1.
Charles Barkley
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Charles Wade Barkley is an American retired professional basketball player and current analyst on the television program Inside the NBA. Nicknamed Chuck, Sir Charles, and The Round Mound of Rebound, an All-American center at Auburn, he was drafted as a junior by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 5th pick of the 1984 NBA draft. He was selected to the All-NBA First Team five times, the All-NBA Second Team five times and he earned eleven NBA All-Star Game appearances and was named the All-Star MVP in 1991. In 1993, he was voted the leagues Most Valuable Player and during the NBAs 50th anniversary and he competed in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games and won two gold medals as a member of the United States Dream Team. Barkley is an inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, being inducted in 2006 for his individual career. Barkley was popular with the fans and media and made the NBAs All-Interview Team for his last 13 seasons in the league, short for a power forward, Barkley used his strength and aggressiveness to become one of the NBAs most dominant rebounders. He was a player who had the ability to score, create plays. In 2000, he retired as the player in NBA history to achieve 20,000 points,10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists. Since retiring as a player, Barkley has had a career as a television NBA analyst. He works with Turner Network Television alongside of Shaquille ONeal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson as a studio pundit for its coverage of NBA games and is a spokesman for CDW. In addition, Barkley has written books and has shown an interest in politics, in October 2008, he announced that he would run for Governor of Alabama in 2014. Barkley was born and raised in Leeds, Alabama, ten miles outside Birmingham, as a junior, Barkley stood 510 and weighed 220 pounds. He failed to make the varsity team and was named as a reserve, however, during the summer Barkley grew to 64 and earned a starting position on the varsity as a senior. He averaged 19.1 points and 17.9 rebounds per game, an assistant to Auburn Universitys head coach, Sonny Smith, was at the game and reported seeing, a fat guy. Who can play like the wind, Barkley was soon recruited by Smith and majored in business management while attending Auburn University. Barkley played collegiate basketball at Auburn for three seasons, although he struggled to control his weight, he excelled as a player and led the SEC in rebounding each year. He became a popular crowd-pleaser, exciting the fans with dunks and it was not uncommon to see the hefty Barkley grab a defensive rebound and, instead of passing, dribble the entire length of the court and finish at the opposite end with a two-handed dunk. His physical size and skills earned him the nickname The Round Mound of Rebound
2.
Shaquille O'Neal
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Shaquille Rashaun Shaq ONeal, nicknamed Shaq, is a retired American professional basketball player and former rapper who is currently an analyst on the television program Inside the NBA. Listed at 7 ft 1 in tall and weighing 325 pounds, ONeal played for six teams throughout his 19-year NBA career. Following his career at Louisiana State University, ONeal was drafted by the Orlando Magic with the first overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft. He quickly became one of the best centers in the league, winning Rookie of the Year in 1992–93, after four years with the Magic, ONeal signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers. They won three championships in 2000,2001, and 2002. Amid tension between ONeal and Kobe Bryant, ONeal was traded to the Miami Heat in 2004, midway through the 2007–2008 season he was traded to the Phoenix Suns. After a season-and-a-half with the Suns, ONeal was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2009–10 season, ONeal played for the Boston Celtics in the 2010–11 season before retiring. He is one of three players to win NBA MVP, All-Star game MVP and Finals MVP awards in the same year. He ranks 7th all-time in points scored, 5th in field goals, 13th in rebounds, largely due to his ability to dunk the basketball, ONeal also ranks 3rd all-time in field goal percentage. ONeal was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016, in addition to his basketball career, ONeal has released four rap albums, with his first, Shaq Diesel, going platinum. He has appeared in films and has starred in his own reality shows, Shaqs Big Challenge. He currently hosts The Big Podcast with Shaq, ONeal was born on March 6,1972 in Newark, New Jersey, to Lucille ONeal and Joe Toney, an All-State guard in high school who was offered a basketball scholarship to play at Seton Hall. Toney struggled with addiction and was imprisoned for drug possession when ONeal was an infant. Upon his release, he did not resume a place in ONeals life and instead agreed to relinquish his rights to ONeals stepfather, Phillip A. Harrison. ONeal remained estranged from his father for decades, ONeal had not spoken with Toney or expressed an interest in establishing a relationship. On his 1994 rap album, Shaq Fu, The Return, ONeal voiced his feelings of disdain for Toney in the song Biological Didnt Bother, dismissing him with the line Phil is my father. However, ONeals feelings toward Toney mellowed in the years following Harrisons death in 2013, ONeal credits the Boys and Girls Club of America in Newark with giving him a safe place to play and keeping him off the streets. It gave me something to do, he said, id just go there to shoot
3.
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
4.
Houston Rockets
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The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association, as a club of the leagues Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its games at the Toyota Center, located in downtown Houston. The Rockets have won two NBA championships and four Western Conference titles, the team was established as the San Diego Rockets, an expansion team originally based in San Diego, in 1967. In 1971, the Rockets moved to Houston, the Rockets won only 15 games in their debut season as a franchise in 1967. In the 1968 NBA draft, the Rockets, picking first overall, selected power forward Elvin Hayes, the Rockets did not finish a season with a winning record until the 1976–77 season, when they traded for center Moses Malone. Malone went on to win the NBA Most Valuable Player award twice and he also led the Rockets to the NBA Finals in 1981 where they were defeated in six games by the Boston Celtics, led by Larry Bird and future Rockets coach Kevin McHale. In 1984, the Rockets drafted center Hakeem Olajuwon, who would be paired with 7 feet 4 inches Ralph Sampson, nicknamed the Twin Towers, they led the team to the 1986 NBA Finals—the second NBA Finals appearance in franchise history—where Houston was again defeated by the Boston Celtics. The Rockets continued to reach the playoffs throughout the 1980s, Rudy Tomjanovich took over as head coach midway through the 1991–92 season, ushering in the most successful period in franchise history. Olajuwon-led Rockets went to the 1994 NBA Finals and won franchises first championship against Patrick Ewing, Houston became the lowest-seeded team in NBA history to win the title. After Yaos early retirement in 2011, the Rockets entered a period of rebuilding, the acquisition of franchise player James Harden in 2012 has launched the Rockets back into championship contention in the mid-2010s. The Rockets, under general manager Daryl Morey, are notable for popularizing the use of advanced statistical analytics in player acquisitions and style of play. The Rockets were founded in 1967 in San Diego by Robert Breitbard, Breitbard brought in Jack McMahon, then coach of the Cincinnati Royals, to serve as the Rockets coach and general manager. The Rockets lost 67 games in their season, which was an NBA record for losses in a season at the time. Because of the low performance and attendance, Breitbard looked to sell the team, and in 1971, Texas Sports Investments bought the franchise for $5.6 million, and moved the team to Houston. The franchise became the first NBA team in Texas, and the nickname Rockets took on greater relevance after the move. It was also around this time that the Rockets would unveil their classic yellow and red logo, winter left soon after, being fired in January 1973 following a ten-game losing streak, and was replaced by Johnny Egan. Egan led the Rockets back to the playoffs in 1975, where the franchise also managed to win their first round against the New York Knicks, subsequently losing to the veteran Boston Celtics in 5 games
5.
Donkey
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The donkey or ass is a domesticated member of the horse family, Equidae. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African wild ass, the donkey has been used as a working animal for at least 5000 years. There are more than 40 million donkeys in the world, mostly in underdeveloped countries, working donkeys are often associated with those living at or below subsistence levels. Small numbers of donkeys are kept for breeding or as pets in developed countries, a male donkey or ass is called a jack, a female a jenny or jennet, a young donkey is a foal. Jack donkeys are used to mate with female horses to produce mules. Asses were first domesticated around 3000 BC, probably in Egypt or Mesopotamia and they continue to fill important roles in many places today. While domesticated species are increasing in numbers, the African wild ass is an endangered species, as beasts of burden and companions, asses and donkeys have worked together with humans for millennia. Traditionally, the name for the donkey is Equus asinus asinus based on the principle of priority used for scientific names of animals. This means that the scientific name for the donkey is Equus africanus asinus when it is considered a subspecies. At one time, the ass was the more common term for the donkey. The first recorded use of donkey was in either 1784 or 1785, while the word ass has cognates in most other Indo-European languages, donkey is an etymologically obscure word for which no credible cognate has been identified. From the 18th century, donkey gradually replaced ass, and jenny replaced she-ass, by the end of the 17th century, changes in pronunciation of both ass and arse had caused them to become homophones. Donkeys vary considerably in size, depending on breed and management, the height at the withers ranges from 7.3 to 15.3 hands, and the weight from 80 to 480 kg. Working donkeys in the poorest countries have an expectancy of 12 to 15 years, in more prosperous countries. Donkeys are adapted to desert lands. Unlike wild and feral horses, wild donkeys in dry areas are solitary, each adult donkey establishes a home range, breeding over a large area may be dominated by one jack. Donkeys have large ears, which may pick up more distant sounds, donkeys can defend themselves by biting, striking with the front hooves or kicking with the hind legs. A jenny is normally pregnant for about 12 months, though the period varies from 11 to 14 months
6.
David Blaine
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David Blaine is an American magician, illusionist and endurance artist. He is best known for his feats of endurance, and has set. Blaine revolutionized the way magic is shown on television by focusing on spectator reactions and his idea was to turn the camera around on the people watching instead of the performer, to make the audience watch the audience. The New York Times noted that hes taken a craft thats been around for hundreds of years and done something unique, according to the New York Daily News, Blaine can lay claim to his own brand of wizardry. The magic he offers operates on a personal level. Blaine was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Patrice Maureen White, a teacher, and William Perez. His father was of half Puerto Rican and half Italian descent, when Blaine was four years old, he saw a magician performing magic in the subway. This triggered a lifelong interest for him and he was raised by his single mother and attended many schools in Brooklyn. When he was 10 years old, his mother married John Bukalo and they moved to Little Falls, New Jersey, when Blaine was 17 years old, he moved to Manhattan, New York. On May 19,1997, Blaines first television special, David Blaine and it really, really does break new ground, said Penn Jillette of Penn and Teller. When asked about his style, Blaine explained, “Id like to bring magic back to the place it used to be 100 years ago. ”Time commented, His deceptively low-key. Jon Racherbaumer commented, Make no mistake about it, the focus of show, boys. It is really about theatrical proxemics, about the show-within-a-show and the spontaneous, USA Today called Blaine the hottest name in magic right now. According to CNN, Blaines only communication to the world was by a hand buzzer. BBC News reported that the coffin had six inches of headroom. During the endurance stunt Blaine did not eat and drank only two to three US tablespoons of water a day. An estimated 75,000 people visited the site, including Marie Blood, Harry Houdinis niece, who said, My uncle did some amazing things, on the final day of the stunt, April 12, hundreds of news teams were stationed at the site for the coffin-opening. A team of construction workers removed a portion of the 75 cubic feet of gravel surrounding the 6-foot deep coffin before a crane lifted the water tank, Blaine emerged and told the crowd, I saw something very prophetic
7.
Django Unchained
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Set in the Old West and Antebellum South, it is a highly stylized tribute to Spaghetti Westerns, in particular the 1966 film Django by Sergio Corbucci, whose star Franco Nero has a cameo appearance. Development of Django Unchained began in 2007 when Tarantino was writing a book on Sergio Corbucci, by April 2011, Tarantino sent his final draft of the script to The Weinstein Company. Casting began in the summer of 2011, with Michael K. Williams, principal photography took place from November 2011 to March 2012 in California, Wyoming and Louisiana. Django Unchained premiered at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City on December 11,2012, the film was nominated for several film industry awards, including five Academy Awards. Waltz won several awards for his performance, among them Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globes, BAFTAs, Tarantino won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA award for writing the films original screenplay. The film grossed over $425 million worldwide in theaters against its $100 million budget, in 1858 Texas, the Speck brothers, Ace and Dicky, drive a group of black slaves on foot. Among the shackled slaves is Django, sold off and separated from his wife, the Speck brothers are stopped by Dr. King Schultz, a German dentist-turned-bounty hunter from Düsseldorf, who asks to buy one of the slaves. He questions Django about his knowledge of the Brittle brothers, a group of outlaws for whom Dr. Schultz is carrying a warrant, when Ace becomes suspicious, Dr. Schultz, a superior gunslinger, kills Ace with a fast draw. Dr. Schultz insists on honorably paying Dicky a fair price for Django before leaving him at the mercy of the newly-freed slaves, as Django can identify the Brittle brothers, Dr. Schultz offers him his freedom in exchange for help tracking them down. After tracking and killing the Brittles to a plantation owned by Spencer Big Daddy Bennett and they are also briefly hunted by Big Daddy but Dr. Schultz deceives and kills most of his gang with an explosive in their carriage, as Django kills Big Daddy himself. Dr. Schultz explains that he responsible for Django since Django is the first person he has ever freed. Now fully trained, Django collects his first bounty, keeping the handbill for good luck, Dr. Schultz and Django meet Calvin at his gentlemans club in Greenville and submit their offer to buy one of his best fighters. Intrigued, Calvin invites them to his ranch at Candyland, after finding Broomhilda and telling her of their plan, Dr. Schultz claims to be charmed by her and offers to buy her as well. During dinner, Calvins staunchly loyal house slave Stephen becomes suspicious, Dr. Schultz agrees, and the papers for her freedom are drawn up and signed. Calvin smugly insists that the deal be sealed through a handshake, when Calvin threatens to kill Broomhilda, Dr. Schultz kills Calvin by shooting him in the heart with a concealed derringer. As Stephen mourns over Calvins death, Butch, Calvins bodyguard, kills Dr. Schultz by shooting him with a shotgun, an extensive gunfight begins, and Django guns down a great number of his opponents before surrendering when Broomhilda is taken hostage. The next morning, Stephen tells Django that Calvins sister, Lara Lee Candie-Fitzwilly, is in charge now, en route to the mine, Django proves to his escorts that he is a bounty hunter by showing them his handbill. The escorts release him and give him a pistol, which he uses to kill them before stealing a horse and returning to Candyland with a bag of dynamite
8.
Tracy McGrady
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Tracy Lamar McGrady Jr. is an American retired professional basketball player who played professionally in the National Basketball Association. He is a seven-time NBA All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection, McGrady entered the NBA straight from high school after being selected in the 1997 NBA draft with the ninth overall pick in the first round by the Toronto Raptors. He played in the NBA for the Raptors, Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets, New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Hawks and he also played for the Qingdao DoubleStar Eagles of the Chinese Basketball Association. In 2013, after the Spurs lost that years NBA Finals he announced his retirement from the NBA, McGrady was ranked #75 on SLAM Magazines Top 75 Players of All-Time in 2003. McGradys style of play has been compared to that of George Gervin, kobe Bryant has cited Tracy McGrady as the toughest player he ever played against. In April 2017, McGrady was announced as an inductee of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2017, Tracy Lamar McGrady, Jr. was born in Bartow, Florida. He played high school basketball and baseball at Auburndale High School in Auburndale and he then transferred to Mount Zion Christian Academy, in Durham, North Carolina. McGrady created a buzz after his performance in the Adidas ABCD Camp. He was named High School Player of the Year by USA Today, McGrady was selected with the ninth overall pick by the Toronto Raptors in the 1997 NBA draft. For most of the 1997–98 season, he received playing time. McGrady has described his year as hell, feeling lonely in Toronto. Late in the season, Walker resigned and McGrady began playing more under new coach Butch Carter on the condition that McGrady improve his work ethic, before the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season, the Raptors drafted McGradys distant cousin Vince Carter. The two became inseparable, teammate Dee Brown once said, They say theyre cousins, but Siamese twins is more like it. By the 1999–2000 season, the duo had developed a reputation for their athleticism, McGrady, now playing significant minutes, was a contender for the Sixth Man of the Year Award before being elevated to Torontos starting backcourt in late March. Behind McGrady and Carters play, the Raptors finished the season with a 45-37 record, for the year, McGrady averaged 15.4 points,6.3 rebounds,3.3 assists, and a career-high 1.9 blocks per game. In the first round of the postseason, the Raptors were swept by the New York Knicks, after the 2000 Playoffs, McGrady became a free agent, signing a six-year, $67.5 million contract with the Orlando Magic. Hill would play in four games during the 2000–01 season and 47 games total throughout his tenure with the team, forcing McGrady into a larger leadership. He was also voted the leagues Most Improved Player, with a 43-39 record, the Magic entered the playoffs as the Easts seventh seed, matched up with the Bucks
9.
American Express
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The American Express Company, also known as Amex, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Manhattans Three World Financial Center in New York City, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the company is best known for its credit card, charge card, and travelers cheque businesses. Amex cards account for approximately 24% of the dollar volume of credit card transactions in the US. BusinessWeek and Interbrand ranked American Express as the 22nd most valuable brand in the world, Fortune listed Amex as one of the top 20 Most Admired Companies in the World. The companys logo, adopted in 1958, is a Centurion whose image appears on the travelers cheques, charge cards. In 1850, American Express was started as an express business in Buffalo. It was founded as a joint stock corporation by the merger of the companies owned by Henry Wells, William G. Fargo. Wells and Fargo also started Wells Fargo & Co. in 1852 when Butterfield, American Express initially established its headquarters in a building at the intersection of Jay Street and Hudson Street in what was later called the Tribeca section of Manhattan. For years it enjoyed a monopoly on the movement of express shipments throughout New York State. In 1874, American Express moved its headquarters to 65 Broadway in what was becoming the Financial District of Manhattan, in 1854, the American Express Co. purchased a lot on Vesey Street in New York City as the site for its stables. A stable was constructed in 1867, five blocks north at 4–8 Hubert Street, in 1880, American Express built a new warehouse behind the Broadway Building at 46 Trinity Place. The designer is unknown, but it has a façade of brick arches that are reminiscent of pre-skyscraper New York, American Express has long been out of this building, but it still bears a terracotta seal with the American Express Eagle. In 1890–91 the company constructed a new building by Edward H. Kendall on the site of its former headquarters on Hudson Street. By 1903, the company had assets of some $28 million, to reflect this, the company purchased the Broadway buildings and site. The old buildings, dubbed by the New York Times as among the ancient landmarks of lower Broadway, were inadequate for such a rapidly expanding concern, after some delays due to the war in Europe, the 21-story neo-classical American Express Co. Building was constructed in 1916–17 to the design of James L. Aspinwall, of the firm of Renwick, Aspinwall & Tucker, the building consolidated the two lots of the former buildings with a single address,65 Broadway. This building was part of the Express Row section of lower Broadway at the time, kenny, and Standard & Poors, who has renamed the building for itself. American Express extended its reach nationwide by arranging affiliations with other companies, railroads
10.
Dallas Mavericks
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The Dallas Mavericks are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its games at the American Airlines Center. According to a 2016 Forbes magazine report, they are the ninth most valuable franchise in the NBA. As of the 2013 season, the Mavericks have sold out 477 consecutive games since December 15,2001, since their inaugural 1980–81 season, the Mavericks have won three division titles, two conference championships, and one NBA Championship. In 1978, Californian businessman Garn Eckardt met Dallas lawyer Doug Adkins, asking for a possible partner, Adkins recommended him one of his clients, Home Interiors and Gifts owner Don Carter. Negotiations with Eckardt fell through, but Carter remained interested in the enterprise as a gift to his wife Linda, who played basketball while at Duncanville High School. At the same time, Buffalo Braves president and general manager Norm Sonju grew an interest in bringing the NBA to Dallas as he studied possible new locations for the ailing franchise. Sonju and Carter tried purchasing both the Milwaukee Bucks and the Kansas City Kings, but disagreement on relocation stalled the negotiations, leading them to instead aim for an expansion team. The league was initially reluctant to expand to Dallas, given Texas had both the Spurs and Houston Rockets, and the 1978–79 NBA season was proving unprofitable and unpopular. Still, during the 1979 NBA All-Star Game weekend, NBA commissioner Larry OBrien announced the league would add two new teams in the 1980–81 season, with teams in Dallas and Minneapolis. Once the Minnesota team backed out, only Dallas remained, and through negotiations with general counselor and future commissioner David Stern, Carter would provide half the amount. James Garner, who played the character, was a member of the ownership group. The University of Texas at Arlington, who uses the Mavericks nickname, had objections about a shared name. They joined the Midwest Division of the Western Conference, where they would stay until the league went to six divisions for the 2004–05 season, Dick Motta, who had guided the Washington Bullets to the NBA Championship in 1977–78, was hired as the teams first head coach. He had a reputation of being a stern disciplinarian, but was also a great teacher of the game. In the Mavericks debut game, taking place in the brand-new Reunion Arena, but the Mavs started the season with a 6–40 record on their way to finishing 15–67. However, the Mavericks did make an acquisition that, while it seemed minor at the time
11.
Sacramento Kings
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The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the team in the major professional North American sports leagues located in Sacramento. The team play its games at the Golden 1 Center. The Kings are the oldest franchise in the NBA, and one of the oldest continuously operating professional basketball franchises in the nation and they originated in Rochester, New York as the Rochester Seagrams in 1923 and joined the National Basketball League in 1945 as the Rochester Royals. They jumped to the Basketball Association of America, forerunner of the NBA, as the Royals, the team was often successful on the court, winning the NBA championship in 1951. However, they found it difficult to turn a profit in the comparatively small market of Rochester. In 1972, the relocated to Kansas City, Missouri. In 1975, the Kings ceased playing home games in Omaha, the team again failed to find success in that market, and moved to Sacramento in 1985. The Royals defected to the NBLs rival, the Basketball Association of America, in 1948. In 1949, as a result of that absorption of the NBL by the BAA, the Royals became members of the newly formed NBA along with the Fort Wayne Pistons, Minneapolis Lakers. A year later, the BAA absorbed the remaining NBL teams to become the National Basketball Association, the move to the BAA took away Rochesters profitable exhibition schedule, and placed it in the same Western Division that Minneapolis was in. Of the two best teams in pro basketball, only one of them could play in the finals from 1949 to 1954. Minneapolis, with George Mikan, was almost always a little better at playoff time than the Royals, Harrison knew that the NBA was outgrowing Rochester, and spent most of the 1950s looking for a buyer for his team. The Royals won the NBA title in 1951 by defeating the New York Knicks 4 games to 3 and it is the only NBA championship in the franchises history. However, the title did not translate into profit for the Royals, the roster turned over in 1955, except for Bobby Wanzer, the team moved to the larger Rochester War Memorial. Now a losing team filled with rookies, the Royals still did not turn a profit, meanwhile, the NBA was putting pressure on Harrison to sell or relocate his team to a larger city. With this in mind, the 1956–57 season was the Royals last in Rochester, in April 1957, the Harrison brothers moved the Royals to Cincinnati
12.
Miami Heat
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The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association as a member of the leagues Eastern Conference Southeast Division and they play their home games at the American Airlines Arena in downtown Miami. The team owner is Carnival Corporation owner Micky Arison, the president and general manager is Pat Riley. The mascot is Burnie, an anthropomorphic fireball, formed in 1988 as an expansion team, the Heat have won three league championships, five conference titles and eleven division titles. In 2013, the Heat won twenty-seven regular season games in a row, in 2016, Forbes valued the Heat at $1.3 billion as the tenth most valuable among NBA franchises. In 1987 the NBA granted one of its four new teams to Miami. The Miami Heat began their early years with much mediocrity, only making the two times in their first eight years and falling in the first round both times. Upon the purchasing of the franchise by Micky Arison in 1995, Pat Riley was brought in as the team president, Riley acquired center Alonzo Mourning and point guard Tim Hardaway to serve as the centerpieces for the team, transforming Miami into a championship contender throughout the late 1990s. With them they brought in a new team trainer, Cody Posselt. The Heat underwent a dramatic turnaround in the 1996–97 season, improving to a 61–21 record – a franchise record at the time and that same year, Miami earned the moniker of Road Warriors for its remarkable 32–9 record on the road. Their biggest rivals of the time were the New York Knicks, Rileys former team, a period of mediocrity followed after, highlighted by missing the playoffs in 2002 and 2003. In the 2003 NBA draft, with the fifth overall pick, free-agent swing-man Lamar Odom was signed from the Los Angeles Clippers. Just prior to the start of the 03–04 season, Riley stepped down as coach to focus on rebuilding the Heat. In the offseason, Riley engineered a summer blockbuster trade for Shaquille ONeal from the Los Angeles Lakers, Alonzo Mourning returned to the Heat in the same season, serving as a backup to ONeal. Returning as championship contenders, Miami finished with a 59–23 record, sweeping through the first round and the semifinals, Miami went back to the Conference Finals for the first time in eight years, where it met the defending champion Detroit Pistons. Despite taking a 3–2 lead, Miami lost Wade to injury for Game 6, the Heat would go on to lose Game 7 at home despite Wades return. In the summer of 2005, Riley brought in free agent Gary Payton from the Boston Celtics. After a disappointing 11–10 start to the 05–06 season, Riley relieved Van Gundy of his duties, the Heat made it to the Conference Finals in 2006 and in a re-match, defeated the Pistons, winning the series 4–2
