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
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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.
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
5.
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
6.
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
7.
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
8.
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
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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
10.
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
11.
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
12.
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
