Paul Douglas "Doug" Collins (born July 28, 1951) is a retired American basketball player, a former four-time NBA All-Star and currently the head coach of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers.

Collins enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Benton High School in Benton, Illinois, under renowned coach Rich Herrin, after which he went on to play for Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, in 1969.

Collins was chosen to represent the United States at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. While those games are mainly remembered for the terrorist attack that left eleven Israeli athletes dead, there was also the controversial gold medal basketball game between the United States and the Soviet Union, in which Collins played a key part. The United States was undefeated in Olympic basketball competition history, and widely expected to remain undefeated after these Olympics. After Collins had hit two free throws, the time had apparently expired in the gold medal game; the United States had a 50–49 lead and seemed to have secured yet another gold medal. However, in a very controversial move, the game's officials re-started the action two additional times. On the third attempt, the Soviets made a lay-up to take a lead. This gave the U.S. its first ever Olympic loss by a 51–50 margin.

William J. "Bill" Simmons III (born September 25, 1969) is a sports columnist, author, and podcaster. He currently writes columns and hosts podcasts for Grantland.com, which is affiliated with ESPN.com. He is a former writer for ESPN The Magazine and Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Nicknamed The Sports Guy, formerly The Boston Sports Guy, Simmons gained the attention of ESPN with his web site, BostonSportsGuy.com which earned him a job offer in 2001.

Since joining ESPN in 2001, in addition to writing for ESPN.com, he has also hosted his own podcast on ESPN.com titled The B.S. Report, appeared as a special contributor on the television series E:60, and serves as an executive producer of ESPN's documentary project, 30 for 30. He also has written two best-selling books and worked as a writer for Jimmy Kimmel Live!. On June 8, 2011, Simmons launched Grantland.com, an online magazine for which he serves as Editor-in-chief. At this point he began publishing his Sports Guy columns and B.S. Report podcasts on Grantland, which are then linked to from ESPN.com.

Robert "Bingo" Smith (born February 26, 1946 in Memphis, Tennessee) was a Forward/Guard for the San Diego Rockets (1969–70), Cleveland Cavaliers (1970–79) and San Diego Clippers (1979–80). He helped the Cavaliers win the 1975-76 NBA Central Division.

In 11 seasons, Smith played in 865 games and logged 22,407 minutes. Smith was especially noted for his ability to hit jump shots from long range. His outside jump shots, often were taken from today's 3 point range. For his career, he recorded a .449 field goal percentage (4,776 FGs made out of 10,642 attempts). Smith also had a .798 free throw rate (1,307-of-1,637) and also accounted for 3,630 total rebounds, 1,734 assists and 10,882 points.

Smith was inducted into the University of Tulsa Athletics Hall of Fame in 1984. His number "7" has been retired by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. His biography on the National Basketball Association (NBA) website states, "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time." Jordan was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation and was considered instrumental in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s.

After a three-season career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a member of the Tar Heels' national championship team in 1982, Jordan joined the NBA's Chicago Bulls in 1984. He quickly emerged as a league star, entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring. His leaping ability, illustrated by performing slam dunks from the free throw line in slam dunk contests, earned him the nicknames "Air Jordan" and "His Airness". He also gained a reputation for being one of the best defensive players in basketball. In 1991, he won his first NBA championship with the Bulls, and followed that achievement with titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a "three-peat". Although Jordan abruptly retired from basketball at the beginning of the 1993–94 NBA season to pursue a career in baseball, he rejoined the Bulls in 1995 and led them to three additional championships (1996, 1997, and 1998) as well as an NBA-record 72 regular-season wins in the 1995–96 NBA season. Jordan retired for a second time in 1999, but returned for two more NBA seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the Washington Wizards.