1.
Blake Griffin
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Blake Austin Griffin is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association. He played college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners, when he was named the Consensus National Player of the Year as a sophomore, Griffin was selected first overall by the Clippers in the 2009 NBA draft, and has since been a five-time NBA All-Star and a four-time All-NBA selection. Griffin had a high school career at Oklahoma Christian School, winning state titles each of his four years under his father. Griffin played two seasons of college ball for the Sooners before entering the 2009 NBA draft, when he was selected by the Clippers, during the final pre-season game of 2009, he broke his left kneecap, had surgery, and missed the entire 2009–10 season. Griffin made his NBA debut as a rookie the following season, in which he was selected as an All-Star, won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, in 2011, Sports Illustrated called him one of the NBAs 15 Greatest Rookies of All Time. Griffin was born on March 16,1989, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to Tommy Griffin, who is of Afro-Haitian descent, and Gail Griffin, as a result, Griffin is bi-racial. His father was a center and track standout at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Griffin and his brother, Taylor Griffin, were home-schooled by their mother from first grade until Taylor was in the tenth grade. Growing up, Griffin was good friends with future NFL quarterback Sam Bradford, bradfords father owned a gym where Blake and Taylor played basketball. Before deciding to focus on basketball, Griffin also played baseball as a first baseman and football as a receiver, safety. In 2003, Griffin followed his brother to Oklahoma Christian School and they played together during the 2003–04 and 2004–05 high school seasons, winning two state basketball championships. In his freshman year, the Oklahoma Christian Saints posted a perfect 29–0 season and won the Class 3A boys state championship game at the State Fair Arena against Riverside Indian School, 55–50. In Griffins sophomore year, the Saints repeated as Class 3A state champions, defeating Sequoyah-Tahlequah 51–34, the team finished the season with a 24–2 record, with Griffin averaging 13.6 points per game. He was later named to the Little All-City All-State team in what was his high school season with his brother. Taylor went on to accept a scholarship to college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners. During the summer of 2005, Blake was a member of the Athletes First AAU team, where he played against Kevin Durant and Ty Lawsons AAU team, during Griffins junior season, the Oklahoma Christian basketball team was moved down to Class 2A from Class 3A. As he began his season with the Saints, he was quickly developing as a player. He scored 22 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and recorded 6 blocks in the finals as Oklahoma Christian defeated Washington High School, 57–40
2.
Kevin Durant
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Kevin Wayne Durant is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association. Durant has won an NBA Most Valuable Player Award, four NBA scoring titles, the NBA Rookie of the Year Award and he has also been selected to six All-NBA teams and eight All-Star teams. Durant was a heavily recruited high school prospect and he played one season of college basketball for the University of Texas, where he won numerous year-end awards and became the first freshman to be named Naismith College Player of the Year. In the 2007 NBA draft, he was selected with the second pick by the Seattle SuperSonics. After his rookie season, the relocated to Oklahoma City. Durant helped lead Oklahoma City to the 2012 NBA Finals, losing to the Miami Heat in five games and he played nine seasons for the Thunder organization before joining the Warriors in 2016. Durant was born on September 29,1988 in Washington, D. C. to Wanda, when Durant was an infant, his father deserted the family, Wanda and Wayne eventually divorced, and Durants grandmother Barbara Davis helped raise him. By age 13, his father re-entered his life and traveled the country with him to basketball tournaments, Durant has one sister, Brianna, and two brothers, Tony and Rayvonne. Growing up, Durant wanted to play for his team, the Toronto Raptors. During this time, he began wearing #35 as his number in honor of his AAU coach, Charles Craig. Prior to the start of the season, he committed to the University of Texas, at the conclusion of the year, he was named the Washington Post All-Met Basketball Player of the Year, as well as the Most Valuable Player of the 2006 McDonalds All-American Game. He was widely regarded as the second-best high school prospect of 2006, for the 2006–07 college season, Durant averaged 25.8 points,11.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game. The Longhorns finished the year with a 25–10 record overall and a 12–4 record in conference, Durant was the first freshman ever to win any of the National Player of the Year awards. On April 11, he declared for the 2007 NBA draft. His jersey was retired by the Longhorns. Durant was selected with the second pick in the 2007 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics. In his first career game, he registered 18 points,5 rebounds, on November 16, he made the first game-winning shot of his career in a game against the Atlanta Hawks. At the conclusion of the season, he was named the NBA Rookie of the Year behind averages of 20.3 points,4.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game
3.
Derrick Rose
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Derrick Martell Rose is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association. He played one year of basketball for the Memphis Tigers before being drafted first overall by his hometown Chicago Bulls in the 2008 NBA draft. After being named the NBA Rookie of the Year, Rose, at age 22, Rose was born and raised in the Chicago area, and attended Simeon Career Academy. He was highly recruited by NCAA scouts and coaches, eventually choosing to join the University of Memphis under Coach John Calipari. Rose led the Memphis Tigers to the most wins in NCAA history, their first number one ranking in 25 years, in 2009, an NCAA investigation revealed that Roses SAT scores had been invalidated, and as a result, the NCAA vacated Memphis entire 2007–08 season. Rose has struggled with significant knee injuries since his 2010–11 MVP campaign, in the first round of the 2012 NBA Playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers, Rose tore his ACL in his left knee. Rose required surgery and was sidelined for the entire 2012–13 season. Rose returned to play in 2013–14, however, on November 22,2013, during a regular season game against the Portland Trail Blazers, Rose injured his right meniscus which caused him to miss the remainder of the season. Rose returned once again the season, but knee injuries continued to riddle him. In June 2016, he was traded to the New York Knicks, Rose was born and raised in the Englewood area, one of the most dangerous neighborhoods on Chicagos South Side. He is the youngest son of Brenda Rose after Dwayne, Reggie, all three were talented basketball players who taught Rose the in and outs of basketball on nearby courts. As his talent for the sport grew, Rose began to attract much more attention in Chicagos basketball circles, leading his mother. She feared he would be exploited and his path to the NBA diverted by outside parties like street agents, by the time Rose enrolled at Simeon Career Academy in 2003, he was a hot commodity for collegiate coaches. Despite his reputation, he played freshmen and JV basketball for the Wolverines and he wore No.25 in honor of Ben Benji Wilson, a promising player who was murdered by a gang member during his senior year in 1984. Rose was not allowed on varsity due to a tradition that head coach Bob Hambric. Hambric softened his stance and allowed the freshman a chance to play on varsity in the state tournament, the next year Hambric retired and Robert Smith was hired, opening the path to varsity. In Roses debut, he had 22 points,7 rebounds and 5 steals over Thornwood High School in a game filled with college scouts. He led the Wolverines to a 30–5 mark while averaging 19.8 points,5.1 rebounds,8.3 assists and 2.4 steals, Roses play garnered him his first national award, a Parade All-American third team spot
4.
Visual Concepts
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Visual Concepts Entertainment is a video game developer based in Novato, California best known for developing Take-Two Interactives 2K series of sports games. After the success of the series, they were acquired by Sega and became a wholly owned studio with Sega, usually termed a first-party developer. However, Sega at the time termed non-internal studios that the company set up or purchased as 1.5 development studios in order to differentiate them from their own internal studios. In January 2005, Visual Concepts was sold to Take-Two Interactive along with their wholly owned subsidiary Kush Games, with the purchase of Visual Concepts, Take-Two created 2K Games, a new publishing label. Although the company started out developing quirky titles such as Lester the Unlikely, development efforts are now primarily centered on sports such as Basketball. It also have two development studios, Visual Concepts China, and Visual Concepts Korea, the following games have been developed by Visual Concepts. Ooga Booga Sonic Adventure 2 Visual Concepts is listed in the credits of Sonic Adventure 2, a Dinosaurs Story Desert Strike Jungle Strike Toughman Contest Nickelodeon GUTS Phantom 2040 Star Trek, 25th Anniversary Spot, The Cool Adventure McDonaldland RoboCop Versus The Terminator Trog. Designasaurus II Dominus Task Force Gnarly Golf Great Western Shootout Pipe Dream
5.
2K Sports
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2K Sports, Inc. is a division of 2K Games that develops and publishes sports video games. It comprises a development studio, Visual Concepts, which was purchased from Sega in 2005 after Sega Sports shut down. 2K Sports mainly develops and publishes American sports video games, such as NBA 2K series, the NHL 2K series and it previously produced the MLB 2K series. 2K Sports, which in late 2004 purchased development studio Indie Built from Microsoft Game Studios, Indie Built was known for its work on the Amped, Links, and Top Spin series. However, 2K Sports still owns the rights to intellectual properties. 2K Sports has the exclusive third-party rights to produce Major League Baseball, on October 20,2008, 2K Sports released their first PC game, NBA 2K9. Their second, MLB Front Office Manager, was released on January 26,2009, on January 23,2013, 2K Sports bought the WWE game license from THQ. The MLB 2K series was discontinued on January 6,2014 due to the reception of MLB 2K13. However, this move was met with frustration from fans as well as Xbox 360 owners. Current Visual Concepts Visual Concepts China Visual Concepts Korea Former Indie Built Kush Games PAM Development Venom Games Official website
6.
Jay-Z
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Shawn Corey Carter, known professionally as Jay Z, is an American rapper, businessman, and investor. He is one of the musicians of all time, having sold more than 100 million records. MTV ranked him the Greatest MC of all time in 2006, Rolling Stone ranked three of his albums—Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint, and The Black Album —among the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2014, Forbes estimated his net worth at nearly $520 million, Jay Z co-owns the New York 40/40 Club sports bar, and is the co-creator of the clothing line Rocawear. He is the president of Def Jam Recordings, co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records. He also founded the sports agency Roc Nation Sports and is a certified NBA, as an artist, he holds the record for most number one albums by a solo artist on the Billboard 200 with 13. He has also had four number ones on the Billboard Hot 100, in 2009, he was ranked the tenth-most successful artist of the 2000s by Billboard as well as the fifth top solo male artist and fourth top rapper behind Eminem, Nelly, and 50 Cent. He was also ranked the 88th-greatest artist of all time by Rolling Stone, Jay Z married Singer-Songwriter Beyoncé in 2008. Shawn Carter was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised in Marcy Houses and he and his three siblings were raised by their mother, Gloria Carter after their father, Adness Reeves abandoned the family. Reeves would later meet and reconcile with Jay Z before dying from liver failure in 2003, Jay Z claims in his lyrics that in 1982, at the age of 12, he shot his older brother in the shoulder for stealing his jewelry. Along with future rapper AZ, Carter attended Eli Whitney High School in Brooklyn until it was closed down, according to his interviews and lyrics, during this period he sold crack cocaine and was shot at three times. According to his mother, Carter used to wake up his siblings at night banging out drum patterns on the kitchen table and she bought him a boom box for his birthday, sparking his interest in music. He began freestyling and writing lyrics, known as Jazzy around the neighborhood, Carter later adopted the showbiz/stage name Jay-Z in homage to his mentor Jaz-O. He would drop the hyphen in 2013, Jay Z can be briefly heard on several of Jaz-Os early recordings in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including The Originators and Hawaiian Sophie. Jay Z became embroiled in several battles with rapper LL Cool J in the early 1990s and he first became known to a wide audience on the posse cut Show and Prove on the 1994 Big Daddy Kane album Daddys Home. When I would leave the stage to go change outfits, I would bring out Jay Z and Positive K and let them freestyle until I came back to the stage. The young Jay Z appeared on a song by Big L, Da Graveyard, and on Mic Geronimos Time to Build. His first official rap single was called In My Lifetime, for which he released a music video, an unreleased music video was also produced for the B-side I Cant Get with That
7.
Computing platform
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Computing platform means in general sense, where any piece of software is executed. It may be the hardware or the system, even a web browser or other application. The term computing platform can refer to different abstraction levels, including a hardware architecture, an operating system. In total it can be said to be the stage on which programs can run. For example, an OS may be a platform that abstracts the underlying differences in hardware, platforms may also include, Hardware alone, in the case of small embedded systems. Embedded systems can access hardware directly, without an OS, this is referred to as running on bare metal, a browser in the case of web-based software. The browser itself runs on a platform, but this is not relevant to software running within the browser. An application, such as a spreadsheet or word processor, which hosts software written in a scripting language. This can be extended to writing fully-fledged applications with the Microsoft Office suite as a platform, software frameworks that provide ready-made functionality. Cloud computing and Platform as a Service, the social networking sites Twitter and facebook are also considered development platforms. A virtual machine such as the Java virtual machine, applications are compiled into a format similar to machine code, known as bytecode, which is then executed by the VM. A virtualized version of a system, including virtualized hardware, OS, software. These allow, for instance, a typical Windows program to run on what is physically a Mac, some architectures have multiple layers, with each layer acting as a platform to the one above it. In general, a component only has to be adapted to the layer immediately beneath it, however, the JVM, the layer beneath the application, does have to be built separately for each OS
8.
Xbox 360
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The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the console in the Xbox series. The Xbox 360 competed with Sonys PlayStation 3 and Nintendos Wii as part of the generation of video game consoles. The Xbox 360 was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12,2005, with detailed launch, the Xbox 360 features an online service, Xbox Live, which was expanded from its previous iteration on the original Xbox and received regular updates during the consoles lifetime. In addition to multimedia features, the Xbox 360 allows users to stream media from local PCs. Several peripherals have been released, including controllers, expanded hard drive storage. The release of additional services and peripherals helped the Xbox brand grow from gaming-only to encompassing all multimedia. Launched worldwide across 2005–2006, the Xbox 360 was initially in short supply in many regions, including North America, the earliest versions of the console suffered from a high failure rate, indicated by the so-called Red Ring of Death, necessitating an extension of the devices warranty period. Microsoft released two redesigned models of the console, the Xbox 360 S in 2010, and the Xbox 360 E in 2013. As of June 2014,84 million Xbox 360 consoles have sold worldwide, making it the sixth-highest-selling video game console in history. The Xbox 360s successor, the Xbox One, was released on November 22,2013, on April 20,2016, Microsoft announced that it would end the production of new Xbox 360 hardware, although the company will continue to support the platform. Known during development as Xbox Next, Xenon, Xbox 2, Xbox FS or NextBox, in February 2003, planning for the Xenon software platform began, and was headed by Microsofts Vice President J Allard. That month, Microsoft held an event for 400 developers in Bellevue, also that month, Peter Moore, former president of Sega of America, joined Microsoft. On August 12,2003, ATI signed on to produce the graphic processing unit for the new console, before the launch of the Xbox 360, several Alpha development kits were spotted using Apples Power Mac G5 hardware. This was because the systems PowerPC970 processor running the same PowerPC architecture that the Xbox 360 would eventually run under IBMs Xenon processor, the cores of the Xenon processor were developed using a slightly modified version of the PlayStation 3s Cell Processor PPE architecture. According to David Shippy and Mickie Phipps, the IBM employees were hiding their work from Sony and Toshiba, jeff Minter created the music visualization program Neon which is included with the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 was released on November 22,2005, in the United States and Canada, December 2,2005, in Europe and December 10,2005, in Japan. It was later launched in Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, and Russia
9.
Wii
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The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19,2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii competed with Microsofts Xbox 360, Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others. The Wii introduced the Wii Remote controller, which can be used as a pointing device. Another notable feature of the console is the now defunct WiiConnect24, like other seventh-generation consoles, it features a game download service, called Virtual Console, which features emulated games from past systems. It succeeded the GameCube, and early models are fully backward-compatible with all GameCube games, Nintendo first spoke of the console at the E32004 press conference and later unveiled it at E32005. Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata revealed a prototype of the controller at the September 2005 Tokyo Game Show, at E32006, the console won the first of several awards. By December 8,2006, it had completed its launch in the four key markets, in late 2011, Nintendo released a reconfigured model, the Wii Family Edition, which lacks Nintendo GameCube compatibility, this model was not released in Japan. The Wii Mini, Nintendos first major redesign since the compact SNES. The Wii Mini can only play Wii optical discs, as it omits GameCube compatibility and all networking capabilities, the Wiis successor, the Wii U, was released on November 18,2012. On October 20,2013, Nintendo confirmed it had discontinued production of the Wii in Japan and Europe, although the Wii Mini is still in production, the console was conceived in 2001, as the Nintendo GameCube was first released. According to an interview with Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, the concept involved focusing on a new form of player interaction, the consensus was that power isnt everything for a console. Too many powerful consoles cant coexist and its like having only ferocious dinosaurs. They might fight and hasten their own extinction, in 2003, game engineers and designers were brought together to develop the concept further. By 2005 the controller interface had taken form, but a showing at that years Electronic Entertainment Expo was canceled. Miyamoto stated that the company had some troubleshooting to do, so we decided not to reveal the controller and instead we displayed just the console. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata later unveiled and demonstrated the Wii Remote at the September Tokyo Game Show, the Nintendo DS is said to have influenced the Wiis design. Designer Kenichiro Ashida noted, We had the DS on our minds as we worked on the Wii and we thought about copying the DSs touch-panel interface and even came up with a prototype. The idea was rejected because of the notion that the two gaming systems would be identical
10.
Wii U
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The Wii U is a home video game console developed by Nintendo, and the successor to the Wii. The console was released in November 2012 and was the first eighth-generation video game console, as it competes with Sonys PlayStation 4, the Wii U is the first Nintendo console to support HD graphics. The systems primary controller is the Wii U GamePad, which features a touchscreen, and combines directional buttons, analog sticks. The screen can be used either as a supplement to the display, or in supported games. Online functionality centers around the Nintendo Network platform and Miiverse, a social networking service which allows users to share content in game-specific communities. The Wii U was met with slow consumer adoption, with low sales primarily credited to a lineup of launch titles, third-party support. Wii U production officially ended in January 2017, on March 3,2017, Nintendo released a new flagship home console, the Nintendo Switch. With Wii U, Nintendo wished to bring back core gamers and it was decided that a new console would have to be developed to accommodate significant structural changes. Ideas on which direction to take for the new led to a lot of debate within the company. The concept of a touchscreen embedded within the controller was originally inspired by the light on the Wii disc tray that illuminates to indicate new messages. Miyamoto and his team wanted to include a screen to provide game feedback. However, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata later stated that he saw no significant reason to include HD into the Wii, miyamoto also expressed Nintendos interest in working with HD graphics, but clarified that the company is primarily focused on gameplay. Iwata also mentioned that the Wiis successor might be 3D-compatible but concluded that the rates of 3D televisions should increase to at least 30% first. Fils-Aimé also stated that Nintendos next home console would likely not feature stereoscopic 3D, in April 2011, an uncredited source indicated that Nintendo was planning to unveil a successor to the Wii known as Project Café at its E32011 presentation. Café was claimed to be a high definition console, also would have backward compatibility with Wii software. On April 25,2011, Nintendo released a statement announcing a system to succeed the Wii to be released during 2012. Speaking at a conference, Iwata stated the Wii successor would offer something new for home game systems. He also confirmed that the device would not launch in fiscal year 2012, Game was teased, and Electronic Arts then-CEO John Riccitiello appeared on-stage to discuss the companys prospective plans for products on Wii U
11.
PlayStation 3
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The PlayStation 3 is a home video game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the successor to PlayStation 2, and is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles and it was first released on November 11,2006, in Japan, November 17,2006, in North America, and March 23,2007, in Europe and Australia. The PlayStation 3 mainly competes against consoles such as Microsofts Xbox 360, the console was first officially announced at E32005, and was released at the end of 2006. It was the first console to use Blu-ray Disc as its storage medium. In September 2009, the Slim model of the PlayStation 3 was released and it no longer provided the hardware ability to run PS2 games. It was lighter and thinner than the version, and featured a redesigned logo and marketing design. A Super Slim variation was released in late 2012, further refining and redesigning the console. The system had a start in the market but managed to recover. As of March 2016, PlayStation 3 has sold 85 million units worldwide, putting it about on par with Xbox 360 and its successor, the PlayStation 4, was released later in November 2013. On September 29,2015, Sony confirmed that sales of the PlayStation 3 were to be discontinued in New Zealand, in March 2017, the official site for PlayStation 3 in Japan was updated to state that it would be discontinued soon. Sony officially unveiled PlayStation 3 to the public on May 16,2005, at E32005, Video footage based on the predicted PlayStation 3 specifications was also shown. Two hardware configurations were also announced for the console, a 20 GB model, the 60 GB model was to be the only configuration to feature an HDMI port, Wi-Fi internet, flash card readers and a chrome trim with the logo in silver. Both models were announced for a worldwide release, November 11,2006, for Japan and November 17,2006, for North America. On September 6,2006, Sony announced that PAL region PlayStation 3 launch would be delayed until March 2007, because of a shortage of materials used in the Blu-ray drive. Also, the price of the Japanese 20 GB model was reduced by over 20%. During the event, Sony showed 27 playable PS3 games running on final hardware, PlayStation 3 was first released in Japan on November 11,2006, at 07,00. According to Media Create,81,639 PS3 systems were sold within 24 hours of its introduction in Japan, soon after its release in Japan, PS3 was released in North America on November 17,2006. Reports of violence surrounded the release of PS3, a customer was shot, campers were robbed at gunpoint, customers were shot in a drive-by shooting with BB guns, and 60 campers fought over 10 systems
12.
PlayStation Portable
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The PlayStation Portable is a handheld game console developed by Sony. Development of the handheld was announced during E32003, and it was unveiled on May 11,2004, the system was released in Japan on December 12,2004, in North America on March 24,2005, and in the PAL region on September 1,2005. It primarily competed with the Nintendo DS, as part of the generation of video games. The PlayStation Portable became the most powerful system when launched. It was the first real competitor to Nintendos handheld domination, where many challengers, such as SNKs Neo Geo Pocket and Nokias N-Gage and it also features connectivity with the PlayStation 3, other PSPs and the Internet. It is the handheld console to use an optical disc format, Universal Media Disc. The original PSP model was replaced by a model with design changes in 2007. Another remodeling followed in 2008, PSP-3000, which included a new screen, a complete redesign, PSP Go, came in 2009, followed by a budget model, PSP-E1000, in 2011. The PSP line was succeeded by the PlayStation Vita, released in December 2011 in Japan, the PlayStation Vita features backward compatibility with many PlayStation Portable games digitally released on the PlayStation Network, via PlayStation Store. Shipments of the PlayStation Portable ended throughout 2014 worldwide, having sold 80 million units in its 10-year lifetime, Sony first announced development of the PlayStation Portable at a press conference before E32004. Although mock-ups of the system were not present at the conference or E3. Then-CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Jose Villeta called the device the Walkman of the 21st Century in a reference to the multimedia capabilities. Several gaming websites were impressed by the handhelds computing capabilities and looked forward to the potential as a gaming platform. Nintendo had been dominating the market since launching its Game Boy in 1989, with the only close competitor being Segas Game Gear. Later offerings from both SNK and Nokia also failed to cut into Nintendos share, the PSP was called the first legitimate competitor to Nintendo’s dominance in the handheld market by an IDC analyst in 2004. The first concept images of the PSP appeared in November 2002 at the Sony Corporate Strategy Meeting and showed a PSP with flat buttons and no analog stick. Although some expressed concern over the lack of an analog joystick, in addition to announcing more details about the system and its accessories, Sony also released a list of 99 developer companies that had pledged support for the new handheld. Several PSP game demos, such as Konamis Metal Gear Acid and SCE Studio Liverpools Wipeout Pure were also shown at the conference
13.
IOS
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IOS is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the system that presently powers many of the companys mobile devices, including the iPhone, iPad. It is the second most popular operating system globally after Android. IPad tablets are also the second most popular, by sales, originally unveiled in 2007 for the iPhone, iOS has been extended to support other Apple devices such as the iPod Touch and the iPad. As of January 2017, Apples App Store contains more than 2.2 million iOS applications,1 million of which are native for iPads and these mobile apps have collectively been downloaded more than 130 billion times. The iOS user interface is based upon direct manipulation, using multi-touch gestures, interface control elements consist of sliders, switches, and buttons. Internal accelerometers are used by applications to respond to shaking the device or rotating it in three dimensions. Apple has been praised for incorporating thorough accessibility functions into iOS, enabling users with vision. Major versions of iOS are released annually, the current version, iOS10, was released on September 13,2016. In iOS, there are four layers, the Core OS, Core Services, Media. In 2005, when Steve Jobs began planning the iPhone, he had a choice to either shrink the Mac, forstall was also responsible for creating a software development kit for programmers to build iPhone apps, as well as an App Store within iTunes. The operating system was unveiled with the iPhone at the Macworld Conference & Expo on January 9,2007, and released in June of that year. At the time of its unveiling in January, Steve Jobs claimed, iPhone runs OS X and runs applications, but at the time of the iPhones release. Initially, third-party native applications were not supported, Steve Jobs reasoning was that developers could build web applications through the Safari web browser that would behave like native apps on the iPhone. In October 2007, Apple announced that a native Software Development Kit was under development, on March 6,2008, Apple held a press event, announcing the iPhone SDK. The iOS App Store was opened on July 10,2008 with an initial 500 applications available.2 million in January 2017, as of March 2016,1 million apps are natively compatible with the iPad tablet computer. These apps have collectively been downloaded more than 130 billion times, App intelligence firm Sensor Tower has estimated that the App Store will reach 5 million apps by the year 2020. On September 5,2007, Apple released the iPod Touch, Apple also sold more than one million iPhones during the 2007 holiday season
14.
Android (operating system)
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Android is a mobile operating system developed by Google, based on the Linux kernel and designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. In addition to devices, Google has further developed Android TV for televisions, Android Auto for cars. Variants of Android are also used on notebooks, game consoles, digital cameras, beginning with the first commercial Android device in September 2008, the operating system has gone through multiple major releases, with the current version being 7.0 Nougat, released in August 2016. Android applications can be downloaded from the Google Play store, which features over 2.7 million apps as of February 2017, Android has been the best-selling OS on tablets since 2013, and runs on the vast majority of smartphones. In September 2015, Android had 1.4 billion monthly active users, Android is popular with technology companies that require a ready-made, low-cost and customizable operating system for high-tech devices. The success of Android has made it a target for patent, Android Inc. was founded in Palo Alto, California in October 2003 by Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, Nick Sears, and Chris White. Rubin described the Android project as tremendous potential in developing smarter mobile devices that are aware of its owners location. The early intentions of the company were to develop an operating system for digital cameras. Despite the past accomplishments of the founders and early employees, Android Inc. operated secretly and that same year, Rubin ran out of money. Steve Perlman, a friend of Rubin, brought him $10,000 in cash in an envelope. In July 2005, Google acquired Android Inc. for at least $50 million and its key employees, including Rubin, Miner and White, joined Google as part of the acquisition. Not much was known about Android at the time, with Rubin having only stated that they were making software for mobile phones, at Google, the team led by Rubin developed a mobile device platform powered by the Linux kernel. Google marketed the platform to handset makers and carriers on the promise of providing a flexible, upgradeable system, Google had lined up a series of hardware components and software partners and signaled to carriers that it was open to various degrees of cooperation. Speculation about Googles intention to enter the communications market continued to build through December 2006. In September 2007, InformationWeek covered an Evalueserve study reporting that Google had filed several patent applications in the area of mobile telephony, the first commercially available smartphone running Android was the HTC Dream, also known as T-Mobile G1, announced on September 23,2008. Since 2008, Android has seen numerous updates which have improved the operating system, adding new features. Each major release is named in order after a dessert or sugary treat, with the first few Android versions being called Cupcake, Donut, Eclair. In 2010, Google launched its Nexus series of devices, a lineup in which Google partnered with different device manufacturers to produce new devices and introduce new Android versions
15.
Microsoft Windows
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Microsoft Windows is a metafamily of graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Microsoft. It consists of families of operating systems, each of which cater to a certain sector of the computing industry with the OS typically associated with IBM PC compatible architecture. Active Windows families include Windows NT, Windows Embedded and Windows Phone, defunct Windows families include Windows 9x, Windows 10 Mobile is an active product, unrelated to the defunct family Windows Mobile. Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20,1985, Microsoft Windows came to dominate the worlds personal computer market with over 90% market share, overtaking Mac OS, which had been introduced in 1984. Apple came to see Windows as an encroachment on their innovation in GUI development as implemented on products such as the Lisa. On PCs, Windows is still the most popular operating system, however, in 2014, Microsoft admitted losing the majority of the overall operating system market to Android, because of the massive growth in sales of Android smartphones. In 2014, the number of Windows devices sold was less than 25% that of Android devices sold and this comparison however may not be fully relevant, as the two operating systems traditionally target different platforms. As of September 2016, the most recent version of Windows for PCs, tablets, smartphones, the most recent versions for server computers is Windows Server 2016. A specialized version of Windows runs on the Xbox One game console, Microsoft, the developer of Windows, has registered several trademarks each of which denote a family of Windows operating systems that target a specific sector of the computing industry. It now consists of three operating system subfamilies that are released almost at the time and share the same kernel. Windows, The operating system for personal computers, tablets. The latest version is Windows 10, the main competitor of this family is macOS by Apple Inc. for personal computers and Android for mobile devices. Windows Server, The operating system for server computers, the latest version is Windows Server 2016. Unlike its clients sibling, it has adopted a strong naming scheme, the main competitor of this family is Linux. Windows PE, A lightweight version of its Windows sibling meant to operate as an operating system, used for installing Windows on bare-metal computers. The latest version is Windows PE10.0.10586.0, Windows Embedded, Initially, Microsoft developed Windows CE as a general-purpose operating system for every device that was too resource-limited to be called a full-fledged computer. The following Windows families are no longer being developed, Windows 9x, Microsoft now caters to the consumers market with Windows NT. Windows Mobile, The predecessor to Windows Phone, it was a mobile operating system
16.
North America
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North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers, about 16. 5% of the land area. North America is the third largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2013, its population was estimated at nearly 565 million people in 23 independent states, or about 7. 5% of the worlds population, North America was reached by its first human populations during the last glacial period, via crossing the Bering land bridge. The so-called Paleo-Indian period is taken to have lasted until about 10,000 years ago, the Classic stage spans roughly the 6th to 13th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era ended with the migrations and the arrival of European settlers during the Age of Discovery. Present-day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect different kind of interactions between European colonists, indigenous peoples, African slaves and their descendants, European influences are strongest in the northern parts of the continent while indigenous and African influences are relatively stronger in the south. Because of the history of colonialism, most North Americans speak English, Spanish or French, the Americas are usually accepted as having been named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci by the German cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann. Vespucci, who explored South America between 1497 and 1502, was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies, but a different landmass previously unknown by Europeans. In 1507, Waldseemüller produced a map, in which he placed the word America on the continent of South America. He explained the rationale for the name in the accompanying book Cosmographiae Introductio, for Waldseemüller, no one should object to the naming of the land after its discoverer. He used the Latinized version of Vespuccis name, but in its feminine form America, following the examples of Europa, Asia and Africa. Later, other mapmakers extended the name America to the continent, In 1538. Some argue that the convention is to use the surname for naming discoveries except in the case of royalty, a minutely explored belief that has been advanced is that America was named for a Spanish sailor bearing the ancient Visigothic name of Amairick. Another is that the name is rooted in a Native American language, the term North America maintains various definitions in accordance with location and context. In Canadian English, North America may be used to refer to the United States, alternatively, usage sometimes includes Greenland and Mexico, as well as offshore islands
17.
Europe
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Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
18.
PAL region
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The PAL region is a television publication territory that covers most of Asia, Africa, Europe, South America and Oceania. It is so named because of the PAL television standard used in those regions, as opposed to the NTSC standard traditionally used in Japan. Most video games designated as part of the region will not play on NTSC-U/C or NTSC-J region consoles because of regional lockout, while this is the most common occurrence, some Xbox and Xbox 360 games are region-free encoded, since Microsofts policy is for publishers to decide. Sony has a policy for the PlayStation Portable, but most publishers choose not to encode a region on their UMD games. With the exception of Persona 4 Arena, PlayStation 3 Blu-ray Disc games are region-free, all Nintendo home consoles except for the Nintendo Switch have region locking either by software encoding or physical differences in media and consoles. Australia uses PAL version games only for the Wii, PlayStation 3, as most hand-held consoles use their own proprietary display system, incompatibilities of differing TV systems are not relevant. However, the regions often exist for localisation and distribution purposes. The scope of the PAL region varies with systems and publishers, the following countries and areas are normally included in a PAL region release, Along with other Middle Eastern, African, and European countries. Beginning with the Dreamcast and continuing through the generation of consoles. Games ported to PAL have historically been known for having game speed and this was especially prevalent during previous generations when 2D graphics were used almost exclusively. The gameplay of many games with an emphasis on speed, such as the original Sonic The Hedgehog for the Mega Drive, suffered in their PAL incarnations. Despite the possibility and popularity of 60 Hz PAL games, many games, particularly for the PS. Square Enix have long been criticised by PAL gamers for their poor PAL conversions, final Fantasy X runs in 50 Hz mode only, and 16. 7% slower and bordered that while prevalent in previous generations was considered inexcusable at the time of release. In stark contrast, the Dreamcast was the first system to feature PAL60, the Xbox too featured a system-wide PAL60 option in the Dashboard, with almost every game supporting PAL60. Seventh generation PAL consoles such as the Xbox 360 and Wii also feature system-wide 60 Hz support, nintendos Virtual Console service has been criticized due to PAL games running in 50 Hz only, despite the ability to run in 60 Hz mode. In recent years, few PAL releases have lacked the standard PAL mode and offered 60 Hz only, notably Metroid Prime 2, Echoes and Geist for the Nintendo GameCube, PAL NTSC Advanced Television Systems Committee standards SECAM Regional lockout
19.
Sports game
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A sports game is a video game that simulates the practice of sports. Most sports have been recreated with a game, including sports, track and field, extreme sports. Some games emphasize playing the sport, whilst others emphasize strategy. Some, such as Need for Speed, Arch Rivals and Punch-Out, satirize the sport for comic effect. This genre has been throughout the history of video games and is competitive. A number of game series feature the names and characteristics of real teams and players, Sports games involve physical and tactical challenges, and test the players precision and accuracy. Most sports games attempt to model the athletic characteristics required by that sport, including speed, strength, acceleration, accuracy, as with their respective sports, these games take place in a stadium or arena with clear boundaries. Sports games often provide play-by-play and color commentary through the use of recorded audio, Sports games sometimes make use of different modes for different parts of the game. This is especially true in games about American football such as the Madden NFL series, sometimes, other sports games offer a menu where players may select a strategy while play is temporarily suspended. Some sports games also require players to shift roles between the athletes and the coach or manager and these mode switches are more intuitive than other game genres because they reflect actual sports. Older 2D sports games sometimes used a graphical scale, where athletes appeared to be quite large in order to be visible to the player. As sports games have evolved, players have come to expect a realistic graphical scale with a degree of verisimilitude. Sports games often simplify the game physics for ease of play, Games typically take place with a highly accurate time-scale, although they usually allow players to play quick sessions with shorter game quarters or periods. Sports games sometimes treat button-pushes as continuous signals rather than discrete moves, in order to initiate, for example, football games may distinguish between short and the long passes based on how long the player holds a button. Golf games often initiate the backswing with one button-push, and the swing itself is initiated by a subsequent push. ″also can customize person and can make own team″ In 1958, William Higinbotham created a game called Tennis for Two, the players would select the angle at which to put their racket, and pressed a button to return it. Although this game was simple, it demonstrated how an action game could be played on a computer. Video games prior to the late 1970s were primarily played on university mainframe computers under timesharing systems that supported multiple computer terminals on school campuses, the two dominant systems in this era were Digital Equipment Corporations PDP-10 and Control Data Corporations PLATO
20.
Basketball
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Basketball is a non-contact team sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of five players each. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches in diameter and 10 feet high that is mounted to a backboard at each end of the court. The game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, a team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket being defended by the opposition team during regular play. A field goal scores three points for the team if the player shoots from behind the three-point line. A team can also score via free throws, which are worth one point, the team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but additional time is mandated when the score is tied at the end of regulation. The ball can be advanced on the court by passing it to a teammate and it is a violation to lift, or drag, ones pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling. The game has many techniques for displaying skill—ball-handling, shooting, passing, dribbling, dunking, shot-blocking. The point guard directs the on court action of the team, implementing the coachs game plan, Basketball is one of the worlds most popular and widely viewed sports. Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the Euroleague, the FIBA Basketball World Cup attracts the top national teams from around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for teams, like EuroBasket. The FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup features the top womens basketball teams from continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA, whereas the EuroLeague Women has been dominated by teams from the Russian Womens Basketball Premier League, in early December 1891, Canadian Dr. He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied, 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. Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball and these laces could cause bounce passes and dribbling to be unpredictable. Eventually a lace-free ball construction method was invented, and this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith, dribbling was not part of the original game except for the bounce pass to teammates. Passing the ball was the means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a part of the game around the 1950s
21.
Video game
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A video game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device such as a TV screen or computer monitor. The word video in video game referred to a raster display device. Some theorists categorize video games as an art form, but this designation is controversial, the electronic systems used to play video games are known as platforms, examples of these are personal computers and video game consoles. These platforms range from large mainframe computers to small handheld computing devices, the input device used for games, the game controller, varies across platforms. Common controllers include gamepads, joysticks, mouse devices, keyboards, the touchscreens of mobile devices, and buttons, or even, with the Kinect sensor, a persons hands and body. Players typically view the game on a screen or television or computer monitor, or sometimes on virtual reality head-mounted display goggles. There are often game sound effects, music and, in the 2010s, some games in the 2000s include haptic, vibration-creating effects, force feedback peripherals and virtual reality headsets. In the 2010s, the game industry is of increasing commercial importance, with growth driven particularly by the emerging Asian markets and mobile games. As of 2015, video games generated sales of USD74 billion annually worldwide, early games used interactive electronic devices with various display formats. The earliest example is from 1947—a Cathode ray tube Amusement Device was filed for a patent on 25 January 1947, by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann, and issued on 14 December 1948, as U. S. Written by MIT students Martin Graetz, Steve Russell, and Wayne Wiitanens on a DEC PDP-1 computer in 1961, and the hit ping pong-style Pong, used the DEC PDP-1s vector display to have two spaceships battle each other. In 1971, Computer Space, created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, was the first commercially sold and it used a black-and-white television for its display, and the computer system was made of 74 series TTL chips. The game was featured in the 1973 science fiction film Soylent Green, Computer Space was followed in 1972 by the Magnavox Odyssey, the first home console. Modeled after a late 1960s prototype console developed by Ralph H. Baer called the Brown Box and these were followed by two versions of Ataris Pong, an arcade version in 1972 and a home version in 1975 that dramatically increased video game popularity. The commercial success of Pong led numerous other companies to develop Pong clones and their own systems, the game inspired arcade machines to become prevalent in mainstream locations such as shopping malls, traditional storefronts, restaurants, and convenience stores. The game also became the subject of articles and stories on television and in newspapers and magazines. Space Invaders was soon licensed for the Atari VCS, becoming the first killer app, the term platform refers to the specific combination of electronic components or computer hardware which, in conjunction with software, allows a video game to operate. The term system is commonly used
22.
Oklahoma City Thunder
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The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Thunder competes in the National Basketball Association as a member of the leagues Western Conference Northwest Division, the team plays its home games at Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Thunders NBA Development League affiliate is the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder is the only team in the major professional North American sports leagues based in the state of Oklahoma. The team was established as the Seattle SuperSonics, an expansion team that joined the NBA for the 1967–68 season. The SuperSonics moved in 2008 after a settlement was reached between the group led by Clay Bennett and lawmakers in Seattle, Washington following a lawsuit. In Seattle, the SuperSonics qualified for the NBA playoffs 22 times, won their division six times, in Oklahoma City, the Thunder qualified for their first playoff berth during the 2009–10 season. The Thunders previous incarnation, the Seattle SuperSonics, were formed in 1967, in their 41 seasons in Seattle, the SuperSonics compiled a 1745–1585 win–loss record in the regular season and went 107–110 in the playoffs. The franchises titles include three Western Conference championships and one NBA title in 1979, the sale of the SuperSonics and Storm was approved by NBA owners the following October. In 2007, Bennett announced that the franchise would move to Oklahoma City as soon as the lease with KeyArena expired. In June 2008, a lawsuit brought by the city of Seattle against Bennett due to his attempts to break the two years of the Sonics lease at KeyArena went to federal court. Nearly a month later, the two reached a settlement agreement. The terms awarded the city $45 million to get out of the lease at KeyArena. On September 3,2008, the name, logo. The name Thunder was chosen in reference to Oklahomas location in Tornado Alley and Oklahoma City as the home of the U. S. Armys 45th Infantry Division, the Thunder participated in the Orlando Pro Summer League featuring their second-year players, potential free agents and rookies. The players wore black and white jerseys reading OKC-NBA against an outline of a basketball. The Thunder played several games before the 2008–2009 regular season. The Thunder made their first appearance in Billings, Montana on October 8,2008 in an 88–82 preseason loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Thunder played their first Ford Center game on October 14 against the Los Angeles Clippers. In their regular-season home opener, the Thunder faced the Milwaukee Bucks, earl Watson scored the first points of the season with a layup
23.
Los Angeles Clippers
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The Los Angeles Clippers, often abbreviated as the LA Clippers, are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Western Conference Pacific Division. The franchise was founded in 1970 as the Buffalo Braves, one of three teams to join the NBA that year. The Braves moved from Buffalo, New York to San Diego in 1978, in 1984, the Clippers moved to Los Angeles. Through much of its history, the failed to see significant regular season or playoff success. The Clippers fortunes turned in the early 2010s with the acquisition of core players Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and Chris Paul. In 2013, the franchise won its first division title, as the made the playoffs for the ninth time in franchise history. They repeated as champions in 2014. They played their games at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, along with another Buffalo team that would begin play that year. After two bad seasons, the Braves fortunes started to change under coach Jack Ramsay and star forward/center Bob McAdoo, McAdoo led the NBA in scoring three consecutive seasons and was named the leagues MVP in the 1974–75 season. The Braves qualified for the three times in a row, losing thrice to the eventual Eastern Conference champions. As a result, after an attempt to sell the team to an owner who intended to move it to South Florida. Brown, Jr. who decimated the roster, traded away all of its stars. Eventually in 1978, Brown dealt with Celtics owner Irv Levin so they would trade franchise ownerships, southern California resident Levin then decided to move the Braves to San Diego, something the league would have never allowed him to do with the Celtics. In 1978, San Diego welcomed the relocation of the Buffalo Braves franchise because the city had lost their Rockets to Houston seven years earlier, when the Clippers moved to Los Angeles in 1984, they kept their nickname. Playing at the San Diego Sports Arena, the Clippers posted a record of 43–39 in their first season in California under new head coach Gene Shue and it would be the Clippers last winning season for 13 years. It was also in that first season in southern California that long-time announcer Ralph Lawler began his association with the club. The 1979–80 season saw the Clippers begin to struggle despite adding center Bill Walton, Walton missed 68 games due to foot injuries
24.
Chicago Bulls
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The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 16,1966, the team plays its home games at the United Center, an arena shared with the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League. The Bulls saw their greatest success during the 1990s and they are known for having one of the NBAs greatest dynasties, winning six NBA championships between 1991 and 1998 with two three-peats. All six championship teams were led by Hall of Famers Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, the Bulls are the only NBA franchise to win multiple championships and never lose an NBA Finals series in their history. The Bulls won 72 games during the 1995–96 NBA season, setting an NBA record that stood until the Golden State Warriors won 73 games during the 2015–16 NBA season. The Bulls were the first team in NBA history to win 70 games or more in a season. Many experts and analysts consider the 1996 Bulls to be one of the greatest teams in NBA history, Michael Jordan and Derrick Rose have both won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award while playing for the Bulls, for a total of six MVP awards. The Bulls share rivalries with the Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, the Bulls rivalry with the Pistons was highlighted heavily during the late 1980s and early 1990s. On January 16,1966 Chicago was granted an NBA franchise to be called the Bulls, the Chicago Bulls became the third NBA franchise in the city, after the Chicago Stags and the Chicago Packers/Zephyrs. The Bulls founder, Dick Klein, was the Bulls only owner to play professional basketball. He served as the Bulls president and general manager in their initial years, after the 1966 NBA Expansion Draft, the newly founded Chicago Bulls were allowed to acquire players from the previously established teams in the league for the upcoming 1966–67 season. The team started in the 1966–67 NBA season, and posted the best record by a team in NBA history. In their first two seasons, the Bulls played most of their games at the International Amphitheatre, before moving to Chicago Stadium. Fan interest was diminishing after four seasons, with one game in the 1967–68 NBA season having an attendance of 891. The Bulls under Williams and head coach Dick Motta qualified for four straight playoffs and had attendances grow to over 10,000, in 1972, the Bulls set a franchise win-loss record at 57 wins and 25 losses. During the 1970s, the Bulls relied on Jerry Sloan, forwards Bob Love and Chet Walker, point guard Norm Van Lier, the team made the conference finals in 1975 but lost to the Golden State Warriors,4 games to 3. After four 50-win seasons, Williams returned to Philadelphia, and Motta decided to become GM as well, the Bulls ended up declining, winning only 24 games in the 1975–1976 season
25.
NBA 2K12
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NBA 2K12 is a basketball simulation video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. It was released in October 2011 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Microsoft Windows, the thirteenth installment in the NBA 2K series, it is the successor to NBA 2K11 and the predecessor to NBA 2K13. For the first time in the series, three different covers are available, the three athletes are Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird. NBA 2K12, like the games in the series, strives to emulate the experience of the National Basketball Association. Players mainly play NBA basketball games in a variety of modes with real and customizable players. MyPlayer mode is one of the modes, in it, players create their own player, a mode called Association is also present, in which the player assumes control of an NBA organization, and simulates through seasons. A mode focusing on past NBA players is introduced, and several online modes are present, in September 2011, prior to the games release, a demo was released for PlayStation Network and Xbox Live. The game features a soundtrack consisting of 28 songs. A contest was held before the release, the winners of which would collaborate on an original song to be featured in the game. NBA 2K12 received positive reviews from critics upon release, with praise directed at the visuals, wealth of content, controls, by April 2012, the game had sold over four million copies worldwide. NBA 2K12 is a simulation game which strives to emulate the National Basketball Association. Players mostly play NBA basketball games with real or created players, along with standard online and quick play game modes, several other game modes are present. MyPlayer mode returns, in which the player creates their own basketball player, the player customizes the appearance, animations, and other aspects of their player, and plays through their basketball career, upgrading their attributes. One of the games most-touted features is the NBAs Greatest mode, the mode centers on past NBA teams and players, and allows the player to recreate historically significant moments. The teams and players can be used outside the NBAs Greatest mode, another mode is Create a Legend, similar to the MyPlayer mode, it allows the player to play through the entire career of a real player, instead of a customizable player. The player can play with their selected player on any team, NBA 2K12 was released in October 2011 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Windows, and, for the first time, iOS. It was developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports, the first trailer for the game was released in June 2011. Several other trailers were released in the leading up to the games release
26.
NBA 2K14
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NBA 2K14 is a basketball video game that was developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. It was released on October 1,2013 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, versions for the PlayStation 4, LeBron James of the Miami Heat became the cover athlete, and also served as the music curator for the game. On August 14,2013, 2K Sports announced that Crew Mode would return to this installment of NBA 2K. NBA 2K14 is the successor to NBA 2K13 and was succeeded by NBA 2K15 in the NBA 2K series, on July 2,2013, 2K Sports and EuroLeague signed an exclusive multi-year deal to include teams in the game. On July 26,2013, the NBA 2K Live team announced the soundtrack to NBA 2K14, 2K14s soundtrack features a much more present type of music, showing off new popular hits instead of older, classic songs featured in previous 2K versions. The game has received favorable reviews, garnering an 85 out of 100 on review aggregation website Metacritic. Ryan McCaffrey of IGN rated the game a 9.3 praising the gameplay saying, With just enough new features, tom McShea of GameSpot rated the game an 8.0 praising the game as well but criticizing designing of the game. USA Todays Brett Molina rated the game 3.5 out of 4 stars, noting that the games new dribble and shoot mechanics may be simpler to newcomers, shortly after release, the game was the best-selling sports game on next-gen consoles. New signature skills, including an exclusive pre-order LeBron Coast to Coast skill, One Man Fastbreak, Pick Dodger, Tenacious Rebounder, Flashy Passer, a new way of passing by holding a trigger and pressing a control stick in the direction you want to pass. The potential stat is now limited and restricts the overall level a player can grow to and this seems like a minor change but it has severely limited the amount by which players stats can improve in Association Mode. More than 50 hours of new commentary from Kevin Harlan, Clark Kellogg and Steve Kerr, new draft night audio, a new Training Camp mode, which is there to guide players to master the new controls. Training Drills now have their own menu in My Career mode, always Online DRM added in patch requiring users to be connected to 2K servers to play MyCareer and MyGM modes. However the patch is available in the PS4 and the Xbox One editions of the game and not on the PS3, Xbox 360
27.
Kinect
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Kinect is a line of motion sensing input devices by Microsoft for Xbox 360 and Xbox One video game consoles and Windows PCs. The first-generation Kinect was first introduced in November 2010 in an attempt to broaden Xbox 360s audience beyond its typical gamer base, a version for Windows was released on February 1,2012. A newer version, Kinect 2.0, was released with the Xbox One platform starting in 2013, Microsoft released the first Beta of the Kinect software development kit for Windows 7 on June 16,2011. This SDK was meant to allow developers to write Kinecting apps in C++/CLI, C#, Kinect was first announced on June 1,2009 at E32009 under the code name Project Natal. Three demos were shown to showcase Kinect when it was revealed at Microsofts E32009 Media Briefing, Ricochet, Paint Party, a demo based on Burnout Paradise was also shown outside of Microsofts media briefing. The skeletal mapping technology shown at E32009 was capable of simultaneously tracking four people and it was rumored that the launch of Project Natal would be accompanied with the release of a new Xbox 360 console. Microsoft dismissed the reports in public and repeatedly emphasized that Project Natal would be compatible with all Xbox 360 consoles. Microsoft indicated that the company considers it to be a significant initiative, as fundamental to Xbox brand as Xbox Live, Kinect was even referred to as a new Xbox by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at a speech for Executives Club of Chicago. During Kinects development, project team members experimentally adapted numerous games to Kinect-based control schemes to help evaluate usability, among these games were Beautiful Katamari and Space Invaders Extreme, which were demonstrated at Tokyo Game Show in September 2009. Instead, processing would be handled by one of the cores of Xbox 360s Xenon CPU. According to Alex Kipman, Kinect system consumes about 10-15% of Xbox 360s computing resources, on March 25,2010, Microsoft sent out a save the date flier for an event called the World Premiere Project Natal for Xbox 360 Experience at E32010. The event took place on the evening of Sunday, June 13,2010 at Galen Center and it was announced that the system would officially be called Kinect, a portmanteau of the words kinetic and connect, which describe key aspects of the initiative. Microsoft also announced that the North American launch date for Kinect will be November 4,2010, in addition, on July 20,2010, Microsoft announced a Kinect bundle with a redesigned Xbox 360, to be available with Kinect launch. On June 16,2011, Microsoft announced its release of its SDK for non-commercial use. Previously, all Kinect sensors had been glossy black, on October 31,2011, Microsoft announced launching of the commercial version of Kinect for Windows program with release of SDK to companies. David Dennis, Product Manager at Microsoft, said, There are hundreds of organizations we are working with to help them determine whats possible with the tech. On February 1,2012, Microsoft released the version of Kinect for Windows SDK. The tabloid the New York Post claimed Microsoft had a $500 million budget for advertising the launch of Kinect, on October 19, Microsoft advertised Kinect on The Oprah Winfrey Show by giving free Xbox 360 consoles and Kinect sensors to the people in the audience
28.
Three-Point Contest
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The Three-Point Contest is a National Basketball Association contest held on the Saturday before the annual All-Star Game as part of All-Star Weekend. From its introduction in 1986 to 2002, and again in 2017, between 2003 and 2016, the contest was open to just six competitors. Eric Gordon is the most recent winner of the event which was held at Smoothie King Arena in New Orleans, in this contest, participants attempt to make as many three-point field goals as possible from five positions behind the three-point arc in one minute. Players begin shooting from one corner of the court, and move from station to station along the three point arc until they reach the other corner, at each shooting station is a rack with five basketballs. Out of the five balls, four are worth one point, the goal of this contest is to score as many points as possible within one minute. A perfect score used to be 30 points, in the 2014 contest, a rack consisting only of money balls was added, and can be placed on any of the 5 spots of the players choice, bringing up the maximum possible score to 34 points. In the qualifying round, each player has a chance to score as many points as possible, the three players with the top scores advance to the finals. The final round is played in the way as the qualifying round. In each round, the shots and the score are confirmed by the referee, the final round will be shot in reverse direction. In the case of a tie, multiple rounds of 30 seconds are played to determine the winner. Contestants compete for a total of $86,000, the first-place winner receives $35,000, the second-place finisher receives $22,500, and the third-place winner receives $15,000. Finishers, from fourth to sixth place, receive $4,500 each, craig Hodges holds the record for most shots made in one round, as well as most consecutive shots made. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson hold the record with 27 points, detlef Schrempf and Michael Jordan share the record for the fewest points scored in any round with five in 1988 and 1990 respectively. Sources, a The 1999 All-Star Game was cancelled due to the 1998–99 NBA lockout, B Denote contests that required a tiebreaking round. The final score given here came from the tiebreaker, C Starting with the 2014 Three-Point Contest, the format includes four extra money balls. D C. J. McCollum was named as a replacement to Chris Bosh due to the latter being unable to participate in the event with a calf injury, E It is unknown how many of the five money balls Hodges hit during his round
29.
Rising Stars Challenge
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The Rising Stars Challenge is an exhibition basketball game held by the National Basketball Association on the Friday before the annual All-Star Game as part of the All-Star Weekend. The players are first- and second-year players selected by the NBAs assistant coaches, two people designated as general managers draft players for the two opposing teams. The Rookie Challenge, established in 1994, was competed by two randomly selected teams composed entirely of first-year players. This format was continued until 1996, when it was changed to pit teams of both the Eastern and the Western Conference against each other. In 1999, the game was cancelled as a result of the NBA lockout, since the 1998 rookie class did not compete that year, the game was revamped and featured a team of standout first-year players against a team of standout second-year players. For 2012 and 2013, the format was changed to having two teams drafted by Basketball Hall of Famers Charles Barkley and Shaquille ONeal, in 2014, the two teams were drafted by Chris Webber and Grant Hill. The format of the game and name was changed to the Rising Stars Challenge in 2012, unlike regular NBA games, the game was divided into two twenty-minute halves, similar to college basketball. The participating players were chosen by voting among the leagues assistant coaches, in the game, players wear their respective regular team uniforms, except for 2009, in which players wore fan-designed jerseys. The head coaches of the two teams are the assistant coaches of the NBA All-Star Game coach. Starting in 2009, two active NBA players were added to the coaching staffs. The game is sponsored by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria. Before 2012, the event was known as the Rookie Challenge, officially named the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam. To celebrate the first time the NBA celebrates the All-Star game outside of the U. S. A. the game makes the World Team the home instead of Team U. S. A. Team USA won 157–154 in the highest scoring game in Rising Stars Challenge history, Zach LaVine was named MVP, leading all of the USA team with 30 points while also recording 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Jordan Clarkson, DAngelo Russell, and Devin Booker all scored over 20 points, kristaps Porziņģis and Emmanuel Mudiay led the way for Team World with 30 points each, with Andrew Wiggins also scoring 29 points. The World team won against the U. S. 121-112 at the Rising Stars Challenge at All-Star weekend, canadas Andrew Wiggins scored 22 points, and Rudy Gobert added 18 points,12 rebounds and three blocks. Brooklyns Bojan Bogdanovic of Croatia, and Chicagos Nikola Mirotić of Montenegro added 16 points each for the World team, victor Oladipo of the Orlando Magic and Zach LaVine of the Minnesota Timberwolves led the U. S. team with 22 points each. Andrew Wiggins, the 2014 NBA Draft 1st overall pick, won the games MVP award, shortly before the draft for the rosters, Norris Cole and Jeremy Lin were added to the original player pool
30.
Nike, Inc.
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The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, in the Portland metropolitan area. It is one of the worlds largest suppliers of athletic shoes and apparel, as of 2012, it employed more than 44,000 people worldwide. In 2014 the brand alone was valued at $19 billion, making it the most valuable brand among sports businesses. The company was founded on January 25,1964, as Blue Ribbon Sports, by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight, the company takes its name from Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. Nike also owned Bauer Hockey between 1995 and 2008, and previously owned Cole Haan and Umbro, in addition to manufacturing sportswear and equipment, the company operates retail stores under the Niketown name. Nike sponsors many high-profile athletes and sports teams around the world, with the highly recognized trademarks of Just Do It, Nike, originally known as Blue Ribbon Sports, was founded by University of Oregon track athlete Phil Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman in January 1964. The company initially operated as a distributor for Japanese shoe maker Onitsuka Tiger, says Davis, I told Tom Brokaw that I was the first. I dont care all the billionaires say. Bill Bowerman made the first pair of shoes for me, in fact, I didnt like the way they felt on my feet. There was no support and they were too tight, but I saw Bowerman make them from the waffle iron, and they were mine. In 1964, in its first year in business, BRS sold 1,300 pairs of Japanese running shoes grossing $8,000, by 1965 the fledgling company had acquired a full-time employee, and sales had reached $20,000. In 1967, due to increasing sales, BRS expanded retail and distribution operations on the East Coast, in Wellesley. By 1971, the relationship between BRS and Onitsuka Tiger was nearing an end, BRS prepared to launch its own line of footwear, which would bear the Swoosh newly designed by Carolyn Davidson. The Swoosh was first used by Nike on June 18,1971, patent and Trademark Office on January 22,1974. In 1976, the company hired John Brown and Partners, based in Seattle, the following year, the agency created the first brand ad for Nike, called There is no finish line, in which no Nike product was shown. By 1980, Nike had attained a 50% market share in the U. S. athletic shoe market, together, Nike and Wieden+Kennedy have created many print and television advertisements, and Wieden+Kennedy remains Nikes primary ad agency. Walt Stack was featured in Nikes first Just Do It advertisement, wieden credits the inspiration for the slogan to Lets do it, the last words spoken by Gary Gilmore before he was executed. Throughout the 1980s, Nike expanded its line to encompass many sports
31.
Air Jordan
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Air Jordan is a brand of basketball footwear and athletic clothing produced by Nike and endorsed and created for Chicago Bulls basketball player Michael Jordan. The original Air Jordan I sneaker, produced for Jordan in 1984, were released to the public in 1985, the shoes were designed for Nike by Peter Moore, Tinker Hatfield, and Bruce Kilgore. Since its introduction into the shoe market, the Air Jordan evolved from the original basketball shoes to models for different uses. Michael Jordan currently sponsors 21 active NBA players, including Jimmy Butler, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Kawhi Leonard, Russell Westbrook and they also endorse Nike Air Jordan products. Also they sponsor other leagues such as the MLB, NFL, NASCAR, AJ I, The Air Jordan 1 was first produced for Michael Jordan in 1984. It was designed by Peter C, the red and black colorway of the Nike Air Ship, the prototype for the Jordan 1, was later outlawed by NBA Commissioner David Stern for having very little white on them. It is a misconception that the Jordan 1 was banned however. After the Nike Air Ship was banned, Michael Jordan and Nike introduced the Jordan 1 in color ways with more such as the Chicago color way. The Air Jordan I was originally released on the market from 1985 to 1986, then retro-ed in 1994, 2001–2004, and 2007–2016. AJ II, The success of the Air Jordan 1 encouraged Nike to release the New Air Jordan in 1986 for the new basketball season. Designed by Peter Moore and Bruce Kilgore, the original Air Jordan II was unique in that it was made in Italy giving the shoe a luxury feel, the Air Jordan 2 also retailed with a full length encapsulated Nike air bubble for maximum comfort. The Air Jordan 2 was the first Jordan not to have the Nike swoosh on the upper, the Air Jordan II was originally retailed at $100. The Air Jordan was originally released from 1986 to 1987, the model was revived from obscurity when Air Jordan collaborated with Just Don to create the Just Don x Air Jordan 2. The shoe featured premium blue quilted leather inspired by a Chanel handbag, the shoe was released again in a Beach colourway bundled with a premium snapback and gold pin for $650 on January 30,2016. Then retro-ed in 1994, 2004–2005,2008,2010, 2014–2016, AJ III, The Air Jordan III was designed by Tinker Hatfield who works for Nike as a designer for stores and offices. By that time Michael Jordan was ready to leave Nike, and it was the first Air Jordan to feature a visible air unit on the heel, the new Jumpman logo, an elephant print trim and tumble leather to give it a luxury look. The Air Jordan III was also famous for the humorous ads depicting Spike Lee as Mars Blackmon and this campaign was known as the Mars and Mike ad campaign, which was one of Nikes most successful advertisement campaigns. These were the first Jordans to feature the NIKE AIR logo on the back and these were said to be Michael Jordans favorite shoes, he wore them during the 1988 Dunk Championship and many other events in his basketball career
32.
Adidas
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Adidas AG is a German multinational corporation, headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second biggest in the world, Adidas revenue for 2016 was listed at €19.29 billion. Adidas was registered on 18 August 1949 by Adolf Dassler, following a feud at the Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik company between him and his older brother Rudolf. Rudolf had earlier established Puma, which became the business rival of Adidas. The companys clothing and shoe designs typically feature three parallel bars, and the motif is incorporated into Adidass current official logo. The brand name is uncapitalized and is stylized with a case a. Christoph Von Wilhelm Dassler was a worker in a shoe factory, after leaving school, their son, Rudolf Rudi Dassler, joined his father at the shoe factory. When he returned from fighting in World War I, Rudolf received a management position at a porcelain factory, Adolf Adi Dassler started to produce his own sports shoes in his mothers wash kitchen in Herzogenaurach after his return from World War I. In July 1924, his brother Rudolf returned to Herzogenaurach to join his brothers business. Following Owens haul of four medals, his success cemented the good reputation of Dassler shoes among the worlds most famous sportsmen. Letters from around the world landed on the desks. Business boomed and the Dasslers were selling 200,000 pairs of every year before World War II. After Rudolf was later picked up by American soldiers and accused of being a member of the Waffen SS, American occupying forces subsequently became major buyers of the Dassler brothers shoes. Although it is a urban myth that the name is an acronym for All Day I Dream About Sports. Puma and Adidas entered into a fierce and bitter rivalry after the split. Indeed, the town of Herzogenaurach was divided on the issue, even the towns two football clubs were divided, ASV Herzogenaurach club was supported by Adidas, while 1 FC Herzogenaurach endorsed Rudolfs footwear. When handymen were called to Rudolfs home, they would deliberately wear Adidas shoes, Rudolf would tell them to go to the basement and pick out a pair of free Pumas. The two brothers were never reconciled and although both are now buried in the cemetery, they are spaced as far apart as possible
33.
Spalding (sports equipment)
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Spalding is an American sporting goods company founded by Albert Spalding in Chicago, Illinois in 1876. It is now headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky, the company specializes in the production of balls for many sports, but is best known for its basketballs. Spalding also makes a range of products for baseball, soccer, softball, volleyball. The company was founded in 1876 when Albert Spalding and Wilmer Jesús Pisco Calvo were pitcher and the manager of a team in Chicago. The company standardized early baseballs and developed the modern baseball bat with the bulge at its apex, in 1892, Spalding acquired Wright & Ditson and A. J. Reach, both rival sporting goods companies. In 1893, A. G. Spalding & Brothers purchased the Lamb Knitting Machine Company located in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts and it used this purchase to consolidate its skate manufactory from Newark and its gymnasium goods manufactory from Philadelphia to the Chicopee plant. Lamb, primarily engaged in manufacturing knitting machines, rifles, the Spalding League Ball was adopted by the National League and American Association of Professional Base Ball Clubs for the seasons of 1892–1896 and used by the National League since 1880. It was manufactured by A. G. Spalding & Bros, Chicago, New York & Philadelphia and sold for $1.50 in 1896. During World War II, the company joined five other firms to form the New England Small Arms Corporation for manufacture of M1918 Browning Automatic Rifles. Spalding produced the well-known Spaldeen high-bounce rubber ball, said to be a re-use of defective tennis ball cores, that was sold to city children from 1949. In baseball, Spalding manufactured the official ball of the major leagues through the 1976 season, using the Reach brand on American League balls, since 1977 the official ball has been made by Rawlings. Spalding became a division of the Russell Corporation in 2003, however, that deal did not encompass Spaldings golf operations, which included the Top-Flite, Ben Hogan and Strata brands, which were eventually bought by Callaway later the same year. Horween Leather Company supplies leather to Spalding for indoor Arena Football League footballs, Spalding is mostly known for its basketballs, although the company also manufactures balls and accessories for other sports such as American football, baseball, soccer and volleyball. Besides, softball equipment is offered through companys subsidiary Dudley, Spalding developed its first basketball in 1894 and is currently a leading producer. Since 1983, it has been the Official ball supplier to the National Basketball Association, the company also provides the official ball of the Arena Football League, an indoor American football league. The company was one of the first to use high-profile athletes to endorse its products when tennis player Pancho Gonzales was signed to an exclusive endorsement contract in 1951. In 2006, Spalding and the NBA announced that they would create a new NBA Official Game Ball, with interlocking segments and made with a synthetic material instead of leather. However, many NBA players complained that the new ball became extremely slick after use, wouldnt bounce as high and bounced awkwardly off the rim and backboard
34.
Reebok
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Reebok is a global athletic footwear and apparel company, operating as a subsidiary of Adidas since 2005. Reebok produces and distributes fitness, running and CrossFit sportswear including clothing and it is the official footwear and apparel sponsor for UFC, CrossFit, Spartan Race, and Les Mills. In 1958 Reebok was established as a company to J. W. Foster and Sons, founded in 1895 in Bolton, Greater Manchester. As a British brand, Reebok apparel featured a Union Jack flag from 1895 until 1986, the global headquarters are located in Canton, Massachusetts, U. S. with regional offices in Amsterdam, Montreal, Hong Kong and Mexico City. In November 2016, the announced they would be moving their headquarters location to Boston. The reasons for the move, according to the company, is to be located an urban environment that is desirable to millennial workers. In 1895, Joseph William Foster at the age of 14 started work in his bedroom above his fathers shop in Bolton, England. After his ideas progressed, he founded his business J. W. Foster in 1900, later he joined with his sons and changed the name to J. W. Foster. Foster opened a factory called Olympic Works, and gradually became famous among athletes for his running pumps. For pioneering the use of spikes, the companys revolutionary running pumps appear in the book, Golden Kicks, the company began distributing shoes across the United Kingdom and were worn by British athletes. They were made famous by 100m Olympic champion Harold Abrahams in the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris, the name is Afrikaans for the grey rhebok, a type of African antelope. In 1979, at the Chicago International Sneaker Trade show an American businessman, Paul Fireman, Fireman was working for an outdoor sporting goods store and negotiated a deal to license and distribute the Reebok brand in the United States. The division was called Reebok USA Ltd, later that year, Fireman introduced three new shoes to the market at $60. By 1981, Reebok reached more than $1.5 million in sales, in 1982, Reebok debuted the Reebok Freestyle aerobics shoe, the first athletic shoe designed for women. Fitness professional Gin Miller became the face of Step Reebok, the companys aerobics fitness campaign, the following year, Reeboks sales were $13 million. The company began expanding from tennis and aerobics shoes to running and basketball throughout the mid to late 1980s, in 1985, Reebok had its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol RBK. In 1986, Reebok switched its logo from the Union Jack flag it had since its founding, the switch signaled the transition of the company into a performance brand as it began licensing deals with professional athletes in the NBA and NFL. During the 1980s, Reebok began introducing sports clothing and accessories, by the end of the year, Reeboks sales were about $1 billion
35.
Converse (shoe company)
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Converse /ˈkɒnvərs/ is an American shoe company with a production output that primarily consists of apparel, skating shoes and lifestyle brand footwear. Converse is known as one of Americas most iconic footwear companies, the company was founded in 1908. Converse has been a subsidiary of Nike, Inc. since 2003, the company lost a huge monopoly after other companies presented their own styles, but Converse rebounded and changed the targeted audience. During World War II, the company shifted its manufacturing from the public and it was one of the few producers of athletic shoes and for over a half century the company dominated the American court shoe market. Converse manufactures its products under the Cons, Chuck Taylor All-Star, John Varvatos, at age 47, Marquis Mills Converse, who was previously a respected manager at a footwear manufacturing firm, opened the Converse Rubber Shoe Company in February 1908 in Malden, Massachusetts. The company was a shoe manufacturer, providing winterized rubber soled footwear for men, women. Then in 1921, a player named Charles H. Chuck Taylor walked into Converse complaining of sore feet and he continued this work until shortly before his death in 1969. Converse also customized shoes for the New York Renaissance, the first all-African American professional basketball team, when the U. S. entered World War II in 1941, Converse shifted production to manufacturing rubberized footwear, outerwear, and protective suits for the military. Widely popular during the 1950s and 1960s, Converse promoted a distinctly American image with its Converse Yearbook, artist Charles Kerins created cover art that celebrated Converses role in the lives of high school and college athletes. Through its shoes, Converse developed into a brand. In the 1970s, Converse purchased the rights to Jack Purcell sneakers from B. F. Goodrich. Converse found themselves no longer the official shoe of the National Basketball Association, the chevron and star insignia—a logo that remains on a large portion of Converse footwear other than the All Star—was created by Jim Labadini, an employee. By the second half of the 1990s, Converse was slipping repeatedly into receivership as debt piled up yearly, the loss of market share, combined with poor business decisions, forced Converse to file for bankruptcy on January 22,2001. In July 2003, Nike paid $309 million to acquire Converse, Nike approached the 1980s revival around 2005 to relaunch the footwear of choice of that decade, and the Chucks quickly became a cultural phenomenon once again. As a result, Nike expanded the Converse brand to other businesses apart from shoes, much akin to its other brands. By November 2012, Converse had disappeared completely from the NBA, as the last dozen players wearing the brand left the NBA or switched shoes over a period of a year. Carlos Arroyo went overseas in late 2011, and Maurice Evans last played for the Washington Wizards in April 2012, udonis Haslem, the last NBA player wearing Converse on the court, followed Miami Heat teammate Dwyane Wade to switch to Li-Ning in late November 2012
36.
Under Armour
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Under Armour, Inc. is an American company that manufactures footwear, sports and casual apparel. Under Armour began offering footwear in 2006, under Armours International Headquarters is located in Panama City, Panama, with Latin America offices in São Paulo, Brazil, Santiago, Chile, and Mexico City, Mexico. Its European headquarters is in Amsterdams Olympic Stadium with an office in Munich. The Under Armour Shanghai office is the headquarters for Greater China. Additional Asia Pacific offices are in Guangzhou, China, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Indonesia, Tokyo, Japan, under Armour was founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank, a then 23-year-old former special teams captain of the University of Maryland football team. Plank initially began the business from his grandmothers basement in Washington and he spent his time traveling up and down the East Coast with nothing but apparel in the trunk of his car. His first team came at the end of 1996 with a $17,000 sale. From his grandmothers basement, Plank moved to Baltimore, after a few moves in the city he landed at his current headquarters in Tide Point. This inspired him to make a T-shirt using moisture-wicking synthetic fabric, after graduating from the University of Maryland, Plank developed his first prototype of the shirt, which he gave to his Maryland teammates and friends who had gone on to play in the NFL. Plank soon perfected the design creating a new T-shirt built from microfibers that wicked moisture and kept cool, dry. Major competing brands including Nike, Adidas and Reebok would soon follow in Planks footsteps with their own moisture-wicking apparel, Plank opted to use the British spelling armour in the company name because the toll-free vanity number was still available for that version. People began to notice of the brand when a front page photo of USA Today featured Oakland Raiders quarterback Jeff George wearing an Under Armour mock turtleneck. Following that front page, Under Armours first major sale came and this deal opened the door to a contract with Arizona State University, North Carolina State and other Division I football teams. With positive reviews from players, word began to spread and orders began to increase and that same year, Under Armour launched with several new apparel lines including ColdGear, TurfGear, AllseasonGear, and StreetGear. By the end of 1996, Under Armour had sold 500 Under Armour HeatGear shirts, in 1997, Plank had $100,000 in orders to fill and found a factory in Ohio to make the shirts. Under Armour received its first big break in 1999 when Warner Brothers contacted Under Armour to outfit two of its films, Oliver Stones Any Given Sunday and The Replacements. In Any Given Sunday, Willie Beamen wears an Under Armour jockstrap, leveraging the release of Any Given Sunday, Plank purchased an ad in ESPN The Magazine. The ad generated close to $750,000 in sales, and nine years after starting the company, the following year, Under Armour became the outfitter of the new XFL football league, gaining even more attention during the leagues debut on national television
37.
1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team
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The 1992 United States mens Olympic basketball team, nicknamed the Dream Team, was the first American Olympic team to feature active NBA players. The team is described by American journalists as the greatest sports team ever assembled, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame called the team the greatest collection of basketball talent on the planet. At the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona, the team defeated its opponents by an average of 44 points en route to the gold medal against Croatia, chuck Daly served as coach, assisted by Lenny Wilkens, P. J. Carlesimo, and Mike Krzyzewski. Before the 1992 games, only players were allowed to play on the mens Olympic basketball team. At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, the United States national basketball team, made up of college stars, the defeat increased calls for professionals to be allowed to play in the Olympics. Borislav Stanković of FIBA advocated for this for years, in 1989 FIBA modified its rules allowing professional athletes, such as NBA players, to compete internationally. FIBA agreed in April 1989 to allow professionals to play in the Olympics, USA Basketball asked the NBA to supply players for its 1992 roster, the league was initially unenthusiastic, not foreseeing the cultural phenomenon that the team would become. Sports Illustrated was the first to nickname the forthcoming American roster as the Dream Team, on the cover of its February 18,1991, so many corporate sponsors wished to use the team to advertise their products that some were rejected. Most of the players were at or near the peaks of their NBA careers, Bird had back trouble, but was selected due to the teams historic nature. Robinson had played with the 1988 Olympic team, and was eager to earn a medal at Barcelona. Johnson was retained despite his retirement from the Lakers in November 1991 due to having tested positive for HIV. Ewing, Jordan, and Mullin had won gold at the 1984 games but Malone, clyde Drexler of the Portland Trail Blazers and Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons were the candidates for the final professional roster spot. Drexler was added to the team on May 12,1992, as an acknowledgment to the previous amateur system, the US basketball committee decided to include one collegiate player on team, filling the final roster spot. Laettner was the player without any professional experience, and was chosen over Louisiana State Universitys Shaquille ONeal for the final spot on the roster. Jordan refused Dalys suggestion that he serve as the face of the team. There was speculation that Thomas was not part of the team because Michael Jordan would participate only if Thomas was not on the roster. In the book Dream Team, author Jack McCallum quotes Jordan as saying, Rod, I don’t want to play if Isiah Thomas is on the team, to Team USA selection committee member Rod Thorn. Thomas is also alleged to have led a group of NBA veterans that refused to pass to Jordan in the 1985 NBA All-Star Game, in the book When the Game Was Ours, Johnson said Isiah killed his own chances when it came to the Olympics
38.
2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team
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The mens national basketball team of the United States won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Defending the gold won by the 2008 team in the previous Olympic Games. The Olympic team lost some players to injuries who might have made the team and their roster featured five players returning from the 2008 Olympic team and five others from the 2010 World Championship. Coming off his season in the National Basketball Association, LeBron James became the leader of the Olympic team. The USA went undefeated but appeared vulnerable in five exhibition games and they finished the tournament with a perfect 8–0 record, defeating opponents by an average of 32 points while trailing in the fourth quarter only once. The Americans often played with a lineup that emphasized speed, quickness. The team set an Olympic single-game record with 156 points scored against Nigeria in the preliminary round, in a rematch of the 2008 finals, Team USA again defeated Spain to capture the gold. The 2012 team consisted of returning 2008 Olympic gold medal winners small forwards LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, point guards Chris Paul and Deron Williams, and shooting guard Kobe Bryant. It also featured 2010 World Championship winners small forwards Kevin Durant and Andre Iguodala, power forward Kevin Love, center Tyson Chandler, forward Lamar Odom removed himself from consideration in July before the start of training camp. The initial 20 finalists were announced in January 2012, harden and Davis were added as replacements. Center Andrew Bynum declined an invitation to be added as a finalist, the final team was built on quickness and speed. The following is the United States roster in the basketball tournament of the 2012 Summer Olympics. The Americans went an undefeated 8–0 and averaged 116 points per game, Team USA trailed in the fourth quarter only once, against Lithuania in the opening round. James became the leader of the team with Bryant—who would turn 34 in August 2012—stepping back, James facilitated the offense from the post and perimeter, called the defensive sets, and provided scoring when needed. After winning the gold, Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski said James is the best player, he is the best leader, Durant scored a United States Olympics record of 156 points in the tournament. He also made 34 three-point field goals, breaking the previous United States mark of 17, Bryant was not in peak condition early, but he played himself into shape and was a key contributor in the final three games. While Chandler was the only true center—Davis was thin and had no professional experience—Krzyzewski also played Love. Love led the team with 61 rebounds, compensating for its lack of big men, the USA played small ball and spread its playmakers around the three-point line and with a player penetrating and passing the ball back outside
39.
United States men's national basketball team
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The USA Basketball Mens Senior National Team, commonly known as the United States Mens National Basketball Team, represents the United States in international mens basketball. The USA team is the most successful team in competition, winning medals in all eighteen Olympic tournaments it has entered. The United States is currently ranked first in the FIBA World Rankings, traditionally composed of amateur players, a 1989 rule change by FIBA allowed USA Basketball to field teams with professional players. The first such team, known as the Dream Team, won the medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. With the introduction of professionals, the team was able to spark a run of dominance after capturing only a bronze medal in 1988. A team of professional players competed at the 1994 FIBA World Championship, in 1996,2000,2008,2012, and 2016 the USA again captured gold medals at the Olympics. Facing increased competition, the USA failed to win a medal at the 2002 FIBA World Championship, determined to put an end to these failures, USA Basketball initiated a long-term project aimed at creating better, more cohesive teams. The USA won its first seven games at the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan before losing against Greece in the semi-finals, the USA won gold two years later, though, at the 2008 Summer Olympics with a dominant performance. The USA continued this streak of dominance by going undefeated and capturing gold once more at the 2012 Summer Olympics,2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, the United States possessed a clear advantage in the early decades of international play. Through the next six tournaments, the United States went undefeated, collecting gold while not losing a single contest in the held in London, Helsinki, Melbourne, Rome, Tokyo. Roster until the formation of the 1992 Dream Team, the 1952 team included big man Clyde Lovellette of the University of Kansas, a future Hall of Famer and NBA star, but Kurland once again led the team to victory. The 1956 team was led by San Francisco Dons Bill Russell, the 1972 Olympic mens basketball gold medal game, marking the first ever loss for the USA in Olympic play, is arguably the most controversial in Olympic history. The United States rode their seven consecutive gold medals and 63–0 Olympic record to Munich for the 1972 Summer Olympics, the team won its first eight games in convincing fashion, setting up a final against the Soviet Union. With three seconds left in the medal game, American forward Doug Collins sank two free throws to put the Americans up 50–49. However, the buzzer sounded before Collins second free throw, immediately following Collins free throws, the Soviets inbounded the ball and failed to score. But one official had whistled play to stop with one remaining after hearing the earlier horn. The Soviets argued that they had requested a timeout before Collins foul shots, the referees ordered the clock reset to three seconds and the games final seconds replayed. However, the clock was in the process of being reset when the referees put the ball in play
40.
Scottie Pippen
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Scottie Maurice Pippen is an American retired professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association. Nicknamed Pip, he is most remembered for his time with the Chicago Bulls, Pippen, along with Michael Jordan, played an important role in transforming the Bulls team into a championship team and for popularizing the NBA around the world during the 1990s. Considered one of the best small forwards of all time, Pippen was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team eight consecutive times and he was a seven-time NBA All-Star and was the NBA All-Star Game MVP in 1994. He was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History during the 1996–97 season and he played a key role on both the 1992 Chicago Bulls Championship team and the 1996 Chicago Bulls Championship team which were selected as two of the Top 10 Teams in NBA History. During his 17-year career, he played 12 seasons with the Bulls, one with the Houston Rockets and four with the Portland Trail Blazers, Pippen is also the only player to have won an NBA title and Olympic gold medal in the same year twice. He was a part of the 1992 U. S. Olympic Dream Team which beat its opponents by an average of 44 points and he wore number 8 during both years. Pippen is an inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. On November 8,2005, the Chicago Bulls retired his number #33, while his college, University of Central Arkansas, Scottie Pippen was born on September 25,1965, in Hamburg, Arkansas, the youngest of 12 children born to Ethel and Preston Pippen. Pippens mother was 6 feet tall and his father was 61 and his parents could not afford to send their other children to college. His father worked in a mill until a stroke paralyzed his right side, prevented him from walking. Playing point guard, he led his team to the state playoffs and he was not offered any college scholarships. Pippen began his playing career at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway after being discovered by then-UCA Head coach Don Dyer as a 61 walk-on. He did not receive recognition in college because the school played in the NAIA. He eventually had a growth spurt to 68, and his per game averages of 23.6 points,10 rebounds,4. He was selected fifth overall in the 1987 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics and traded to the Chicago Bulls for Olden Polynice, Scottie made his NBA debut on November 7,1987 when the Chicago Bulls faced the Philadelphia 76ers as their first game of the season. He finished the game with 10 points,2 steals,4 assists and 1 rebound in 23 minutes of play, the Bulls won their season-opening game 104–94. With fellow Bull Michael Jordan as a motivational and instructional mentor, Pippen refined his skills, Jordan and Pippen frequently played one-on-one outside of team practices simply to hone each others skills on offense and defense. Pippen claimed the starting small forward position during the 1988 NBA Playoffs and these feats earned Pippen his debut NBA All-Star selection in 1990
41.
Nas
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Nasir Bin Olu Dara Jones, better known by his stage name Nas /ˈnɑːz/, is an American rapper, record producer, actor and entrepreneur. The son of jazz musician Olu Dara, Nas has released eight consecutive platinum and multi-platinum albums and has sold over 25 million records worldwide. He is also an entrepreneur through his own label, he serves as associate publisher of Mass Appeal magazine and is the owner of a Fila sneaker store. He is currently signed to Mass Appeal Records and his musical career began in 1991 as featured artist on Main Sources Live at the Barbeque. His debut album Illmatic received universal acclaim from critics and the hip hop community and is frequently ranked as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. Nas follow-up It Was Written debuted at one on the Billboard 200, stayed on top for four consecutive weeks. From 2001 to 2005, Nas was involved in a publicized feud with rapper Jay Z. Nas signed to Def Jam in 2006. In 2010, he released Distant Relatives, an album with reggae artist Damian Marley. His eleventh studio album, Life Is Good was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, Nas is often named as one of the greatest hip hop artists. MTV ranked him at number 5 on their list of The Greatest MCs of All Time, in 2012, The Source ranked him number two on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time. In 2013, Nas was ranked fourth on MTVs Hottest MCs in the Game list. About. com ranked him first on their list of the 50 Greatest MCs of All Time in 2014, nasir bin Olu Dara Jones was born September 14,1973, in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Olu Dara, is a jazz and blues musician and his mother, Fannie Ann Jones, was a Postal Service worker from North Carolina. He has one sibling, a brother named Jabari Fret who is best known as Jungle and his father took his name Olu Dara from the Yoruba people. His African DNA indicates he has roots in countries with high Yoruba populations Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana – as well as Mali, the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Congo, and Senegal. His matrilineal DNA haplogroup is of African origin, found among the Yoruba and he also found that his Y-DNA traces directly back to Scandinavia, through which he is a descendant of the Vikings. As a young child, Nas and his family relocated to the Queensbridge Houses in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens and his neighbor, Willy Ill Will Graham, influenced Nass interest in hip hop by playing him records. His parents divorced in 1985, and he dropped out of school after the eighth grade and he educated himself about African culture through the Five Percent Nation and the Nuwaubian Nation
