Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D. C; the Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at the Capital One Arena, in the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington, D. C; the franchise was established in 1961 as the Chicago Packers based in Chicago and were renamed to Chicago Zephyrs the following season. In 1963, they relocated to Baltimore and became the Baltimore Bullets, taking the name from a previous team of the same name. In 1973, the team changed its name to the Capital Bullets to reflect their move to the Washington metropolitan area, to Washington Bullets in the following season. In 1997, they rebranded themselves as the Wizards; the Wizards have appeared in four NBA Finals, won in 1978. They have had a total of 28 playoff appearances, won four conference titles, seven division titles, their best season came in 1975 with a record of 60–22.
Wes Unseld is the only player in franchise history to become the MVP, win the Finals MVP award. Four players have won the Rookie of the Year award; 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 Saperstein's American Basketball League. Rookie Walt Bellamy was the team's star, averaging 31.6 points per game, 19.0 rebounds per game, leading the NBA in field goal percentage. During the All-Star game, Bellamy represented the team while scoring 23 points and grabbing 17 rebounds. Bellamy was named the league Rookie of the Year, but the team finished with the NBA's worst record at 18-62; the team's original nickname was a nod to Chicago's meatpacking industry. However, it was unpopular since it was the same nickname used by the NFL's Green Bay Packers, bitter rivals of the Chicago Bears. After only one year, the organization changed its name to the Chicago Zephyrs and played its home games at the Chicago Coliseum.
Their only season as the Zephyrs boasted former Purdue star Terry Dischinger, who went on to win Rookie of the Year honors. In 1963 the franchise moved to Baltimore and became the Baltimore Bullets, taking their name from a 1940s–'50s Baltimore Bullets BAA/NBA franchise and playing home games at the Baltimore Civic Center. 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 blockbuster trade, sending Dischinger, Rod Thorn and Don Kojis to the Detroit Pistons for Bailey Howell, Don Ohl, Bob Ferry and Wali Jones; the trade worked out well. He helped. In the 1965 NBA Playoffs, the Bullets stunned the St. Louis Hawks 3–1, 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, Wes Unseld, in the 1968 draft number two overall.
The team improved from 36 wins the previous season to 57 in the 1968–69 season, Unseld received both the rookie of the year and MVP awards. The Bullets reached the playoffs with high expectations to go far, but they were eliminated by the New York Knicks in the first round; the next season the two teams met again in the first round, 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, this time though in the Eastern Conference finals. With the Knicks team captain Willis Reed injured in the finals, the injury-free Bullets took advantage of his absence, in game seven, at New York's Madison Square Garden, the Bullets' Gus Johnson made a critical basket late in the game to lift the Bullets over the Knicks 93–91 and advance to their first NBA Finals, they were swept in four games by the powerful Milwaukee Bucks led by future Hall of Fame members Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson. 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. After a slow start in 1972–73, Baltimore made their charge in December, posting a 10–4 record on the way to capturing the Central Division title for the third straight year; the Bullets again faced the Knicks in the 1973 NBA Playoffs, losing for the fourth time in five series against New York. In February 1973, the team announced its pending move 30 miles southwest to the Capital Centre in Landover, a Washington, D. C. suburb, became the Capital Bullets. After that 1973–74 season, they changed their name to the Washington Bullets. During November 1973, while waiting for the completion of their new arena in Landover, the Bullets played their home games at Cole Field House on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park; the Capital Centre opened on December 2, 1973, with the Bullets defeating the SuperSonic
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball through the defender's hoop while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own hoop. A field goal is worth two points, unless made from behind the three-point line, when it is worth three. After a foul, timed play stops and the player fouled or designated to shoot a technical foul is given one or more one-point free throws; the team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but if regulation play expires with the score tied, an additional period of play is mandated. Players advance the ball by bouncing it while walking or running or by passing it to a teammate, both of which require considerable skill. On offense, players may use a variety of shots -- a dunk, it is a violation to lift or drag one's pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands resume dribbling.
The five players on each side at a time fall into five playing positions: the tallest player is the center, the tallest and strongest is the power forward, a shorter but more agile big man is the small forward, the shortest players or the best ball handlers are the shooting guard and the point guard, who implements the coach's game plan by managing the execution of offensive and defensive plays. Informally, players may play three-on-three, two-on-two, one-on-one. Invented in 1891 by Canadian-American gym teacher James Naismith in Springfield, United States, basketball has evolved to become one of the world's most popular and viewed sports; the National Basketball Association is the most significant professional basketball league in the world in terms of popularity, salaries and level of competition. Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the Euroleague and FIBA Americas League; the FIBA Basketball World Cup and Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament are the major international events of the sport and attract top national teams from around the world.
Each continent hosts regional competitions for national teams, like FIBA AmeriCup. The FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup and Women's Olympic Basketball Tournament feature top national teams from continental championships; the main North American league is the WNBA, whereas strongest European clubs participate in the EuroLeague Women. In early December 1891, Canadian James Naismith, a physical education professor and instructor at the International Young Men's Christian Association Training School in Springfield, was trying to keep his gym class active on a rainy day, he sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied and at proper levels of fitness during the long New England winters. After rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot elevated track. In contrast with modern basketball nets, this peach basket retained its bottom, balls had to be retrieved manually after each "basket" or point scored.
Basketball was played with a soccer ball. These round balls from "association football" were made, at the time, with a set of laces to close off the hole needed for inserting the inflatable bladder after the other sewn-together segments of the ball's cover had been flipped outside-in; these laces could dribbling to be unpredictable. A lace-free ball construction method was invented, this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith; the first balls made for basketball were brown, it was only in the late 1950s that Tony Hinkle, searching for a ball that would be more visible to players and spectators alike, introduced the orange ball, now in common use. Dribbling was not part of the original game except for the "bounce pass" to teammates. Passing the ball was the primary means of ball movement. Dribbling was introduced but limited by the asymmetric shape of early balls. Dribbling was common by 1896, with a rule against the double dribble by 1898; the peach baskets were used until 1906 when they were replaced by metal hoops with backboards.
A further change was soon made, so the ball passed through. Whenever a person got the ball in the basket, his team would gain a point. Whichever team got; the baskets were nailed to the mezzanine balcony of the playing court, but this proved impractical when spectators in the balcony began to interfere with shots. The backboard was introduced to prevent this interference. Naismith's handwritten diaries, discovered by his granddaughter in early 2006, indicate that he was nervous about the new game he had invented, which incorporated rules from a children's game called duck on a rock, as many had failed before it. Frank Mahan, one of the players from the original
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association as a member club of the league's Western Conference, Northwest Division. Since 1991, the team has played its home games at Vivint Smart Home Arena; the franchise began play in 1974 as an expansion team based in New Orleans. The Jazz were one of the least successful teams in the league in their early years. Although 10 seasons elapsed before the Jazz qualified for their first playoff appearance in 1984, they did not miss the playoffs again until 2004. During the late 1980s, John Stockton and Karl Malone arose as the franchise players for the team, formed one of the most famed point guard–power forward duos in NBA history. Led by coach Jerry Sloan, who took over from Frank Layden in 1988, they became one of the powerhouse teams of the 1990s, culminating in two NBA Finals appearances in 1997 and 1998, where they lost both times to the Chicago Bulls, led by Michael Jordan.
Both Stockton and Malone moved on in 2003. After missing the playoffs for three consecutive seasons the Jazz returned to prominence under the on-court leadership of point guard Deron Williams. However, partway through the 2010–11 NBA season, the Jazz began restructuring after Sloan's retirement and Williams' trade to the New Jersey Nets. Quin Snyder was hired as head coach in June 2014. On June 7, 1974, the New Orleans Jazz were admitted as an expansion franchise into the National Basketball Association. Team officials selected the name because of its definition in the dictionary: collective improvisation; the team began its inaugural season in New Orleans in the 1974–75 season. The team's first major move was to trade for star player Pete Maravich from the Atlanta Hawks for two first-round draft picks, three second-round picks, one third-round pick over the next three years. Although he was considered one of the most entertaining players in the league and won the scoring championship for the 1976-77 season with 31.1 points per game, the Jazz's best record while in New Orleans was 39–43 in the 1977–78 season.
Maravich struggled with knee injuries from that season onward. Venue issues were a continual problem for the team. In the Jazz's first season, they played in the Municipal Auditorium and Loyola Field House, where the basketball court was raised so high that the NBA Players Association made the team put a net around the court to prevent players from falling off of the court and into the stands; the Jazz played games in the cavernous Louisiana Superdome, but things were no better, because of high demand for the stadium, onerous lease terms, Maravich's constant knee problems. They faced the prospect of spending a whole month on the road each year because of New Orleans' Mardi Gras festivities, similar to the long road trip faced by the San Antonio Spurs each season during their city's rodeo. Years founding owner Sam Battistone claimed that there was no contingency plan in case the Jazz had qualified for the playoffs. However, the Superdome's manager at the time, Bill Curl, said that the stadium's management always submitted a list of potential playoff dates to the Jazz management, but these letters were never answered.
After what turned out to be their final season in New Orleans, the Jazz were dealt a further humiliation when the Los Angeles Lakers selected Magic Johnson with the first overall pick in the 1979 NBA draft. The pick would have been the Jazz's had they not traded it to acquire Gail Goodrich two years earlier; the Jazz had given up the rights to Moses Malone in order to regain one of the three first-round picks used for the Goodrich trade. Despite being competitive, the Jazz drew well during their first five years. However, by 1979 the franchise was sinking financially. Barry Mendelson, the team's executive vice president for most of the early years, said one factor in the financial trouble was an 11-percent amusement tax, highest in the U. S. at the time. The team could not attract much local corporate support—an important factor in those days—or local investors. Battistone decided to move it. After scouting several new homes, he decided on Salt Lake City though it was a smaller market. Salt Lake City had been home to the Utah Stars of the American Basketball Association from 1970 to 1976.
The Stars had been popular in the city and had won an ABA title in their first season after moving from Los Angeles. However, their finances collapsed in their last two seasons, they were shut down by the league 16 games into the 1975–76 season after missing payroll. Although Salt Lake City was not known for its jazz culture, the team decided to keep the name, as there was not enough time before the start of the 1979–80 season to receive league approval for a name change; the Jazz preserved the original Mardi Gras-themed colors: green and gold. The Jazz's attendance declined after the team's move from New Orleans to Utah because of a late approval for the move and poor marketing in the Salt Lake City area; the team's management made the first of several moves in 1979, bringing high-scoring forward Adrian Dantley to Utah in exchange for Spencer Haywood. Dantley averaged 28 points per game during the 1979–80 season, allowing the team to waive Pete Maravich early in
Dwyane Wade
Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. is an American former professional basketball player. Wade spent the majority of his 16-year career playing for the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association. After a successful college basketball career with the Marquette Golden Eagles, Wade was drafted fifth overall in the 2003 NBA draft by the Heat. In his third season, Wade led the Heat to their first NBA Championship in franchise history and was named the 2006 NBA Finals MVP. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Wade led the United States men's basketball team known as the "Redeem Team", in scoring, helped them capture the gold medal. In the 2008 -- 09 season, Wade earned his first NBA scoring title. With LeBron James and Chris Bosh, Wade helped guide Miami to four consecutive NBA Finals from 2011 to 2014, winning back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013. After playing for the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers, Wade was traded back to Miami in February 2018. A 13-time NBA All-Star, Wade is Miami's all-time leader in points, games and steals, shots made and shots taken.
Dwyane Wade was born on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, to JoLinda and Dwyane Wade Sr, whose name's unusual spelling was decided by his own mother. In 1977, JoLinda, at the age of 18 had two children. Wade has described his upbringing in Chicago as being difficult. Wade stated that " mom was on drugs and family was in the gang environment, so it was a rough childhood." At a young age, Wade witnessed police raids and found dead bodies several times in a nearby garbage can. When he was only 4 months old, his parents separated – and would divorce. JoLinda was given custody of the two children, she moved to her mother's house with them; the family struggled financially, it was around that time when JoLinda started dealing drugs. His mom was addicted to several substances including cigarettes, alcohol and cocaine. JoLinda would get high with friends at her home in the presence of her children. In an interview with ESPN, Wade said "I've seen the needles laying around the house. I've seen my mother shoot up before.
I've seen a lot of things my mother didn't know I'd seen as a kid." At the age of 6, he recalls police – with guns drawn – raiding his home as they searched for his mother. When Wade turned 8 years old, his older sister, tricked him – by telling him they were going to the movies – into living with his father, a former Army sergeant, stepmother in a nearby neighborhood. Wade would still visit his mom. A year his father moved the family to Robbins, Illinois. After moving to Robbins, Wade did not see his mother for two years. During this time, JoLinda was able to access a free supply of drugs by volunteering to be a tester – i.e. someone who tests street drugs for impurities before the dealers try to sell them. JoLinda was hospitalized and nearly died after she mistakenly injected herself with LSD. In 1994, JoLinda was arrested for possession of crack cocaine with intent to sell and locked up in Cook County Jail. Wade, at the age of 10, reunited with his mom by talking with her at Cook County Jail through a glass panel over a telephone.
JoLinda served 23 months in prison for her crimes, but while serving her second sentence in 1997, she failed to report to prison while on work release. Wade turned to sports basketball and football, to avoid the temptations of participating in drug and gang-related activities. Wade's mom and dad would take him to the park to play basketball, he cites one of his older sisters, Tragil, as the individual most responsible for his childhood upbringing and for steering him in the proper direction. As a child growing up in the Chicago area, Wade idolized Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan, has said he patterns his game after him. Wade attended Harold L. Richards High School in Oak Lawn. Wade found success as a wide receiver on the football team, but he needed to work hard to earn playing time on the varsity basketball team during his junior year. While he did not acquire much playing time during his second year, his stepbrother, Demetris McDaniel, was the star of the team. Wade grew four inches in the summer before his junior year and saw an increase in playing time, averaging 20.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.
The following year, Wade averaged 27.0 points and 11.0 rebounds per game while leading his team to a 24–5 record. It advanced to the title game of the Class AA Eisenhower Sectional. During this season he steals in a season. Wade has stated that his high school coach, Jack Fitzgerald, was one of the most positive influences in his life during this time. Wade was recruited by only three college basketball teams due to academic problems. During most of Wade's time at Marquette, his mother was either eluding the law or serving time in jail for selling crack cocaine. On October 14, 2001, JoLinda declared that she would change her life and get clean while attending a service at a Chicago church. Wade a sophomore at Marquette, went home for Christmas to be with his mom, who he believed was clean and sober for the first time in his life. However, JoLinda admitted to him that she was going back to prison. Wade told ESPN, "I was hurt because I felt like I was just getting my mom back, now she had to leave again."
On January 2, 2002, his mother went back to prison to serve her 14-month sentence. She says she has been clean since 2003. Wade chose to play college basketball for Tom Crean at Marquette University in Wisconsin. During Wade's freshman year at Marquette, he was ineligible to play with the men's team as he had fallen short of academic stan
2009–10 NBA season
The 2009–10 NBA season was the 64th season of the National Basketball Association. The 1,230-game regular season began on Tuesday, October 27, 2009, ended on Wednesday, April 14, 2010; the 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2009, Blake Griffin was selected first overall by the Los Angeles Clippers. The Dallas Mavericks hosted the 59th Annual All-Star Game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on February 14, 2010. For the second time in NBA history, all eight Western Conference playoff teams won at least 50 games, only 7 wins separated the Western Conference #1 seed from #8 seed. Both of these events first occurred in 2008. Cleveland's league-leading 61 wins was the lowest win total to lead the league since the Indiana Pacers won 61 games in 2003–04; the New Jersey Nets became the fifth team in NBA history to lose 70 games in a season. On April 22, the Washington Wizards hired Flip Saunders as head coach, replacing interim head coach Ed Tapscott. On April 23, the Sacramento Kings fired interim head coach Kenny Natt and four assistant coaches after the Kings finished with a season-low 17 wins.
On May 11, the Philadelphia 76ers' interim head coach Tony DiLeo decided to withdraw his name from consideration as head coach for the 2009–10 season, citing family concerns. DiLeo retains his old position as Senior Vice President. On June 1, the Philadelphia 76ers hired Eddie Jordan as head coach. On June 9, the Sacramento Kings hired Paul Westphal as head coach. On June 17, the Minnesota Timberwolves fired interim head coach Kevin McHale, ending McHale's 15-year association with the franchise. On June 30, the Detroit Pistons fired head coach Michael Curry, after only one season at the position. On July 9, the Detroit Pistons hired Cavaliers assistant coach John Kuester as head coach. On August 10, the Minnesota Timberwolves hired Lakers assistant coach Kurt Rambis as head coach. On November 12, the New Orleans Hornets fired Byron Scott as head coach, replacing him on an interim basis with general manager Jeff Bower. On November 29, the New Jersey Nets fired Lawrence Frank as head coach, replacing him on an interim basis with assistant coach Tom Barrise.
On December 1, the New Jersey Nets appointed general manager Kiki Vandeweghe as an interim head coach, replacing Tom Barrise who coached the team for two games after Lawrence Frank was fired. On February 4, Los Angeles Clippers head coach Mike Dunleavy stepped down from coaching duties, he retained his position as the team's general manager. Assistant coach Kim Hughes replaced him as head coach on interim basis. June On June 10, 2009, one-time All-Star Game MVP Randy Smith died at the age of 60. On June 25, 2009, the 2009 NBA draft was held at New York City. Blake Griffin was selected first overall by the Los Angeles Clippers. July On July 7, 2009, the NBA announced that the salary cap for the 2009–10 season would be $57.70 million and would go into effect on July 8. September On September 1, 2009, the five-year contract between the NBA and its referees expired. Both parties had failed to negotiate a new contract by the start of the pre-season, resulting in a lockout by the National Basketball Referees Association starting on September 18.
On September 5, 2009, three-time NBA Champion Bruce Bowen retired after 12 seasons in the NBA, at the age of 38. On September 11, 2009, Charlotte Bobcats co-owner William Beck died in a plane crash, at the age of 49. On September 11, 2009, NBA legends Michael Jordan, John Stockton and David Robinson along with Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan were inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. On September 16, 2009, Indiana Pacers co-owner Melvin Simon died at the age of 82. On September 24, 2009, Mikhail Prokhorov, who at the time was Russia's richest man according to Forbes magazine, reached a deal to become the majority owner of the New Jersey Nets and to fund nearly half the cost of building the Nets' new arena. On September 30, 2009, the NBA issued a policy regarding Twitter and other social media sites, banning players and other team basketball operations personnel from using them during games. October On October 1, the pre-season games started and were refereed by replacement referees from the Women's National Basketball Association and the NBA D-League due to the lockout of referees.
This marked the first time. On October 2, the NBA Board of Governors approved the expanded use of instant replay starting this season to determine whether a 24-second shot clock violation occurred during a play, to determine during the last two minutes of regulation play or any overtime period which player last touched the ball prior to it going out-of-bounds. On October 8, the NBA played its first-ever game in Taipei. A pre-season game between the Indiana Pacers and the Denver Nuggets was played at Taipei Arena. Taipei became the seventh Asian city to host an NBA game, after Beijing, Macau, Shanghai and Yokohama. On October 9, Marvin Fishman, one of the original owners of the Milwaukee Bucks, died at the age of 84. On October 23, the NBA and its referees announced that they have agreed on a new labor agreement for the next two seasons, thus ending the lockout of referees. On October 27, the regular season opened with a record of 83 international players on the opening night rosters, tying the records set in the 2006–07 season.
Israeli Omri Casspi, Swede Jonas Jerebko and Tanzanian Hasheem Thabeet were representing their countries for the first time in the NBA. The opening night rosters featured a record number of former D-League players with 63 players on 29 NBA teams. November On November 10, Hall of Famer coach Al Cervi died at the age of 92. On November 24, W
Chatham, Virginia
Chatham is a town in Pittsylvania County, United States. It is the county seat of Pittsylvania County. Chatham's population was 1,338 at the 2000 census, it is included in Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town was called Competition, but the name was changed to Chatham by the Virginia General Assembly on May 1, 1852. Chatham is home to Chatham High School, Hargrave Military Academy, Chatham Hall, an all-female boarding high school, it is the home to the oldest continually used building in Pittsylvania County, once an 18th-century tavern, since turned into a house and now occupied by Chatham Hall faculty. Chatham is the county seat for Pittsylvania County and has held that status since 1777. There is a large U. S. Department of Agriculture office to support farmers in the area and a small branch office of the U. S. Forestry Service; the State of Virginia has built a new state prison at the site of an old work-release camp and this led to infrastructure upgrades in fire and water services to support the increased population.
Chatham did not see any battle action during the Civil War although it is between Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, Danville, which contained Confederate prisons for captured Union soldiers. On Confederate Memorial Day each year, the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy places flowers at the statue of a Confederate soldier, prominent in the front of the historic Pittsylvania County Court House. There is a walking tour of this downtown historic district and a brochure for this is available at the Town Hall, or at the Historical Society building next to Town Hall. There are several bed & breakfast establishments located on Main Street in historic Greek Revival homes. According to the United States Census Bureau, Chatham has a total area of 2.0 square miles, all of it land. As of the census of 2000, 1,338 people, 554 households, 350 families resided in the town; the population density was 654.6 people per square mile. The 612 housing units averaged 299.4 per square mile.
The racial makeup of the town was 71.52% White, 26.08% African American, 0.60% Native American, 0.52% from other races, 1.27% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 0.60% of the population. Of the 554 households, 21.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.8% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 36.8% were not families. About 35.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.1% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.87. In the town, the population was distributed as 19.6% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 26.8% from 25 to 44, 26.7% from 45 to 64, 20.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.7 males. The median income for a household in the town was $38,938, for a family was $50,391.
Males had a median income of $29,375 versus $23,472 for females. The per capita income for the town was $20,785. About 6.3% of families and 12.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.4% of those under age 18 and 17.0% of those age 65 or over. For people 25 years and over in Chatham: High school or higher: 77.4% Bachelor's degree or higher: 33.1% Graduate or professional degree: 13.2% Unemployed: 5.3% Mean travel time to work: 20.8 minutesFor people 15 years and over in Chatham: Never married: 23.4% Now married: 49.6% Separated: 3.8% Widowed: 9.8% Divorced: 13.4%Nineteen residents are foreign born. The Mayor of Chatham serves a two-year term; the current mayor is William A. Pace. Town Council serves four-year terms; the current town council members are Janet R. Bishop, William P. Black, Teresa D. Easley, Irvin W. Perry, Robert B. Thompson, Andrew D. Wall; the climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Chatham has a humid subtropical climate, Cfa on climate maps
Darius Songaila
Darius Songaila is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach and former player. He is the player development assistant for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association, he has represented the Lithuania national team. He played at center positions. Songaila started his basketball career with Lietuvos rytas Marijampolė in second-tier Lithuanian league, the LKAL in 1995. In 1997, he moved to the United States where he attended the New Hampton School in New Hampton, New Hampshire. Songaila played the Nike Hoop Summit in 1998, he was named to the All-European Under-22 Championship Second Team. Darius Songaila played college basketball at Wake Forest University, he was named Third Team All-ACC in 2000 and Second Team All-ACC in 2002. He was named Honorable Mention All-American by the Associated Press as a senior. Songaila was selected with the 50th pick of the 2002 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics, who dealt his rights to the Sacramento Kings, he won the Russian Basketball Super League. He signed with the Kings in June 2003, averaged 6.1 points and 3.7 rebounds in 154 games over two seasons.
Songaila signed a one-year deal with the Chicago Bulls in September 2005. He had his most successful season yet with the Bulls, averaging 9.2 points and 4.0 rebounds in 62 games. However, he missed the final 20 games. On July 17, 2006, Songaila signed with the Washington Wizards; the deal was worth $23 million over five years. He missed the first 45 games after a surgery for a herniated disc and averaged 7.6 points and 3.6 rebounds in 37 games. Songaila became a big part of the Wizards' bench and an occasional starter, he averaged 6.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in 2007–08. At the end of the 2008–09 season, Songaila became a starter because of the injuries suffered by teammates Brendan Haywood and Andray Blatche, he averaged 7.4 points and 2.9 rebounds. On June 23, 2009, he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves along with Oleksiy Pecherov, Etan Thomas, a first-round draft pick for Randy Foye and Mike Miller. On September 9, 2009, he was traded to the New Orleans Hornets along with Bobby Brown in exchange for Antonio Daniels and a 2014 second round pick.
On September 23, 2010, he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers along with rookie forward Craig Brackins in exchange for Willie Green and Jason Smith. Songaila had career lows with the 76ers, notably in points. With the 2010–11 season coming to an end, he became an unrestricted free agent. In July 2011, he signed a one-year contract with Galatasaray in Turkey worth $1.5 million. In March 2012, several weeks after leaving Galatasaray, Songaila signed with Blancos de Rueda Valladolid; that year, he signed with BC Donetsk. On October 8, 2013, he signed with Lietuvos rytas Vilnius for one season. On July 22, 2014, he signed a one-year deal with Žalgiris Kaunas. At the end of the 2014–15 season, he retired from the professional basketball. Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season, he played in domestic competition, regional competition if applicable. On August 5, 2015 Songaila was appointed as an assistant coach for Žalgiris Kaunas.
In August 2018, he became a player development assistant for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association. National Basketball Association portal List of European basketball players in the United States Career statistics and player information from NBA.com, or Basketball-Reference.com Darius Songaila at eurobasket.com Darius Songaila at euroleague.net
