A lance is a pole weapon or spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior. The lance is longer, stout and heavier than an infantry spear, and unsuited for throwing, or for rapid thrusting. Lances did not have tips designed to intentionally break off or bend, unlike many throwing weapons of the spear/javelin family. They were often equipped with a vamplate, a small circular plate to prevent the hand sliding up the shaft upon impact. Though perhaps most known as one of the foremost military and sporting weapons used by European knights, the use of lances was spread throughout the Old World wherever mounts were available. As a secondary weapon, lancers of the period also bore swords, maces or something else suited to close quarter battle, since the lance was often a one-use-per-engagement weapon; after the initial charge, the weapon was far too long, heavy and slow to be effectively used against opponents in a melee.^{[citation needed]}

The name is derived from lancea, Roman auxiliaries' javelin, although according to the OED, the word may be of Iberian origin. Also compare longche, a Greek term for lance.

Lance Stephenson, Jr. (born September 5, 1990 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Pacers. He was drafted with the 40th overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft. He is a 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) shooting guard and attended Lincoln High School in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn. Stephenson won city basketball championships in all four years of high school, and is New York State's all-time leading scorer in high school basketball. After his senior year he was named New York State Mr. Basketball and was named to the McDonald's All-American Team in 2009.

Stephenson first caught the attention of scouts at age 12, when Clark Francis, a talent evaluator, saw him play at Rumble in the Bronx AAU tournament. And before his first year of high school, he attended the Adidas ABCD Camp, where he challenged O.J. Mayo to a one-on-one game.

In the summer of 2005, Stephenson enrolled at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School, but he only attended the school for three days, before the school lost in the championship game of a youth league and he did not win the tournament MVP. The following week, Stephenson did not return to classes at Bishop Loughlin, and was attending Abraham Lincoln High School near his home in Coney Island.National Basketball Association players Stephon Marbury and Sebastian Telfair had also attended and played basketball at Lincoln High. Head coach Dwanye Morton said, "{Stephenson} always talked about outdoing Sebastian, outdoing Stephon,", and called him "The best I've ever had at Lincoln." Stephenson went on to lead the Railsplitters to the city title that year.

LeBron Raymone James (/ləˈbrɒn/; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he was a three-time "Mr. Basketball" of Ohio in high school, and was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar while a sophomore at St. Vincent – St. Mary High School. He was selected with the number one pick in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Listed as a small forward, James has set numerous youngest player records since joining the league. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2003–04, was named the NBA Most Valuable Player in 2009, 2010, and 2012 and has been both an All-NBA selection and an All-Star every season since 2005. In 2010, a much-publicized free agency process ended with James signing with the Miami Heat.

James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to consecutive playoff appearances from 2006 through 2010. In 2007, the Cavaliers advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, but lost to the San Antonio Spurs. In 2011, James and the Miami Heat advanced to the NBA Finals but lost to the Dallas Mavericks. James has been a member of the USA national team, winning a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics and gold at the 2008 Olympics.

James Lance (born 29 September 1975) is an English actor, best known for his appearances in a number of British comedy series.

Lance attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School. He appeared in the ITV1 mockumentary Moving Wallpaper and in ITV1's Boy Meets Girl, as well as in the ITV2 original comedy No Heroics as Timebomb.

Lance's roles include dealer Sticky in the drug-related series Top Buzzer, Matt in two series of Teachers, Ben in the first series of I'm Alan Partridge, Jamie in Absolute Power and various roles in the sketch show Smack the Pony. He also played Richard, Daisy's boyfriend, in Spaced.

Lance has also had roles in various films such as Late Night Shopping and The Search For John Gissing, the recent mini-series The Impressionists (as Bazille) and the sitcoms The Book Group, Sensitive Skin and Rescue Me. Smaller roles have included appearances in 2 point 4 Children, People Like Us, Saxondale, Marie Antoinette and Absolutely Fabulous.

Additionally he played the character of Mr. Hugo in the pilot episode of Biffovision, as well as featuring alongside Mark Heap and Tim Key in another Paul Rose-penned pilot, "Now The Weather".

Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is a former American professional basketball player and current analyst on the television program Inside the NBA. Nicknamed "Sir Charles" and "The Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley established himself as one of the National Basketball Association's (NBA's) most dominating power forwards. He was selected to the All-NBA First Team five times, the All-NBA Second Team five times, and once to the All-NBA Third Team. He earned eleven NBA All-Star Game appearances and was named the All-Star MVP in 1991. In 1993, he was voted the league's Most Valuable Player and during the NBA's 50th anniversary, named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. He competed in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic games and won two gold medals as a member of the United States' Dream Team. In 2006, Barkley was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Barkley was popular with the fans and media and made the NBA's All-Interview Team for his last 13 seasons in the league. He was frequently involved in on- and off-court fights and sometimes stirred national controversy, as in March 1991 when he mistakenly spat on a young girl, and as in 1993 when he declared that sports figures should not be considered role models. Short for a power forward, Barkley used his strength and aggressiveness to become one of the NBA's most dominant rebounders. He was a versatile player who had the ability to score, create plays, and defend. In 2000, he retired as the fourth player in NBA history to achieve 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists.