Haggerty Award
The Haggerty Award is given to the All-New York Metropolitan NCAA Division I men's college basketball player of the year, presented by the National Invitation Tournament and the Met Basketball Writers Association. First presented in 1936, it is arguably the oldest and most prestigious award given to a metropolitan area player; the award has gone to players from 15 Division I schools. St. John's University in Jamaica, New York has the most at 27, more than twice the nine awards received by players from number two Seton Hall University. Three players won the award three times: Jim McMillian from Columbia University, Chris Mullin of St. John's and Charles Jenkins of Hofstra. McMillian would go on to win the 1972 NBA Championship with the Los Angeles Lakers. General"List of Haggerty Award winners". Men's basketball media guide. Hofstra University. 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2010. Specific
Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball
The Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team represents Iowa State University and competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I. The team is coached by Steve Prohm, in his 4th year at Iowa State; the Cyclones play their home games at Hilton Coliseum on Iowa State's campus. From 1907 to 1928, the Cyclones played in the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association, managing a few winning records in-conference but no championships. In 1929, the Cyclones named Louis Menze as head coach. Over the next 19 years, Menze would lead the Cyclones to four conference championships. Two of these teams earned consideration for the eight-team NCAA Tournament. Three years the 1944 team beat Pepperdine to reach the semifinals in the tournament proper before losing its next game against eventual champion Utah, good for a spot in history as a Final Four participant. After Menze's last conference win in 1945 and subsequent resignation as coach in 1947, the Cyclones floated between the bottom and the middle of the conference for decades, their main claim to fame being two wins of the conference's annual "Holiday Tournament", played between Christmas and New Year's Day in Kansas City, in 1955 and 1959.
Neither these tournament wins, nor their regular season performances, qualified the Cyclones for postseason play in the 33 years between Menze's and Johnny Orr's stints in the head coaching position. However, the 1957 Cyclones were ranked #3 in the nation after handing Wilt Chamberlain's #1 Kansas its first loss. Gary Thompson outscored Chamberlain, while Don Medsker held Chamberlain to a career low in scoring and hit the game winner at the buzzer. No. 3 remains the school's highest-ever national ranking. From the introduction of the Big Eight's postseason tournament in 1977 until Johnny Orr's fifth season in 1985, the Cyclones did not advance past their first game. In 1971, Maury John left Drake University to move to Iowa State. John led Drake to the 1969 NCAA Final Four and the Elite Eight in 1970 NCAA Tournament and 1971 NCAA Tournament. John inherited an Iowa State team, 5-21 the previous season. John was excited about the new Hilton Coliseum and led Iowa State to a 12-14 record in 1971-1972 and a 16-10 record in 1972-1973, a 15 year best.
On Dec. 2, 1971, in the first game played at Hilton Coliseum, John led the Cyclones to a victory over Arizona 71-54. Said Cyclone announcer Eric Heft, a player for Coach John: "The place was sold out for the Arizona game and we doubled the capacity of season tickets from the season before. We didn't have all the fanfare you have today, it was my first game and Maury John's first game as the head Cyclone coach as well."In the 1973-74 season, Iowa State was off to a 4-1 start. But, John sat out the remainder of the 1973-74 season after a cancer diagnosis. Assistant Gus Guydon finished the season. In October 1973, John had seen a doctor after having health concerns. Two months on the day his Iowa State team lost at Drake, John was told he had an inoperable malignant tumor at the base of his esophagus. "It was a bolt out of the blue for someone who lived his life free of smoking or drinking," His son John said later. "There was high stress. But he was always healthy."John was optimistic about returning to Iowa State in 1974-75, but his health worsened and he resigned on July 30, 1974.
John said "It's going to be hard for me not to be on that bench. I won't have to sweat out all those games down on the floor, but truthfully, I'd rather be down there sweating them out." John died on October 15, 1974 at the age of 55. During a 28‐year coaching career, John had a 528-214 record. Johnny Orr came to Iowa State from Michigan in 1980. Iowa State's athletics director had called Orr to inquire about Michigan assistant Bill Frieder; when Orr learned of the salary Iowa State would offer Frieder, he negotiated the Iowa State head coaching job for himself. Orr is credited with building "Hilton Magic" and laying the foundation for Iowa State's success in men's basketball. A number of Cyclone greats played for Orr, including Jeff Grayer, Barry Stevens, walk-on Jeff Hornacek, Lafester Rhodes, Justus Thigpen, Victor Alexander, Fred Hoiberg, Julius Michalik, Loren Meyer, many of whom would go on to success in the NBA. Orr's first team, led by junior forward Robert Estes produced a lackluster 9–18 record.
Freshman forward Ron Harris, whom Orr considered his first prominent Cyclone recruit, contributed per-game averages of 13.7 points and 5.9 rebounds. Led by sophomore Ron Harris and freshman recruit Barry Stevens of Flint, Orr's 1981–82 team finished the season with a 10–17 overall record and a 5–9 record in Big Eight play. Harris gave the Cyclones 13.3 points per game. Senior Robert Estes added 10.3 points per game. The Cyclones improved to a 13–15 overall record in the 1982–83 season, but again finished 5–9 in conference play. Many of the Cyclone faithful regard sophomore Barry Stevens' buzzer-beating shot against 10th-ranked Missouri during the 1982–83 season as the foundational example of "Hilton Magic." Stevens tallied per-game averages of 5.2 rebounds for the season. Ron Harris contributed 14.3 points per game. Orr's 1983–84 team recorded the first winning season of his tenure at Iowa State—and the first winning season for Cyclone basketball since Lynn Nance's 1977–78 team finished 14–13—with a 16–13 overall mark and a 6–8 record in conference play.
The Cyclones played in the 1984 National Invitation Tou
Duke Blue Devils men's basketball
The Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team represents Duke University in NCAA Division I college basketball and competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The team is fourth all-time in wins of any NCAA men's basketball program, is coached by Mike Krzyzewski. Duke has won 5 NCAA Championships and appeared in 11 Championship Games and 16 Final Fours, has an NCAA-best.755 NCAA tournament winning percentage. Eleven Duke players have been named the National Player of the Year, 71 players have been selected in the NBA Draft. Additionally, Duke has 36 players named 14 Academic All-Americans. Duke has been the Atlantic Coast Conference Champions a record 21 times, lays claim to 19 ACC regular season titles. Prior to joining the ACC, Duke won the Southern Conference championships five times. Duke has finished the season ranked No. 1 in the AP poll seven times and is the all time leader in total weeks ranked as the number one team in the nation by the AP with 135 weeks. Additionally, the Blue Devils have the second longest streak in the AP Top 25 in history with 200 consecutive appearances from 1996 to 2007, trailing only UCLA's 221 consecutive polls from 1966 to 1980.
Adapted from Duke University ArchivesIn 1906, Wilbur Wade Card, Trinity College's Athletic Director and a member of the Class of 1900, introduced the game of basketball to Trinity. The January 30 issue of The Trinity Chronicle headlined the new sport on its front page. Trinity's first game ended in a loss to Wake Forest, 24–10; the game was played in the Angier B. Duke Gymnasium known as The Ark; the Trinity team won its first title in 1920, the state championship, by beating the North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering 25 to 24. Earlier in the season they had beaten the University of North Carolina 19–18 in the first match-up between the two schools. Trinity college became Duke University. Billy Werber, Class of 1930, became Duke's first All-American in basketball; the Gothic-style West Campus opened that year, with a new gym to be named for Coach Card. The Indoor Stadium opened in 1940, it was referred to as an "Addition" to the gymnasium. Part of its cost was paid for with the proceeds from the Duke football team's appearance in the 1938 Rose Bowl.
In 1972 it would be named for Eddie Cameron, head coach from 1929 to 1942. In 1952, Dick Groat became the first Duke player to be named National Player of the Year. Duke left the Southern Conference to become a charter member of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953; the Duke team under Vic Bubas made its first appearance in the Final Four in 1963, losing 94–75 to Loyola in the semifinal. The next year, Bubas' team reached the national title game, losing to the Bruins of UCLA, who claimed 10 titles in the next 12 years. Bob Verga was Duke's star player in 1967; the basketball program won its 1000th game in 1974, making Duke only the eighth school in NCAA history to reach that figure. In a turnaround, Coach Bill Foster's 1978 Blue Devils, who had gone 2–10 in the ACC the previous year, won the conference tournament and went on to the NCAA championship game, where they fell to Kentucky. Gene Banks, Mike Gminski and Jim Spanarkel ran the floor. Mike Krzyzewski has been at Duke since 1980, his many accomplishments include: 5 National Championships – 2nd most all time 12 Final Fours as well as five in a row from 1988 to 1992.
Now tied for most all time with John Wooden at 12. 15 Elite Eights 23 Sweet Sixteens and nine straight from 1998–2006 33 NCAA tournament berths 91 NCAA tournament wins 13 No. 1 seeds 25 conference titles, 10 of the 14 ACC Tournament Titles from 1998–99 through 2016–17 14 30-win seasons 32 20-win seasons Number 1 AP ranking in 17 of the past 28 seasons 7 Naismith College Player of the Year Awards 9 National Defensive Players of the Year Awards 26 AP All-Americans 14 consensus first team All-Americans 11 NBA top-10 picks: T-1st 23 NBA Draft first round picks 1071 Career winsKrzyzewski's teams made the Final Four in 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2010 and 2015. Duke upset the favored UNLV Runnin' Rebels 79–77 in the Final Four in 1991, a rematch of the 1990 final in which Duke lost by 30 points; the team, led by Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley, Grant Hill, Thomas Hill, went on to defeat Kansas 72–65 to win the university's first NCAA Championship. Ranked #1 all season and favored to repeat as national champions in 1992, Duke took part in a game "acclaimed by many the greatest college basketball game played," according to ESPN.
In the Elite Eight, Duke met the Rick Pitino-led Kentucky Wildcats. It appeared Kentucky had sealed the win in overtime when guard Sean Woods hit a running shot off the glass in the lane to put Kentucky up by one with 2.1 seconds left on the clock. After a timeout, Duke's Grant Hill threw a full-court pass to Christian Laettner. Laettner took one dribble and nailed a turn-around jumper at the buzzer to send Duke into the Final Four with a 104–103 victory. Duke went on to defeat the Sixth-seeded Michigan 71 -- 51, they would meet Kentucky for another classic regional final game, but blow a 17-point second half lead in losing to the Wildcats. The Blue Devils would lose the 1994 title game to Arkansas and their "Forty Minutes of Hell" defense; the next two seasons would see them fall to just 31–31, though they made the 1996 tournament with an 18–12 record, 8–8 in conference play. They would fall in the 1999 title game, this time to Jim Calhoun and the UCONN Huskies
Georges Niang
Georges Niang is an American-Senegalese professional basketball player for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association. He was an All-American college player for Iowa State University. A three-year starter and two-year team captain, Niang capped off his career as the greatest players in The Tilton School history, amassing a school-record 2,372 points, he was a three-time First-Team All-NEPSAC Class AA pick, Niang was the 2012 NEPSAC Class AA Player of the Year. He averaged 25.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists per game as a senior, averaged 24.2 points and 8.2 rebounds as a junior and led his team to the 2011 NEPSAC Class AA championship with a 72-56 win over St. Mark's, he was named outstanding player of the tournament, scoring 23 points on 11-of-11 shooting from the field in the championship game. His team lost in the 2011 National Prep Championship to Notre Dame Prep, he played for the Boston-based BABC AAU team, the same program that featured former Cyclone and NBA player Will Blalock.
His BABC squad won one of the best AAU tournaments in the country. He was teammates at Tilton and in AAU with Nerlens Noel, they won four NEPSAC titles, one national prep championship, one AAU national championship and one Nike EYBL title in his career. Niang was considered one of the best players on the East Coast, ending his prep career as a consensus national top-100 recruit, he was ranked No. 42 by Lindy's, No. 56 by ESPNU, No. 69 by Scout.com, No. 69 by Rivals.com, No. 73 by Sporting News, No. 81 by CBS Sports in the 2012 prep national rankings. He had offers from Iowa, Texas A&M, Seton Hall committing to Iowa State. Niang was named to the Big 12 All-Rookie Team in his freshman year in 2013. In the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament, Niang broke the fifth metatarsal in his right foot, forcing him to sit for the remainder of the event; as a sophomore, he averaged 16.7 points and 4.5 rebounds as the third most prominent offensive weapon for Iowa State behind Melvin Ejim and DeAndre Kane.
Niang cut back on his calorie consumption in the 2014 offseason and slimmed down to 230 pounds from 260 pounds. As a junior, Niang led the team in scoring with 15.3 points per game to go along with 5.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Seeded third in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, the Cyclones were upset by 14th seeded UAB in the round of 64 despite 11 points and seven rebounds from Niang, he instead decided to return for his senior season. "I was weighing it, but I want to be loyal to the program and didn't want to go out this way," Niang said. "I didn't want to leave my mark like that."Niang surpassed the 2,000-point threshold as a senior, averaging 20.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. He was named to the 35-man midseason watchlist for the Naismith College Player of the Year on February 11. During his college career, Niang achieved a number program records, including the first player to reach four-straight NCAA tournaments, the first two-time All-American, the career leader in games played and most wins.
On June 23, 2016, Niang was selected by the Indiana Pacers with the 50th overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft. He joined the team for the 2016 NBA Summer League. On July 11, 2016, he signed with the Pacers. During his rookie season, he had multiple assignments with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Development League. On July 14, 2017, he was waived by the Pacers. On August 16, 2017, Niang signed a contract with the Golden State Warriors, he was waived by the Warriors on October 14, 2017. He was assigned by the Santa Cruz Warriors as an affiliate player. On January 14, 2018, Niang signed a two-way contract with the Utah Jazz to take up a spot held by former college teammate Naz Mitrou-Long. Throughout the rest of the season, he split his playing time between the Jazz and their NBA G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars. On July 13, 2018, Niang signed a standard contract with the Jazz. Niang is the son of Alison Niang, his father was raised in Senegal. Iowa State Cyclones bio Georges Niang at draftexpress.com Georges Niang on Twitter
Johnathan Motley
Johnathan Landus Motley is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association, on a two-way contract with the Agua Caliente Clippers of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Baylor Bears, where he was a consensus second-team All-American as a junior. Motley played high school basketball at North Shore High School in Houston, Texas under head coach David Green, he led his team to a 32–4 mark as a junior and a 30–5 mark in as a senior, winning back to back district championships. A top 100 recruit nationally, Motley committed to play at Baylor on September 12, 2012. Motley blossomed into an All-American player as a junior for Baylor, leading the Bears to their first number one ranking as a program during the 2016–17 season. At the close of the season, Motley was named the winner of the Karl Malone Award as the country's best college power forward. At the close of his junior season, Motley declared his eligibility for the 2017 NBA draft but did not hire an agent, leaving open the option to return to college.
He would hire an agent before signing up for the 2017 NBA Draft Combine, thus ending any chances of returning for his senior year at Baylor. After going undrafted in 2017 NBA Draft, Motley signed a two-way contract with the Dallas Mavericks, he became the first player in franchise history to sign such a deal. As a result, he gets to split his time playing between the Mavericks and their G League affiliate, the Texas Legends. After recovering from a previous injury he had, Motley would make his official NBA debut on December 14, 2017, recording 4 points in two minutes under a 112–97 loss to the defending champion Golden State Warriors. On April 4, 2018, he scored a career high 26 points in a 106–113 loss to the Detroit Pistons. On July 23, 2018, along with the draft rights to Renaldas Seibutis, was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for the draft rights to Maarty Leunen and cash considerations, he would be the league's first two-way contract to be traded to another team. Career statistics and player information from NBA.com, or Basketball-Reference.com
Baylor Bears basketball
The Baylor Bears basketball team represents Baylor University in Waco, Texas, in NCAA Division I men's basketball competition. The Bears compete in the Big 12 Conference; the team plays its home games in Ferrell Center and is coached by Scott Drew. Luther Burleson coached the first basketball team at Baylor in 1907 doubling as the football coach. In Baylor's second season of basketball cross-town rival TCU began their program which the Bears defeated twice during the 1908–09 season. Ralph Glaze's.788 winning percentage ranks at the best all time in school history. Ralph Wolf lead Baylor to its first SWC Championship in 1932 after surviving and overcoming one of the first great tragedies in college athletics in his first season as coach. On January 22, 1927, Coach Ralph Wolf's Baylor Basketball team was travelling by bus to play the University of Texas; as the bus passed through Round Rock, Texas, it approached railroad tracks on the south side of the business district on a drizzly, cloudy day.
As the bus crossed the tracks the occupants failed to hear the sound of the train whistle and ringing bell. The driver caught sight of the train at the last moment and tried to steer away, but the Sunshine Special crashed into the bus at near 60 mph tearing off the roof and right side. Ten Baylor students and basketball players were killed by the impact. One player, James Clyde "Abe" Kelly, pushed his friend, Weir Washam, out the window of the bus just moments before the impact, saving Washam's life but costing Kelly his own; the bodies of Kelly and Robert Hailey were found horrifically stretched across the cow-catcher on the front of the train, with arms locked around each other and Kelly missing a leg. Ivy Foster Sr. of Taylor, had heard of the accident and rushed to the train station in Taylor to meet the train and assist where needed only to find his son among the dead. The remainder of the 1927 season was canceled; the tragedy had reverberations over the entire state and nation and led to the construction of the first railway overpass in Texas where the event occurred at Round Rock.
Buses were required to come to a full stop and open the door at all rail crossings to listen for trains. The Immortal Ten story has been commemorated each year since 1927 at first in Chapel services later at the Freshman Mass Meeting during Homecoming Week. In 2007, the event was memorialized in bronze on the Baylor campus in Traditions Plaza. On the 90th anniversary of the tragedy, January 22, 2017, the City of Round Rock held a memorial event to remember those who were killed in the train-bus collision. At the event, the city dedicated the "Immortal Bridge," which arcs over the railroad tracks where the accident occurred. Green lampposts, green-and-gold paint and other markings honor the 10 students who were killed there; the event was open to the public, attendees included Baylor administrators and student leaders, the spirit squads, Baylor's Golden Wave Band. Baylor men's teams won five conference championships in the former Southwest Conference; the Bears reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 1946, reached the Final Four in 1948 and 1950.
Bill Henderson's 1948 team advanced to play the Kentucky Wildcats for the NCAA championship, but fell 58–42 to Adolph Rupp's first national championship team. The team again advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 1950 under Henderson losing to the Bradley Braves 68–66. Bill Menefee would lead the Bears to a national ranking in 1969 but failed to make the postseason that year. Menefee was the only coach over the next 50 years to have a career record of over.500, would serve as Baylor's athletic director in the 1980s. Gene Iba's 1988 NCAA tournament team would be the first NCAA tournament appearance for the program in 38 years; the men's basketball program was plagued by a scandal in 2003. Patrick Dennehy, a player for the team, was murdered by former teammate Carlton Dotson; the school placed itself on probation, limited itself to 7 scholarships for two years and imposed a post-season ban for one year. Additionally, the NCAA further punished the team by initiating a non-conference ban for the 2005–2006 season and extending the probationary period during which the school would have limited recruiting privileges.
The 2005 Bears were hindered by only having 7 scholarship players and recorded only one win in conference play. In spite of these challenges, head coach Scott Drew was able to put together a 2005 signing class ranked No. 7 nationally by HoopScoop. The basketball program experienced a resurgence under coach Scott Drew with an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2008 for the first time in 20 years with a 9–7 conference record and the team's first national ranking in 39 years; the January 23, 2008 116–110 5OT win over Texas A&M at College Station became the longest game in Big 12 history. The 2008–09 team again was ranked early in the season but stumbled to a 5–11 conference finish before heating up in the Big 12 Tournament defeating both Kansas and Texas en route to the championship game versus Missouri, lost by a score of 73–60; the 2008–2009 team recorded the program's first postseason victory since 1950 in its first round NIT victory over the Georgetown Hoyas in Waco. The 2008–09 team went on to advance to the NIT Final where they fell to Penn State.
The 2009–10 squad was again ranked in both polls and pulled off the biggest road win in school history over the #6 Texas Longhorns in Austin 80–77 on Jan. 30th. The Bears closed out the season with a Big 12 era
Karl Malone
Karl Anthony Malone is an American retired professional basketball player. Nicknamed "The Mailman", Malone played the power forward position and spent his first 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association with the Utah Jazz and formed a formidable duo with his teammate John Stockton. Malone played one season for the Los Angeles Lakers. Malone was a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player, a 14-time NBA All-Star, an 11-time member of the All-NBA first team, his 36,928 career points scored rank second all-time in NBA history, he holds the records for most free throws attempted and made, in addition to co-holding the record for the second-most first team All-NBA selections in history. He is considered one of the greatest power forwards in NBA history. Malone played college basketball at Louisiana Tech University. In his three seasons with Louisiana Tech, he helped the Bulldogs basketball team to its first-ever NCAA tournament in 1984 and to first place in the Southland Conference in 1985; the Utah Jazz drafted Malone in 1985 with the 13th overall pick in the first round.
Malone appeared in the playoffs every season in his career, including the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998 with the Jazz. He played his final season with the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he played his third Finals in 2004. Malone has the most career postseason losses of any NBA player with 95. Malone competed with the United States national team in the Summer Olympic Games of 1992 and 1996. After retiring from the NBA, Malone joined the staff of the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball team in 2007 and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. Born in Summerfield, Malone was the youngest of nine children and during his childhood lived on a farm with his single mother, Shirley, his father, Shedrick Hay, was raising a family with another woman he married and committed suicide when Karl Malone was 3. As a child, Malone worked at the farm and chopped trees and fished, he attended Summerfield High School and led his basketball team to three consecutive Louisiana Class C titles from 1979 to his senior season in 1981.
Although recruited by University of Arkansas basketball coach Eddie Sutton, Malone enrolled at Louisiana Tech University, closer to home. He joined the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball team in his second year because his grades were too low for freshman eligibility. In his second season with Louisiana Tech, Malone averaged 9.3 rebounds per game. Louisiana Tech finished the 1984–85 season 29–3, at the top of the Southland Conference, advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history. In each of his three seasons with the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, Malone was an All-Southland selection. In the 1985 NBA draft, the Utah Jazz selected Karl Malone with the 13th overall pick. According to Malone's official NBA biography: "If professional scouts had predicted the impact Karl Malone would have on the NBA, Malone would have been picked much higher than 13th in the 1985 NBA Draft." In fact, Malone was so convinced the Dallas Mavericks were going to select him with the eighth choice that he had rented an apartment in Dallas.
Instead, the Mavericks selected Detlef Schrempf. Under head coach Frank Layden, Malone averaged 14.9 points and 8.9 rebounds in his first season and made the 1986 NBA All-Rookie Team after coming in third for Rookie of the Year votes. On January 14, 1986, the Jazz beat the Houston Rockets 105–102 to snap the Rockets' 20-game winning streak at home. Malone scored 29 points in that game, including four free throws followed by a three-pointer by Pace Mannion to rally from a 96–89 deficit with 5 minutes and 36 seconds remaining to a 96–96 tie. For the third consecutive season, the Jazz made the postseason but lost the first round of the 1986 playoffs to the Dallas Mavericks. In the four playoff games, Malone improved in his scoring with a 20 points per game average but was still subpar in shooting and rebounds. After his second season, Malone became the Jazz's leader in rebounding. By the 1987–88 season, Malone was the foundation of the offense and John Stockton was the floor general. Malone made his first All-Star Game in 1988 on the strength of 27.1 points per game, made his first All-NBA team at the end of the season.
This was the first of 14 consecutive All-Star appearances for Malone. In the 1988 NBA All-Star Game, Malone led the Western Conference All-Star team with 22 points; the Jazz finished 47–35, third place in the Midwest Division, defeated the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round. In the next round, the defending champions Los Angeles Lakers, led by perennial All-Stars Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, defeated the Jazz in seven games. In the seventh game of the series, Malone scored 31 points and had 15 rebounds, but the Lakers beat the Jazz 109–98 and won the 1988 NBA Finals. In 11 playoff games in 1988, Malone averaged 11.8 rebounds. Malone signed a 10-year contract during the 1988 offseason worth $18 million. In December 1988, Jerry Sloan succeeded Layden as head coach. Malone averaged 29.1 points in 1988–89, good for second in the NBA behind Michael Jordan, 10.7 rebounds, fifth in the league. This s
