1.
1986 NBA draft
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The 1986 NBA draft was held on June 17,1986. This draft holds the record for the most players who debuted in the NBA. There were various drug-related problems that plagued players in the 1986 NBA draft, most notable was the death of highly touted Len Bias. Bias died less than two days after being selected second overall by the defending champion Boston Celtics and his death was ruled an overdose that resulted from the abuse of the drug cocaine. Other problems involving drugs hampered the careers of Chris Washburn, Roy Tarpley, while a number of first-round selections were unable to make an impact in the league, this draft did feature a number of talented second-round selections. Dennis Rodman, who one of the leading defenders and rebounders in NBA history, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in August 2011. Mark Price, Kevin Duckworth, and Jeff Hornacek also went on to have successful careers, three others – Johnny Newman, Nate McMillan, and David Wingate – had long, productive careers as role players. This draft contained two exceptional international players, both of whom had shortened careers for unusual reasons, third-round selection Dražen Petrović was coming off an All-Star caliber fourth season when he was killed in an automobile accident in 1993. He has since been elected to both the Naismith Hall of Fame and the FIBA Hall of Fame, the other, Arvydas Sabonis, was not permitted to play in the United States because of the dangerous political climate in the Soviet Union. He won two Olympic medals before his arrival in the NBA—a gold in 1988 with the USSR, after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Sabonis had a very successful career in Europe before finally joining the Portland Trail Blazers in 1995. Sabonis had lost much of his mobility by the time he joined the team because of a string of knee and he finished second in both the Sixth Man Award and Rookie of the Year voting, after the 1995–96 season, he won a second Olympic bronze medal with Lithuania. He played seven seasons with Portland before returning to his homeland of Lithuania where he finished his career, Sabonis entered the FIBA Hall in 2010 and the Naismith Hall in 2011. This draft is known for the number of players who made important contributions to the sport of basketball outside of the court. For example, Nate McMillan had a successful run with the Seattle SuperSonics as a player and then as head coach. Scott Skiles was the coach of the Milwaukee Bucks and also the first coach to lead the Chicago Bulls to the playoffs in the post-Jordan era. Larry Krystkowiak, a former Bucks head coach, was hired in April 2011 as the new coach at the University of Utah. John Salley won four championship rings with three different NBA teams before becoming one of the hosts of The Best Damn Sports Show Period on Fox Sports Network. Jeff Hornacek would also be an assistant head coach for the Utah Jazz for two seasons before accepting a job as the head coach for the Phoenix Suns in the 2013–14 NBA season
2.
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
3.
Center (basketball)
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The center, also known as the five or the big man, is one of the five positions in a regular basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a deal of strength. The tallest player to ever be drafted in the NBA was the 78 Yasutaka Okayama from Japan, the tallest players to ever play in the NBA, at 77, are centers Gheorghe Mureșan and Manute Bol. Standing at 72, Margo Dydek is the tallest player to have played in the WNBA. The center is considered a component for a successful team. But recently, the NBA has turned into a point guard league, great centers have been the foundation for most of the dynasties in both the NBA and NCAA. In the 1960s, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain further transformed basketball by combining height with a level of athleticism than previous centers. Following the retirement of George Mikan, the rivalry of the two big men came to dominate the NBA, many of the records set by these two players have endured today. Most notably, Chamberlain and Russell hold the top eighteen season averages for rebounds, Bill Russell led the University of San Francisco to two consecutive NCAA Championships. He joined the Boston Celtics and helped make them one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history, Russell revolutionized defensive strategy with his shot-blocking, rebounding and physical man-to-man defense. His principal rival, Wilt Chamberlain, listed at 71,275 pounds, Chamberlain played college ball for the Kansas Jayhawks, leading them to the 1957 title game against the North Carolina Tar Heels. Although the Jayhawks lost by one point in overtime, Chamberlain was named the tournaments Most Outstanding Player. He also won seven scoring titles, eleven rebounding titles, and four regular season Most Valuable Player awards, including the distinction, in 1960, stronger than any player of his era, he was usually capable of scoring and rebounding at will. Most notably, Chamberlain is the player in NBA history to average more than 50 points in a season. He also holds the NBAs all-time records for rebounding average, rebounds in a single game, in contrast to the Celtics dynasty of the 1960s, the 1970s were a decade of parity in the NBA, with eight different champions and no back-to-back winners. At the college level, the UCLA Bruins, under Coach John Wooden, built the greatest dynasty in NCAA basketball history, UCLA had already won two consecutive titles in 1964 and 1965 with teams that pressed and emphasized guard play. After not winning in 1966, Woodens teams changed their style when Lew Alcindor became eligible and he led UCLA to three championships-in 1967,68 and 69-while winning the first Naismith College Player of the Year Award. During his college career, the NCAA enacted a ban on dunking primarily because of Alcindors dominant use of the shot
4.
Mike Krzyzewski
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Michael William Krzyzewski is an American college basketball coach and former player. Since 1980, he has served as the mens basketball coach at Duke University. At Duke, Krzyzewski has led the Blue Devils to five NCAA Championships,12 Final Fours,12 ACC regular season titles, among mens college basketball coaches, only UCLAs John Wooden, with 10, has won more NCAA Championships. Krzyzewski was also the coach of the United States mens national basketball team and he has additionally served as the head coach of the American team that won gold medals at the 2010 and the 2014 FIBA World Cup. He was also an assistant coach for the 1992 Dream Team, Krzyzewski was a point guard at Army from 1966 to 1969 under coach Bob Knight. From 1975 to 1980, he was the basketball coach for his alma mater. Krzyzewski has amassed a record 88 wins in NCAA tournament games and he is a two-time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, in 2001 for his individual coaching career and in 2010 as part of the collective induction of the Dream Team. Krzyzewskis 903rd victory set a new record, breaking that held by his former coach, Bob Knight. On January 25,2015, Duke defeated St. Johns, 77–68, again at Madison Square Garden, Krzyzewski was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Polish American, Catholic parents Emily M. and William Krzyzewski. The family name was originally Krzyżewski, and while the media and general public pronounces it /ʃəˈʃɛfski/ shə-SHEF-ski, his own pronunciation is /ʒəˈʒɛvski/ zhə-ZHEV-ski. Raised as a Catholic, Krzyzewski attended St. Helen Catholic School in Ukrainian Village, Chicago and, later, Archbishop Weber High School in Chicago, a Catholic prep school for boys. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1969, from 1969 to 1974, Krzyzewski served in the United States Army and directed service teams for three years. In 2005 he was presented West Points Distinguished Graduate Award, Krzyzewski was discharged from active duty in 1974 and started his coaching career as an assistant on Knights staff with the Indiana Hoosiers during their historic 1974–75 season. After one year with Indiana, Krzyzewski returned to West Point as head coach of the Army Cadets and he led the Cadets to a 73–59 record and one NIT berth in five seasons. On March 18,1980, Krzyzewski was named the coach at Duke University after five seasons at Army. Overall, he has taken his program to play in 31 of his 34 years at Duke and is the most winning active coach in mens NCAA Tournament play with an 86–25 record for a.767 winning percentage. His Duke teams have won 13 ACC Championships, been to 12 Final Fours, on February 13,2010, Krzyzewski coached in his 1, 000th game as the Duke head coach. On November 15,2011, Krzyzewski got his 903rd win passing Knights record for most Division I wins, in an interview of both men on ESPN the previous night, Krzyzewski discussed the leadership skills he learned from Knight and the United States Military Academy
5.
Duke University
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Duke University is an American private research university located in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the town of Trinity in 1838. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James Buchanan Duke established The Duke Endowment, at time the institution changed its name to honor his deceased father. Dukes campus spans over 8,600 acres on three campuses in Durham as well as a marine lab in Beaufort. The main campus—designed largely by architect Julian Abele—incorporates Gothic architecture with the 210-foot Duke Chapel at the campus center, the first-year-populated East Campus contains Georgian-style architecture, while the main Gothic-style West Campus 1.5 miles away is adjacent to the Medical Center. Duke is the seventh-wealthiest private university in America with $11.4 billion in cash, Dukes research expenditures in the 2015 fiscal year were $1.037 billion, the seventh largest in the nation. In 2014, Thomson Reuters named 32 of Dukes professors to its list of Highly Cited Researchers, Duke also ranks fifth among national universities to have produced Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Goldwater, and Udall Scholars. Ten Nobel laureates and three Turing Award winners are affiliated with the university, Dukes sports teams compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference and the basketball team is renowned for having won five NCAA Mens Division I Basketball Championships, most recently in 2015. Duke is consistently included among the best universities in the world by numerous university rankings, according to a Forbes study, Duke is ranked 11th among universities that have produced billionaires. Duke started in 1838 as Browns Schoolhouse, a subscription school founded in Randolph County in the present-day town of Trinity. Organized by the Union Institute Society, a group of Methodists and Quakers, the academy was renamed Normal College in 1851 and then Trinity College in 1859 because of support from the Methodist Church. Carr donated land in 1892 for the original Durham campus, which is now known as East Campus, in 1924 Washington Dukes son, James B. Duke, established The Duke Endowment with a $40 million trust fund, income from the fund was to be distributed to hospitals, orphanages, the Methodist Church, and four colleges. Duke thought the change would come off as self-serving. Money from the endowment allowed the University to grow quickly, Dukes original campus, East Campus, was rebuilt from 1925 to 1927 with Georgian-style buildings. By 1930, the majority of the Collegiate Gothic-style buildings on the one mile west were completed. In 1878, Trinity awarded A. B. degrees to three sisters—Mary, Persis, and Theresa Giles—who had studied both with private tutors and in classes with men. With the relocation of the college in 1892, the Board of Trustees voted to allow women to be formally admitted to classes as day students
6.
NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
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The tournament was created in 1939 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, and was the idea of Ohio State University coach Harold Olsen. Played mostly during March, it has one of the most famous annual sporting events in the United States. The tournament teams include champions from 32 Division I conferences, and 36 teams which are awarded at-large berths, the 68 teams are divided into four regions and organized into a single-elimination bracket, which pre-determines, when a team wins a game, which team it will face next. Each team is seeded, or ranked, within its region from 1 to 32, after an initial four games between eight lower-ranked teams, the tournament occurs during the course of three weekends, at pre-selected neutral sites across the United States. The Final Four is usually played during the first weekend of April and these four teams, one from each region, compete in a pre-selected location for the national championship. The tournament has been at least partially televised since 1969, currently, the games are broadcast by CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV under the trade-name NCAA March Madness. Since 2011, all games are available for viewing nationwide and internationally, such as in the Philippines, as television coverage has grown, so too has the tournaments popularity. Currently, millions of Americans fill out a bracket, attempting to predict the outcome of all 67 games of the tournament. With 11 national titles, UCLA has the record for the most NCAA Mens Division I Basketball Championships, the University of Kentucky is second, with eight national titles. The University of North Carolina is in place, with six titles, while Duke University. The University of Connecticut is sixth with four national titles, the University of Kansas and University of Louisville are tied with three championships. During that time Villanova, Michigan, UNLV, Duke, Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Maryland, Syracuse, the NCAA has changed the tournament format several times since its inception, most often representing an increase of the number of teams. This section describes the tournament as it has operated since 2011, for changes during the course of its history, and to see how the tournament operated during past years, go to Format history, below. A total of 68 teams qualify for the tournament played during March, thirty-two teams earn automatic bids as their respective conference champions. Of the 32 Division I all-sports conferences, all 32 currently hold championship tournaments to determine which team receives the automatic qualification. The Ivy League was the last Division I conference that did not conduct a tournament, through the 2015–16 season, if two or more Ivies shared a regular-season championship, a one-game playoff was used to decide the tournament participant. Since 2017, the league conducts their own postseason tournament, the committee also determines where all sixty-eight teams are seeded and placed in the bracket. The tournament is divided into four regions and each region has at least sixteen teams, the committee is charged with making each of the four regions as close as possible in overall quality of teams from wherever they come from
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