1.
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
2.
Decatur, Alabama
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Decatur is a city in Morgan and Limestone counties in the State of Alabama. The city, affectionately known as The River City, is located in Northern Alabama on the banks of Wheeler Lake and it is the largest city and county seat of Morgan County. The population in 2010 census was 55,683, Decatur is also the core city of the two-county large Decatur, Alabama Metropolitan Area which had an estimated population of 153,374 in 2013. Combined with the Huntsville Metropolitan Area, the two create the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area, of which Decatur is the second largest city and this city is also known as the Dirty D. This town lit OML Like many southern cities in the early 19th century, Railroad routes and boating traffic pushed the city to the front of North Alabamas economic atmosphere. The city rapidly grew into an economic center within the Tennessee Valley and was a hub for travelers. Throughout the 20th century, the city experienced steady growth, but was eclipsed as the economic center by the fast-growing Huntsville during the space race. The city now finds its economy based on manufacturing, cargo transit, and hi-tech industries such as General Electric. The city was incorporated as Decatur in 1821 and it was named in honor of Stephen Decatur, after he was killed in a duel in 1820, President Monroe directed that the Alabama town be named for him. In the early 1830s, Decatur was the terminus of the Tuscumbia, Courtland and Decatur Railroad. In 1850 the Tuscumbia, Courtland and Decatur Railroad was incorporated into the Memphis & Charleston Railroad, because of its location on the Tennessee River at the strategically important crossing of two major railroads, Decatur was the site of several encounters during the American Civil War. When the Union army occupied the city early in the war, bricks from some of the churches in town were used to build stoves and chimneys for the buildings that housed soldiers. The four buildings that remained are the Old State Bank, the Dancy-Polk House, the Todd House, while the city was under Confederate control, plans for the Battle of Shiloh were mapped out within the Burleson-Hinds-McEntire House. These activities make the one of the most historic buildings in Decatur. New Decatur, Alabama was a city that rose out of the ashes of former Decatur west of the railroad tracks, New Decatur was founded in 1887 and incorporated in 1889. However, residents of the older Decatur resented the new town, animosity built until New Decatur renamed their town Albany, after Albany, N. Y. in September 1916. The impetus to meld the two came from the need for a bridge, instead of a ferry, across the Tennessee River. The Decatur Kiwanis Club was formed with an number of members from each town to organize efforts to get the state to build the bridge
3.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
4.
Clark Atlanta University
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Clark Atlanta University is a private, historically black university in Atlanta, in the U. S. state of Georgia. It was formed in 1988 with the consolidation of Clark College, Clark Atlanta University is a member of the United Negro College Fund and is the largest institution in the Atlanta University Center Consortium. By the late 1870s, Atlanta College had begun granting degrees and supplying black teachers. In 1929–30, it began offering graduate education exclusively in various liberal arts areas and it gradually added professional programs in social work, library science, and business administration. At this same time, Atlanta University affiliated with Morehouse College, the story of the Atlanta University over the next twenty years from 1930 includes many significant developments. Graduate Schools of Library Science, Education, and Business Administration were established in 1941,1944, the Atlanta School of Social Work, long associated with the university, gave up its charter in 1947 to become an integral part of the university. In 1957, the controlling Boards of the six institutions ratified new Articles of Affiliation, the new contract created the Atlanta University Center. The influence of Atlanta University has been extended through professional journals and organizations, including Phylon, du Bois, a member of the center. Clark College was founded in 1869 by the Methodist Episcopal Church and it was named for Bishop Davis Wasgatt Clark, who was the first President of the Freedmans Aid Society and became Bishop in 1864. A sparsely furnished room in Clark Chapel, a Methodist Episcopal church in Atlantas Summerhill section, in 1871, the school relocated to a new site on the newly purchased Whitehall and McDaniel Street property. In 1877, the School was chartered as Clark University, an early benefactor, Bishop Gilbert Haven, visualized Clark as the university of all the Methodist schools founded for the education of freedmen. Also in 1883, Clark established a theology department, named for Dr. Elijah H. Gammon, the Gammon School of Theology in 1888 became an independent theological seminary. It is part of the Interdenominational Theological Center, Clark Atlanta Universitys main campus houses 37 buildings on 126 acres and is 1.5 miles from the center of Atlanta. Pfeiffer Hall Holmes Hall Merner Hall Bumstead Hall – vacant for renovations Ware Hall Beckwith Hall Residential Apartments – now called James P. Brawley Hall when the original James P. The Isabella T. Clark Atlantas Center for Functional Nanoscale Measures has produced more black Ph. D. s in Nanoscale Science than any HBCU in the nation. Clark Atlanta is annually ranked on the list of The Washington Monthly of Best Colleges and Universities, Clark Atlanta has a Carnegie classification of Research University – High Research Activity and is one of only four Historically Black Colleges and Universities to earn such a distinction. The preeminent scheduled event of CAU Experience is the induction ceremony. At the ceremony, new students are officially inducted as Clark Atlanta University students
5.
George Mikan
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George Lawrence Mikan, Jr. nicknamed Mr. Mikan had a successful playing career, winning seven NBL, BAA, and NBA championships, an NBA All-Star Game MVP trophy, and three scoring titles. He was a member of the first four NBA All-Star games, after his playing career, Mikan became one of the founders of the American Basketball Association, serving as commissioner of the league. He was also vital for the forming of the Minnesota Timberwolves, in his later years, Mikan was involved in a long-standing legal battle against the NBA, fighting to increase the meager pensions for players who had retired before the league became lucrative. In 2005, Mikan died after a battle with diabetes. Since April 2001, a statue of Mikan shooting his trademark hook shot graces the entrance of the Timberwolves Target Center, George Mikan was born in Joliet, Illinois, as an American of Croatian descent. As a boy, he shattered one of his knees so badly that he was kept in bed for a year, in 1938, Mikan attended the Chicago Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary and originally wanted to be a priest, but then moved back home to finish at Joliet Catholic. Mikan did not seem destined to become an athlete, when Mikan entered Chicagos DePaul University in 1942, he stood 610, weighed 245 pounds, moved awkwardly because of his frame, and wore thick glasses for his near-sightedness. However, Mikan met 28-year-old rookie DePaul basketball coach Ray Meyer, who saw potential in the bright and intelligent, put into perspective, Meyers thoughts were revolutionary, because at the time it was believed that tall players were too awkward to ever play basketball well. In the following months, Meyer transformed Mikan into a confident, Meyer and Mikan worked out intensively, and Mikan learned how to make hook shots accurately with either hand. This routine would become known as the Mikan Drill. In addition, Meyer made Mikan punch a speed bag, take dancing lessons, from his first National Collegiate Athletic Association college games for DePaul on, Mikan dominated his peers. In addition, Mikan also surprised the world with his unique ability of goaltending. In todays basketball, touching the ball after it reaches its apex is a violation and we would set up a zone defense that had four men around the key and I guarded the basket, Mikan later recalled his DePaul days. When the other took a shot, Id just go up. As a consequence, the NCAA and later the NBA, outlawed goaltending, after the end of the 1945–46 college season, Mikan signed with the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League, a predecessor of the modern NBA. He played with them for 25 games at the end of the 1946–47 NBL season, Mikan led the Gears to the championship of the World Basketball Tournament, where he was elected Most Valuable Player after scoring 100 points in five games, and also voted into the All-NBL Team. However, before the start of the 1947–48 NBL season, Maurice White, the president of the American Gear Company, White planned to create a 24-team league called the Professional Basketball League of America, in which he owned all the teams and arenas. However, the folded after just a month, and the players of Whites teams were equally distributed among the 11 remaining NBL franchises
6.
Ray Allen
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Walter Ray Allen Jr. is an American former professional basketball player who played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association. After playing three seasons of basketball for Connecticut, Allen entered the NBA in 1996 and went on to play for the Milwaukee Bucks, Seattle SuperSonics, Boston Celtics. One of the most accurate three-point and free throw shooters in NBA history, he was a ten-time NBA All-Star and he also won an Olympic gold medal as a member of the 2000 United States mens basketball team. Allen is the NBAs all-time leader in career three-point field goals made in both the regular and postseason and he has acted in two films, one of which was a lead role in the 1998 Spike Lee film, He Got Game. The third of five children, Allen was born at Castle Air Force Base near Merced, California, a military child, he spent time growing up in Saxmundham in England, Altus in Oklahoma, Edwards Air Force Base in California, and Germany. He attended high school in Dalzell, South Carolina, where he led Hillcrest High School to a state championship. Allen attended the University of Connecticut from 1993 to 1996 after being recruited by assistant coach Karl Hobbs, while at UConn, he was named USA Basketballs Male Athlete of the Year in 1995. In 1995–96, his college season, Allen was a first-team All-American. Allen finished his UConn career third on the Huskies career scoring list with 1,922 points, in 2001, Allen was named honorary captain of the 25-member UConn All-Century Basketball Team. On February 5,2007, his name and number were honored at Connecticuts Gampel Pavilion during the Huskies of Honor ceremony at halftime of the basketball game against the Syracuse Orange. Allen was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the pick of the 1996 NBA draft. Immediately after his selection, Allen and Andrew Lang were traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for the rights to fourth pick Stephon Marbury. Allen made his NBA debut on November 1,1996 where he started and played 28 minutes and scored 13 points in a win against fellow rookie Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers. On January 12,1997 Allen put in one of his strongest efforts of the season in a win against the Golden State Warriors contributing 22 points,6 assists,3 steals and a new career high of 9 rebounds. Continuing his strong season, on March 25,1997 Allen scored a new career high of 32 points in a loss to the Phoenix Suns. Allen was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in 1996, after an injury-riddled 2003–04 season, he was named to the All-NBA Second Team and, alongside teammate Rashard Lewis, led the Sonics to the Conference Semifinals in 2005. Allen told the press if the Lakers remained a mediocre squad, in about a year or two he will be calling out to Jerry Buss that we need some help in here. When asked about Allens comments, Bryant responded, Dont even put me, after the 2004–05 season, Allen signed a 5-year, $80 million contract extension
7.
Clyde Drexler
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Clyde Austin The Glide Drexler is an American retired professional basketball swingman. During his career, he was a ten-time All-Star, and named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, Drexler won an Olympic gold medal in 1992 as part of the 1992 United States mens Olympic basketball team and an NBA Championship in 1995 with the Houston Rockets. He is a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee He currently serves as a commentator for Houston Rockets home games. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Drexler lived in the South Park area in Houston, Texas, and attended Ross Sterling High School in Houston, where he was a classmate of tennis player Zina Garrison. As a sophomore, he made the varsity team, and tried out for the basketball team. Drexler played as a 6 ft 6 in center as a senior and he began receiving attention from college coaches following a 34-point, 27-rebound performance against Sharpstown High School during a 1979 Christmas tournament. Lewis that Drexler was the best player he had faced in high school, Drexler majored in finance and worked at a bank during the summer. Lewis recalled in 2003 that he received hate mail from Houston supporters and alumni for recruiting Drexler. Drexler and Young, along with Larry Micheaux and new recruit Hakeem Olajuwon, comprised the Phi Slama Jama basketball fraternity that gained attention for its acrobatic. New players were initiated into the fraternity by having to stand underneath the basket as Drexler drove in from halfcourt, Houston made the first of Drexlers two straight Final Four appearances in 1982, where they lost to eventual champions North Carolina. He averaged 15.2 points and 10.5 rebounds per game as a forward as Houston finished 25–8. The 1982–83 campaign saw Houston return to the Final Four ranked No.1 and they were matched up against No. Drexler declared for the NBA draft as a junior, leaving Houston with career averages of 14.4 points,3.3 assists and 9.9 rebounds in three seasons. In the 1983 NBA draft Drexler was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 14th overall pick and he averaged 7.7 points in 17.2 minutes per game in his rookie season. His second season was his breakout season, in which he averaged 17.2 points,6 rebounds,5.5 assists and 2.2 steals per game. In his third season, Drexler made his first All-Star team while averaging 18.5 points,5.6 rebounds,8 assists and 2.6 steals. In the 1989–1990 season, Drexler led the Portland Trail Blazers to the NBA Finals, averaging 26.4 points and 7.8 rebounds, in the 1990–1991 season Drexler led Portland to a franchise best 63–19 record. Heavily favored to win the West, the Los Angeles Lakers upset the Trail Blazers by winning the Western Conference Finals, in the 1991–92 season he made the All-NBA First Team and finished second to Michael Jordan in MVP voting
8.
Gail Goodrich
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Gail Charles Goodrich Jr. is an American retired professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association. He is best known for scoring a then record 42 points in the 1965 NCAA championship game vs. Michigan, Goodrich was the leading scorer on that team. In 1996,17 years after his retirement from professional basketball, Goodrich scored 29 points in the championship game despite breaking his ankle in the third quarter. Goodrich has said that he had wanted to attend the University of Southern California. But coach John Wooden of UCLA ultimately showed much more interest in Goodrich than did USC, like many Division I colleges, USC was wary of Goodrichs short stature. He was only 5 ft 8 in his year in high school and even at his ultimate height of 6 ft 1 in. Goodrich attended UCLA, where he finished as the schools leading scorer. He was a two-time All-America and the Helms Foundations Co-Player of the Year in 1965, in the 1965 NCAA championship game, he scored a record 42 points as UCLA beat favored Michigan. This record stood until 1973 when UCLAs Bill Walton scored 44 in the finals vs. Memphis State, while at UCLA, Goodrich was also a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. A tenacious and fiery competitor, Goodrich used intelligent ball-handling skills, the left-handed junior guard was the teams main scorer. He finished with an average of 21.5 points per game, for the first time, a UCLA team won all 30 of its games en route to the schools first NCAA title. Goodrich and Keith Erickson were the returning starters from the team that won UCLAs first national title in 1964. As a senior, the Bruins repeated as NCAA champions as Goodrich scored 24.6 points per game, at UCLA, Goodrich helped compile a 78-11 three-year record. In both of those seasons, Goodrich was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament team. Goodrich at the finished as UCLAs all-time leading scorer which is now broken by Don MacLean. Although many believed Goodrich was too small for the game and too frail for the pros, Goodrich, through perseverance and discipline. Goodrich was nicknamed Stumpy, a moniker bestowed upon him by teammate Elgin Baylor, because of Goodrichs height, Goodrich was a territorial pick by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1965 NBA draft. As a rookie in 1965–66, he averaged about 15 minutes per game as a guard behind starters Jerry West
9.
Harlem Globetrotters
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The Harlem Globetrotters are an exhibition basketball team that combines athleticism, theater, and comedy. Over the years they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 122 countries and territories, the teams signature song is Brother Boness whistled version of Sweet Georgia Brown. Their mascot is an anthropomorphized globe named Globie, the team plays over 450 live events worldwide each year. The team is owned by Herschend Family Entertainment. The executive offices for the team are located in suburban Atlanta, the Globetrotters originated in the south side of Chicago, Illinois, in the 1920s, where all the original players were raised. In 1928, several players left the team in a dispute and that autumn, several of the players, led by Tommy Brookins, formed a team called the Globe Trotters and toured Southern Illinois that spring. Abe Saperstein became involved with the team as its manager and promoter, by 1929, Saperstein was touring Illinois and Iowa with his basketball team called the New York Harlem Globe Trotters. In fact, the Globetrotters did not play in Harlem until 1968, the Globetrotters were perennial participants in the World Professional Basketball Tournament, winning it in 1940. In 1952, the Globetrotters invited Louis Red Klotz to create a team to them on their tours. This team, the Washington Generals, were the Globetrotters primary opponents up until 2015, the Generals were effectively stooges for the Globetrotters, with the Globetrotters handily defeating them in thousands of games. In 1959, the Globetrotters played nine games in Moscow after Saperstein received an invitation from Vasily Gricorevich, the team, which included Wilt Chamberlain, was welcomed enthusiastically by spectators and authorities, they met Premier Nikita Khrushchev and collectively received the Athletic Order of Lenin medal. However, according to one report, spectators were initially confused, A Soviet audience of 14,000 sat almost silently, as if in awe and it warmed up slightly in the second half when it realized the Trotters are more show than competition. The Globetrotters brought their own opponent—not the Washington Generals, but the San Francisco Chinese Basketeers, a review in Pravda stated, This is not basketball, it is too full of tricks but praised the Globetrotters skills and suggested that they have some techniques to show us. The American press—particularly Drew Pearson—made note of the fact that the Globetrotters were paid the equivalent of $4,000, which could be spent only in Moscow. The games were used as evidence that U. S. –Soviet relations were improving, that Moscow was backing off its criticism of race relations inside America, many famous basketball players have played for the Globetrotters. Greats such as Wee Willie Gardner, Connie The Hawk Hawkins, Wilt The Stilt Chamberlain, the Globetrotters signed their first female player, Olympic gold medalist Lynette Woodard, in 1985. The Globetrotters have featured 13 female players in their illustrious history, baseball Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Bob Gibson, and Ferguson Jenkins also played for the team at one time or another. Because almost all of its players have been African American, and because of the involved in many of the Globetrotters skits
10.
Bob Cousy
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Robert Joseph Bob Cousy is an American retired professional basketball player and member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Cousy played point guard with the Boston Celtics from 1950 to 1963, Cousy was initially drafted as the third overall pick in the first round of the 1950 NBA draft by the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, but after he refused to report, he was picked up by Boston. He was also named to 12 All-NBA First and Second Teams, also known as Cooz, he was regularly introduced at Boston Garden as Mr. Basketball. After his playing career, he coached the Royals for several years, Cousy then became a broadcaster for Celtics games. Upon his election to the Hall of Fame in 1971 the Celtics retired his #14 jersey and he was also the first president of National Basketball Players Association. Cousy was the son of poor French immigrants living in New York City. He grew up in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattans East Side and his father Joseph was a cab driver, who earned extra income by moonlighting. The elder Cousy had served in the German Army during World War I, shortly after the war, his first wife died of pneumonia, leaving behind a young daughter. He married Julie Corlet, a secretary and French teacher from Dijon, at the time of the 1930 census, the family was renting an apartment in Astoria, Queens, for $50 per month. The younger Cousy spoke French for the first 5 years of his life and he spent his early days playing stickball in a multicultural environment, regularly playing with African Americans, Jews and other ethnic minority children. These experiences ingrained him with a strong anti-racist sentiment, an attitude he prominently promoted during his professional career, when he was 12, his family moved to a rented house in St. Albans, Queens. That summer, the elder Cousy put a $500 down payment for a $4,500 house four blocks away and he rented out the bottom two floors of the three-story building to tenants to help make his mortgage payments on time. Cousy took up basketball at the age of 13, as a student at St. Pascals elementary school, the following year, he entered Andrew Jackson High School in St Albans. His basketball success was not immediate, and in fact he was cut from the team in his first year. The next year, however, he was cut during the tryouts for the school basketball team. That same year, he out of a tree and broke his right hand. The injury forced him to play left-handed until his hand healed, in retrospect, he described this accident as a fortunate event and cited it as a factor in making him more versatile on the court. During a Press League game, the school basketball coach saw him play
