Rick Majerus
Richard Raymond Majerus was an American college basketball coach. He coached at Marquette University, Ball State University, the University of Utah, Saint Louis University. Majerus' most successful season came at Utah in the 1997–98 season, when the Utes finished as runners-up in the 1998 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. Majerus was the son of an American labor leader. Majerus graduated from Marquette University High School in 1966 and attended Marquette University, where he tried out as a walk-on in the 1967 season, he stayed on as a student assistant. He graduated in 1970 with a degree in history, he began coaching eighth-graders at St. Sebastian Grade School in Milwaukee coached freshmen boys at Marquette University High School, he was an assistant coach with the Marquette Warriors for 12 years under mentor Al McGuire, until 1977, under Hank Raymonds until taking over as head coach in 1983. After three years as head coach at Marquette, a 56-35 record, he became an assistant coach with the National Basketball Association's Milwaukee Bucks for the 1986–87 season.
He coached at Ball State University for two seasons. He led the team to the NCAA tournament in the 1988-89 season; that 1988-89 team holds the record for best men's basketball won-lost mark in Ball State University history. He had Ball State's program on the upswing before his departure to Utah in 1989, he was an assistant coach under Don Nelson for the US national team in the 1994 FIBA World Championship, winning the gold medal. Majerus led Utah to the Final Four in 1998 losing to Kentucky in the National Championship Game, he was affected by the loss, claimed to be able to recite the last six minutes of play of the championship game second by second. While at Utah, he was known for living out of a hotel room, noting that he liked that "There’s clean towels, my bed is turned down every night and there’s a mint on my pillow, no matter what psychological or emotional crisis the maid is going through."Majerus left the team after the opening game of the 2000-01 season to rehabilitate his right knee.
He had every intention of returning after the first week of 2001, but was hospitalized on New Year's Day 2001 after complaining about chest pains. In January 2001, Majerus announced that he would sit out the rest of the season to recover from his own health problems and to be with his ailing mother, he handed over the team to assistant Dick Hunsaker, who guided the team to a 19-10 record and an NIT appearance. Majerus returned to Utah in the fall of 2001, he left Utah in January 2004 after 15 seasons and 323 victories in part to get control of his health. Majerus was known to verbally abuse his players. Lance Allred, who wrote about it in his autobiography Longshot, told of his three years at Utah and how Majerus would humiliate him targeting his disability—Allred being deaf and requiring hearing aids. Allred transferred after the 2001-02 season, but Majerus was "cleared of any wrongdoing." While at Ball State and Utah, Majerus was considered a serious candidate for numerous major head coaching positions, including UCLA, St. John's, UNLV, Arizona State, Notre Dame, Texas, San Diego State and the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.
On December 15, 2004, Majerus was hired as coach of the University of Southern California basketball team. His contract was scheduled to pay him $5 million over five years. Majerus gave an energetic and humorous press conference on the day of his hire, but noted "I hope I die here. I hope I coach here the rest of my life." In order to take the position, he needed to buy himself out of his contract as an analyst for ESPN. However, Majerus unexpectedly resigned only five days in a somber, at times weeping, press conference, he apologized to the university and stated that his health and fitness were not yet at a stage where he thought he could perform his new duties, noting "I wanted this job so bad I was in denial where my health is I realized wasn’t getting the guy they hired. I came to that conclusion myself. I’m not fit for this job by my standards." Years however, Majerus would claim that the true reason for his change of mind had not been his health, but rather had been his mother's request that he not take the job, which would have meant his relocation to Los Angeles, far removed from her home in Wisconsin.
Majerus worked as a game and studio analyst for ESPN from 2004 to 2007. Majerus was a fan favorite and cult figure around college basketball, known for his portly, rotund figure and his quirky, jovial personality, he enjoyed a sausage popular in his native Wisconsin. On April 27, 2007, Majerus accepted the head coaching position at Saint Louis University, his tenure at SLU got off to a rocky start. However, as he had done at other programs, Majerus made SLU a winning program. In 2012, he led the Billikens to their first NCAA Tournament in 12 years, their first appearance in a major poll in 17 years. Majerus' mother, died on August 6, 2011. For years, Majerus battled health problems due to obesity, he missed all but the first six games of the 1989–1990 season, his first at Utah, af
Dikembe Mutombo
Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo is a Congolese American retired professional basketball player who played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association. Outside basketball, he has become well known for his humanitarian work; the 7 ft 2 in, 260-pound center, who began his career with the Georgetown Hoyas, is regarded as one of the greatest shot blockers and defensive players of all time, winning the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award four times. On January 10, 2007, he surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the second most prolific shot blocker in NBA history, behind only Hakeem Olajuwon, he averaged a double-double for most of his career, is 12th all-time in career double-doubles, tied for second all-time in career triple doubles involving points and blocks. At the conclusion of the 2009 NBA playoffs, Mutombo announced his retirement. On September 11, 2015, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Mutombo was born on June 25, 1966, in Leopoldville, Democratic Republic of the Congo, one of 12 children of Samuel and Biamba Marie Mutombo.
He speaks English, Spanish and five Central African varieties, including Lingala and Tshiluba. He is a member of the Luba ethnic group, he moved to the United States in 1987 at the age of 21 to enroll in college. Mutombo attended Georgetown University on a USAID scholarship, he intended to become a doctor, but the Georgetown Hoyas basketball coach John Thompson recruited him to play basketball. He spoke no English when he arrived at Georgetown and studied in the ESL program. During his first year of college basketball as a sophomore, Mutombo once blocked 12 shots in a game. Building on the shot-blocking power of Mutombo and teammate Alonzo Mourning, Georgetown fans created a "Rejection Row" section under the basket, adding a big silhouette of an outstretched hand to a banner for each shot blocked during the game. At Georgetown, Mutombo's international background and interests stood out. Like many other Washington-area college students, he served as a summer intern, once for the Congress of the United States and once for the World Bank.
In 1991, he graduated with bachelor's degrees in linguistics and diplomacy. In the 1991 NBA draft, the Denver Nuggets drafted Mutombo with the fourth overall pick; the Nuggets ranked last in the NBA in opponent points-per-game and Defensive Rating, Mutombo's shot-blocking ability made an immediate impression across the league. He developed his signature move in 1992 as a way to become more marketable and gain product endorsement contracts. After blocking a player's shot, he would point his right index finger at that player and move it side to side; that year, Mutombo starred in an Adidas advertisement that used the catchphrase "Man does not fly … in the house of Mutombo", a reference to his prolific shot-blocking. As a rookie, Mutombo was selected for the All-Star team and averaged 16.6 points, 12.3 rebounds, nearly three blocks per game. Mutombo began establishing himself as one of the league's best defensive players putting up big rebound and block numbers; the 1993–94 season saw Denver continue to improve with Mutombo as the franchise cornerstone.
During that season, Mutombo averaged 12.0 points per game, 11.8 rebounds per game, 4.1 blocks per game. With that, he helped the Nuggets finished with a 42-40 record and qualifying as the eighth seed in the playoffs, they were matched up with the top-seeded 63–19 Seattle SuperSonics in the first round. After falling to an 0-2 deficit in the five-game series, Denver won three straight games to pull off a major playoff upset, becoming the first eighth seed to defeat a number one seed in an NBA playoff series. At the end of Game 5, Mutombo memorably grabbed the game-winning rebound and fell to the ground, holding the ball over his head in a moment of joy. Mutombo's defensive presence was the key to the upset victory. In the second round of the playoffs, the Nuggets fell to the Utah Jazz, 4-3; the following season, he was selected for his second All-Star game and received the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. But Denver failed to build on its success from the previous playoffs, as Mutombo lacked a quality supporting cast around him.
During his last season with the Nuggets, Mutombo averaged 11.0 points per game, 11.8 rebounds per game and a career-high 4.5 blocks per game. At the conclusion of the 1995–96 season, Mutombo became a free agent, sought a 10-year contract, something the Nuggets considered impossible to offer. Bernie Bickerstaff the Nuggets' general manager said not bringing back Mutombo was his biggest regret as GM. After the 1995–96 NBA season, Mutombo signed a 5-year, $55 million free agent contract with the Atlanta Hawks, he and Hawks All-Star Steve Smith led Atlanta to back-to-back 50+-win seasons in 1996–97 and 1997–98. The Hawks defeated the Detroit Pistons in five games in the first round of the 1997 NBA Playoffs, but lost in five games in the second round to the defending champion Chicago Bulls. Mutombo won Defensive Player of the Year both years, continuing to put up excellent defensive numbers with his new team. During the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season, he was the NBA's IBM Award winner, a player of the year award determined by a computerized formula.
That year, the NBA banned the Mutombo finger wag, after a period of protest, he complied with the new rule. In what would be his last full season with the Hawks during the 1999-00 season, Mutombo averaged 11.5 points per game, a career and league-high 14.1 rebounds per game, 3.3 blocks per game. On December 14, 1999, Mutombo scored 27 points, on 11-for-1
Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division and play at Wells Fargo Center. Founded in 1946 and known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA, one of only eight to survive the league's first decade; the 76ers have had a rich history, with many of the greatest players in NBA history having played for the organization, including Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer, Billy Cunningham, Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Charles Barkley, Allen Iverson. They have won three NBA championships, with their first coming as the Syracuse Nationals in 1955; the second title came in 1967, a team, led by Chamberlain. The third title came in 1983, won by a team led by Malone; the 76ers have only been back to the NBA Finals once since then: in 2001, where they were led by Iverson and lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in five games.
In 1946, Italian immigrant Daniel Biasone sent a $5,000 check to the National Basketball League offices in Chicago, the Syracuse Nationals became the Midwest-based league's easternmost team, based in the Upstate New York city of Syracuse. The Syracuse Nationals began play in the NBL in the same year professional basketball was gaining some legitimacy with the rival Basketball Association of America, based in large cities like New York and Philadelphia. While in the NBL with teams consisting of small Midwestern towns, the Nationals put together a 21–23 record, finishing in fourth place. In the playoffs, the Nationals would be beaten by the fellow upstate neighbor Rochester Royals in four games. In their second season, 1947–48, the Nationals would struggle, finishing in fifth place with a 24–36 record. Despite their struggles, the Nationals would make the playoffs, getting swept by the Anderson Duffey Packers in 3 straight games. Several teams began to leave the NBL for the BAA; the Nationals "recipe for success" began by recruiting Leo Ferris.
Staying in the NBL, Ferris signed Al Cervi to be player coach and outbid the New York Knicks for the services of Dolph Schayes who made his professional debut, leading the Nationals to a winning record for the first time with a record of 41–22. In the playoffs the Nationals would make quick work of the Hammond Calumet Buccaneers, winning the series in 2 straight games. However, in the semifinals the Nationals would fall to the Anderson Duffey Packers for the second straight season in four games. In 1949, the Nationals were one of seven NBL teams that were absorbed by the Basketball Association of America to form the NBA; the Nationals were an instant success in the NBA, winning the Eastern Division in the 1949–50 season, with a league best record of 51–13. In the playoffs the Nationals continued to play solid basketball, beating the Philadelphia Warriors in 2 straight. Moving on to the Eastern Finals, the Nationals battled the New York Knickerbockers, beating their big city rivals in a 3-game series.
In the NBA Finals, the Nationals faced. In Game 1 of the Finals the Nationals lost just their second home game of the season 68–66; the Nationals did not recover. Despite several teams leaving the NBA for the National Professional Basketball League before the 1950–51 season, the Nationals decided to stay put. In their second NBA season, 1950–51, the Nationals played mediocre basketball all season, finishing in fourth place with a record of 32–34. However, in the playoffs the Nationals played their best basketball of the season as they stunned the first place Warriors in two straight, taking Game 1 on the road in overtime 91–89. In the Eastern Finals the Nationals were beaten by the New York Knickerbockers in a hard-fought 5-game series, losing the finale by just 2 points. Cervi, playing less and coaching more, emphasized a patient offense and a scrappy defense, which led the league in the 1951–52 season by yielding a stingy 79.5 points per game as the Nationals won the Eastern Division with a solid 40–26 record.
In the playoffs the Nationals knocked off the Warriors again in a 3-game series. However, in the Eastern Finals the Nationals fell to the Knickerbockers again, dropping the series in four games; the Nationals would finish in second place in a hard-fought 3-way battle for first place in the Eastern Division for the 1952–53 season, with a record of 47–24. In the playoffs the Nationals would face the Boston Celtics dropping Game 1 at home 87–81. Needing a win in Boston to keep their hopes alive, the Nationals would take the Celtics deep into overtime before losing in quadruple OT 111–105, in what remains the longest playoff game in NBA history; the Nationals acquired Alex Groza, Ralph Beard as the Indianapolis Olympians folded leaving the NBA with just 9 teams for the 1953–54 season. Once again the Nationals would battle for the Division title falling two games short with a 42–30 record. In the playoffs the Nationals would win all four games of a round robin tournament involving the three playoff teams from the East.
In the Eastern Finals the Nationals would stay hot beating the Celtics in 2 straight games. However, in the NBA Finals the Nationals would lose to the Lakers in a hard-fought 7-game series where the 2 teams alternated wins throughout. With the NBA struggling financially and down to just 8 teams Nationals owner during the 1954–55 season, Biasone suggested the league limit the amount of time taken for a shot thus speeding up a game that ended with long periods of teams just holding the ball and playing keep away. Biasone and Nationals' general manager
Anthony Parker
Anthony Michael Parker is an American retired professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association, as well as in Italy and Israel. After graduating from Bradley University with a major in liberal arts, he entered the 1997 NBA draft and played in the NBA before plying his trade in Europe. There, Parker spent five seasons with the Israeli Super League basketball club Maccabi Tel Aviv and one season with the Italian Serie A club Lottomatica Roma. With Maccabi he won five Israeli Super League national championships, five Israeli National Cups, three European titles, was voted two consecutive times EuroLeague MVP. After returning to the NBA as a free agent in 2006, Parker was the Toronto Raptors' starting shooting guard. In his first season with the Raptors, Parker helped the team clinch their first division title, first NBA Playoffs berth in five years, best regular season record in franchise history, he helped the Raptors reach the playoffs again in the 2007–08 season, before becoming a free agent in 2009.
On June 27, 2012, Anthony Parker retired after playing nine seasons in the NBA, five seasons in Israel, one season in Italy. He is a scout for the Orlando Magic. On August 8, 2017 he was named the general manager of the Lakeland Magic. Parker was born in Illinois, his father played college basketball at the University of Iowa. Parker's younger siblings played basketball. Early in his professional basketball career, Parker married Tamy, they had their first child in 2002. Parker is Christian. Parker started out playing high school basketball at Naperville Central High School, he played college basketball at Bradley University where he established himself as a top player, averaging 18.9 points per game and shooting 42% from the three-point line in his third season, earning the Missouri Valley Conference Most Valuable Player and All-MVC first team honors in the same season. His outstanding performances for the Braves ensured that he became one of 15 players honored in Bradley's All-Century basketball team named in 2003.
Academically, Parker excelled. He majored in chemistry before switching to liberal arts and sciences in his senior year, earned two Major Robert H. Lawrence Jr. Scholarships while at Bradley. Parker entered the 1997 NBA draft after four years at Bradley and was selected 21st overall by the New Jersey Nets, but he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in a multi-player trade. In his two seasons with the 76ers, Parker was plagued by injury and played in only 39 regular season games, averaging just over five minutes a game and totaling 74 points and 26 rebounds, he was subsequently traded together with Harvey Grant to the Orlando Magic for Billy Owens before the 1999–2000 season began. Parker again struggled at Orlando, playing only 16 games with modest averages of 3.6 ppg and 1.7 rebounds per game before being released in January 2000. He finished the remainder of the season with the Quad City Thunder of the Continental Basketball Association where he averaged 11.5 points in 26 games. Disappointed in his failure to make a breakthrough in the NBA, Parker turned to Europe to resurrect his basketball career, intending to return to the NBA after a good season with a European club.
He moved to Israel in the 2000–01 season, where he was signed by the Israeli EuroLeague powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv. Parker and his wife were intimidated by the occasional bomb attacks in the city, but they soon settled in and Parker was able to focus on his basketball career. Within his first season with his new club, he became one of their most pivotal players. Parker was signed to fill the void left by Doron Sheffer's retirement at the shooting guard position, but ended up featuring as a both scorer and play-maker for Maccabi, he brought to the team his ability to score, block shots, entertain the crowds with slam dunks. In Parker's inaugural season, Maccabi won the Israeli domestic championship and the Israeli National Cup, as well as the FIBA SuproLeague Cup, he continued his fine form for the club in the 2001–02 season, averaging 16.4 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game as Maccabi again won both domestic titles, reached the Euroleague 2001–02 Final Four. Parker left Israel in 2002, in January 2003 moved to Italy, where he signed with Virtus Roma, playing in 27 Italian Serie A league games and averaging 14.5 points per game and 5.6 rebounds per game.
However, half a year Parker longed a return to Israel, a country he had grown to love. Back with Maccabi, he helped his team accomplish two more Triple Crowns by winning the Israeli domestic championship, the Israeli National Cup, the EuroLeague championship in both 2004 and 2005. In the process, he was named the Israeli Basketball Super League MVP and the EuroLeague Final Four MVP of the Euroleague 2003–04 season, as well as the EuroLeague MVP and first team All-EuroLeague in the Euroleague 2004–05 season; the 2004–05 season proved to be a watershed season for Parker, as he averaged career-highs of 18.0 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game and 3.6 assists per game. In his final season with Maccabi, he led Maccabi to another domestic double, but in the Euroleague 2005–06 season's championship game, Maccabi was defeated 73–69 by CSKA Moscow. For his efforts, Parker was named EuroLeague MVP and first team All-EuroLeague for the second consecutive time. After six years of success in Europe however, Parker dreamed of returning to the NBA.
Overall, he averaged 13.6
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a non-profit organization which regulates athletes of 1,268 North American institutions and conferences. It organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, helps more than 480,000 college student-athletes who compete annually in college sports; the organization is headquartered in Indiana. In its 2016–17 fiscal year the NCAA took in $1.06 billion in revenue, over 82% of, generated by the Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. In August 1973, the current three-division system of Division I, Division II, Division III was adopted by the NCAA membership in a special convention. Under NCAA rules, Division I and Division II schools can offer scholarships to athletes for playing a sport. Division III schools may not offer any athletic scholarships. Larger schools compete in Division I and smaller schools in II and III. Division I football was further divided into I-A and I-AA in 1978. Subsequently, the term "Division I-AAA" was added to delineate Division I schools which do not field a football program at all, but that term is no longer used by the NCAA.
In 2006, Divisions I-A and I-AA were renamed the Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision. Controversially, the NCAA caps the benefits that collegiate athletes can receive from their schools. There is a consensus among economists that these caps for men's basketball and football players benefit the athletes' schools at the expense of athletes. Intercollegiate sports began in the US in 1852 when crews from Harvard and Yale universities met in a challenge race in the sport of rowing; as rowing remained the preeminent sport in the country into the late-1800s, many of the initial debates about collegiate athletic eligibility and purpose were settled through organizations like the Rowing Association of American Colleges and the Intercollegiate Rowing Association. As other sports emerged, notably football and basketball, many of these same concepts and standards were adopted. Football, in particular, began to emerge as a marquee sport, but the rules of the game itself were in constant flux and had to be adapted for each contest.
The NCAA dates its formation to two White House conferences convened by President Theodore Roosevelt in the early 20th century in response to repeated injuries and deaths in college football which had "prompted many college and universities to discontinue the sport." Following those White House meetings and the reforms which had resulted, Chancellor Henry MacCracken of New York University organized a meeting of 13 colleges and universities to initiate changes in football playing rules. The IAAUS was established on March 31, 1906, took its present name, the NCAA, in 1910. For several years, the NCAA was a discussion group and rules-making body, but in 1921, the first NCAA national championship was conducted: the National Collegiate Track and Field Championships. More rules committees were formed and more championships were created, including a basketball championship in 1939. A series of crises brought the NCAA to a crossroads after World War II; the "Sanity Code" – adopted to establish guidelines for recruiting and financial aid – failed to curb abuses.
Postseason football games were multiplying with little control, member schools were concerned about how the new medium of television would affect football attendance. The complexity of those problems and the growth in membership and championships demonstrated the need for full-time professional leadership. Walter Byers a part-time executive assistant, was named executive director in 1951, a national headquarters was established in Kansas City, Missouri in 1952. Byers wasted no time placing his stamp on the Association. A program to control live television of football games was approved, the annual Convention delegated enforcement powers to the Association's Council, legislation was adopted governing postseason bowl games; as college athletics grew, the scope of the nation's athletics programs diverged, forcing the NCAA to create a structure that recognized varying levels of emphasis. In 1973, the Association's membership was divided into three legislative and competitive divisions – I, II, III.
Five years in 1978, Division I members voted to create subdivisions I-A and I-AA in football. Until the 1980s, the association did not offer women's athletics. Instead, the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, with nearly 1000 member schools, governed women's collegiate sports in the United States; the AIAW was in a vulnerable position. Following a one-year overlap in which both organizations staged women's championships, the AIAW discontinued operation, most member schools continued their women's athletics programs under the governance of the NCAA. By 1982 all divisions of the NCAA offered national championship events for women's athletics. A year in 1983, the 75th Convention approved an expansion to plan women's athletic program services and pushed for a women's championship program. By the 1980s, televised college football had become a larger source of income for the NCAA. In September 1981, the Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma and the University of Georgia Athletic Association filed suit against the NCAA in district court in Oklahoma.
The plaintiffs stated that the NCAA's football tel
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, more referred to as the Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Association as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference; the team plays its home games at Madison Square Garden, an arena they share with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League. They are one of two NBA teams located in New York City. Alongside the Boston Celtics, the Knicks are one of two original NBA teams still located in its original city; the team, established by Ned Irish in 1946, was one of the founding members of the Basketball Association of America, which became the NBA after merging with the rival National Basketball League in 1949. The Knicks were successful during their early years and were constant playoff contenders under the franchise's first head coach Joe Lapchick. Beginning in 1950, the Knicks made three consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals, all of which were losing efforts.
Lapchick resigned in 1956 and the team subsequently began to falter. It was not until the late 1960s when Red Holzman became head coach that the Knicks began to regain their former dominance. Holzman guided the Knicks to two NBA championships, in 1970 and 1973; the Knicks of the 1980s had mixed success. The playoff-level Knicks of the 1990s were led by future Hall of Fame center Patrick Ewing. During this time, they were known for playing tough defense under head coaches Pat Riley and Jeff Van Gundy, making two appearances in the NBA Finals, in 1994 and 1999. However, they were unable to win an NBA championship during this era. Since 2000, the Knicks have struggled to regain their former glory, but won its first division title in 19 years in 2012–13, led by a core of forwards Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire, they were eliminated in the Eastern Conference semi-finals by the Indiana Pacers, have failed to make the playoffs since. In 1946, basketball college basketball, was a growing and profitable sport in New York City.
Hockey generated considerable profits. Max Kase, a New York sportswriter, became the sports editor at the Boston American in the 1930s, when he met Boston Garden owner Walter A. Brown. Kase developed the idea of an organized professional league to showcase college players upon their graduation and felt it could become profitable if properly assembled. Brown, intrigued by the opportunity to attain additional income when the hockey teams were not playing or on the road, contacted several arena owners. On June 6, 1946, Kase and Brown and a group of seventeen others assembled at the Commodore Hotel in New York City, as the Basketball Association of America, where charter franchises were granted to major cities throughout the country. Ned Irish, a college basketball promoter, retired sportswriter and president of Madison Square Garden, was in attendance. Kase planned to own and operate the New York franchise himself and approached Irish with a proposal to lease the Garden. Irish explained that the rules of the Arena Managers Association of America stated that Madison Square Garden was required to own any professional teams that played in the arena.
On the day of the meeting, Kase made his proposal to the panel of owners. Irish wanted a distinct name for his franchise, representative of the city of New York, he called together members of his staff for a meeting to cast their votes in a hat. After tallying the votes, the franchise was named the Knickerbockers; the "Knickerbocker" name comes from the pseudonym used by Washington Irving in his book A History of New York, a name that became applied to the descendants of the original Dutch settlers of what became New York, by extension, to New Yorkers in general. In search of a head coach, Irish approached successful St. John's University coach Joe Lapchick in May 1946. Lapchick accepted after Irish promised to make him the highest paid coach in the league. Irish obliged, hiring former Manhattan College coach Neil Cohalan as interim coach for the first year. With no college draft in the league's initial year, there was no guarantee that the Knicks or the league itself would thrive. Teams focused on signing college players from their respective cities as a way to promote the professional league.
The Knicks held their first training camp in the Catskill Mountains at the Nevele Country Club. Twenty-five players were invited to attend the three-week session. Players worked out twice a day and the chemistry between the New York natives was instant. With a roster assembled, the Knicks faced the Toronto Huskies at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens on November 1, 1946, in what would be the franchise's first game—as well as the first in league history. In a low-scoring affair presented in front of 7,090 spectators, the Knicks defeated the Huskies 68–66 with Leo Gottlieb leading the Knicks in scoring with 14 points. With Madison Square Garden's crowded schedule, the Knicks were forced to play many of their home games at the 69th Regiment Armory during the team's early years; the Knicks went on to finish their inaugural campaign with a 33–27 record and achieved a playoff berth under Cohalan despite a dismal shooting percentage of 28 perce
Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association as a member club of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division; the team plays its home games at the American Airlines Center, which it shares with the National Hockey League's Dallas Stars. As of the 2017 season, the Mavericks have sold out 704 consecutive games since December 15, 2001, the longest running sellout streak in North American major league sports. Since their inaugural 1980–81 season, the Mavericks have won three division titles, two conference championships, one NBA championship. In 1978, Californian businessman Garn Eckardt met Dallas lawyer Doug Adkins, mentioned he was trying to raise capital to move an NBA team to the city. 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 developed an interest in bringing the NBA to Dallas as he studied possible new locations for the ailing franchise. While the Braves went to California as the San Diego Clippers, Sonju returned to Texas, was introduced to Carter by mayor Robert Folsom, one of the owners and team president of the last professional basketball team in the city, the Dallas Chaparrals of the American Basketball Association, which moved to San Antonio in 1973 to become the San Antonio Spurs. 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 reluctant to expand to Dallas, given Texas had both the Spurs and Houston Rockets, the 1978–79 NBA season was proving unprofitable and unpopular. Still, during the 1979 NBA All-Star Game weekend, NBA commissioner Larry O'Brien 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, through negotiations with general counselor and future commissioner David Stern, the expansion fee was settled on the $12.5 million. Carter would provide half the amount. At the 1980 NBA All-Star Game, league owners voted to admit the new team, with the team's name coming from the 1957–1962 TV western Maverick. James Garner, who played the namesake 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, but did not attempt any legal action. 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 team's first head coach, he had a well-earned reputation of being a stern disciplinarian, but was a great teacher of the game. Kiki Vandeweghe of UCLA was drafted by the Mavs with the 11th pick of the 1980 NBA draft, but Vandeweghe refused to play for the expansion Mavericks and staged a holdout that lasted a month into the team's inaugural season.
Vandeweghe was traded to the Denver Nuggets, along with a first-round pick, in 1981, in exchange for two future first-round picks that materialized into Rolando Blackman in 1981 and Sam Perkins in 1984. In the Mavericks' debut game, taking place in the brand-new Reunion Arena, the Mavericks defeated the Spurs, 103–92, but the Mavs started the season with a 6–40 record on their way to finishing 15–67. However, the Mavericks did make a player acquisition that, while it seemed minor at the time, turned out to play a important role in the early years of their franchise. Journeyman 6 ft 3 in guard Brad Davis, who played for the Anchorage Northern Knights of the Continental Basketball Association, was tracked down and signed by the Mavs in December. At the time, there was no reason to expect that Davis would be any better than the expansion-level talent the Mavs had, but he started the Mavs' final 26 games, led the team in assists, his career soared. He spent the next twelve years with the Mavericks, his number 15 jersey was retired.
The Mavericks marked the first NBA team to have a profitable debut season, with an average of 7,789 spectators. The 1981 NBA Draft brought three players; the Mavs selected 6'6" forward Mark Aguirre with the first pick, 6'6" guard Rolando Blackman 9th, 6'7" forward Jay Vincent 24th. By the end of his seven-year Mavs career, Aguirre would average 24.6 points per game. Blackman contributed 19.2 points over his 11-year career in Dallas. But it was Jay Vincent who made the biggest difference for the Mavs in their second season, leading the team in scoring with 21.4 points per game and earning NBA All-Rookie Team honors. The Mavericks improved to 28–54, getting out of the Midwest Division cellar as they finished above the Utah Jazz. In 1982–83, the Mavericks were serious contenders for the first time. At the All-Star break, they had won 12 of their last 15 games, they could not sustain that momentum and finished seven games behind the Denver Nuggets for the sixth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
But the Mavs' 38–44 re
