behind the National Basketball Association. The NBA formed an agreement to develop players and referees in the CBA during the 1980s. Until the NBA formed the National Basketball Development League in 2001, the Continental Basketball Association was a professional basketball minor league from 1946 to 2009. It billed itself as the Worlds Oldest Professional Basketball League, since its founding on April 23,1946 pre-dated the founding of the National Basketball Association by two months. The leagues original name was the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, it fielded six franchises – five in Pennsylvania – with a team in New York. In 1948, the league was renamed the Eastern Professional Basketball League, over the years it would add franchises in several other Pennsylvania cities, including Williamsport, Scranton, and Sunbury, as well as teams in New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and Massachusetts. The CBAs first commissioner was Harry Rudolph, steve A. Kauffman, currently a prominent basketball agent, succeeded Rudolph as Commissioner in 1975. Kauffman executed a plan to bring the Anchorage Northern Knights into the beginning with the 1977-78 season. Kauffman kept the name because he felt having a team in the Eastern league from Alaska might get the league additional notice. The establishment of the Anchorage franchise garnered national attention, including a feature story in Sports Illustrated. The league was renamed the Continental Basketball Association the following season, Kauffman served as Commissioner until 1978, when his Deputy Commissioner, Jim Drucker, took the reins. Kauffman remained the Leagues legal counsel for two years, Drucker continued his 12-year association with the CBA until 1986 as Commissioner and general counsel. From 1986 to 1989 he supervised the production of CBA telecasts on ESPN as President of CBA Properties, during Druckers term the league expanded from 8 to 14 teams, landed its first national TV contract and saw franchise values increase from $5,000 to $500,000. The league also instituted a series of rule changes including sudden-death overtime, a no foul-out rule. Under the 7-Point System, seven points were awarded each game, as a result, a winning team would wind up with four to seven points in the standings, while a losing team could collect from zero to three points. The league used this method to calculate division standings from its implementation in 1983 until the end in 2009. In May 1984 Drucker announced plans for a CBA development league to be known as CBA East, before the 1984–85 season Ducker announced that the CBA had signed a cable television contract with Black Entertainment Television
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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
21.
Kevin Garnett
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Kevin Maurice Garnett is an American former professional basketball player who played the power forward and center positions for 21 seasons in the National Basketball Association. In high school, Garnett was a 1995 McDonalds All-American at Farragut Career Academy and he entered the 1995 NBA draft, where he was selected with the fifth overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves and became the first NBA player drafted directly out of high school in 20 years. Garnett made an impact with the Minnesota Timberwolves, leading them to eight consecutive playoff appearances. In 2004, he led the Timberwolves to the Western Conference Finals, Garnett has been named to 15 All-Star Games, winning the All-Star MVP award in 2003, and is currently tied for third-most All-Star selections in NBA history. He was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2007–08, Garnett also holds several Timberwolves franchise records. In 2007, after 12 seasons with the Timberwolves, Garnett joined the Boston Celtics in a blockbuster trade, in his first year with the Celtics, he helped lead them to the NBA championship, while also finishing in third place for the MVP award. In 2013, Garnett was included in a second headline trade that sent him to the Brooklyn Nets with longtime Celtic Paul Pierce, in 2015, Garnett was traded back to Minnesota. He announced his retirement from basketball in September 2016, Garnett was born on May 19,1976, in Greenville, South Carolina, to Shirley Garnett. He was the second of his mothers three children, Garnetts mother never married his father, OLewis McCullough, with their relationship ending shortly after his birth. Garnett grew up with his mother and stepfather, Ernest Irby, with whom he didnt get along, Garnett fell in love with the sport of basketball while attending Hillcrest Middle School, although he did not play organized basketball until high school. In his first three years of school, Garnett attended Mauldin High School in Mauldin, South Carolina. However, during the summer before his year of high school. Although not directly involved, Garnett was one of three students arrested for second-degree lynching, a charge that was expunged through a pre-trial intervention. Due to the racially charged incident and fearful of being a target, Garnett decided to leave Mauldin High and transferred to Farragut Career Academy in Chicago and he led Farragut to a 28–2 record and was named National High School Player of the Year by USA Today. He was also named Mr. Basketball for the state of Illinois after averaging 25.2 points,17.9 rebounds,6.7 assists and 6.5 blocks while shooting 66. 8% from the field. In four years of school, Garnett posted an impressive 2,553 points,1,809 rebounds and 737 blocked shots. In high school, Garnett played alongside Ronnie Fields, who became a professional basketball player. To mark the 35th anniversary of the McDonalds All-American High School Boys Basketball Game, Garnetts decision not to play college basketball was influenced in part by his failure to score well enough on the ACT test to meet NCAA requirements for freshman eligibility
22.
Sam Cassell
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Samuel James Sam Cassell Sr is an American retired professional basketball player and current assistant coach of the Los Angeles Clippers. Drafted 24th overall in the 1993 NBA draft out of Florida State University and he was selected to the NBA All-Star Game and All-NBA Team once, both in the 2003–04 season. He played the point guard position, in his first two seasons, he helped the Houston Rockets win back to back championships and won a third with the Boston Celtics in 2008, his last season. Known for his mid-range jumpshot, Cassell often made clutch baskets late in the quarter to help his team win games. After graduating from Paul Lawrence Dunbar Community High School in East Baltimore, Maryland, Cassell spent a post graduate year at Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield, from MCI, Cassell was successfully recruited to attend DePaul University. He moved on to Florida State University in Tallahassee for his junior and senior years, in his senior year in 1992–93, he averaged 18.3 points,4.9 assists, and 4.3 rebounds per game and led the Atlantic Coast Conference in steals. Cassell and teammate Bob Sura formed the highest scoring and rebounding backcourt in the nation with 38.2 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. Cassells 1992–93 Seminoles team finished with a 25–10 record and advanced to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament, on February 14,2008, in a game against Wake Forest, Cassells jersey was retired by Florida State. Cassell was selected out of Florida State University with the 24th overall pick of the 1993 NBA draft by the Houston Rockets, playing mostly as a backup to Kenny Smith, Cassell developed a reputation as clutch and was usually on the court for the fourth quarter of close games. The Rockets would win the championship in seven games, Cassell saw an increase in his role during his second year, appearing in all 82 games that season. He again helped the Rockets reach the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year, in game 3 of the Finals against the Orlando Magic, Cassell scored 31 points. The Rockets swept the Magic, giving Cassell his second championship in just two years in the league, in his third season, the two-time defending champion Rockets were swept out of the second round of the playoffs by the Seattle SuperSonics. Cassells minutes, scoring and usage rates all increased in his third season, Rockets management feared their window of winning another championship with Olajuwon, Drexler and Smith was closing, and looked to trade for another star caliber player. After the 1995–96 season, he was traded to the Phoenix Suns, along with Robert Horry, Chucky Brown, Cassell, who was in the final year of his rookie contract, frequently clashed with head coach Cotton Fitzsimmons, Fitzsimmons subsequently resigned following an 0–8 start. On December 12,1996, Cassell led the 5–14 Suns into Utah, Cassell scored 21 points in the 95-87 road win. Under new head coach Danny Ainge, the Suns saw marked improvement with Cassell leading the team with 14.8 points per game, on December 27,1996, just 22 games into the season, he was traded along with Michael Finley, A. C. Green, and a draft pick to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Jason Kidd, Tony Dumas. Though Cassell had begun to develop chemistry with the Suns and Coach Ainge, the Nets would be the third team that Cassell played for just that season
23.
Larry Brown (basketball)
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Lawrence Harvey Larry Brown is an American basketball coach, who was most recently head mens basketball coach at Southern Methodist University. He is the coach in basketball history to win both an NCAA national championship and an NBA title. He also won an ABA championship as a player with the Oakland Oaks in the 1968–69 season, and he is also the only person ever to coach two NBA franchises in the same season. Before coaching, Brown played collegiately at the University of North Carolina and he has been a basketball coach since 1972. Brown was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach on September 27,2002, Brown is Jewish, and was born in Brooklyn, New York. A5 ft 9 in point guard, he attended Long Beach High School and then played at the University of North Carolina under legendary coaches Frank McGuire and Dean Smith. During that time Brown was selected for the 1964 Summer Olympics team, on which he played and with which he won a gold medal, Brown was named MVP of the ABAs first All-Star Game in 1968, and was named to the All-ABA Second Team the same year. Brown led the ABA in assists per game during the leagues first three seasons, and when he ended his career, Brown was the ABAs all-time assist leader. His total of 2,509 assists places him seventh on the ABAs career list, Browns first head coaching job was at Davidson College in North Carolina in 1969. Unfortunately for Wildcat fans, it would only last during the summer offseason, Brown moved on to the ABA and coached with the Carolina Cougars and then the Denver Nuggets, who later joined the NBA in 1976, for five and a half seasons from 1974 to 1979. He then moved on to coach for UCLA, leading his freshman-dominated 1979–80 team to the NCAA title game before falling to Louisville, 59–54. However, that appearance was vacated by the NCAA after two UCLA players were found to be ineligible—one of the few times a Final Four squad has had its record vacated. Brown was the coach for the NBAs New Jersey Nets for two years following that, from 1981 to 1983. Brown began his tenure at the University of Kansas, replacing the fired Ted Owens, who had overseen back-to-back losing seasons in 1981-82 and 1982-83. In the meantime Brown signed the most coveted high school player in the country, Danny Manning, to play for KU after signing his father, Ed Manning, perhaps Browns finest team at Kansas was the 1985-86 team. This squad put together a 35-4 record, the first 30-win season in KU history, in the 1987-88 season, Kansas got off to a mediocre 12–8 start, including 1–4 in the Big 8, and the end of the Jayhawks 55-game homecourt winning streak in Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas then proceeded to defeat 11th-seed Xavier, 14th-seed Murray State, and 7th-seed Vanderbilt before meeting rival Kansas State, KU upset the 4th-seeded Wildcats 71-58 in the Elite Eight to reach the Final Four in Kansas Citys Kemper Arena. Once there, Kansas upset the East Regions #2 seed Duke, 66-59, Manning, who scored 31 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in the final, was named Most Oustanding Player of the Tournament
24.
Houston
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Houston is the most populous city in the state of Texas and the fourth-most populous city in the United States. With a census-estimated 2014 population of 2.239 million within an area of 667 square miles, it also is the largest city in the southern United States and the seat of Harris County. Located in Southeast Texas near the Gulf of Mexico, it is the city of Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land. Houston was founded on August 28,1836, near the banks of Buffalo Bayou and incorporated as a city on June 5,1837. The city was named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the Republic of Texas and had commanded, the burgeoning port and railroad industry, combined with oil discovery in 1901, has induced continual surges in the citys population. Houstons economy has an industrial base in energy, manufacturing, aeronautics. Leading in health care sectors and building equipment, Houston has more Fortune 500 headquarters within its city limits than any city except for New York City. The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in international waterborne tonnage handled, the city has a population from various ethnic and religious backgrounds and a large and growing international community. Houston is the most diverse city in Texas and has described as the most diverse in the United States. It is home to cultural institutions and exhibits, which attract more than 7 million visitors a year to the Museum District. Houston has a visual and performing arts scene in the Theater District. In August 1836, two real estate entrepreneurs from New York, Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen, purchased 6,642 acres of land along Buffalo Bayou with the intent of founding a city. The Allen brothers decided to name the city after Sam Houston, the general at the Battle of San Jacinto. The great majority of slaves in Texas came with their owners from the slave states. Sizable numbers, however, came through the slave trade. New Orleans was the center of trade in the Deep South. Thousands of enslaved African Americans lived near the city before the Civil War, many of them near the city worked on sugar and cotton plantations, while most of those in the city limits had domestic and artisan jobs. Houston was granted incorporation on June 5,1837, with James S. Holman becoming its first mayor, in the same year, Houston became the county seat of Harrisburg County and the temporary capital of the Republic of Texas
25.
Chuck Daly
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Charles Jerome Chuck Daly was an American basketball head coach. The Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award is named after him, born in St. Marys, Pennsylvania, to Earl and Geraldine Daly on July 20,1930, Daly attended Kane Area High School in nearby Kane. He matriculated at St. Bonaventure University for one year transferring to Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. After serving two years in the military, he began his coaching career in 1955 at Punxsutawney Area High School in Punxsutawney. After compiling a 111–70 record in eight seasons at Punxsutawney High School, during his six seasons at Duke, the Blue Devils won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship and advanced to the Final Four, both in 1964 and 1966. Daly then replaced Bob Cousy as head coach at Boston College in 1969, the Eagles recorded an 11–13 record in Dalys first year at the school, and improved to 15–11 in 1971. Daly became the coach at the University of Pennsylvania in 1971. Penn won twenty or more games and captured the Ivy League title in each of its first four seasons with Daly at the helm. The most successful campaign was his first in 1972, when the Quakers recorded a 25–3 record overall, an additional significant success for Daly was in 1979, when all five starters on Pennsylvanias Final Four team had initially been recruited by Daly. His overall record after six seasons at Penn was 125–38, in 1978, Daly joined the NBAs Philadelphia 76ers as an assistant coach. During the 1981 season, the Cleveland Cavaliers hired him as the head coach that season. He then returned to the 76ers as a broadcaster until he was hired in 1983 by the Detroit Pistons, while serving as the Pistons coach, Daly was also a color commentator for TBSs NBA Playoff coverage. Daly was named coach of the U. S. Dream Team that won the medal at the 1992 Olympics. Daly stayed with the Nets for two seasons, before his first retirement, Daly again took up a role as color commentator for TNTs NBA coverage during the mid-1990s before coming out of retirement to coach the Orlando Magic at the beginning of the 1997-98 season. Daly stayed two seasons with the Magic and then retired permanently, Daly was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March 2009 and died on May 9,2009, at the age of 78. He is survived by his wife Terry and their daughter Cydney and he is buried at Riverside Memorial Park in Tequesta, Florida
26.
Boston Celtics
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The Boston Celtics are an American professional basketball team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 and one of eight NBA teams to survive the leagues first decade, the Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which they share with the National Hockey League s Boston Bruins. The franchises 17 championships are the most of any NBA franchise, as a percentage of championships won, the Celtics are the most successful franchise to date in the major four traditional North American professional sports leagues. The Celtics have played the Lakers a record 12 times in the Finals, including their most recent appearances in 2008 and 2010, four Celtics players have won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award for an NBA record total of 10 MVP awards. Their mascot Lucky the Leprechaun is a nod to the teams Irish heritage, in 1950, the Celtics signed Chuck Cooper, becoming the first NBA franchise to draft a black player. The Celtics struggled during their years, until the hiring of coach Red Auerbach. In the franchises early days, Auerbach had no assistants, ran all the practices, did all the scouting—both of opposing teams and college draft prospects—and scheduled all the road trips. One of the first great players to join the Celtics was Bob Cousy, Cousy eventually became the property of the Chicago Stags, but when that franchise went bankrupt, Cousy went to the Celtics in a dispersal draft. After the 1955–56 season, Auerbach made a stunning trade and he sent perennial All-Star Ed Macauley to the St. Louis Hawks along with the draft rights to Cliff Hagan in exchange for the second overall pick in the draft. Auerbach also acquired Holy Cross standout, and 1957 NBA Rookie of the Year, Russell and Heinsohn worked extraordinarily well with Cousy, and they were the players around whom Auerbach would build the champion Celtics for more than a decade. With Bill Russell, the Celtics advanced to the NBA Finals and defeated the St. Louis Hawks in seven games, Russell went on to win 11 championships, making him the most decorated player in NBA history. In 1958, the Celtics again advanced to the NBA Finals, however, with the acquisition of K. C. Jones that year, the Celtics began a dynasty that would last for more than a decade. In 1959, the Celtics won the NBA Championship after sweeping the Minneapolis Lakers, during that time, the Celtics met the Lakers in the Finals five times, starting an intense and often bitter rivalry that has spanned generations. In 1964, the Celtics became the first NBA team to have an all African-American starting lineup. On December 26,1964, Willie Naulls replaced an injured Tommy Heinsohn, joining Tom Satch Sanders, K. C. Jones, Sam Jones, the Celtics defeated St. Louis 97–84. Boston won its next 11 games with Naulls starting in place of Heinsohn, the Celtics of the late-1950s–60s are widely considered as one of the most dominant teams of all time. Auerbach retired as coach after the 1965–66 season and Russell took over as player-coach, with his appointment, Russell also became the first African-American coach in any U. S. pro sport
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Joe Dumars
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Joe Dumars III is an American retired basketball player in the National Basketball Association. At 63 Dumars could play either shooting guard or point guard on offense and was an effective defender. He played for the Detroit Pistons from 1985 until 1999, during the late 1980s and early 1990s, Dumars and Isiah Thomas combined to form one of the best backcourts in NBA history. Initially a shooting guard, Dumars moved to point guard following Thomas retirement in 1994, Dumars was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. Dumars served as the President of Basketball Operations for the Detroit Pistons from 2000 to 2014, Dumars was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. Dumars mother, Ophelia, was a custodian at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches while his father, Dumars grew up in an athletic family, but basketball was not his favorite sport as a child. Football was more popular in the region and all five of his brothers were defensive standouts at Natchitoches Central High School and his brother David later played professional football in the USFL. Dumars followed in his footsteps playing defensive back on the football team until junior high school when a big hit on the field directed him toward basketball. Big Joe built a hoop, made of an old bicycle wheel and half of a wooden door, in the Dumars backyard where young Joe spent hours practicing his jump shot. During his four years at McNeese State University, Dumars averaged 22.5 points per game and he finished his college career as the 11th leading scorer in NCAA history. Drafted 18th overall in the first round of the 1985 NBA draft, he played guard for the Detroit Pistons for his entire career, from 1985 to 1999. He won two championships as a player in 1989 and 1990, and was voted the 1989 Finals MVP, according to Jordan, Dumars was the best defender he ever faced in the NBA. During his career, he was selected to the All-Star team six times, in 14 seasons, all with the Pistons, Dumars scored 16,401 points, handed out 4,612 assists, grabbed 2,203 rebounds and recorded 902 steals. Although he was a member of the famed Bad Boys teams known for their play and demeanor, he became personally known for his quiet. He was the first recipient of the NBA Sportsmanship Award which has named the Joe Dumars Trophy. His number 4 jersey was retired by the Pistons in March 2000 and he has the distinction as being the only Pistons player to ever wear this number. He played for the US national team in the 1994 FIBA World Championship, Dumars became the Pistons President of Basketball Operations prior to the 2000–01 season. During the 2005–06 season, Detroit recorded its best regular-season record in franchise history, the Pistons made it to the Eastern Conference Finals six straight years under Dumars watch
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Randy Wittman
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Randy Scott Wittman is an American retired basketball player at the guard position and former coach of the NBAs Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Washington Wizards. Wittman starred for Indianapolis Ben Davis High School from 1975–1978 and he averaged more than 23 points a game for Ben Davis, which remains the second highest average at the school, and became one of the nations top recruits. The 66 Wittman played college basketball from 1979–1983 for Bob Knight, the 1979–80 Hoosiers, led by Isiah Thomas, won the Big Ten championship and advanced to the 1980 Sweet Sixteen. The following season, in 1980–81, the Hoosiers once again won a conference title, the Hoosiers trailed the entire first half of the game until Wittman scored at the halftime buzzer with a deep corner shot. The Hoosiers went on to win the game by a 63-50 tally, in 1982–1983, with the leadership of Wittman, the No.1 ranked Hoosiers were favorites to win another national championship. However, with an injury to star player Ted Kitchel mid-season, Knight asked for fan support to rally around the team and, despite long odds, the team ultimately won the Big Ten title. Nevertheless, in the tournament Kitchels absence was felt and the team lost to Kentucky in the 1983 Sweet Sixteen, Wittman was named the Big Ten Player of the Year and a consensus second team All-American in 1983. He became a member of Indianas Hall of Fame and was named to Indianas Silver Anniversary Basketball Team, Wittman was selected by the Washington Bullets with the 22nd pick of the 1983 NBA draft. However, he never played for the Bullets with his rights being traded to the Atlanta Hawks, Wittman spent the early portion of his career with the Hawks, sharing backcourt with Glenn Doc Rivers and Anthony Spud Webb, and starting most of the games from 1985–88. After a small spell with the Sacramento Kings, he became a player with the Indiana Pacers. For his career, Wittman averaged 7.4 points,1.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, in 1992, Wittman began his NBA coaching career as an assistant coach, first with the Pacers. He spent one season in Indianapolis and another with the Dallas Mavericks, subsequently, Wittman spent from 1994–99 with the Minnesota Timberwolves, in the same capacity. During that period, he helped in the development of Wolves star forward Kevin Garnett, Wittman then served as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers for two seasons, compiling a record of 62-102. On January 23,2007, Wittman became the coach of the Timberwolves, succeeding Dwane Casey. Wittman became acting coach of the Washington Wizards, accepting the position after Flip Saunders was fired in January 2012 for a 2-15 start. On June 4,2012, the Wizards announced that Wittman would be retained as the head coach of the team for the 2012–2013 season. The Wizards had a 5-1 record in games during both series, but were unable to win a home game in the second round. Wittman was praised for his strategy and leadership throughout the playoffs by both players and management alike, Wittman signed an extension to remain head coach of the Wizards on June 3,2014
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NBA Coach of the Year
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The National Basketball Associations Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1962–63 NBA season. The winner receives the Red Auerbach Trophy, which is named in honor of the coach who led the Boston Celtics to nine NBA Championships from 1956 to 1966. The winner is selected at the end of regular season by a panel of sportswriters from the United States and Canada, each of whom casts a vote for first, second and third place selections. Each first-place vote is five points, each second-place vote is worth three points, and each third-place vote is worth one point. The person with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, since its inception, the award has been given to 40 different coaches. The most recent award winner is Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich, Don Nelson and Pat Riley have each won the award three times, while Hubie Brown, Bill Fitch, Cotton Fitzsimmons and Gene Shue have each won it twice. No coach has won consecutive Coach of the Year awards, Riley is the only coach to be named Coach of the Year with three different franchises. Larry Bird is the recipient to have also been named MVP as a player. Tom Heinsohn, Bill Sharman, and Lenny Wilkens are the recipients to have been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as both player and coach. Johnny Kerr is the person to win the award with a losing record. Kerr was honored because he had guided the Bulls to the NBA Playoffs in their first season in the league, only five recipients also coached the team that won the championship the same season, Red Auerbach, Red Holzman, Bill Sharman, Phil Jackson, and Gregg Popovich. Popovich is the only NBA Coach of the Year recipient to win the championship in the season twice. Assistant coach Luke Walton served as head coach for the other 43 games for the Warriors, receiving one second-place vote. National Basketball Association portal General Specific
