| Position | Forward |
|---|---|
| Height ft | 6 |height_in=5 |
| Weight lbs | 225 |
| Number | 22 |
| Birthdate | September 16, 1934 Washington, D.C. |
| Debutyear | 1958 |
| Finalyear | 1971 |
| Draftyear | 1958 |
| Draftround | 1 |
| Draftpick | 1 |
| College | Seattle University |
| Teams | |
| Stat1label | Points |
| Stat1value | 23,149 |
| Stat2label | Rebounds |
| Stat2value | 11,463 |
| Stat3label | Assists |
| Stat3value | 3,650 |
| Bbr | bayloel01 |
| Letter | b |
| Highlights | |
| Coach | |
| Hof player | elgin-baylor |
Baylor was a gifted shooter, strong rebounder, and an accomplished passer. Renowned for his acrobatic maneuvers on the court, Baylor regularly dazzled Lakers fans with his trademark hanging jump shots. The No. 1 draft pick in 1958, NBA Rookie of the Year in 1959, and an 11-time NBA All-Star, he is regarded as one of the game's all-time greatest players. In 1977, Baylor was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Baylor spent twenty-two years as GM of the Los Angeles Clippers, being named the NBA Executive of the Year in 2006, before being relieved of his duties slightly before the 2008-09 season began.
Baylor led the Seattle Chieftains (now known as the Redhawks) to the NCAA championship game in 1958, falling to the Kentucky Wildcats, Seattle's last trip to the Final Four. Following his junior season, Baylor joined the Minneapolis Lakers in 1958.
In his three collegiate seasons, one at Idaho and two at Seattle, Baylor averaged 31.3 points per game. Baylor is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.
With his superb athletic talents and all-round game, Baylor was seen as the kind of player who could save a franchise, and he did. According to Minneapolis Lakers owner Bob Short in a 1971 interview with the Los Angeles Times: "If he had turned me down then, I would have been out of business. The club would have gone bankrupt."
Baylor began to be hampered with knee problems during the 1963-64 season. The problems culminated in a severe knee injury, suffered during the 1965 Western Division playoffs. Baylor, while still a very powerful force, was never quite the same, never again averaging above 30 points per game.
The 71 points Baylor scored on November 15, 1960 was a record at the time. The 61 points he scored in game 5 of the NBA Finals in 1962 is still an NBA Finals record. An underrated rebounder, Baylor averaged 13.5 rebounds per game during his career, including a sterling 19.8 rebounds per game during the 1960-61 season — a season average exceeded by only five other players in NBA history—all of whom were 6'9" or taller.
A 10-time All-NBA First Team selection and 11-time NBA All-Star, Baylor was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977. He was named to the NBA 35th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1980 and the NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996. in 2009, SLAM Magazine ranked him number 11 among its Top 50 NBA players of all time.
In February 2009, Baylor filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against the Clippers, team owner Donald Sterling, and the NBA. He alleges that he was underpaid during his tenure with the team and then fired because of his age and race.
Baylor was selected as the NBA Executive of the Year in 2006. That year the Clippers won their first playoff series since 1976, when the franchise was located in Buffalo, New York and named the Buffalo Braves.
Category:1934 births Category:Living people Category:African American basketball players Category:African American sports executives Category:Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Basketball players from Washington, D.C. Category:Los Angeles Clippers executives Category:Los Angeles Lakers players Category:Minneapolis Lakers draft picks Category:National Basketball Association players with retired numbers Category:Minneapolis Lakers players Category:New Orleans Jazz assistant coaches Category:New Orleans Jazz head coaches Category:National Basketball Association broadcasters Category:National Basketball Association executives Category:National Basketball Association head coaches Category:National Basketball Association general managers Category:Seattle Redhawks men's basketball players Category:College basketball announcers in the United States Category:National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
| Caption | West on February 1, 2010 |
|---|---|
| Position | Guard |
| Height ft | 6 | height_in = 2 |
| Weight lbs | 175 |
| Number | 44 |
| Birthdate | May 28, 1938 |
| Birthplace | Chelyan, West Virginia |
| Debutyear | 1960 |
| Finalyear | 1974 |
| Draftyear | 1960 |
| Draftround | 1 |
| Draftpick | 2 |
| Draftteam | Minneapolis Lakers |
| College | West Virginia |
| Teams | |
| Stat1label | Points |
| Stat1value | 25,192 |
| Stat2label | Rebounds |
| Stat2value | 5,366 |
| Stat3label | Assists |
| Stat3value | 6,238 |
| Bbr | westje01 |
| Letter | w |
| Highlights | |
| Hof player | jerry-a-west |
| Coach |
West’s NBA career was highly successful. Playing the guard position as a professional, he was voted 12 times into the All-NBA First and Second Teams, was elected into the NBA All-Star Team 14 times, and was chosen as the Most Valuable Player of the All-Star game in 1972, the same year that he won his only NBA championship ring. He is the all-time NBA record holder of points-averaged during a playoff series (46.3) and, as a testament to his two-way play, a member of the first four NBA All-Defensive Teams, which were introduced when he was 32 years old. Having played in nine NBA Finals, he is also the only player in NBA history to have won the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award despite being on the losing team (1969). West was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980 and voted as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history in 1996.
After his playing career, West was head coach of the Lakers for three years, leading Los Angeles into the playoffs each year and earning a Western Conference Finals berth once. Working as a player-scout for three years, West was named General Manager of the Lakers prior to the 1982–83 NBA season. Under his reign, Los Angeles won seven championship rings. In 2002, West became general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies and helped the franchise win their first-ever playoff berths. For his contributions, West won the NBA Executive of the Year Award twice, once as a Lakers manager (1995) and then as a Grizzlies manager (2004). West's son, Jonnie, is currently a senior for the West Virginia Mountaineers basketball squad.
The next season 1958–59 was even more successful. West scored 26.6 points per game and grabbed 12.3 rebounds. In his career, West totaled 2,309 points and 1,240 rebounds. He averaged 24.8 points per game and 13.3 rebounds. Along with Oscar Robertson, West co-captained the U.S. men's basketball team at the 1960 Summer Olympics which won the gold medal. (the Minneapolis Lakers had relocated because owner Bob Short wanted to move to California). Ironically, his college coach was hired to the coach the Lakers. He played West as a guard, in contrast to West's college days as a forward. This team perennially had strong forwards and guards, but was constantly weak at center, giving them a disadvantage against the Boston Celtics with their Hall-of-Fame center, Bill Russell.
Initially, West felt odd in his new environment. He was a loner. His high-pitched voice earned him the nickname "Tweety Bird", and he spoke with such a thick Appalachian accent that his teammates also referred to him as "Zeke from Cabin Creek" (his nickname acknowledged his country roots, and his accent was so thick that he squeaked his nickname sheepishly - "Zeek fr'm Cab'n Creek"). However, West soon impressed his colleagues with his defensive hustle, with his vertical jump—he could reach up 16 inches above the rim when he went up—and with his work ethic, spending countless extra hours working on his game.
In West's second NBA season, the Lakers could only make limited use of Baylor, who was called up by the U.S. Army Reserves and could play only 48 games. The Celtics tied the series in Game 6 at three games apiece, and the teams headed to Boston for Game 7. For most of the game, the Lakers trailed, but West and Frank Selvy hit several clutch baskets and tied the game at 100. Selvy then missed an open 8-foot shot which would have won the Lakers their first title. Baylor's tip-in attempt was thwarted by Sam Jones.
In the following 1963–64 NBA season, West for the first time became the Lakers' scoring leader, his 28.7 points per game eclipsing the 25.4 by Baylor, who stated that he suffered from knee problems. The Lakers struggled during the entire season, winning only 42 games, and were beaten in the first round of the 1964 NBA Playoffs by the Hawks in five games.
The following 1973–74 NBA season was to be West's last. Now 36 years old, the veteran guard averaged 20.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game. When wanted to re-negotiate his contract and keep playing, however he said Cooke "basically told my agent to go to hell. I felt I was deceived. When you feel that you’re deceived you don’t want any part of the organization that deceived you. I could’ve played another very good year. Every athlete says that. But I could’ve, and I knew I could’ve. But I could never have played for the Lakers again, and I wasn’t going to play for anybody else." At the time of his departure, West had scored more points than any Laker in NBA history. After his coaching stint, he worked as a scout for three years before becoming general manager of the Lakers prior to the 1982–83 season. NBA.com credits West in creating the great 1980s Lakers dynasty, which brought five championship rings (1980,1982,1985,1987,and 1988) to Los Angeles. By trading Vlade Divac for Kobe Bryant, signing free agent center Shaquille O'Neal, and signing six-time NBA champion Phil Jackson as a coach, West laid down the fundaments of the Lakers three-peat which saw L.A. win three NBA titles from 2000 to 2002. West's Memphis stint was not as spectacular as his Los Angeles stint, but still highly impressive: he turned a franchise which was about to be sold into a reliable playoffs team, practically making no trades but getting the maximum from the players he had available (e.g. Pau Gasol, James Posey and Jason Williams) and signing coach Hubie Brown, who became Coach of the Year in 2004. West himself won his second NBA Executive of the Year Award in the same year. In 1979, West was elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and the Lakers retired his #44 jersey in 1983. As a coach, West led the Lakers into three consecutive playoff campaigns, and then went on to win seven NBA championships as a manager, building the 1980s Lakers dynasty under coach Pat Riley and players Magic Johnson, Kareem-Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy and the 2000s under coach Phil Jackson and players Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. Also, on November 26, 2005, his number 44 became the first basketball number to be retired by West Virginia University and on February 17, 2007, a bronze statue of him was honored outside of the WVU Coliseum. Finally, the NBA logo itself is modelled after West's silhouette.
As a person, West was often described as an introverted and nervous character, but who also drew highest praise for his uncompromising work ethic. Regarding his shyness, WVU room mate Jody Gardner testified that West never dated in his entire freshman year, and Lakers coach Fred Schaus once recalled a two-week period when his guard never said a word. Apart from being shy, West was always restless: Schaus described him as a "bundle of nerves", Celtics contemporary Bob Cousy as "always on the move", and fellow Laker and Mountaineer Rod Hundley testified that during bar visits, West would quickly squirm and demand to go elsewhere before everybody else had settled. His first wife Martha Kane recalled that her husband often had difficulties opening up to her. After a big loss, the Wests would drive home and she would try to console him, but West would say "get out" at the home porch and drive away—an experience that "killed" her as a wife.
Early in his career, West's West Virginian roots made him target for some mild jeering. He spoke with a high pitched voice that became even shriller when he became excited, so that Lakers captain Elgin Baylor dubbed West "Tweety Bird".
Category:1938 births Category:Living people Category:American basketball players Category:Basketball players at the 1959 Pan American Games Category:Los Angeles Lakers executives Category:Los Angeles Lakers players Category:Los Angeles Lakers head coaches Category:Los Angeles Lakers scouts Category:Los Angeles Lakers draft picks Category:National Basketball Association players with retired numbers Category:United States men's national basketball team members Category:Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Memphis Grizzlies executives Category:National Basketball Association broadcasters Category:National Basketball Association executives Category:National Basketball Association general managers Category:National Basketball Association head coaches Category:NBA Finals MVP Award winners Category:Olympic basketball players of the United States Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States Category:Basketball players at the 1960 Summer Olympics Category:People from Kanawha County, West Virginia Category:Basketball players from West Virginia Category:West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball players Category:Shooting guards Category:National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
| Name | Wilt Chamberlain |
|---|---|
| Width | 200px |
| Position | Center |
| Height ft | 7 |
| Height in | 1 |
| Weight lb | 275 |
| Number | 13 |
| Birth date | August 21, 1936 |
| Birth place | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Death date | October 12, 1999 |
| Death place | Bel Air, California |
| Nationality | American |
| High school | Overbrook HS, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| College | Kansas |
| Draft year | 1959 |
| Draft pick | Territorial |
| Draft team | Philadelphia Warriors |
| Career start | 1959 |
| Career end | 1973 |
| Teams | |
| Coach | |
| Highlights | |
| Profile | wilt_chamberlain |
| Stat1label | Points |
| Stat1value | 31,419 (30.1 ppg) |
| Stat2label | Rebounds |
| Stat2value | 23,924 (22.9 rpg) |
| Stat3label | Assists |
| Stat3value | 4,643 (4.4 apg) |
| Letter | c |
| Bbr | chambwi01 |
| Hof player | wilton-n-wilt-chamberlain |
Wilton Norman "Wilt" Chamberlain (August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional NBA basketball player for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers; he also played for the Harlem Globetrotters. The 7 foot 1 inch Chamberlain, who weighed 250 lbs as a rookie before bulking up to 275 lb and eventually over 300 lb with the Lakers, played the center position and is considered by his contemporaries as one of the greatest and most dominant players in the history of the NBA.
Chamberlain holds numerous official NBA all-time records, setting records in many scoring, rebounding and durability categories. Among other notable accomplishments, he is the only player in NBA history to average more than 40 and 50 points in a season or score 100 points in a single NBA game. He also won seven scoring, nine field goal percentage, and eleven rebounding titles, and once even led the league in assists. Chamberlain had a successful career, winning two NBA titles, earning four regular-season Most Valuable Player awards, the Rookie of the Year award, one NBA Finals MVP award, and being selected to 13 All-Star Games and ten All-NBA First and Second teams. Chamberlain was subsequently enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, elected into the NBA's 35th Anniversary Team of 1980, and chosen as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History of 1996. He was also called the Chairman of the Boards.
After his basketball career, Chamberlain played volleyball in the short-lived International Volleyball Association, was president of this organization and enshrined in the IVA Hall of Fame for his contributions.
During summer vacations, Chamberlain worked as a bellhop in Kutsher's Hotel. Red Auerbach, the coach of the Boston Celtics, spotted the talented teenager there and had him play 1-on-1 against Kansas University standout and national champion, B. H. Born, elected the Most Valuable Player of the 1953 NCAA Finals. Chamberlain won 25–10; Born was so dejected that he gave up a promising NBA career and became a tractor engineer ("If there were high school kids that good, I figured I wasn't going to make it to the pros"), and Auerbach wanted Chamberlain to go to a New England university, so he could draft him as a territorial pick for the Celtics, but Chamberlain did not respond. The Panthers won the Public League a third time, beating West Philadelphia 78–60, and in the city championship game, they met West Catholic once again. Scoring 35 points, Chamberlain led Overbrook to an easy 83–42 win.
After his last Overbrook season, over 200 universities wanted to recruit the basketball prodigy. Cherry has described that Chamberlain wanted a change and therefore did not want to go to or near Philadelphia (also eliminating New York), was not interested in New England, and snubbed the South because of segregation; leaving the Midwest. When he discovered that nobody heckled him he gave up his antipathy, and as a result black people in Lawrence were eventually treated better.
At KU, Chamberlain became a player for the Kansas Jayhawks freshman team under coach Phog Allen, whom he admired, and also a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc, where he was the president of his pledge class. Announced as "looking lighter than his 240 pounds, [able to] reach 9'6" up in the air [flatfooted], and a [wingspan of] 7'2", his debut was highly anticipated, and he delivered: in Chamberlain's debut game for the freshman squad, the freshman Jayhawks were pitted against the varsity Jayhawks, who were favored to win their conference that year. Chamberlain dominated his older college mates by scoring 42 points (16–35 from the field, 10–12 on free throws), grabbing 29 rebounds and registering four blocks.
On December 3, 1956, Chamberlain made his varsity debut. In his first varsity game, the center scored 52 points and grabbed 31 rebounds, breaking both all-time college records in a 87–69 win against the Northwestern team of future NBA team mate Joe Ruklick. His team mate Monte Johnson testified how athletic he was: "Wilt... had unbelievable endurance and speed... and was never tired. When he dunked, he was so fast that a lot of players got their fingers jammed [between Chamberlain's hand and the rim]." Reportedly, Chamberlain also broke Johnny Kerr's toe with a slam dunk.
In 1957, 23 teams played for the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. The Midwest regional tourney was held in Dallas, Texas, which at the time was segregated. In the first game, the Jayhawks played the all-white Southern Methodist University team, and KU player John Parker later said: "The crowd was brutal. We were spat on, pelted with debris, and subjected to the vilest racial epithets possible." Teammate Bob Billings commented: "It was not fun basketball... we were just out chasing people throwing the basketball back and forth."
For many years following Chamberlain's departure from the University of Kansas, critics claimed that he either wanted to leave the very white Midwest or was embarrassed by not being able to bring home the NCAA basketball tournament victory. In 1998, Chamberlain returned to Allen Field House in Lawrence, Kansas to participate in a jersey-retiring ceremony for his number 13. Around this time, he has been quoted as saying: "There's been a lot of conversation, since people have been trying to get my jersey number retired, that I have some dislike for the University of Kansas. That is totally ridiculous."
In the 1959–60 NBA season, Chamberlain joined a Warriors squad which was coached by Neil Johnston and contained Hall-of-Fame guards Tom Gola and Paul Arizin, plus Ernie Beck and his old rival Guy Rodgers—remarkably, all five Warriors starters were Philadelphians. In his first NBA game against the New York Knicks, the rookie center scored 43 points and 28 rebounds. In his fourth game, Philadelphia met the reigning champions, the Boston Celtics of Hall-of-Fame coach Red Auerbach, whose offer Chamberlain had snubbed several years before, and his old NCAA rival Bill Russell, who was now lauded as one of the best defensive pivots in the game.
In his first season, Chamberlain averaged 37.6 points and 27 rebounds, convincingly breaking the previous regular-season records. He only needed 56 games to score point number 2,102, which broke the all-time regular season scoring record of Bob Pettit, who needed 72 games to score 2,101 points. Chamberlain won both the NBA Most Valuable Player and NBA Rookie of the Year awards in the same season—a feat equaled only by fellow Hall-of-Famer Wes Unseld in the 1968–69 NBA season—and broke eight NBA records.
In the following season, Chamberlain surpassed his rookie season statistics as he averaged 38.4 points per game and 27.2 rebounds per game. He became the first player to break the 3,000-point barrier and the first and still only player to break the 2,000-rebound barrier for a single season, grabbing 2,149 boards. Chamberlain also won his first field goal percentage title, and set the all-time record for rebounds in a single game with 55. Cherry noted that Chamberlain was "difficult" and did not respect coach Neil Johnston, who was unable to handle the star center. In retrospect, Eddie Gottlieb remarked: "My mistake was not getting a stronghanded coach... [Johnston] wasn't ready for big time."
In his third Warriors season, the Warriors were coached by Frank McGuire, the coach that had masterminded Chamberlain's painful NCAA loss against the Tar Heels. In that year, the center set several all-time records which have never been threatened since. In the 1961–62 NBA season, he averaged 50.4 points and grabbed 25.7 rebounds per game.
His extraordinary feats in the 1961–62 season were later subject of the book Wilt, 1962 by Gary M. Pomerantz (2005), who used Chamberlain as a metaphor for the uprising of Black America. In addition to Chamberlain's regular season accomplishments, he scored 42 points in the 1962 NBA All-Star Game—still the all-time record—on 17–23 shooting and pulled down 24 rebounds.
In the 1962 NBA Playoffs, the Warriors met the Boston Celtics again in the Eastern Division Finals, a team which Bob Cousy and Bill Russell called the greatest Celtics team of all time. Each team won their home games, so the series was split 3–3 after six games. In a closely contested Game 7, Chamberlain tied the score at 107 with 16 seconds to go, but then Celtics shooting guard Sam Jones sank a clutch shot which won Boston the game and the series. In later years, Chamberlain was criticized for averaging 50 points, but not winning the title. In his defense, Warriors coach Frank McGuire said "Wilt has been simply super-human", and pointed out that the Warriors lacked a consistent second scorer, a playmaker, and a second big man to take the pressure off Chamberlain.
In the 1962–63 NBA season, Eddie Gottlieb sold the Warriors franchise for an amount of $850,000 to a group of businessmen led by Marty Simmons from San Francisco, and the team relocated to become the San Francisco Warriors under a new coach, Bob Feerick. However, this also meant that the team broke apart: Paul Arizin chose to retire rather than moving away from his family and his job at IBM in Philadelphia, and Tom Gola was homesick, requesting a trade to the lowly New York Knicks halfway through the season. With both secondary scorers gone, Chamberlain continued his array of statistical feats, scoring 44.8 points and grabbing 24.3 rebounds per game that year.
In the 1963–64 NBA season, Chamberlain got yet another new coach, namely Alex Hannum, and was joined by a promising rookie center named Nate Thurmond, who would enter the Hall of Fame. Ex-soldier Hannum, who later entered the NBA Hall of Fame as a coach, was a crafty psychologist who emphasized defense and passing; most importantly, was not afraid to stand up to the dominant Chamberlain, who was known to freeze out coaches he did not like. Backed up by valuable rookie Thurmond, Chamberlain had another good season with 36.9 ppg and 22.3 rpg, But as Cherry remarked, not only Chamberlain, but in particular Hannum deserved much credit because he had basically had taken the bad 31–49 squad of last year plus Thurmond and made it into a NBA Finalist. In the summer of 1964, Chamberlain, one of the prominent participants at the famed Rucker Park basketball court in New York City, made the acquaintance of a tall, talented 17-year old teenager who played there. Soon, the young Lew Alcindor was allowed into his inner circle, and quickly idolized the ten year older NBA player. Unfortunately, Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as Alcindor would name himself later, would develop an intense personal antipathy.
In the following 1964–65 NBA season, the Warriors got off to a terrible start and ran into financial trouble. At the 1965 All-Star break, Chamberlain was traded back to Philadelphia to the Philadelphia 76ers, the new name of the relocated Syracuse Nationals. In return, the Warriors received Paul Neumann, Connie Dierking, Lee Shaffer (who opted to retire rather than report to the Warriors), and $150,000. Chamberlain did not care for the Sixer's coach, Dolph Schayes, because Schayes, according to him, had made several disrespectful remarks when they were rival players in the NBA. Indeed, the two teams split the first six games, and because of the better season record, the last game was held in the Celtics' Boston Garden. In that Game 7, both centers were marvelous: Chamberlain scored 30 points and 32 rebounds, and Russell logged 16 points, 27 rebounds and 8 assists. For the fifth time in seven years, Russell's team had deprived Chamberlain of the title. Chamberlain later commented that he could see in hindsight how the interview was instrumental in damaging his public image. However, off the court Chamberlain's commitment to the cause was doubted: as Chamberlain was a late sleeper, in addition lived in New York and preferred to commute to Philadelphia rather than live there, he was only available afternoon for training. Because Schayes did not want to risk angering his best player, he scheduled the daily workout at 4 pm; this angered the team, who preferred an early schedule to have the afternoon off, but Schayes just said: "There is no other way." Irv Kosloff, who now owned the Sixers alone after Richman's death, pleaded to him to move to Philadelphia during the season, but he was turned down. In Game 3, Chamberlain scored 31 points and 27 rebounds for an important road win, and the next day, coach Schayes planned to hold a joint team practice. However, Chamberlain said he was "too tired" to attend, and even refused Schayes' plea to at least show up and shoot a few foul shots with the team. In Game 4, Boston won 114–108. Cherry is highly critical of Chamberlain: while conceding he was the only Sixers player who performed in the series, he points out his unprofessional, egotistical behavior and being a bad example for his team mates. Fellow forward Billy Cunningham observed that "Hannum showed who was the boss" and "never backed down", and by doing this, won Chamberlain's respect.
As a result, Chamberlain was less dominant, taking only 14% of the teams shots (in his 50.4 ppg season 1961–62, it had been 35.3%), but extremely efficient: he averaged a career-low 24.1 points, but he led the league in rebounds (24.2), ended third in assists (7.8), had a record breaking .683 field goal accuracy, and played strong defense. In Game 2, the Sixers won 107–102 in overtime, and player-coach Russell grudgingly praised Chamberlain for intimidating the Celtics into taking low percentage shots from further outside. Chamberlain himself described the team as the best in NBA history. Although there is no written proof for or against, Ex-Sixers coach Dolph Schayes and Sixers lawyer Alan Levitt assumed Chamberlain was right; Winning 62 games, the Sixers easily took the first playoff berth of the 1968 NBA Playoffs. In the 1968 Eastern Division Semifinals, they were pitted against the New York Knicks. In a physically tough matchup, the Sixers lost sixth man Billy Cunningham, who broke his hand, and Chamberlain, Hal Greer and Luke Jackson were struggling with inflamed feet, bad knees and pulled hamstrings, respectively. Going ahead 3–2, the Sixers defeated the Knicks 115–97 in Game 6 after Chamberlain scored 25 points and 27 rebounds: he had a successful series in which he led both teams in points (153), rebounds (145) and assists (38).
In the 1968 Eastern Division Finals, the Sixers yet again met the Boston Celtics, again with home court advantage, and this time as reigning champions. Despite the Sixers' injury woes, coach Hannum was confident to "take the Celtics in less than seven games": he pointed out the age of the Celtics, who were built around Bill Russell and guard Sam Jones, both 34. But then, national tragedy struck as Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4, 1968. With eight of the ten starting players on the Sixers and Celtics being African-American, both teams were in deep shock, and there were calls to cancel the series. Chamberlain then asked for a trade, and Sixers general manager Jack Ramsay traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers for Darrall Imhoff, Archie Clark and Jerry Chambers.
Chamberlain joined a squad which featured Hall-of-Fame forward Elgin Baylor and Hall-of-Fame guard Jerry West, along with backup center Mel Counts, forwards Keith Erickson and Tom Hawkins and talented but diminutive 5 ft 11 in guard Johnny Egan. The lack of a second guard next to West (and thus, the lack of speed and quickness) concerned coach Bill Van Breda Kolff; after losing Clark and Gail Goodrich, who joined the Phoenix Suns after the 1968 expansion draft, he said: "Egan gets murdered on defense because of his [lack of] size... but if I don't play him, we look like a bunch of trucks." In addition, Cherry observed that Chamberlain was neither a natural leader nor a loyal follower, which made him difficult to fit in. In Game 1, Reed masterminded a 124–112 win in which he scored 37 points on Chamberlain. In Game 2, Chamberlain scored 19 points, grabbed 24 rebounds and blocked Reed's shot in the final seconds, leading the Lakers to a 105–103 win. At halftime, the Knicks were already up by 27, and despite scoring 21 points, Chamberlain could not prevent his third consecutive painful Game 7 loss. The Lakers center himself was criticized for his inability to dominate his injured counterpart, but Cherry pointed out that Chamberlain's feat – coming back from career-threatening injury himself – was too quickly forgotten. In Game 1, Abdul-Jabbar outscored Chamberlain 32–22, and the Bucks won 106–85. In Game 2, the Bucks won again despite the Lakers center scoring 26 points, four more than his Milwaukee counterpart. Prior to Game 3, things became even worse for the Lakers when Keith Erickson, West's stand-in, had an appendectomy and was out for the season; with only rookie Jim McMillan easing the scoring pressure, Chamberlain churned out a 24-point-24-rebound effort in Game 4 to a Lakers win, but finally the Bucks soundly defeated the Lakers 116–98 at home. Although Chamberlain lost, he was lauded for holding his own against MVP Abdul-Jabbar, who was not only 10 years younger but still had two healthy knees.
In the 1971–72 NBA season, the Lakers hired former Celtics star guard Bill Sharman as head coach. Sharman introduced morning shoot-arounds, in which the perennial latecomer Chamberlain regularly participated (in contrast to earlier years with Dolph Schayes) and transformed him into a defensive-minded, low-scoring post defender in the mold of his old rival Bill Russell. Furthermore, he told Chamberlain to use his rebounding and passing skills to quickly initiate fastbreaks to his teammates, forwards Happy Hairston and MacMillian, guards Goodrich and West, and bench players Flynn Robinson and LeRoy Ellis.
While no longer being the main scorer, Chamberlain was named the new captain of the Lakers: after his Achilles tendon rupture, perennial captain Elgin Baylor had ended his career, leaving a void the center now filled. Initially, Sharman had wanted Chamberlain and West to share this duty, but West declined, stating that he was injury-prone and wanted to solely concentrate on the game. Chamberlain accepted his new roles and posted an all-time low 14.8 points, but also won the rebound crown with 19.2 rpg and led the league with a .649 field goal percentage. then went on to face the Milwaukee Bucks of young superstar center and regular-season MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar again. The matchup between Chamberlain and Abdul-Jabbar was hailed by LIFE magazine as the greatest matchup in all of sports. Chamberlain would help lead the Lakers past Jabbar and the Bucks in 6 games. Jerry West called it "the greatest ball-busting performance I have ever seen."
In the 1972 NBA Finals, the Lakers again met the New York Knicks; the Knicks were shorthanded after losing Willis Reed to injury, and so, undersized 6'8" Jerry Lucas had the task to defend against the 7'1" Chamberlain. However, prolific outside shooter Lucas helped New York to win Game 1, hitting 9 of his 11 shots in the first half alone; in Game 2, which the Lakers won 106–92, Chamberlain put Lucas into foul trouble, and the Knicks lost defensive power forward Dave DeBusschere to injury. Chamberlain averaged 13.2 points and 18.6 rebounds, still enough to win the rebounding crown for the 11th time in his career. In addition, he shot with an all-time NBA record .727 accuracy from the field, bettering his own mark of .683 from the 1966–67 season—neither percentage has been topped by any other player. Chamberlain did not yet know that this loss was the last professional game of his career.
Even far beyond his playing days, Chamberlain was a very fit person. In his mid-forties, he was able to humble rookie Magic Johnson in practice, and even in the 1980s, he flirted with making a comeback in the NBA. In the 1980–81 NBA season, coach Larry Brown recalled that the 45-year-old Chamberlain had received an offer from the Cleveland Cavaliers. When Chamberlain was 50, the New Jersey Nets had the same idea, and Chamberlain declined again. According to those close to him, he eventually began taking medication for his heart troubles. On October 12, 1999, rescuers found him dead upon being summoned to his Bel Air, California, home. His agent reported, after speaking with Chamberlain's cardiologist, that Chamberlain died of congestive heart failure, his health having deteriorated rapidly during the month preceding his death.
}}
Category:1936 births Category:1999 deaths Category:African American basketball coaches Category:African American basketball players Category:African-American volleyball players Category:American basketball players Category:American volleyball players Category:Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Basketball players from Pennsylvania Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in California Category:Centers (basketball) Category:Harlem Globetrotters players Category:Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball players Category:Los Angeles Lakers players Category:National Basketball Association players with retired numbers Category:National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:NBA Finals MVP Award winners Category:People from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Philadelphia 76ers players Category:Philadelphia Warriors draft picks Category:Philadelphia Warriors players Category:Player-coaches Category:San Diego Conquistadors coaches Category:San Diego Conquistadors players Category:San Francisco Warriors players Category:Sportspeople of multiple sports Category:University of Kansas alumni
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| Name | Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach |
|---|---|
| Caption | Boston Celtics president, Red Auerbach in front of collage, created by his brother, Zang Auerbach |
| Birth date | September 20, 1917 |
| Birth place | Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Death date | October 28, 2006 |
| Death place | Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Occupation | NBA coach and executive |
| Spouse | Dorothy Lewis |
| Children | Nancy Auerbach Collins, Randy Auerbach |
Auerbach is remembered as a pioneer of modern basketball, redefining basketball as a game dominated by team play and tough defense rather than individual feats and high scoring and introducing the fast break as a potent offensive weapon. Famous for his polarizing nature, he was well-known for smoking a cigar when he thought a victory was assured, a habit that became, for many, "the ultimate symbol of victory" during his Boston tenure. and was NBA Executive of the Year in 1981.
The next year the Capitols went 28–20 With that, Auerbach effectively broke down the color barrier in professional basketball. As a result, Auerbach sought a defensive big man who could both get easy rebounds, initiate fast breaks, and close out games.
Flowing from Auerbach's emphasis on teamwork, what was also striking about his teams was that they never seemed to have a dominant scorer: in the 1960–61 NBA season, for instance, the Celtics had six players who scored between 15 and 21 points per game, but none made the Top 10 scoring list.
During the 2006–07 NBA season, Auerbach appeared posthumously in a series of NBA commercials where he breaks down formations like "3 on 2 situations" and "rebounding," and as a testament to his importance in the Boston sports world, the Boston Red Sox honored Auerbach at their April 20, 2007 game against the New York Yankees by wearing green uniforms and by hanging replicated Celtics championship banners on the "Green Monster" at Fenway Park. Boston won 7–6.
Prior to Boston's season opener against the Wizards, his signature was officially placed on the parquet floor near center court, thereby naming the court as "Red Auerbach Parquet Floor." The ceremony was attended by his daughter Randy and some of the Celtics legends. The signature replaced the Red Auerbach memorial logo used during the 2007 season. .]]
In Auerbach's honor, the Celtics have retired a number-2 jersey with the name "AUERBACH," memorializing his role as the second most important Celtic ever, behind founder Walter Brown, in whose honor the number-1 "BROWN" jersey is retired.
His story is documented in The First Basket, the first and most comprehensive documentary on the history of Jews and Basketball. He is also featured as an interviews subject for the film.
Auerbach is prominently featured in the documentary film, "The First Basket" about Jewish basketball history.
Winners:
– | after=Bob Feerick }} | after= Dave MacMillan }} – | after=Bill Russell }}
Category:1917 births Category:2006 deaths Category:American basketball coaches Category:American basketball players Category:Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Basketball players from New York Category:National Basketball Association executives Category:National Basketball Association general managers Category:National Basketball Association head coaches Category:National Basketball Association team presidents Category:Boston Celtics head coaches Category:Boston Celtics executives Category:Tri-Cities Blackhawks head coaches Category:Washington Capitols coaches Category:George Washington Colonials men's basketball players Category:Jewish basketball players Category:Jewish American sportspeople Category:Sportspeople from Brooklyn Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction
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| Position | Guard, Forward |
|---|---|
| Number | 42, 12 |
| Height ft | 6 |
| Height in | 4 |
| Weight lbs | 205 |
| Birthdate | March 20, 1945 Rome, New York |
| Debutyear | 1967 |
| Finalyear | 1976 |
| Draftyear | 1967 |
| Draftround | 1 |
| Draftpick | 7 |
| Draftteam | San Diego Rockets |
| College | Kentucky |
| Teams | |
| Stat1label | Points |
| Stat1value | 3,906 |
| Stat2label | Rebounds |
| Stat2value | 855 |
| Stat3label | Assists |
| Stat3value | 913 |
| Letter | r |
| Bbr | rileypa01 |
| Highlights | |
| Hof coach | pat-riley |
| Coach |
Riley was a versatile athlete in college, participating in both basketball and football. He won the title All-American. He led the 1966 University of Kentucky basketball team, coached by the legendary Adolph Rupp, to the NCAA title game, where they lost to Texas Western (now known as UTEP), a game that was dramatized in the movie Glory Road.
He was selected by the San Diego Rockets in the 1st round of the 1967 NBA Draft, and was also drafted as a wide receiver by the Dallas Cowboys in the 11th round of the 1967 NFL Draft. He joined the Rockets and was later selected by the Portland Trail Blazers, in the 1970 NBA expansion draft, but immediately traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, which he helped win the 1972 NBA Finals, coming off the bench and guarding friend and legendary Laker guard Jerry West in practice. Legendary Laker broadcaster said that the key to Riley's tenure with the Lakers was his willingness to keep "Jerry West in shape". Despite this, overall, his playing career was undistinguished, as he was a perennial bench player. He retired after the 1975-76 NBA season as a member of the Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns.
Riley finished his NBA playing career with a 7.4 points per game scoring average and a field-goal percentage of 41.4%.
Six games into the 1981–82 season, Magic Johnson said he wished to be traded because he was unhappy playing for Westhead. Shortly afterward, Lakers' owner Jerry Buss fired Westhead. At an ensuing press conference, with Jerry West at his side, Buss named West head coach. West, however, balked, and Buss awkwardly tried to name West as "offensive captain" and then named West and Riley as co-coaches. West made it clear during the press conference that he would only assist Riley, and that Riley was the head coach. Thereafter, Riley was the interim head coach, until his status became permanent.
Riley led the Lakers to four consecutive NBA Finals appearances. His first title came in his first season, against the Philadelphia 76ers. Both teams returned to the Finals the next year, but Riley's Lakers were swept by the 76ers. The Lakers lost in the Finals again in 1984, to the Boston Celtics in seven games. The Lakers earned Riley his second NBA title in 1985 in a rematch of the previous year, as the Lakers beat the Celtics in six games. The Lakers' four-year Western Conference streak was broken the following year by the Houston Rockets.
In 1987, Riley coached a Lakers team that is considered one of the best teams of all-time. With future Hall of Famers Magic Johnson, James Worthy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, plus Michael Cooper, Byron Scott, A. C. Green, Mychal Thompson, and Kurt Rambis, the Lakers finished 65-17 in the regular season, third-best in team history. They met with similar success in the playoffs, dispatching the Celtics in six games to win Riley his third NBA title.
One of Riley's most famous moments came when he guaranteed the crowd a repeat championship during the Lakers' championship parade in downtown Los Angeles (he first made the guarantee during the post-victory locker room celebration). While the 1988 Lakers did not produce as many wins in the regular season as the 1987 Lakers, they still managed to win the NBA title, becoming the first team in 19 years to repeat as champions. The Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons in seven games in the 1988 NBA Finals, making good on Riley's promise. Riley's titles with the Lakers make him the fifth man to play for an NBA Championship team and later coach the same NBA team to a championship. The others are Bill Russell, Tom Heinsohn, K. C. Jones, and Billy Cunningham.
Although Riley would offer no further guarantees, his Lakers embarked upon a quest to obtain a third consecutive championship in 1989. Having successfully claimed a repeat championship the year before, the term used for this new goal was a "three-peat" championship, and indeed Riley, through his corporate entity, Riles & Co., actually trademarked the phrase "three-peat" via the Chicago Bulls accomplishing the feat twice (at the professional expense of Riley himself). But ultimately, the Lakers were swept by the Pistons in the 1989 NBA Finals.
Riley stepped down as coach of the Lakers after they lost to the Phoenix Suns in the 1990 NBA playoffs, amid rumors of player mistreatment and anger problems on his part. In spite of these rumors and his resignation, he was named NBA Coach of the Year for the first time.
In 1995–96, Miami was swept in the first round by Phil Jackson-coached Chicago Bulls, who had completed the regular season with a record 72 wins. This season was most notable for the ongoing housecleaning that took place, with the arrival of building blocks Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway. The offseason would also bring them Nets forward P.J. Brown and Suns swingman Dan Majerle.
In 1997, the Heat defeated his old team, the Knicks, in a physical seven game series. Advancing to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in franchise history, they proved no match for Jordan and his Bulls. Riley was selected as Coach of the Year for the third time, after leading Miami to a 61–21 regular season record, 1st in the Atlantic division.
The Heat would compile consecutive seasons over .600. However, the 1998, 1999, and 2000 playoffs would be disappointments as they lost to the arch-rival Knicks; the first two in the opening round and the latter in the second round. In 1999, the Knicks themselves reached the Finals.
Riley then entered the 2000 season armed for bear. In a shuffling of the deck, Riley traded away Brown and Jamal Mashburn in exchange for Eddie Jones in one trade and acquired Brian Grant in another, although suffering a major setback after discovering Alonzo Mourning's kidney condition. After finishing a respectable 50-32 in 2000–01 in spite of the new nucleus and the loss of their star center, the Heat organized a housecleaning after the season, as the Heat lost two of their best players when guard Tim Hardaway was traded to the Dallas Mavericks and Anthony Mason signed with the Milwaukee Bucks. In part because of these departures, the Heat finished a disappointing 36–46 in 2002. Riley was so disgusted with the Heat's performance that he declared he was about to "fire himself."
Before the beginning of the 2003–04 season, he did step down as Heat coach, to fully dedicate his attention to his duties as general manager. Longtime assistant Stan Van Gundy and rookie Dwyane Wade, whom Riley drafted 5th overall, led the Heat back into the playoffs with a 42–40 record after starting 0–7. Riley concentrated on improving the team even further before the 2004–2005 season. One of his biggest moves as full-time general manager was to trade Caron Butler, Brian Grant, Lamar Odom and a first-round draft pick to the Lakers for superstar Shaquille O'Neal. Head coach Van Gundy led the Heat to the Eastern Conference finals during the 2005 playoffs, although they lost to the Detroit Pistons after being up 3–2 in the series.
Riley resumed coaching the Heat on December 12, 2005, replacing Stan Van Gundy after the Heat started the season with a disappointing 11–10 record. Van Gundy had resigned in order to "spend more time with [his] family."
The move came as a shock to the basketball community, with some speculating that with Shaquille O'Neal returning from injury, Dwyane Wade having his best season yet, and a high-caliber roster including Gary Payton, Jason Williams and Antoine Walker, Riley wanted to try to regain his former glory by coaching Miami to its first NBA Championship. Riley's Heat team defeated his Los Angeles Lakers-days nemesis, the Detroit Pistons, in the 2006 Eastern Conference playoffs on June 2, 2006, making it the first time the Miami Heat reached the finals. Riley's Heat squared off against the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals. Despite losing the first two games to Dallas, the Heat rallied to win the next four games and their first NBA Championship. It was Riley's fifth championship as a head coach, and his first with a team other than the Lakers. Riley became the only NBA coach to take three different teams to the NBA Finals and joined Alex Hannum and Phil Jackson as the only coaches to coach two different teams to NBA titles. He also became the only coach to twice replace a coach in mid-season and take that team to an NBA title.
Citing "hip and knee problems," Riley took a leave of absence from coaching from January 3, 2007 through February 19, 2007. Assistant coach Ron Rothstein assumed interim duties.
In 1988, Riley published a book entitled Showtime, which recapped the Lakers' successful run to the 1987 NBA Championship. One of the phrases Riley coined in the book was the "Disease of More", stating that "success is often the first step toward disaster." The phrase stemmed from the Lakers' disappointing 1980-81 campaign coming off a championship the previous season.
Riley is known for his friendship with Giorgio Armani, preferring to wear Armani suits during basketball games, and even modeling once at an Armani show.
Riley is also a motivational speaker during the off-season. Riley earns in excess of $50,000 for each speaking engagement.
Riley and his wife Chris have two children, James Riley and Elisabeth Riley. Riley is a practicing Roman Catholic.
On February 27, 2007, the Miami Heat were honored for their 2005–2006 NBA Championship at the White House. During the ceremony, Riley presented George W. Bush with a jersey before announcing, "I voted for the man. If you don’t vote, you don’t count." After the ceremony, Riley was questioned by reporters about the political nature of his comments. He responded by saying, "I’m pro-American, pro-democracy, I’m pro-government. I follow my boss. He’s my boss."
Riley and his wife are Bruce Springsteen fans. At his 2008 induction into the NBA Hall of Fame, he ended his speech with a quote from the Springsteen song, "Back in Your Arms Again".
{| cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="font-size: small; text-align:right; white-space:nowrap" |+ Playoff Stats |- bgcolor="#ababab" style="text-align:center" | align="left" |Year | align="left" |Team | G || Min || Pts || PPG || FGM || FGA || FGP || FTM || FTA || FTP || 3PM || 3PA || 3PP || REB || RPG || AST || APG || STL || BLK || TO |- bgcolor="#ffffff" | align="left" |1968-69 | align="left" |San Diego Rockets | 5 || 76 || 37 || 7.4 || 16 || 37 || .432 || 5 || 6 || .833 || 0 || 0 || .000 || 11 || 2.2 || 2 || 0.4 || 0 || 0 || 0 |- bgcolor="#eaeaea" | align="left" |1970-71 | align="left" |Los Angeles Lakers | 7 || 135 || 66 || 9.4 || 29 || 69 || .420 || 8 || 11 || .727 || 0 || 0 || .000 || 15 || 2.1 || 14 || 2.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 |- bgcolor="#ffffff" | align="left" |1971-72 | align="left" |Los Angeles Lakers | 15 || 244 || 78 || 5.2 || 33 || 99 || .333 || 12 || 16 || .750 || 0 || 0 || .000 || 29 || 1.9 || 14 || 0.9 || 0 || 0 || 0 |- bgcolor="#eaeaea" | align="left" |1972-73 | align="left" |Los Angeles Lakers | 7 || 53 || 18 || 2.6 || 9 || 27 || .333 || 0 || 0 || .000 || 0 || 0 || .000 || 5 || 0.7 || 7 || 1.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 |- bgcolor="#ffffff" | align="left" |1973-74 | align="left" |Los Angeles Lakers | 5 || 106 || 39 || 7.8 || 18 || 50 || .360 || 3 || 4 || .750 || 0 || 0 || .000 || 6 || 1.2 || 10 || 2.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 |- bgcolor="#eaeaea" | align="left" |1975-76 | align="left" |Phoenix Suns | 5 || 27 || 13 || 2.6 || 6 || 15 || .400 || 1 || 1 || 1.000 || 0 || 0 || .000 || 0 || 0.0 || 5 || 1.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 |- style="font-weight:bold" | colspan="2" align="left" |Totals | 44 || 641 || 251 || 5.7 || 111 || 297 || .374 || 29 || 38 || .763 || 0 || 0 || .000 || 66 || 1.5 || 52 || 1.2 || 0 || 0 || 0 |}
– | after=Don Nelson}} – | after= Stan Van Gundy}} – | after=Erik Spoelstra}}
}}
Category:1945 births Category:American football wide receivers Category:American Roman Catholics Category:Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Kentucky Wildcats football players Category:Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Category:Living people Category:Los Angeles Lakers head coaches Category:Los Angeles Lakers players Category:Los Angeles Lakers broadcasters Category:Miami Heat head coaches Category:Miami Heat executives Category:National Basketball Association broadcasters Category:National Basketball Association general managers Category:National Basketball Association head coaches Category:National Basketball Association team presidents Category:New York Knicks head coaches Category:Phoenix Suns players Category:Portland Trail Blazers expansion draft picks Category:San Diego Rockets draft picks Category:San Diego Rockets players Category:People from Schenectady, New York Category:People from Oneida County, New York Category:Shooting guards Category:Small forwards
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| Birth date | May 19, 1954 |
|---|---|
| Residence | Arizona |
| Office | Attorney General of Arizona |
| Term start | January 1991 |
| Term end | January 1999 |
| Predecessor | Bob Corbin |
| Successor | Janet Napolitano |
| Party | Republican |
Woods is a supporter of John McCain in his race for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination against J.D. Hayworth in 2010.
Category:1954 births Category:Living people Category:Arizona Attorneys General Category:Arizona Republicans
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Of note is that most of Hearn's games in the television era were simulcast on both radio and television, even after most teams chose to use different announcers for the different media.
Hearn can be heard on the Pink Floyd album The Wall (at the 4:07 mark of the song "Don't Leave Me Now" as "Pink" flips through television channels just before destroying his television set leading into the song "Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 3"). This clip of Hearn appears to have been taken from an actual game between the Lakers and the Chicago Bulls which was probably recorded during the 1979-80 season.
In honor of his contributions to the Los Angeles Lakers, both the Lakers and the city of Los Angeles renamed a portion of West 11th Street between Figueroa Street and Georgia Street to Chick Hearn Court. This street currently runs alongside Staples Center's main entrance. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority further honored the broadcaster by changing the name of the nearby Blue Line station to Pico-Chick Hearn.
Hearn also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Hearn's star is located at 6755 Hollywood Blvd.
On April 27, 2010, Chick Hearn was honored with a bronze statue at Star Plaza outside Staples Center. A chair next to Hearn's statue behind the desk with the Lakers' logo is a part of the statue so his fans can sit down to have their pictures taken.
Category:1916 births Category:2002 deaths Category:Accidental deaths from falls Category:Accidental deaths in California Category:American basketball players Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American radio sports announcers Category:American television sports announcers Category:Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Bowling broadcasters Category:Bradley Braves men's basketball players Category:Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery Category:College basketball announcers in the United States Category:College football announcers Category:Golf writers and broadcasters Category:Los Angeles Lakers broadcasters Category:National Basketball Association broadcasters Category:People from Chicago, Illinois
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| Caption | Bob Cousy (left) going after the basketball |
|---|---|
| Position | Point guard |
| Height ft | 6 |height_in = 1 |
| Weight lbs | 175 |
| Number | 14 |
| Birthdate | August 09, 1928New York City, New York, USA |
| Debutyear | 1950 |
| Finalyear | 1963, 1970 |
| Draftyear | 1950 |
| Draftround | 1 |
| Draftpick | 3 |
| Draftteam | Tri-Cities Blackhawks |
| College | Holy Cross (1946–1950) |
| Teams | |
| Coach | |
| Stat1label | Points |
| Stat1value | 16,960 |
| Stat2label | Assists |
| Stat2value | 6,955 |
| Stat3label | Games played |
| Stat3value | 924 |
| Letter | c |
| Bbr | cousybo01 |
| Highlights | |
| Hof player | robert-j-bob-cousy |
Robert Joseph "Bob" Cousy (born August 9, 1928) is a retired American professional basketball player. The 6'1" (1.85-m), 175-pound (79.4-kg) Cousy played point guard with the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Boston Celtics from 1951 to 1963 and briefly with the Cincinnati Royals in the 1969–70 season. Cousy first demonstrated his basketball abilities while playing for his high school varsity team in his junior year. He obtained a scholarship to the College of the Holy Cross, where he led the Crusaders to berths in the 1948 and 1950 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and was named an NCAA All-American for three seasons. 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 with the Blackhawks, he was picked up by the Boston Celtics. Cousy had a highly successful career with the Celtics, winning six championship rings, being voted into 13 All-Star and 12 All-NBA First and Second Teams and winning the NBA Most Valuable Player Award in 1957.
In his first 11 seasons in the NBA, Cousy led the league in assists eight consecutive times and introduced a new blend of ball-handling and passing skills, earning him the nicknames "The Cooz," "Houdini of the Hardwood" and—as he was regularly introduced at Boston Garden—"Mr. Basketball." After his player career, he coached the Royals for several years, and even made a short comeback for the Royals at age 41. Afterwards, he became a broadcaster for Celtics games. He was elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971, and in his honor, the Celtics retired his number 14 jersey and hung it into the rafters of the Boston Garden, where it has remained since. His father, Joseph, was a taxi 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. Cousy remarried Julie Corlet, a secretary and French teacher from Dijon. At the time of the 1930 census, the family rented an apartment in Astoria, Queens for $50 per month. The younger Cousy spoke French for the first five years of his life, and only started speaking English when he started primary school. He spent his early days playing stickball in a multicultural environment, regularly playing with African Americans, Jews and other children from ethnic minorities. 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. He rented the bottom two floors of the three-floor building to tenants, so he could complete his mortgage payments on time.
In his senior year, Cousy once again excelled on the basketball court. He led his team to the Queens division championship and he became the highest scorer in the city. He was even named captain of the Journal-American All-Scholastic team. Cousy began to think of his plans for college. His family had wanted him to attend a Catholic school, and he wanted to go somewhere outside New York City. Cousy was recruited by Boston College, and he considered attending the university. However, the university did not have any dormitories, and Cousy was not interested in living as a commuter student. Soon after, he received an offer from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts just outside of Boston. He was impressed by the school, and he accepted a basketball scholarship to attend the school. Cousy spent the summer before college working at Tamarack Lodge in the Catskills and playing in a local basketball league with a number of college basketball players.
The team entered the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament as the last seed in the 8-team tournament. In the first match, Holy Cross defeated the United States Naval Academy in front of a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden by a score of 55 to 47. Mullaney led the team in scoring with 18 points, mostly in part to Navy coach Ben Carnevale's decision to have his players back off from Mullaney, who was reputed as being more of a playmaker than a shooter. In the semi-final match, Holy Cross faced the City College of New York (CCNY), coached by Nat Holman, one of the game's earliest innovators. The Crusaders, led by Kaftan's 30-point game, easily defeated the Beavers 60–45. In the championship game, Holy Cross faced the University of Oklahoma, behind coach Bruce Drake, in another sold-out game at Madison Square Garden. Kaftan followed up the semi-final match with 18 points in the title game, leading the Crusaders to a 58–47 victory against the Sooners. and that he was not restricting Cousy's playing time under bad intentions. He told Cousy that Julian would use him more often during his later years with the team. Lapchick wrote that transferring was very risky, and according to NCAA rules, Cousy would have to wait a year before becoming eligible to play on the university basketball team.
Cousy's fate changed in a match against Loyola of Chicago at the Boston Garden. With five minutes left to play and Holy Cross trailing, the crowd started to chant "We want Cousy! We want Cousy!" until coach Julian relented. In these few minutes, Cousy scored 11 points and hit a game-winning buzzer beater after a behind-the-back dribble. The performance established him on the school team, and he led Holy Cross to 26 consecutive wins and second place in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and became a three-time All-American. The next year, the Celtics added future Hall-of-Fame guard Bill Sharman in the 1951 NBA Draft, and by averaging 21.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game, Cousy earned his first All-NBA First Team nomination.
In the following season, Cousy made further progress. Averaging 7.7 assists per game, he won the first of his eight consecutive assists titles.
In the next three years, Cousy firmly established himself as one of the best point guards of the league. Leading the league in assists again in all three seasons, and averaging 20 points and 7 rebounds, the versatile Cousy earned himself three further All-NBA First Team and All-Star honors, and was also Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 1954 NBA All-Star Game.
The Celtics eventually added two talented forwards, namely future Hall-of-Famer Frank Ramsey and defensive specialist Jim Loscutoff. Along with Celtics colleague Bob Brannum, Loscutoff also became Cousy's unofficial bodyguard, retaliating against opposing players who would try to hurt him. The Celtics were unable to make their mark in the 1954, 1955 and 1956 NBA Playoffs, where they lost three times in a row against the Nationals of Hall-of-fame forward Dolph Schayes. Cousy attributed the shortcomings to fatigue, stating: "We would get tired in the end and could not get the ball". As a result, Auerbach sought a defensive center who could both get easy rebounds, initiate fastbreaks and close out games.
In the 1957–58 NBA season, Cousy had yet another highly productive year, with his 20.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game leading to nominations into the All-NBA First Team and the All-Star team. He again led the NBA in assists.
In the following 1958–59 NBA season, the Celtics took revenge on their opposition, powered by an inspired Cousy, who averaged 20.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and a league-high 8.6 assists a game, won yet another assists title and another pair of All-NBA First Team and All-Star team nominations.
In the 1959–60 NBA season, Cousy was again productive, his 19.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game earning him his eighth consecutive assists title and another joint All-NBA First Team and All-Star team nomination. A year later, the 32-year-old Cousy scored 18.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game, winning another pair of All-NBA First Team and All-Star nominations, but failing to win the assists crown after eight consecutive seasons.
In the 1961–62 NBA season, the aging Cousy slowly began to fade statistically, averaging 15.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 7.8 assists, and was voted into the All-NBA Second Team after ten consecutive First Team nominations. Finally, in the last season of his career, Cousy averaged 13.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists, and collected one last All-Star and All-NBA Second Team nomination.
|- | align="left" |Cincinnati | align="left" | |82||36||46||.439|| align="center" |5th in Eastern||—||—||—||— | align="center" |Missed Playoffs |- | align="left" |Cincinnati | align="left" | |82||33||49||.402|| align="center" |3rd in Central||—||—||—||— | align="center" |Missed Playoffs |- | align="left" |Cincinnati | align="left" | |82||30||52||.366|| align="center" |3rd in Central||—||—||—||— | align="center" |Missed Playoffs |- | align="left" |Kansas City-Omaha | align="left" | |82||36||46||.439|| align="center" |4th in Midwest||—||—||—||— | align="center" |Lost in First Round |- | align="left" |Kansas City-Omaha | align="left" | |22||6||16||.273|| align="center" |(fired)||—||—||—||— | align="center" |— |-class="sortbottom" | align="left" |Career | ||350||141||209||.403|| ||—||—||—||—
On November 16, 2008 Cousy's college number of 17 was hoisted to the Hart Center rafters. During halftime of a game between the Holy Cross Crusaders and St. Joseph's Hawks, Cousy, George Kaftan, Togo Palazzi, and Tommy Heinsohn's numbers became the first to hang from the gymnasium's ceiling.
Category:1928 births Category:Living people Category:American basketball coaches Category:American basketball players Category:American sports announcers Category:American sportspeople of French descent Category:Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Basketball players from New York Category:Boston Celtics players Category:National Basketball Association players with retired numbers Category:Boston College Eagles men's basketball coaches Category:Cincinnati Royals head coaches Category:Cincinnati Royals players Category:College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Category:College of the Holy Cross alumni Category:Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball players Category:Kansas City-Omaha Kings head coaches Category:National Basketball Association broadcasters Category:National Basketball Association head coaches Category:National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:People from Worcester, Massachusetts Category:Player-coaches Category:Point guards Category:Sportspeople from Manhattan Category:Tri-Cities Blackhawks draft picks
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| Position | Guard |
|---|---|
| Number | 10, 21 |
| Height ft | 6|height_in=1 |
| Weight lbs | 175 |
| Birthdate | May 25, 1926Abilene, Texas |
| Debutyear | 1950 |
| Finalyear | 1961 |
| Draftyear | 1950 |
| Draftround | 2 |
| Draftteam | Washington Capitols |
| College | USC |
| Teams | |
| Stat1label | Points |
| Stat1value | 12,665 |
| Stat2label | Rebounds |
| Stat2value | 2,779 |
| Stat3label | Assists |
| Stat3value | 2,101 |
| Letter | s |
| Bbr | sharmbi01 |
| Coach | |
| Highlights | |
| Hof player | bill-sharman-player |
| Hof coach | bill-sharman-coach |
From 1950 to 1955 Sharman played professional baseball in the Brooklyn Dodgers minor league system. He was called up to the Dodgers late in the 1951 season but did not appear in a game; as a result of a September 27 game in which the entire Brooklyn bench was ejected from the game for arguing with the umpire, Sharman holds the distinction of being the only player to have ever been ejected from a major league game without ever appearing in one.
Sharman was one of the first guards to shoot better than .400 from the field. He led the NBA in free throw percentage seven times, and his mark of 93.2% in the 1958–59 season remained the NBA record until Ernie DiGregorio topped it in 1976–77. Sharman still holds the record for consecutive free throws in the playoffs with 56. Sharman was named to the All-NBA First Team from 1956 through 1959, and was an All-NBA Second Team member in 1953, 1955, and 1960. Sharman played in eight NBA All-Star games, and was named the 1955 NBA All-Star Game MVP. Sharman ended his career after 11 seasons in 1961.
In 1970–71 he coached the Utah Stars to an ABA title and was a co-recipient of the ABA Coach of the Year honors. After resigning as coach for the Utah Stars, Sharman signed a contract to coach the Los Angeles Lakers. Controversy later ensued when the owner of the Utah Stars brought suit against Sharman for breach of contract stemming from his resignation, and a tort case against the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers for inducing such breach of contract. Sharman was originally ordered to pay $250,000 in damages, but later appealed the trial court decision and reversed the judgement (see external link below). The following season he guided the Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West-led Los Angeles Lakers to an NBA record 33 game win streak, a then-record 69-13 win-loss mark, the first Lakers championship in more than a decade, and was named NBA Coach of the Year. He is one of two men to win NBA and ABA championships as a coach; coincidentally, the other, Alex Hannum, also coached a Chamberlain-led team (the 1967 Philadelphia 76ers) to an NBA championship.
Sharman was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1976 as a player and in 2004, he was also enshrined as a coach. He is one of only three people to be enshrined in both categories, after John Wooden and Lenny Wilkens. On October 29, 1996, Sharman was named one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players.
He is a graduate of the University of Southern California and served during World War II from 1944 to 1946 in the US Navy.
Sharman is the author of two books, Sharman on Basketball Shooting and The Wooden-Sharman Method: A Guide to Winning Basketball with John Wooden and Bob Selzer.
The gymnasium at Porterville High School is named after him. After his former basketball team the Los Angeles Jets dissolved in 1962, he sued to enforce his employment contract with the Jets, culminating in the case Sharman v. Longo (1967) 249 Cal.App.2d 948.
Category:1926 births Category:Living people Category:People from Abilene, Texas Category:Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Basketball players from Texas Category:Washington Capitols draft picks Category:Washington Capitols players Category:National Basketball Association head coaches Category:National Basketball Association players with retired numbers Category:Boston Celtics players Category:San Francisco Warriors head coaches Category:Los Angeles Lakers head coaches Category:USC Trojans men's basketball players Category:University of Southern California alumni Category:Utah Stars coaches Category:National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Sportspeople of multiple sports
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
| Width | 200 |
|---|---|
| Caption | Russell in January 2005 |
| Position | Center |
| Number | 6 |
| Birthdate | February 12, 1934Monroe, Louisiana |
| Debutyear | 1956 |
| Finalyear | 1969 |
| Draftyear | 1956 |
| Draftround | 1 |
| Draftpick | 2 |
| College | San Francisco |
| Teams | |
| Coach | |
| Stat1label | Points |
| Stat1value | 14,522 |
| Stat2label | Rebounds |
| Stat2value | 21,620 |
| Stat3label | Assists |
| Stat3value | 4,100 |
| Letter | r |
| Bbr | russebi01 |
| Highlights | |
| Hof player | william-f-bill-russell |
William Felton "Bill" Russell (born February 12, 1934) is a retired American professional basketball player who played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A five-time winner of the NBA Most Valuable Player Award and a twelve-time All-Star, Russell was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty that won eleven NBA Championships during Russell's thirteen-year career. Along with Henri Richard of the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens, Russell holds the record for the most championships won by an athlete in a North American sports league. Before his professional career, Russell led the University of San Francisco to two consecutive NCAA championships (1955, 1956). He also won a gold medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics as captain of the U.S. national basketball team.
One of Russell's high school teammates was future Baseball Hall-of-Famer Frank Robinson.
Racism also shaped his lifelong paradigm as a team player. "At that time," he has said, "it was never acceptable that a black player was the best. That did not happen...My junior year in college, I had what I thought was the one of the best college seasons ever. We won 28 out of 29 games. We won the National Championship. I was the MVP at the Final Four. I was first team All American. I averaged over 20 points and over 20 rebounds, and I was the only guy in college blocking shots. So after the season was over, they had a Northern California banquet, and they picked another center as Player of the Year in Northern California. Well, that let me know that if I were to accept these as the final judges of my career I would die a bitter old man." So he made a conscious decision, he said, to put the team first and foremost, and not worry about individual achievements.
On the hardwood, his experiences were far more pleasant. Russell led USF to NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956, including a string of 55 consecutive victories. He became known for his strong defense and shot-blocking skills, once denying 13 shots in a game. UCLA coach John Wooden called Russell "the greatest defensive man I've ever seen". Besides basketball, Russell represented USF in track and field events. He competed in the 440 yard (402 m) race, which he could complete in 49.6 seconds. He also participated in the high jump; Track & Field News ranked him as the seventh-best high jumper in the world in 1956. That year, Russell won high jump titles at the Central California AAU meet, the Pacific AAU meet, and the West Coast Relays. One of his highest jumps occurred at the West Coast Relays, where he achieved a mark of 6 feet 9¼ inches (2.06 m).
After his years at USF, the Harlem Globetrotters invited Russell to join their exhibition basketball squad. Russell, who was sensitive to any racial prejudice, was enraged by the fact that owner Abe Saperstein would only discuss the matter with Woolpert. While Saperstein spoke to Woolpert in a meeting, Globetrotters assistant coach Harry Hanna tried to entertain Russell with jokes. The USF center was livid after this snub and declined the offer: he reasoned that if Saperstein was too smart to speak with him, then he was too smart to play for Saperstein. Instead, Russell made himself eligible for the 1956 NBA Draft.
Russell's first Celtics game came on December 22, 1956 against the St. Louis Hawks, led by star forward Bob Pettit, who held several all-time scoring records. Auerbach assigned Russell to shut down St. Louis's main scorer, and the rookie impressed the Boston crowd with his man-to-man defense and shot-blocking.
However, Russell also received negative attention. Constantly provoked by New York Knicks center Ray Felix during a game, he complained to coach Auerbach. The latter told him to take matters into his own hands, so after the next provocation, Russell punched Felix unconscious, paid a 25-dollar fine and was no longer a target of cheap fouls. On the other hand, despite their different ethnic backgrounds and lack of common off-court interests, his relationship with Celtics point guard and fan favorite Bob Cousy was amicable.
In the NBA Finals, the Celtics met the St. Louis Hawks, who were again led by Bob Pettit, as well as former Celtic Ed Macauley. The teams split the first six games, and the tension was so high that, in Game 3, Celtics coach Auerbach punched his colleague Ben Kerner and received a $300 fine. The teams split the first two games, but then Russell went down with a foot injury in Game 3 and could no longer participate in the playoffs. The Celtics surprisingly won Game 4, but the Hawks prevailed in Games 5 and 6, with Pettit scoring 50 points in the deciding Game 6. Lakers head coach John Kundla praised Russell, stating, “We don’t fear the Celtics without Bill Russell. Take him out and we can beat them... He’s the guy who whipped us psychologically.” On November 7, 1959, Russell's Celtics hosted Chamberlain's Warriors, and pundits called the matchup between the best offensive and best defensive center "The Big Collision" and "Battle of the Titans". Both men awed onlookers with "nakedly awesome athleticism", In the 1960 Finals, the Celtics outlasted the Hawks 4–3 and won their third championship in four years.
The following season, Russell scored a career-high 18.9 points per game, accompanied by 23.6 rebounds per game. Though the game was tied, Russell had the daunting task of defending against Baylor with little frontline help, as the three best Celtics forwards, Loscutoff, Heinsohn and Tom Sanders, had fouled out. In overtime, Baylor fouled out the fourth forward, Frank Ramsey, so Russell was completely robbed of his usual four-men wing rotation. But Russell and little-used fifth forward Gene Guarilia successfully pressured Baylor into missed shots. Russell finished with a clutch performance, scoring 30 points and tying his own NBA Finals record with 40 rebounds in a 110–107 overtime win.
In the following 1963–64 season, the Celtics posted a league-best 58–22 record in the regular season. Russell scored 15.0 ppg and grabbed a career-high 24.7 rebounds per game, leading the NBA in rebounds for the first time since Chamberlain entered the league. It was their sixth consecutive and seventh title in Russell's eighth year, a streak unreached in any U.S. professional sports league. Russell later called the Celtics' defense the best of all time. In the following 1965–66 season, the Celtics won their eighth consecutive title. Russell’s team again beat Chamberlain’s Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 1 in the Division Finals, proceeding to win the NBA Finals in a tight seven-game showdown against the Los Angeles Lakers. During the season, Russell contributed 12.9 points and 22.8 rebounds per game. This was the first time in seven years that he failed to average at least 23 rebounds a game. His second choice Bob Cousy declined, stating he did not want to coach his former teammates, The Sixers simply outpaced the Celtics, shredding the famous Boston defense by scoring 140 points in the clinching Game 5 win. Russell acknowledged his first real loss in his career (he had been injured in 1958 when the Celtics lost the NBA Finals) by visiting Chamberlain in the locker room, shaking his hand and saying, "Great". In the Eastern Division Finals, the 76ers had the better record than the Celtics and were slightly favored. But then, national tragedy struck as Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4, 1968. With eight of the ten starting players on Sixers and Celtics being African American, both teams were in deep shock, and there were calls to cancel the series. In a game called as "unreal" and "devoid of emotion", the Sixers lost 127–118 on April 5. In Game 2, Philadelphia evened the series with a 115–106 win, and in Games 3 and 4, the Sixers won, with Chamberlain suspiciously often defended by Celtics backup center Wayne Embry, causing the press to speculate Russell was worn down. He was 15 pounds overweight, skipped mandatory NBA coach meetings and was generally lacking energy: after a New York Knicks game, he complained of intense pain and was diagnosed with acute exhaustion. In the playoffs, however, Russell and his Celtics achieved upsets over the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks to earn a meeting with the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. L.A. now featured new recruit Wilt Chamberlain next to perennial stars Baylor and West, and were heavily favored. In the first two games, Russell ordered not to double-team West, who used the freedom to score 53 and 41 points in the Game 1 and 2 Laker wins. Russell then ordered to double-team West, and Boston won Game 3. In Game 4, the Celtics were trailing by one point with seven seconds left and the Lakers having the ball, but then Baylor stepped out of bounds, and in the last play, Sam Jones used a triple screen by Bailey Howell, Larry Siegfried and Havlicek and hit a buzzer beater which equalized the series. The Celtics held on for a 108–106 victory, and Russell claimed his eleventh championship in 13 years. At age 35, Russell contributed 21 rebounds in his last NBA game. Although White became a standout Celtics player, the Celtics lacked an All-Star center, went just 34–48 in the next season and failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1950. and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975. Russell, who had a difficult relationship with the media, was not present at either event. Ironically, coach Lenny Wilkens later used a similar concept to help the SuperSonics win the title in 1979. Russell’s stint with the Kings was considerably worse, his last assignment ending when the Kings went 17–41 to begin the 1987–88 season.
In addition, Russell ran into financial trouble. He had invested $250,000 into a rubber plantation in Liberia, where he had wanted to spend his retirement, but it went bankrupt. He became a vegetarian, took up golf and worked as a color commentator, but he was uncomfortable as a broadcaster. He later said, "The most successful television is done in eight-second thoughts, and the things I know about basketball, motivation and people go deeper than that." Later that year, on November 17, 2006, the two-time NCAA winner Russell was recognized for his impact on college basketball as a member of the founding class of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He was one of five, along with John Wooden, Oscar Robertson, Dean Smith and Dr. James Naismith, selected to represent the inaugural class. On May 20, 2007, Russell was awarded an honorary doctorate by Suffolk University, where he served as its commencement speaker, and Russell received an honorary degree from Harvard University on June 7, 2007. Russell was also honored during 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix. On February 14, 2009, NBA Commissioner David Stern announced that the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award award would be re-named the "Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award" in honor of 11-time NBA champion. Russell attended the final game of the Finals that year to present his newly christened namesake award to its winner, Kobe Bryant.
:Bill Russell was the cornerstone of the Boston Celtics' dynasty. ::— introductory line of Russell's nba.com/history summary. By winning the 1956 NCAA Championship with USF and the 1957 NBA title with the Celtics, Russell became the first of only four players in basketball history to win an NCAA championship and an NBA Championship back-to-back (the others being Henry Bibby, Magic Johnson, and Billy Thompson). In the interim, Russell collected an Olympic gold medal in 1956. His stint as coach of the Celtics was also of historical significance, as he became the first black head coach in major U.S. professional sports when he succeeded Red Auerbach.
In his first NBA full season (1957–58), Russell became the first player in NBA history to average more than 20 rebounds per game for an entire season, a feat he accomplished 10 times in his 13 seasons. Russell's 51 rebounds in a single game is the second highest performance ever, only trailing Chamberlain's all-time record of 55. He still holds the NBA record for rebounds in one half with 32 (vs. Philadelphia, on November 16, 1957). Career-wise, Russell ranks second only to Wilt Chamberlain in regular season total (21,620) and average (22.5) rebounds per game, and led the NBA in average rebounds per game four times. Russell is the all-time playoff leader in total (4,104) and average (24.9) rebounds per game, he grabbed 40 rebounds in three separate playoff games (twice in the NBA Finals), and he never failed to average at least 20 rebounds per game in any of his 13 post-season campaigns. Russell also had seven regular season games with 40 or more rebounds, the NBA Finals record for highest rebound per game average (29.5 rpg, 1959) and by a rookie (22.9 rpg, 1957). In addition, Russell holds the NBA Finals single-game record for most rebounds (40, March 29, 1960 vs. St. Louis and April 18, 1962 vs. Los Angeles), most rebounds in a quarter (19, April 18, 1962 vs. Los Angeles), and most consecutive games with 20 or more rebounds (15 from April 9, 1960 – April 16 1963). He also had 51 in one game, 49 in two others, and twelve straight seasons of 1,000 or more rebounds. On Saturday February 14, 2009, during the 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix, NBA Commissioner David Stern announced that the NBA Finals MVP Award would be named after Bill Russell.
During his career, Russell was one of the first big earners in NBA basketball. His rookie contract was worth $24,000, only fractionally smaller than the $25,000 of top earner Bob Cousy. Russell never had to work part-time. When Wilt Chamberlain became the first NBA player to earn $100,000 in salary in 1965, Russell went to Auerbach and demanded a $100,001 salary, which he promptly received.
To teammates and friends, Russell was open and amicable, but was extremely distrusting and cold towards anyone else. However, the relationship deteriorated into intense loathing after Game 7 of the 1969 NBA Finals, where Chamberlain took himself out of a close game with six minutes left and never returned. Russell accused Chamberlain of being a malingerer and of "copping out" of the game when it seemed that the Lakers would lose; in retaliation, Chamberlain (whose knee was so bad that he could not play the entire offseason and ruptured it in the next season) was livid at Russell and saw him as a backstabber. When Chamberlain died in 1999, Chamberlain's nephew stated that Russell was the second person he was ordered to break the news to. At the eulogy, Russell stated that he never considered Chamberlain his rival and disliked the term, instead pointing out that they rarely talked about basketball.
As a consequence, Russell was extremely sensitive to all racial prejudice: according to Taylor, he often perceived insults even if others did not. He was often called "Felton X," a mockery of the Nation of Islam's tradition of replacing a European slave name with an "X," and even purchased land in Liberia. After his retirement, he described the Boston press as corrupt and racist; in response, Boston sports journalist Larry Claflin claimed that Russell himself was the real racist. Despite his refusal to sign autographs, he accepted a $250,000 contract to sign 5,000 pieces of memorabilia.
Russell, who invariably saw himself as a victim of the media, was present neither when his Number 6 jersey was retired in 1972, nor when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975, shunning the limelight both times. Russell still has sore feelings towards the city, but there has been something of a reconciliation in recent years. In 1995, the Celtics left Boston Garden and entered the FleetCenter, now the TD Garden, and as the main festive act, the Boston organization wanted to re-retire Russell's jersey in front of a sellout audience. Perennially wary of the "racist" city of Boston, Russell decided to make amends and gave his approval. On May 6, 1999 the Celtics re-retired Russell's jersey in a ceremony attended by Russell's on-court rival Chamberlain, along with Celtics legend Larry Bird and Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The crowd gave Russell a prolonged standing ovation, which brought tears to his eyes. Russell was visibly shaken at this outpour of adoration. He thanked Chamberlain for taking him to the limit and "making [him] a better player" and the crowd for "allowing [him] to be a part of their lives."
On December 2, 2008, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and The Mayor's Office of New Bostonians awarded Russell the 2008 We Are Boston Leadership Awards. Russell, who according to the mayor flew a "red-eye flight" to be there, attended the annual event with his daughter. He was visibly grateful and shared anecdotes of racial bigotry when he first came to Boston as a player and bought a home in Reading, Massachusetts. Russell congratulated the mayor on wanting to be a "mayor for all of Boston" and commented that it was a city that truly changed.
–| after=Tom Heinsohn}} –| after=Bob Hopkins}} | after=Jerry Reynolds}}
}}
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This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
