10 High Powered Vintage Basketball Cards

Article written in December 31, 2015 By Rich Mueller

Basketball card collecting exploded during the 1990s, as did card production numbers. Once unappreciated cards from all eras suddenly had a big following–and bigger prices thanks to the rise of Michael Jordan, the arrival of David Robinson, the 1992 Dream Team, increased TV coverage and the convergence of numerous popular Hall of Fame players. Yet the NBA’s history goes back much further and no list would be complete without some of the players who were legends before multi-million dollar contracts became the norm.

Here are ten of the best vintage basketball cards of all-time.

1. 1986-87 Fleer Michael Jordan #57

Vintage? Well, it’s now pushing 40 years old so at this point, it’s hard to say it isn’t. Probably the most famous basketball card ever made, Jordan’s rookie card shows him high above the other players on the court as he soars in for a slam dunk.

Believe it or not, you could buy the entire set within a year of issue for $10. Wax boxes that once sold for under $10 are now worth thousands and virtually guarantee three MJ rookies. Prices vary widely based on grade but expect to pay $2,500 and up for a decent one. Graded 9s and 10s bring double that–and more. There are convincing reprints and counterfeits out there so be sure to stick to graded/authenticated examples.

Despite having not played a game in nearly ten years, Jordan’s worldwide popularity continues to push his rarest cards higher. This one isn’t rare, but it’s the one every hoop head wants to own.

2. 1980-81 Topps Larry Bird/Magic Johnson/Julius Erving

The 1980-81 Topps cards are the regular size but are actually three mini-cards joined together. This rare occurrence means that collectors can get the rookie cards of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson on the same card, and they also get Dr. J as well. There were no NBA players bigger than those three in the first half of the 1980s, and few as popular as Bird and Johnson during the late 1980s and beyond.

Mint, graded examples have more than doubled in price over the last 3-4 years. 8’s can still be had for $450-550.

Collectors can also find the Larry Bird rookie card or Magic Johnson rookie card without the other player on it, and at a much lower price. The other Bird rookie card has Bill Cartwright and Larry Drew on the other two panels, Magic Johnson shared his other card with Jan Van Breda Kolff and Julius Erving.

3. 1984-85 Star #101 Michael Jordan (Extended Rookie Card)

There is Michael Jordan’s rookie card, from 1986-87 Fleer, and there is his first ever NBA card from Star. In the middle of the 1980s, after Topps had stopped producing NBA cards and before Fleer had started again, there were Star Company cards. The cards were available in team bags rather than packs so a collector purchasing the Jordan Star rookie would have also been getting players like Dave Corzine and Sidney Green.

Beckett is the only company willing to grade them. Prices at auction have ranged from $3,500 for NM 7s to $10,000 and up for 9.5s.

4. 1970-71 Topps #123 Pete Maravich 1970-topps-maravich

If “The Pistol” was in the NBA right now his card prices would be among the highest. His highlight-filled playing style would have made him very popular among collectors. During his playing career he had just under 20 NBA cards, from Topps between 1970-71 and 1980-81, and his 1970-71 “tall boy” rookie card commands a high price.

You can grab a decent one for a few hundred dollars but the only PSA 10 sold in late 2015 for over $130,000.

5. 1968-69 Topps Test #19 Jerry West

Many collectors want to have some cards of “The Logo”, Jerry West. His rookie card was in 1961-62 Fleer, and is available at $250 and up, depending on grade. Something that is very rare is West’s 1968-69 Topps Test card.

The extremely rare 1968-69 Topps Test set consists of 22 cards and you’ll find a smiling Jerry in this one. The fronts have black and white pictures of players, not from games but from various poses. A complete set sold a few years ago for $38,838. All were graded at a high level. A lot of 18 cards, including West, sold for $8,280.

You’re not likely to find these on eBay. They rarely turn up and when they do, they’re in major sports memorabilia catalog auctions.

6. 1961-62 Fleer Wilt Chamberlain #8

He scored 100 points in a single NBA game, had a season when his minutes per game was higher than 48, led the NBA in total assists 1967-68, won two NBA titles and was also a Harlem Globetrotter and even appeared in a movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Wilt Chamberlain was a unique and unstoppable player and his rookie card appeared in the 1961-62 Fleer set, which was the first basketball card set of any kind issued since 1957. Wilt has an ‘in action’ card in this set as well, but this one, #8, is considered his most desirable rookie card.

7. 1957-58 Topps #77 Bill Russell

Collectors who want cards of championship winners will want Bill Russell’s rookie card. With #6 in the pivot, the Celtics were virtually unbeatable for more than a decade. Russell also added an Olympic gold medal and two NCAA titles.

Prices vary based on condition and they’re a little tough to find, especially in higher grades.

8. 1948 Bowman #69 George Mikan

The first superstar player in what was the first real basketball card set. Mikan was a 20-10 player and considered pro basketball’s first drawing card. He won NBA, BAA and NBL championships.

The record-setting sale of a PSA 10 not long ago has already started pushing prices for lower grade examples upward. You can find VG-EX graded examples fairly regularly on eBay for around $2,000–still not bad considering the scarcity and importance.

9. 1950-51 Bread For Health George Mikan

Collectors of Panini’s 2011-12 Past & Present basketball cards will have noticed the insert sets called Bread For Health, Bread For Life and Bread For Energy. These cards, with their diecut corners design, are based on bread labels from more than 60 years ago.

Very rare, the Mikan card is the most expensive one in the 1950-51 Bread For Health set. A near complete set of this issue (missing only one card) sold at auction for over $35,000 in 2014. The full set includes not only the Mikan card but also other early NBA stars like Dolph Schayes, Arnie Risen and Harry Gallatin.

10. 1969-70 Topps #25 Lew Alcindor

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar collectors will want to have his first NBA card, when he was Lew Alcindor of the Milwaukee Bucks. His 1969-70 Topps card is from the popular, oversized set. Something that isn’t included on cards at present time is a player’s salary, but on Kareem’s rookie card it says he would start his NBA career with an “estimated 5-year, $1,250,000 contract”.

Expect to lay down $1,000 for a near mint, graded example of one of the NBA’s greatest players.

http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/10-high-powered-vintage-basketball-cards/

Phil Jackson

Philip Douglas “Phil” Jackson (born September 17, 1945) is an American professional basketball executive, former coach and former player. He mainly coached in lower-level professional leagues, notably the Continental Basketball Association and Puerto Rico’s National Superior Basketball (BSN). While in the CBA, he won his first coaching championship, leading the Albany Patroons to their first CBA title in 1984. In Puerto Rico, he coached the Piratas de Quebradillas (1984 and 1987) and the Gallitos de Isabela (1984–1986), both have good standing within the Puerto Rican league. He regularly sought an NBA job, but was invariably turned down. He had acquired a reputation for being sympathetic to the counterculture during his playing years, which may have scared off potential NBA employers.

Jackson was the head coach of the Chicago Bulls from 1989 until 1998, during which Chicago won six NBA championships. His next team, the Los Angeles Lakers, won five championships from 2000 until 2010. In total, Jackson has won 11 NBA titles as a coach, surpassing the previous record of nine set by Red Auerbach. He also won two championships as a player with the Knicks in 1970 and 1973, and holds the NBA record for the most combined championships as a player and a head coach.

Career highlights and awards
As player:
2× NBA champion (1970, 1973)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (1968)
2× First-team Division II All-American (1966, 1967)
2× NCC Player of the Year (1966, 1967)
3× First-team All-NCC (1965–1967)
As head coach:

11× NBA champion (1991–1993, 1996–1998, 2000–2002, 2009, 2010)
4× NBA All-Star Game head coach (1992, 1996, 2000, 2009)
NBA Coach of the Year (1996)
Top 10 Coaches in NBA History
Top 15 Coaches in NBA History
CBA champion (1984)
CBA Coach of the Year (1985)

Career statistics
Points 5,428 (6.7 ppg)
Rebounds 3,454 (4.3 rpg)
Assists 898 (1.1 apg)

Devin Booker

Devin Armani Booker (born October 30, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He attended Moss Point High School in Moss Point, Mississippi after spending his middle school years and freshman year at Grandville High School near Grand Rapids, Michigan. He played in the 2014 McDonald’s All-American Game before spending one season playing college basketball for the University of Kentucky. His father, Melvin Booker, played for three different teams in the NBA.

On March 24, 2017, Booker became the youngest player to score over 60 points in a game, finishing with 70 against the Boston Celtics. His father, Melvin Booker, played for three teams in the NBA.

 

2015-16 Panini Gala Cinematic Rookie Signature /10

Career highlights and awards
NBA Three-Point Contest champion (2018)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (2016)
SEC Sixth Man of the Year (2015)
Second-team All-SEC (2015)
SEC All-Freshmen Team (2015)
McDonald’s All-American (2014)

Kristaps Porzingis

Kristaps Porziņģis (born August 2, 1995) is a Latvian professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Knicks with the fourth overall pick of the 2015 NBA draft. While being brought up in Liepāja, Latvia, Porziņģis started out his career with youth teams in his hometown before trying out and making the Baloncesto Sevilla youth squads. Following multiple years with the junior teams of Sevilla and representing them in Nike International Junior Tournaments, he was promoted to the senior squad. Porziņģis competed with the Latvia youth national team at the 2013 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship.

Porziņģis played with the Latvian youth team and was selected in the 2013 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship All-Tournament Team.

In 2015, Porziņģis was named the Latvian Rising Star of the Year.

CARD TRADED

Career highlights and awards
NBA All-Star (2018)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (2016)
EuroCup Rising Star (2015)
2× ACB All-Young Players Team (2014, 2015)

Karl-Anthony Towns

Karl-Anthony Towns Jr. (born November 15, 1995) is a Dominican-American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the University of Kentucky. He was named the 2014 Gatorade Player of the Year.

On January 6, 2013, Towns recorded a quadruple-double with 16 points, 17 rebounds, 11 blocks and 11 assists. He recorded a second quadruple-double on January 5, 2014 with 20 points, 14 rebounds, 12 blocks and 10 assists. Towns averaged 20.9 points, 13.4 rebounds and 6.2 blocks per game as a senior.

On March 28, he scored a career high 56 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in a 126-114 win over the Atlanta Hawks. He became just the third player to do that in NBA history at the age of 22 or under.

Career highlights and awards
3× NBA All-Star (2018, 2019, 2022)
2× All-NBA Third Team (2018, 2022)
NBA Rookie of the Year (2016)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (2016)
NBA Three-Point Contest champion (2022)
Consensus second-team All-American (2015)
SEC Freshman of the Year (2015)
First-team All-SEC (2015)
Gatorade National Player of the Year (2014)
McDonald’s All-American (2014)
First-team Parade All-American (2014)

5 Main Tips for Collecting Rare Sports Cards!

 

One of America’s greatest pastimes, collecting sports cards is one of the most intriguing and exciting hobbies. It combines our love of sports along with the hobby of collecting. In my own opinion, sports and collectible trading cards have always been a perfect marriage from the start, as it allows us the venue to follow on the sports we are so passionate about as well as cherish and treasure the sports cards of the players we love!
There are many different kinds of collectors in the hobby of sports cards today. There are of course all the different sports, and then there are also vintage cards versus the modern cards. Since I am no expert at baseball cards or vintage baseball cards, I will limit this guide to football and basketball cards. For the record, I do not consider cards in the 1980’s to be “vintage”.
As a sports card collector of almost 20 years, I like to think that I am a decent expert at modern cards. The debate of whether or not we should be collecting vintage versus modern is a whole different topic altogether. The fact remains, modern sports cards are still very popular and the hobby of sports cards as a whole is not going anywhere.
Here below, I will try to list out the key important factors and contributors when collecting modern football and basketball cards. When purchasing a sports card as a new hobbyist in the market, make sure you remind yourself to check off some of these tips below.
ROOKIE CARDS
Many sellers will list a card as a rookie card, or (RC) and it is up to the buyer to really be informed and knowledgeable regarding what a RC truly is. Many regular collectors or sports fans, a rookie card may seem like any card that is released or manufactured during the rookie year of the player. While many believe this, and to some degree it is loosely accepted, the more hardcore card collectors and knowledgeable card would oppose this belief.
In the world of sports card collecting, the strict definition of a true RC is a card that is stated to be an RC. What does this mean? If a card has a RC on one of the corners is it automatically then a Rookie card? The answer is No. Which is why the aspect of a true RC rookie card is so tricky and so many sellers can easily mislead buyers. To truly know what an athlete’s true RC’s are, one must either follow card manufacturer sites or forums, or more commonly be a subscribed member of Beckett price guides. Bottom line is, not every card made during an athlete’s rookie year or that says “rookie” or “RC” on the card is a true rookie card. You must know which cards the manufacturers intended to be the RC.
If you do not personally care about what a RC is or the level of significance to the worth of card then it is not a big issue. Again, this is a semi-controversial topic based on many disagreements even experienced collectors tend to have. For example, I personally know that certain RC parallel refractors are not a true RC but at the same time I hold it in higher regard and value to even the RC itself. If I were to see the given card being listed and sold as a RC in the title listing or description I would have no real issue with it. But many other collectors would disagree to a RC parallel refractor/xfractor as being a RC.
most other short print inserts are unlikely to be a RC
most RC’s are common non serial numbered base cards. There are exceptions, and those exception RC’s usually will have premium value.
do NOT let a RC or Rookie on the card fool you into thinking it’s the athlete’s true RC. If it is to you that’s great, but just be aware of the cv/bv/mv etc.. (collector value, beckett value, market value)

2. AUTOGRAPHED CARDS
When it comes to the world of autographed cards, saying a buyer needs to be aware of what is being purchased is an understatement. First, let’s examine all the types of autographed cards. There are:
– Auto Jsy : Athlete’s signature is on a Jersey, which is then cut and manufactured with the card.
– Auto Cut : Similar to above, all it means is the athlete signed something else, and that was cut to make card.
– Auto patch : Again similar to above, the athlete signs something else, and that is then cut, making a patch card.
– auto sticker : Athlete signs blank authenticated autograph stickers and sends back to the card manufacturers.
– auto on card : Athlete actually touches and signs the card, in person.
It is easy to see that logically for most card collectors and autograph hobbyists out there, the optimal kind of autograph is usually the “auto on card”.
When examining the different parallel cards in whichever sets, 99% of the time as the serial # for the given parallel or insert gets smaller, the value of the card is higher. This is usually due to as the serial # gets smaller, you will notice cards may go from “auto sticker”, or “auto cut” to being “auto on card”. Short printed serial # cards and level of autograph exclusivity always go hand in hand.

3. VERIFICATION/AUTHENTICATION OF RARE OR AUTOGRAPHED CARDS
Here we move on to commonly the next step after a card is special enough to be autographed. It definitely should be authenticated!
There are only two real reputable authentication companies known in the industry. Sure on Ebay you will see many companies from GAI to SGC, from PSI to maybe PTI or whatever it is. Bottom line is many grading and authentication companies (or ones that do both) are usually not that professional, or does not offer all the services needed. The ones that are reputable for many many years now continue to be;
PSA/DNA Card Services : This company is legit. They validate whether your card is real or not, they authenticate signatures, and lastly yes they do issue you a grade for the card condition as well. And best of all, you can choose to do any or all 3 of the services I just mentioned. They of course also provide additional services like encapsulating a card/item, and re-encapsulating if you’ve happened to remove from the slab holder to get it autographed like me! In terms of their COA (certificate of authenticity) you can choose to have the coa on the slab holder/encapsulated item or pay a higher free and get the LOA (letter of authenticity).
One thing I do dislike about PSA/DNA is their slab holders were easily tampered with, so purchasing PSA/DNA authenticated items in the past on Ebay for me was a nono. However, recently starting September 2013 they changed their slabs to resemble BGS (Beckett Grading Services) slabs and now I am much more confident in PSA products.
Below is a picture of the new versus old slab holders from PSA. The newer one (slightly larger, does not merge at the middle like it used to, rather the top part of the slab completely envelops the bottom half.
BGS (Beckett) : Next up on the list is Beckett Grading Services, inc. I am a big fan of Beckett obviously due to that I already use their price guides and registry to check cards. Their grading services is world renowned and probably the only real equal competitor to PSA. Beckett services in my own opinion provided much better slab holders. They looked nicer, more modern, more secure, and most importantly they are TAMPER-PROOF!. Noone could mess with your BGS holder without you knowing. It HAS to be opened in such a way that it is cracked open.
On top of offering a better slab holder, BGS also bases its grading scale on 4 concerns, which are Centering, Edges, Corners, and Surface. They have the grade and the 4 subgrades displayed right on the front of the slabbed item, whereas PSA just shows you one basic grade numbered out of 10.
BGS of course also offers most if not all the services PSA offers since it now works with JSA (James Spence Authentication), which deals with authenticating autographs.
One BIG thing I dislike about Beckett is that they have different services, instead of one general service. They make a customer choose Beckett Vintage Grading (BVG), Beckett Grading Services (BGS), and Beckett BCCG service. I can understand that the vintage department is a different group of experts, but the BCCG service is just a joke. It is a MUCH milder grading scale that hands out grades and slabs for a cheaper grading price and fees. It is for a non serious collector who just wants a famous and quality Beckett slab holder and some kind of a general grade. Again, this is a joke to me and they should just axe it out. It allows many people to go sell BCCG graded cards to the unsuspecting public. The ONLY Beckett service I would ever use is BGS. Period.
The other knock I have on BGS is it requires customers’ cards be sent to different places, and there is more of an issue and concern for the welfare of some of the highly expensive cards. Even insured shipping or not, it is a hassle. They do however help expedite the services of each other, such as when you send your item into JSA or BGS, you are able to send in along with your item the submission form for them to ship your item to the other one. But again in my opinion that is a lot of transporting of your precious card. What I mean is, if you send in your item to JSA to be authenticated on its autograph, and now you want it graded to, or regraded or reslabbed etc, you will have to submit to JSA the JSA form as well as the BGS form so they can ship your card over to BGS after your card is authenticated by them.
It is up to you to decide what is a better company for you. Sometimes it takes a few transactions and dealings before you can make a honest assessment on whether a company is good or not, so I suggest give them both a shot. I’ve used both companies for my grading and authentication services for many years. I personally used PSA for my own personal collection, and for the rest of my cards I used BGS and JSA because their slab holders were tamper proof. Again, these days PSA has worked to fix that problem that plagued them for almost a decade and I will personally be sending in many PSA cards to be reholdered. Depending on how things go I may start to exclusively use PSA here on out.

4. SERIAL NUMBERED RARE SHORT PRINT CARDS
Here we will be discussing “Serial Numbered” cards which are now a huge market in modern card collecting. To a beginner collector who is unaware of what this means, a serial numbered card is a card that is limited in its print run. While vintage collectors have their chase for truly gem mint or mint condition old cards, new modern card collectors are often times concerned with the level of exclusivity of a card. How limited is it? The difference in collecting is simply due to vintage cards were not serial numbered (although likely still limited to a certain degree) and so with many copies in existence, but with many years that have passed, the challenge becomes finding a card in great condition.
For the modern collectors like myself, a card that is limited and short printed like serial numbered cards present a big collectable value. If you are holding a serial numbered card that has the lot no. stamped on the card such as let’s say 05/10, this indicates that there is only 10 of this exact card made, and you are holding the 5th one made out of the 10.
This is not to be confused with certain cards that are part of a certain subset from the base set. For example, 1996 Jerry Rice Eye on the Prize has 12 cards in the series. If you are holding one of these cards that says 05/12, all it means is you are holding the 5th version in the 12 card series. In this case the number stamped is not a serial number and does not indicate at all how limited it is. Chances are it is not limited at all.
Here is a picture to my left showing my point. In this case, the 5 of 12 is NOT a serial number and does not indicate its print run. This card is not rare at all.
This is why the topic of serial numbered cards is always so interesting to me, and also why it drives me mad how so many ebay sellers abuse selling serial numbered cards. Below are a few issues I’ve found with many sellers on Ebay and I feel are blatantly wrong. They will say a card is a 1/1 in the title, or even in the listing itself. And they justify it by saying this;
card is 1/1 because of its graded 10 gem mint condition.
card is 1/1 because its pop report shows it’s supposedly the only card with the grade it has
card is 1/1 because it’s the athlete’s jersey number. Such as a Lebron James 06/10 numbered card
card is 1/1 because it’s the only one on ebay..
Simply put, a card that is serial numbered 1/1 indicates that it is specifically the only one of its exact kind in existence. There is none other like it. But this definition applies to the card. Some collectors will take the meaning of 1/1 very far by thinking whatever sets their card apart from every other one in the serial lot will make it 1/1. That would be silly, as I could go find a card that is limited to a print run 10, go do something drastic tot his card and now it would likely be the only one in existence. Drastic such as spill some coffee on it? Cut off a corner or two? or four? Heck this example could even apply to a fleer 1986 Michael Jordan RC then. How far could we take it to say a card is 1/1?
Personally I only believe a card is 1/1 if it is the ONLY one made in existence, by the card manufacturer. For myself, again personally based on collectable value however I will consider a card that is specially autographed or jersey no. matched with serial no. to be a very special card, ALMOST like a 1/1 card. But no it is not a 1/1 card.
It is also debated amongst collectors whether or not the infamous printing plates are considered to be 1/1 cards. There are collectors who do not believe a printing plate is a true 1/1 card. This is due to;
there are 4 different color printing plates that combine to print out the cards in the given set. Each plate is different, (Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, Black). Although each plate is 1/1, some believe they are not true 1/1 since there are 4 plates that resemble the same thing (except for color)
In rare cases, (Bowman Chrome for example), there are actually 8 printing plates, 4 inverse ones and 4 regular.
a printing plate is not really a “card”, so it is not a 1/1 card
To me all these beliefs are incorrect and not consistent. Many of these same collectors will count 1/1 superfractor’s as true 1/1 cards, however MANY superfractors have parallel versions and xfractors that look alike. To say that the card is not a true 1/1 because there are other cards resembling it is incorrect, as once a card is proven to be the ONLY one of its existence then it is a 1/1. Period. A plate is responsible for pressing and printing out hundreds and thousands of cards (depending on what brand/set, and if its base or inserts etc), so yes there will ALWAYS be cards that resemble the printing plate. That is the whole point of its function. Yet the plate itself is the only one made, and therefore a 1/1.

 

5. VALUE OF CARD
Here we will briefly discuss the concept of the value of card. First, one must understand that the hobby of card collecting cannot possibly label a correct and exact textbook price of each card. There are many variables to a card such as the condition, is it autographed, the rarity and print run, as well as the given athlete. Did the athlete just retire? Did the athlete just kill someone? Many things will affect the value of a card. And these are just the more substantial or long term factors. Many collectors that are short sighted and merely card investors will look to flip (buy and sell) cards of rookies and players daily. These collectors will try to sell you a $20 Beckett valued card for $50 just because the player had a triple double last night. Keep in mind this over inflation usually is for a rookie. I personally don’t buy into all this “hype trading”, but I can’t deny that yes many players were rookies once, and there is no perfect time or place to buy their rookie cards. If you DO believe a rookie is about to break out or blow up, then yes you may want to assess if the inflated rate that a seller is trying to sell is a fair price for you.
Ultimately, the most important thing to remember about the value of a sports card is that it is in the end, a market value type of commodity. Meaning you can only follow what the value that the market is willing to pay. You can think your very precious rare card is worth 1 million dollars all you want, due to all the conditions of the given card, but ultimately the value of the card is the price that someone was willing to pay for the most recent one sold.
If you have a 1/1 card, then in the world of collecting it is true you do have sort of a “name your price” game going, but still you must then factor in what is still a “reasonable” and rational price of the card. Factor in the current market and economy as well. The most important factor in determining market value of a 1/1 card will be the athlete of the card. Collectable value of a 1/1 card is obviously very high as it is, but if you have only a mediocre athlete or someone that nobody cares about then you are holding a card that has high CV, but low MV/BV (market & beckett value) due to the limited amt of people wanting it. You can still try to target the few people that may really want this high collectable card of a mediocre athlete, but just remember the odds are not high.

There you have it. Hopefully I’ve remembered to cover most of the important topics, but if you have any questions or still anything that you are unsure about in the hobby of sports card collecting, please make sure you do your research and you can always send me an email. Thanks for reading.

Article downloaded from http://www.ebay.com/gds/5-Main-Tips-for-Collecting-Rare-Sports-Cards-/10000000177932032/g.html

Beckett Printing Plates (AUTHENTIC)

Kobe Bryant complete Beckett 4 plates

Lebron James Beckett Fantasy complete 4 plates.

Kobe Bryant Beckett Black Plate

Kobe Bryant Complete Beckett 4 plates

Lebron James Beckett Black plate

Lebron James Beckett Black printing Plate

Kevin Garnett Beckett 3 of 4 printing plates. Missing is the Yellow Plate.

One of America’s greatest pastimes, collecting sports cards is one of the most intriguing and exciting hobbies. It combines our love of sports along with the hobby of collecting. In my own opinion, sports and collectible trading cards have always been a perfect marriage from the start, as it allows us the venue to follow on the sports we are so passionate about as well as cherish and treasure the sports cards of the players we love!
There are many different kinds of collectors in the hobby of sports cards today. There are of course all the different sports, and then there are also vintage cards versus the modern cards. Since I am no expert at baseball cards or vintage baseball cards, I will limit this guide to football and basketball cards. For the record, I do not consider cards in the 1980’s to be “vintage”.
As a sports card collector of almost 20 years, I like to think that I am a decent expert at modern cards. The debate of whether or not we should be collecting vintage versus modern is a whole different topic altogether. The fact remains, modern sports cards are still very popular and the hobby of sports cards as a whole is not going anywhere.
Here below, I will try to list out the key important factors and contributors when collecting modern football and basketball cards. When purchasing a sports card as a new hobbyist in the market, make sure you remind yourself to check off some of these tips below.
ROOKIE CARDS
Many sellers will list a card as a rookie card, or (RC) and it is up to the buyer to really be informed and knowledgeable regarding what a RC truly is. Many regular collectors or sports fans, a rookie card may seem like any card that is released or manufactured during the rookie year of the player. While many believe this, and to some degree it is loosely accepted, the more hardcore card collectors and knowledgeable card would oppose this belief.
In the world of sports card collecting, the strict definition of a true RC is a card that is stated to be an RC. What does this mean? If a card has a RC on one of the corners is it automatically then a Rookie card? The answer is No. Which is why the aspect of a true RC rookie card is so tricky and so many sellers can easily mislead buyers. To truly know what an athlete’s true RC’s are, one must either follow card manufacturer sites or forums, or more commonly be a subscribed member of Beckett price guides. Bottom line is, not every card made during an athlete’s rookie year or that says “rookie” or “RC” on the card is a true rookie card. You must know which cards the manufacturers intended to be the RC.
If you do not personally care about what a RC is or the level of significance to the worth of card then it is not a big issue. Again, this is a semi-controversial topic based on many disagreements even experienced collectors tend to have. For example, I personally know that certain RC parallel refractors are not a true RC but at the same time I hold it in higher regard and value to even the RC itself. If I were to see the given card being listed and sold as a RC in the title listing or description I would have no real issue with it. But many other collectors would disagree to a RC parallel refractor/xfractor as being a RC.
most other short print inserts are unlikely to be a RC
most RC’s are common non serial numbered base cards. There are exceptions, and those exception RC’s usually will have premium value.
do NOT let a RC or Rookie on the card fool you into thinking it’s the athlete’s true RC. If it is to you that’s great, but just be aware of the cv/bv/mv etc.. (collector value, beckett value, market value)

2. AUTOGRAPHED CARDS
When it comes to the world of autographed cards, saying a buyer needs to be aware of what is being purchased is an understatement. First, let’s examine all the types of autographed cards. There are:
– Auto Jsy : Athlete’s signature is on a Jersey, which is then cut and manufactured with the card.
– Auto Cut : Similar to above, all it means is the athlete signed something else, and that was cut to make card.
– Auto patch : Again similar to above, the athlete signs something else, and that is then cut, making a patch card.
– auto sticker : Athlete signs blank authenticated autograph stickers and sends back to the card manufacturers.
– auto on card : Athlete actually touches and signs the card, in person.
It is easy to see that logically for most card collectors and autograph hobbyists out there, the optimal kind of autograph is usually the “auto on card”.
When examining the different parallel cards in whichever sets, 99% of the time as the serial # for the given parallel or insert gets smaller, the value of the card is higher. This is usually due to as the serial # gets smaller, you will notice cards may go from “auto sticker”, or “auto cut” to being “auto on card”. Short printed serial # cards and level of autograph exclusivity always go hand in hand.

3. VERIFICATION/AUTHENTICATION OF RARE OR AUTOGRAPHED CARDS
Here we move on to commonly the next step after a card is special enough to be autographed. It definitely should be authenticated!
There are only two real reputable authentication companies known in the industry. Sure on Ebay you will see many companies from GAI to SGC, from PSI to maybe PTI or whatever it is. Bottom line is many grading and authentication companies (or ones that do both) are usually not that professional, or does not offer all the services needed. The ones that are reputable for many many years now continue to be;
PSA/DNA Card Services : This company is legit. They validate whether your card is real or not, they authenticate signatures, and lastly yes they do issue you a grade for the card condition as well. And best of all, you can choose to do any or all 3 of the services I just mentioned. They of course also provide additional services like encapsulating a card/item, and re-encapsulating if you’ve happened to remove from the slab holder to get it autographed like me! In terms of their COA (certificate of authenticity) you can choose to have the coa on the slab holder/encapsulated item or pay a higher free and get the LOA (letter of authenticity).
One thing I do dislike about PSA/DNA is their slab holders were easily tampered with, so purchasing PSA/DNA authenticated items in the past on Ebay for me was a nono. However, recently starting September 2013 they changed their slabs to resemble BGS (Beckett Grading Services) slabs and now I am much more confident in PSA products.
Below is a picture of the new versus old slab holders from PSA. The newer one (slightly larger, does not merge at the middle like it used to, rather the top part of the slab completely envelops the bottom half.

BGS (Beckett) : Next up on the list is Beckett Grading Services, inc. I am a big fan of Beckett obviously due to that I already use their price guides and registry to check cards. Their grading services is world renowned and probably the only real equal competitor to PSA.
Beckett services in my own opinion provided much better slab holders. They looked nicer, more modern, more secure, and most importantly they are TAMPER-PROOF!. Noone could mess with your BGS holder without you knowing. It HAS to be opened in such a way that it is cracked open.
On top of offering a better slab holder, BGS also bases its grading scale on 4 concerns, which are Centering, Edges, Corners, and Surface. They have the grade and the 4 subgrades displayed right on the front of the slabbed item, whereas PSA just shows you one basic grade numbered out of 10.
BGS of course also offers most if not all the services PSA offers since it now works with JSA (James Spence Authentication), which deals with authenticating autographs.
One BIG thing I dislike about Beckett is that they have different services, instead of one general service. They make a customer choose Beckett Vintage Grading (BVG), Beckett Grading Services (BGS), and Beckett BCCG service. I can understand that the vintage department is a different group of experts, but the BCCG service is just a joke. It is a MUCH milder grading scale that hands out grades and slabs for a cheaper grading price and fees. It is for a non serious collector who just wants a famous and quality Beckett slab holder and some kind of a general grade. Again, this is a joke to me and they should just axe it out. It allows many people to go sell BCCG graded cards to the unsuspecting public. The ONLY Beckett service I would ever use is BGS. Period.
The other knock I have on BGS is it requires customers’ cards be sent to different places, and there is more of an issue and concern for the welfare of some of the highly expensive cards. Even insured shipping or not, it is a hassle. They do however help expedite the services of each other, such as when you send your item into JSA or BGS, you are able to send in along with your item the submission form for them to ship your item to the other one. But again in my opinion that is a lot of transporting of your precious card. What I mean is, if you send in your item to JSA to be authenticated on its autograph, and now you want it graded to, or regraded or reslabbed etc, you will have to submit to JSA the JSA form as well as the BGS form so they can ship your card over to BGS after your card is authenticated by them.
It is up to you to decide what is a better company for you. Sometimes it takes a few transactions and dealings before you can make a honest assessment on whether a company is good or not, so I suggest give them both a shot. I’ve used both companies for my grading and authentication services for many years. I personally used PSA for my own personal collection, and for the rest of my cards I used BGS and JSA because their slab holders were tamper proof. Again, these days PSA has worked to fix that problem that plagued them for almost a decade and I will personally be sending in many PSA cards to be reholdered. Depending on how things go I may start to exclusively use PSA here on out.

4. SERIAL NUMBERED RARE SHORT PRINT CARDS
Here we will be discussing “Serial Numbered” cards which are now a huge market in modern card collecting. To a beginner collector who is unaware of what this means, a serial numbered card is a card that is limited in its print run. While vintage collectors have their chase for truly gem mint or mint condition old cards, new modern card collectors are often times concerned with the level of exclusivity of a card. How limited is it? The difference in collecting is simply due to vintage cards were not serial numbered (although likely still limited to a certain degree) and so with many copies in existence, but with many years that have passed, the challenge becomes finding a card in great condition.
For the modern collectors like myself, a card that is limited and short printed like serial numbered cards present a big collectable value. If you are holding a serial numbered card that has the lot no. stamped on the card such as let’s say 05/10, this indicates that there is only 10 of this exact card made, and you are holding the 5th one made out of the 10.
This is not to be confused with certain cards that are part of a certain subset from the base set. For example, 1996 Jerry Rice Eye on the Prize has 12 cards in the series. If you are holding one of these cards that says 05/12, all it means is you are holding the 5th version in the 12 card series. In this case the number stamped is not a serial number and does not indicate at all how limited it is. Chances are it is not limited at all.
Here is a picture to my left showing my point. In this case, the 5 of 12 is NOT a serial number and does not indicate its print run. This card is not rare at all.
This is why the topic of serial numbered cards is always so interesting to me, and also why it drives me mad how so many ebay sellers abuse selling serial numbered cards. Below are a few issues I’ve found with many sellers on Ebay and I feel are blatantly wrong. They will say a card is a 1/1 in the title, or even in the listing itself. And they justify it by saying this;
card is 1/1 because of its graded 10 gem mint condition.
card is 1/1 because its pop report shows it’s supposedly the only card with the grade it has
card is 1/1 because it’s the athlete’s jersey number. Such as a Lebron James 06/10 numbered card
card is 1/1 because it’s the only one on ebay..
Simply put, a card that is serial numbered 1/1 indicates that it is specifically the only one of its exact kind in existence. There is none other like it. But this definition applies to the card. Some collectors will take the meaning of 1/1 very far by thinking whatever sets their card apart from every other one in the serial lot will make it 1/1. That would be silly, as I could go find a card that is limited to a print run 10, go do something drastic tot his card and now it would likely be the only one in existence. Drastic such as spill some coffee on it? Cut off a corner or two? or four? Heck this example could even apply to a fleer 1986 Michael Jordan RC then. How far could we take it to say a card is 1/1?
Personally I only believe a card is 1/1 if it is the ONLY one made in existence, by the card manufacturer. For myself, again personally based on collectable value however I will consider a card that is specially autographed or jersey no. matched with serial no. to be a very special card, ALMOST like a 1/1 card. But no it is not a 1/1 card.
It is also debated amongst collectors whether or not the infamous printing plates are considered to be 1/1 cards. There are collectors who do not believe a printing plate is a true 1/1 card. This is due to;
there are 4 different color printing plates that combine to print out the cards in the given set. Each plate is different, (Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, Black). Although each plate is 1/1, some believe they are not true 1/1 since there are 4 plates that resemble the same thing (except for color)
In rare cases, (Bowman Chrome for example), there are actually 8 printing plates, 4 inverse ones and 4 regular.
a printing plate is not really a “card”, so it is not a 1/1 card
To me all these beliefs are incorrect and not consistent. Many of these same collectors will count 1/1 superfractor’s as true 1/1 cards, however MANY superfractors have parallel versions and xfractors that look alike. To say that the card is not a true 1/1 because there are other cards resembling it is incorrect, as once a card is proven to be the ONLY one of its existence then it is a 1/1. Period. A plate is responsible for pressing and printing out hundreds and thousands of cards (depending on what brand/set, and if its base or inserts etc), so yes there will ALWAYS be cards that resemble the printing plate. That is the whole point of its function. Yet the plate itself is the only one made, and therefore a 1/1.

5. VALUE OF CARD
Here we will briefly discuss the concept of the value of card. First, one must understand that the hobby of card collecting cannot possibly label a correct and exact textbook price of each card. There are many variables to a card such as the condition, is it autographed, the rarity and print run, as well as the given athlete. Did the athlete just retire? Did the athlete just kill someone? Many things will affect the value of a card. And these are just the more substantial or long term factors. Many collectors that are short sighted and merely card investors will look to flip (buy and sell) cards of rookies and players daily. These collectors will try to sell you a $20 Beckett valued card for $50 just because the player had a triple double last night. Keep in mind this over inflation usually is for a rookie. I personally don’t buy into all this “hype trading”, but I can’t deny that yes many players were rookies once, and there is no perfect time or place to buy their rookie cards. If you DO believe a rookie is about to break out or blow up, then yes you may want to assess if the inflated rate that a seller is trying to sell is a fair price for you.
Ultimately, the most important thing to remember about the value of a sports card is that it is in tne end, a market value type of commodity. Meaning you can only follow what the value that the market is willing to pay. You can think your very precious rare card is worth 1 million dollars all you want, due to all the conditions of the given card, but ultimately the value of the card is the price that someone was willing to pay for the most recent one sold.
If you have a 1/1 card, then in the world of collecting it is true you do have sort of a “name your price” game going, but still you must then factor in what is still a “reasonable” and rational price of the card. Factor in the current market and economy as well. The most important factor in determining market value of a 1/1 card will be the athlete of the card. Collectable value of a 1/1 card is obviously very high as it is, but if you have only a mediocre athlete or someone that nobody cares about then you are holding a card that has high CV, but low MV/BV (market & beckett value) due to the limited amt of people wanting it. You can still try to target the few people that may really want this high collectable card of a mediocre athlete, but just remember the odds are not high.

There you have it. Hopefully I’ve remembered to cover most of the important topics, but if you have any questions or still anything that you are unsure about in the hobby of sports card collecting, please make sure you do your research and you can always send me an email. Thanks for reading.

Oscar Robertson

Oscar Palmer Robertson (born November 24, 1938), nicknamed “The Big O”, is an American retired National Basketball Association player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks. The 6 ft 5 in, 100 kg Robertson played at point guard and was a 12-time All-Star, 11-time member of the All-NBA Team, and one-time winner of the MVP award in 14 professional seasons. He is the only player in NBA history to average a triple-double for a season. He was a key player on the team which brought the Bucks their only NBA title in the 1970–71 NBA season. His playing career, especially during high school and college, was plagued by racism.

Career highlights and awards
NBA champion (1971)
NBA Most Valuable Player (1964)
12× NBA All-Star (1961–1972)
3× NBA All-Star Game MVP (1961, 1964, 1969)
9× All-NBA First Team (1961–1969)
2× All-NBA Second Team (1970, 1971)
NBA Rookie of the Year (1961)
6× NBA assists leader (1961, 1962, 1964–1966, 1969)
NBA Lifetime Achievement Award (2018)
NBA anniversary team (35th, 50th, 75th)
No. 14 retired by Sacramento Kings
No. 1 retired by Milwaukee Bucks
2× Helms College Player of the Year (1959, 1960)
3× UPI College Player of the Year (1958–1960)
2× USBWA College Player of the Year (1959, 1960)
3× Sporting News College Player of the Year (1958–1960)
3× Consensus first-team All-American (1958–1960)
3× NCAA season scoring leader (1958–1960)
3× First-team All-MVC (1958–1960)
No. 12 retired by Cincinnati Bearcats
Mr. Basketball USA (1956)
Career NBA statistics
Points 26,710 (25.7 ppg)
Rebounds 7,804 (7.5 rpg)
Assists 9,887 (9.5 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Basketball Hall of Fame as player
FIBA Hall of Fame as player
College Basketball Hall of Fame
Inducted in 2006

Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1960 Rome Team competition
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1959 Chicago Team competition

1991 Los Angeles Lakers season. Pristine pop 1

 

The highlight of the Los Angeles Lakers was Magic Johnson leading the Lakers to the NBA Finals, where they lost 1–4 to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. The Lakers would not return to the Finals until 2000. The season is generally considered the final season of the team’s successful, uptempo Showtime era.

The Lakers finished the regular season with a 58–24 record, but for the first time since the 1980–81 season, did not win their division. Johnson finished second behind Jordan in the voting for the NBA Most Valuable Player Award. Johnson was the league’s third-oldest point guard, and had grown more powerful and stronger than in his earlier years, but was also slower and less nimble. Mike Dunleavy was the new head coach, the offense used more half-court sets, and the team had a renewed emphasis on defense.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Lakers swept the Houston Rockets in three straight games, then defeated the 7th-seeded Golden State Warriors in five games in the semifinals. In the Western Conference Finals, they defeated the top-seeded and Pacific Division champion Portland Trail Blazers in six games to advance to the NBA Finals.

Game 5 of the NBA Finals was the last Finals game played at the Forum. It was also Magic’s last NBA game as he would retire later in November due to an HIV Virus. Magic would make a brief return to the Lakers midway through the 1995–96 NBA season. After losing to the Houston Rockets in that year’s playoffs, Magic retired again.

 

1952 Wheaties George Mikan

While Wheaties boxes are something that many collectors are familiar with, these cards released from 1951 and 1952 were actually hand-cut from the boxes themselves.  I am happy to have this in my Personal card collection.

George Lawrence Mikan Jr. (June 18, 1924 – June 1, 2005), nicknamed “Mr. Basketball”, was an American professional basketball player for the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League (NBL) and the Minneapolis Lakers of the NBL, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). Invariably playing with thick, round spectacles, the 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m), 245 lb (111 kg) Mikan is seen as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, as well as one of the pioneers of professional basketball, redefining it as a game of so-called big men with his prolific rebounding, shot blocking, and his talent to shoot over smaller defenders with his ambidextrous hook shot, the result of the eponymous Mikan Drill. He also utilized the underhanded free-throw shooting technique long before Rick Barry made it his signature shot.

Career highlights and awards
5× BAA/NBA champion (1949, 1950, 1952–1954)
2× NBL champion (1947, 1948)
NBL Most Valuable Player (1948)
4× NBA All-Star (1951–1954)
NBA All-Star Game MVP (1953)
6× All-BAA/NBA First Team (1949–1954)
2× All-NBL First Team (1947, 1948)
NBL scoring champion (1948)
3× NBA scoring champion (1949–1951)
NBA rebounding leader (1953)
Greatest Player of the First Half-Century (1950)
NBA 25th Anniversary Team (1970)
NBA 35th Anniversary Team (1980)
NBA 50 Greatest Players (1996)
No. 99 honored by Los Angeles Lakers
2× Helms Player of the Year (1944, 1945)
Sporting News Player of the Year (1945)
3× Consensus first-team All-American (1944–1946)
No. 99 retired by DePaul Blue Demons
Career NBL/BAA/NBA statistics
Points 11,764 (22.6 ppg) (NBL / BAA / NBA)
10,156 (23.1 ppg) (BAA / NBA)
Rebounds 4,167 (13.4 rpg) (NBA last five seasons)
Assists 1,245 (2.8 apg) (BAA / NBA)

1991 Hoops #84 Reggie Miller SGC 100 Pristine pop 1

 

Reginald Wayne “Reggie” Miller (born August 24, 1965) is a retired American professional basketball player who played his entire 18-year National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Indiana Pacers. Miller was known for his precision three-point shooting, especially in pressure situations and most notably against the New York Knicks, for which he earned the nickname “Knick Killer”. When he retired, he held the record for most career 3-point field goals made. He is currently second on the list behind Ray Allen. A five-time All-Star selection, Miller led the league in free throw accuracy five times and won a gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics.

The Pacers retired his No. 31 in 2006, and he was named to their 40th anniversary team in 2007.

Miller’s last game was on May 19, 2005, at Conseco Fieldhouse, when the Pacers lost 88–79 to the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, ending the series 4–2. In the game, Miller led the Pacers with 27 points, making 11 out of 16 field goals including four of eight three-pointers. When he was taken out with 15.7 seconds to play, the Indianapolis crowd gave him a final standing ovation, where there were many teary eyes. Then-Pistons coach (and former Pacers coach) Larry Brown called an additional timeout during which the Pistons players joined in the ovation, a moment which provided closure to Miller’s career and to a season that had been overshadowed by the brawl between the two teams. This won the 2005 Best Moment ESPY Award. Over his 18-year NBA career, Miller made over $105,000,000 in salary, playing in 1,389 games for the Pacers. His 18 seasons with a single franchise over an entire career was surpassed only by John Stockton’s 19 with the Utah Jazz. Reggie Miller is widely recognized as one of the greatest shooters in NBA history. Miller is one of only a handful of shooters to join the 50–40–90 club and has made 2,560 3-pointers in his career, which was an NBA record at the time of his retirement. His total has since been surpassed by Ray Allen.

Career highlights and awards
5× NBA All-Star (1990, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000)
3× All-NBA Third Team (1995, 1996, 1998)
50–40–90 club (1994)
J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award (2004)
USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year (2002)
Indiana Pacers all-time leading scorer
No. 31 retired by Indiana Pacers
Third-team All-American – UPI (1986)
2× First-team All-Pac-10 (1986, 1987)
Pac-12 Conference Hall of Honor
No. 31 retired by UCLA

1986 Fleer PSA 9 Kevin WIllis RC

Kevin Alvin Willis (born September 6, 1962) is a retired American professional basketball player mostly known for playing with the Atlanta Hawks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a 7-foot power forward/center. During the 2004–05 season, Willis was the oldest player in the league at age 42, and he would continue to be until his retirement at the conclusion of the 2006–07 season at the age of 44.

Willis holds career averages of 12.2 ppg, 8.4 rpg, and 0.9 apg while averaging 27 minutes per game in 21 NBA seasons. He shares the record for most seasons played in the NBA with Robert Parish and Kevin Garnett.

In 2007, Willis made three appearances on the Spike TV reality show, Pros vs Joes.

Willis ended his playing career after the 2007 season, returning to his clothing business, Willis & Walker. The Atlanta-based company, which specializes in custom wear for big and tall men, was founded in 1988 by Willis and former Michigan State teammate Ralph Walker.

Career highlights and awards
NBA champion (2003)
NBA All-Star (1992)
All-NBA Third team (1992)

1986 Fleer Bill Lambier Rookie PSA 9

 

William “Bill” Laimbeer, Jr. (born May 19, 1957) is an American retired National Basketball Association player who spent most of his career with the Detroit Pistons. Teaming with Hall of Fame backcourt guards Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars, Laimbeer won back to back NBA Championships in both 1989 and 1990. He is the current head coach of the WNBA’s New York Liberty. Playing at center, the 6’11” Laimbeer was a four-time NBA All-Star and integral part of the Pistons teams that won two championships. Initially raised in the Chicago, Illinois suburb of Clarendon Hills, Laimbeer attended Palos Verdes High School in Southern California and then the University of Notre Dame.

After his playing career, Laimbeer served as the head coach and general manager of the Detroit Shock in the WNBA from 2002 to 2009, coaching the team to three league championships, and New York Liberty from 2013 to 2014, and then was re-hired as head coach of the Liberty on January 8, 2015.

Bill Laimbeer and his Detroit teammates are the only players to have a playoff winning record against NBA legends Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan.

Altogether, Laimbeer spent 14 seasons in the NBA, 12 of them with Detroit. Laimbeer became the 19th player in league history to amass more than 10,000 points and 10,000 rebounds. Laimbeer was most effective off the defensive glass: from 1982 to 1990 no player in the league totaled more defensive rebounds. His streak of 685 consecutive games played (which ended due to suspension) is the fifth longest in league history. Laimbeer retired early in the 1993-94 season at age 36, and his jersey number (40) was eventually retired by the Pistons. He remains the franchise’s all-time leader in career rebounds.

Career highlights and awards
As player:

2× NBA champion (1989–1990)
4× NBA All-Star (1983–1985, 1987)
NBA rebounding leader (1986)
2× NBA Shooting Stars champion (2007, 2009)
No. 40 retired by Detroit Pistons
As coach:

3× WNBA champion (2003, 2006, 2008)
2× WNBA Coach of the Year (2003, 2015)

1986 Fleer #121 Dominique Wilkins Rookie PSA 7

 

Jacques Dominique Wilkins (born 12 January 1960) is a retired American professional basketball player who primarily played for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Wilkins was a nine-time NBA All-Star, and one of the best dunkers in NBA history, earning the nickname The Human Highlight Film. In 2006, Wilkins was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

A nine-time NBA All-Star and the winner of two NBA slam dunk contests, Wilkins registered 26,668 points and 7,169 rebounds in his NBA career. As of 2014, he ranks 12th on the NBA scoring list.

Wilkins’s nickname was the “The Human Highlight Film” for his athletic ability and highlight reel dunks. His trademark dunk was a powerful one- or two-handed windmill, dunks he used to capture the slam dunk contest titles in 1985 and 1990. As a basketball player he was known as an acrobatic scorer, somewhat of a gunner, though an outstanding finisher and one of the greatest dunkers in NBA history.

His #21 jersey was retired by the Hawks on January 13, 2001. He is one of four players whose jerseys have been retired by the Hawks.

Career highlights and awards
9× NBA All Star (1986–1994)
All-NBA First Team (1986)
4× All-NBA Second Team (1987–1988, 1991, 1993)
2× All-NBA Third Team (1989, 1994)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (1983)
NBA scoring champion (1986)
2× NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion (1985, 1990)
3× 2013–2015)
Atlanta Hawks all-time leading scorer
No. 21 retired by Atlanta Hawks
Euroleague champion (1996)
Euroleague Final Four MVP (1996)
Greek Cup champion (1996)
Greek Cup MVP (1996)
Second-team All-American – NABC, UPI (1982)
Third-team All-American – AP (1982)
SEC Player of the Year (1981)

1986 Fleer #27 Joe Dumars Rookie HOF Pistons PSA 8

 

Joe Dumars III (born May 24, 1963) is a retired American basketball player in the National Basketball Association. At 6’3″ (190 cm) Dumars could play either shooting guard or point guard on offense and was a highly effective defender. He played for the Detroit Pistons from 1985 until 1999. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Dumars and Isiah Thomas combined to form one of the best backcourts in NBA history. Initially a shooting guard, Dumars moved to point guard following Thomas’ retirement in 1994, sharing ball-handling duties with Grant Hill. Dumars was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. Dumars served as the President of Basketball Operations for the Detroit Pistons from 2000 to 2014.

During his career, he was selected to the All-Star team six times, and to the All-Defensive first team four times. In 14 seasons, all with the Pistons, Dumars scored 16,401 points, handed out 4,612 assists, grabbed 2,203 rebounds and recorded 902 steals.

Although he was a member of the famed “Bad Boys” teams known for their aggressive play and demeanor, he became personally known for his quiet and upstanding behavior. He was the first recipient of the NBA Sportsmanship Award which has been named the Joe Dumars Trophy.

His number 4 jersey was retired by the Pistons in March 2000. He has the distinction as being the only Pistons player to ever wear this number.

He played for the US national team in the 1994 FIBA World Championship, winning the gold medal.

Career highlights and awards
2× NBA champion (1989–1990)
NBA Finals MVP (1989)
6× NBA All-Star (1990–1993, 1995, 1997)
All-NBA Second Team (1993)
2× All-NBA Third Team (1990–1991)
4× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1989–1990, 1992–1993)
NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1991)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (1986)
J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award (1994)
NBA Sportsmanship Award (1996)
No. 4 retired by Detroit Pistons
Southland Player of the Year (1985)
As Executive:

NBA champion (2004)
NBA Executive of the Year (2003)

1971 Topps #152 Larry Brown Rookie Rockets PSA 8

Lawrence Harvey “Larry” Brown (born September 14, 1940) is an American basketball coach, who is currently the head coach at Southern Methodist University. He is the only coach in basketball history to win both an NCAA national championship (Kansas, 1988) and an NBA title (Pistons, 2004). He has a 1,275-965 lifetime professional coaching record in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) and is the only coach in NBA history to lead eight different teams to the playoffs. He is also the only person ever to coach two NBA franchises in the same season (Spurs and Clippers during the 1991-92 NBA season). Before coaching, Brown played collegiately at the University of North Carolina and professionally in the ABA. He has been a basketball coach since 1972.

Brown was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach on September 27, 2002. Although widely considered one of the greatest coaches in basketball history, he has developed a reputation for constantly looking for better coaching opportunities and frequently switching teams or programs before the expiration of his contract.

Career highlights and awards
As player:

ABA champion (1969)
ABA All-Star MVP (1968)
3× ABA All-Star (1968–1970)
All-ABA Second Team (1968)
As coach:

NBA champion (2004)
NBA Coach of the Year (2001)
2× NBA All-Star Game head coach (1977, 2001)
NCAA champion (1988)
Naismith College Coach of the Year (1988)
3× ABA Coach of the Year (1973, 1975–1976)

1957 Topps #26 Gene Shue Rookie Pistons PSA 7

Eugene William “Gene” Shue (born December 18, 1931- April 5, 2022) is a retired American professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). During his playing days he was a 6’2″ (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) guard.

Shue then served 23 years as a head coach in the league. As the Baltimore Bullets coach he guided them to the NBA Finals in 1971 but got swept by the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar/Oscar Robertson-led Milwaukee Bucks. He guided the Philadelphia 76ers, which had the worst record in NBA history in 1973, to the 1977 NBA Finals, but eventually lost to the Bill Walton-led Portland Trail Blazers. Shue finished his coaching career with a regular season record of 784-861 while going 30-47 in the playoffs. His 784 wins are the 16th most in NBA history and his 861 losses are the sixth most in NBA history.[2] Gene Shue was twice named NBA Coach of the Year.

Shue, who now lives in Marina del Rey, California, currently is a scout for the 76ers.

Career highlights and awards
5× NBA All-Star (1958–1962)
All-NBA First Team (1960)
All-NBA Second Team (1961)
First-team All-ACC (1954)
As coach:

2× NBA Coach of the Year (1969, 1982)

1957 Topps #51 Frank Selvy Rookie Hawks PSA 7

Franklin Delano “Frank” Selvy (born November 9, 1932) is a former NBA basketball player who is best known for holding the record for the most points in a Division I college basketball game with 100 points. Born in Corbin, Kentucky, Selvy was an All-State basketball player at Corbin High School and was a teammate of College Football Hall of Fame inductee Roy Kidd. Selvy was drafted first overall by the Baltimore Bullets in the 1954 NBA Draft. He went on to play nine seasons in the National Basketball Association during the late 1950s and early 1960s, interrupted by a three-year stint in the U.S. Army. As a professional, Selvy is mostly known for his time with the Los Angeles Lakers, teaming with Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. He was twice an NBA All-Star.

Career highlights and awards
2× NBA All-Star (1955, 1962)
Consensus first-team All-American (1954)
Consensus second-team All-American (1953)
2x NCAA Division I scoring leader (1953, 1954)
2× SoCon Player of the Year (1953, 1954)

1957 Topps #66 Jack McMahon Short Print Hawks PSA 5

John Joseph “Jack” McMahon (December 3, 1928 – June 11, 1989) was a professional basketball player and coach. A 6’1″ guard from St. John’s University, McMahon was selected by the Rochester Royals in the 1952 NBA Draft. He played eight seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), for Rochester and the St. Louis Hawks.

McMahon became a successful coach in the American Basketball League,[1] the NBA and the American Basketball Association (ABA), with eleven seasons as a head coach in the three leagues. His first coaching stint was with the Kansas City Steers of the ABL (1961–62 season). The following season he began coaching in the NBA with the Chicago Zephyrs in the 1962–63 season. He would also coach the Cincinnati Royals, the San Diego Rockets, and the ABA’s Pittsburgh Condors.

Career highlights and awards
NBA champion (1958)

1957 Topps #13 Dolph Schayes Rookie HOF Nationals PSA 6

 

Adolph “Dolph” Schayes (born May 19, 1928) is a retired American professional basketball player and former coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A top scorer and rebounder, he was a member of the 1955 NBA champion Syracuse Nationals and a 12-time All-Star.

Schayes played his entire Hall of Fame career with the Nationals and their successor, the Philadelphia 76ers, from 1948 to 1964. In his 16-year career, he led the team into the post-season 15 times.

When the Nationals moved to Philadelphia in 1963, Schayes was named player-coach of the Philadelphia 76ers. He retired as a player after the season, but stayed on as coach for three more seasons. He was named NBA Coach of the Year in 1966. From 1966–70, he was the supervisor of NBA referees. He was named the first coach of the Buffalo Braves in 1970, but resigned one game into his second season.

George Gervin

George Gervin (born April 27, 1952), nicknamed “The Iceman”, is an American retired professional basketball player who played in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Virginia Squires, San Antonio Spurs, and Chicago Bulls. Gervin averaged at least 14 points per game in all 14 of his ABA and NBA seasons, and finished with an NBA career average of 26.2 points per game. Gervin is widely regarded to be one of the greatest shooting guards in NBA history.

Gervin initially played for the Pontiac (Michigan) Chaparrals of the Eastern Basketball Association, where he was spotted by Johnny Kerr, a scout for the Virginia Squires of the ABA. Kerr signed Gervin to the Squires for a $40,000 a year contract.

Gervin’s time in Virginia would be short-lived, however. The Squires’ finances had never been stable, and they had been forced to start trading their best players to get enough money to stay alive. In the space of only four months, they traded Julius Erving and Swen Nater for cash and/or draft picks. During the 1974 ABA All-Star Weekend, rumors abounded that the Squires were in talks about dealing Gervin for cash. The rumors turned out to be true; on January 30 Gervin was sold to the Spurs for $228,000. The ABA tried to block the trade, claiming that by trading their last legitimate star, the Squires were holding a fire sale. However, a court sided with the Spurs. Within two years, the Squires were no more.

With Gervin as the centerpiece, the Spurs transformed from a primarily defense-oriented team into an exciting fast-breaking team that played what coach Bob Bass called “schoolyard basketball”. Although the Spurs never won an ABA playoff series during Gervin’s first three years there, their high-powered offense made them very attractive to the NBA, and the Spurs joined the more established league as part of the 1976 ABA–NBA merger.

Gervin’s first NBA scoring crown came in 1978, when he narrowly edged David Thompson for the scoring title by seven hundredths of a point (27.22 to 27.15). Although Thompson came up with a memorable performance for the last game of the regular season, scoring 73 points, Gervin maintained his slight lead by scoring 63 points (including a then NBA record 33 points in the second quarter) in a loss in his last game of the season. With the scoring crown in hand, he sat out some of the third, and all of the fourth quarter.

Gervin went on to lead the NBA in scoring average three years in a row from 1978 to 1980 (with a high of 33.1 points per game in 1979-80), and again in 1982. Prior to Michael Jordan, Gervin had the most scoring titles of any guard in league history. In 1981, while sitting out three games due to injury, Gervin’s replacement, Ron Brewer, averaged over 30 ppg. When Gervin returned, he scored 40+ points. When asked if he was sending a message, Gervin said, “Just the way the Lord planned it” and added, “Ice be cool” (with Ron Brewer). In 1982, the Spurs drafted high scoring guards Oliver Robinson of UAB and Tony Grier from South Florida to take some offensive pressure off Gervin.

When he left the NBA, Gervin played for several years in Europe: in Italy for Banco Roma during the 1986-87 season where he averaged 26.1 points per game, and in the Spanish National Basketball League for TDK Manresa team (he was 38 years old at the time). At this point in his career he had lost some of his quickness, but his scoring instinct remained; he averaged 25.5 points, 5 rebounds and 1.2 assists, and in his last match he scored 31 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to keep Manresa in the first Spanish division.

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Career highlights and awards
9× NBA All-Star (1977–1985)
NBA All-Star Game MVP (1980)
5× All-NBA First Team (1978–1982)
2× All-NBA Second Team (1977, 1983)
4× NBA scoring champion (1978–1980, 1982)
3× ABA All-Star (1974–1976)
2× All-ABA Second Team (1975, 1976)
ABA All-Rookie First Team (1973)
No. 44 retired by San Antonio Spurs
NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
ABA All-Time Team
Career NBA and ABA statistics
Points 26,595 (25.1 ppg)
Rebounds 5,602 (5.3 rpg)
Assists 2,798 (2.6 apg)

 

Jerry Buss (-February 18, 2013)

Gerald Hatten “Jerry” Buss (January 27, 1933 – February 18, 2013) was an American businessman, investor, chemist, and philanthropist. He was the majority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers professional basketball team in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning 10 league championships that were highlighted by the team’s Showtime era during the 1980s. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor. Buss also owned other professional sports franchises in Southern California.

Buss became an owner of the Los Angeles Strings in World Team Tennis. He purchased the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA along with the Los Angeles Kings hockey team of the NHL, The Forum, and a large ranch from Jack Kent Cooke in 1979. Buss later sold the Kings, retaining ownership of the Lakers and The Forum. He then reached a major advertising agreement with Great Western Bank for the naming rights to The Forum, resulting in the official name of the building being changed to the Great Western Forum.

Later, when the WNBA was formed in 1996, Buss took charge of operating that league’s Los Angeles franchise, the Los Angeles Sparks. Eventually, all three teams moved into a more modern arena in downtown Los Angeles, the Staples Center, which opened in 1999. As part of the deal to move the Lakers into Staples Center, Buss sold the Great Western Forum (which was later reverted to its original name).

The Lakers were very successful under Buss’ ownership, winning ten NBA championships with such players as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, and with coaches Pat Riley and Phil Jackson. He inspired the Lakers’ Showtime era with his vision that basketball games must be entertaining. The Sparks also experienced their share of success, winning two WNBA championships with such players as Lisa Leslie, Tamecka Dixon and DeLisha Milton-Jones.

In 2002, when the WNBA was restructured to give its teams individual owners, Buss took ownership of the Sparks. He sold the team in 2006. Buss also owned the Los Angeles Lazers of the Major Indoor Soccer League. The Lazers also played in The Forum. The team folded in 1989 and the league folded three years later.

His contributions to basketball were recognized by his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.

Kevin Durant

Kevin Wayne Durant (born September 29, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Durant has won an NBA Most Valuable Player Award, four NBA scoring titles, the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, and an Olympic gold medal. He has also been selected to six All-NBA teams and seven All-Star teams.

Durant was a heavily recruited high school prospect. He played one season of college basketball for the University of Texas, where he won numerous year-end awards and became the first ever freshman to be named Naismith College Player of the Year. In the 2007 NBA draft, he was selected with the second overall pick by the Seattle SuperSonics. In his first career game, he registered 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals against the Denver Nuggets. On November 16, he made the first game-winning shot of his career in a game against the Atlanta Hawks. At the conclusion of the season, he was named the NBA Rookie of the Year behind averages of 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game. He joined Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James as the only teenagers in league history to average at least 20 points per game over an entire season. After his rookie season, the team relocated to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder.

On February 19 of the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season, Durant recorded his first career 50 point game, scoring 51 points against the Denver Nuggets. At the All-Star Game, he scored 36 points and was awarded his first NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award. He finished the year with a scoring average of 28 points per game, representing his third straight scoring title. Behind his play, the Thunder won 47 games and entered the playoffs as the Western Conference’s second seed. In Game 1 of the first round against the Mavericks, Durant hit a game-winner with 1.5 seconds remaining. Oklahoma City would go on to defeat Dallas, the Lakers, and the San Antonio Spurs before losing to the Miami Heat in the Finals. For the series, Durant led all players with 30.6 points per game, doing so on a 54.8 shooting rate.

With a scoring average of 28.1 points per game to finish the 2012–13 season, Durant failed to defend his scoring title; however, with a 51 percent shooting rate, a 41.6 percent three point shooting rate, and a 90.5 free throw shooting rate, he became the youngest player in NBA history to join the 50–40–90 club. Finishing the year with a 60–22 record, Oklahoma City earned the first seed in the Western Conference. In the first round of the playoffs against the Houston Rockets, Russell Westbrook tore his meniscus, forcing him to miss the remainder of the postseason. Without Westbrook, Durant was given more responsibility, averaging a career-high 30.8 points per game throughout the playoffs, but Oklahoma City were eventually eliminated in the second round by the Memphis Grizzlies.

Durant helped lead Oklahoma City to the 2012 NBA Finals, losing to the Miami Heat in five games. He played nine seasons for the Thunder organization before joining the Warriors in 2016.

On July 4, 2016, Durant announced his intentions to sign with the Golden State Warriors in a Players’ Tribune piece titled “My Next Chapter.” The move was received negatively by the public and NBA analysts, with many comparing the move to LeBron James’s 2010 off-season departure from the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat. On July 7, he officially signed with the Warriors on a two-year, $54.3 million contract with a player option after the first year.

Career highlights and awards
2× NBA champion (2017, 2018)
2× NBA Finals MVP (2017, 2018)
NBA Most Valuable Player (2014)
11× NBA All-Star (2010–2019, 2021)
2× NBA All-Star Game MVP (2012, 2019)
6× All-NBA First Team (2010–2014, 2018)
3× All-NBA Second Team (2016, 2017, 2019)
NBA Rookie of the Year (2008)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (2008)
4× NBA scoring champion (2010–2012, 2014)
50–40–90 club (2013)
NBA 75th Anniversary Team
Consensus national college player of the year (2007)
Consensus first-team All-American (2007)
Big 12 Player of the Year (2007)
No. 35 retired by Texas Longhorns
FIBA World Championship MVP (2010)
Summer Olympics MVP (2020)
2× USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year (2010, 2016)
McDonald’s All-American Game MVP (2006)
First-team Parade All-American (2006)
Second-team Parade All-American (2005)

Damian Lillard

Damian Lamonte Ollie Lillard (born July 15, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lillard is a point guard from Oakland, California who played collegiately for Weber State University. After being selected by Portland with the sixth overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft, he won the NBA Rookie of the Year by unanimous decision. He has been named an NBA All-Star twice.

Lillard was drafted with the sixth overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers. On July 13, 2012, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Trail Blazers[12] and went on to earn co-MVP honors in the NBA Summer League with averages of 26.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists. On October 31, 2012, in his NBA debut against the Los Angeles Lakers, Lillard recorded 23 points and 11 assists. He joined Oscar Robertson and Isiah Thomas as the only players in NBA history with at least 20 points and 10 assists in their NBA debuts.

During NBA All-Star Weekend, he participated in the Rising Stars Challenge and won the Taco Bell Skills Challenge. On April 10, 2013, Lillard scored a season-high 38 points in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Later, he was named the Western Conference Rookie of the Month for games played in April and swept the Western Conference Rookie of the Month awards for the entire 2012–2013 season.

Lillard averaged 19.0 points, 6.5 assists, and 3.1 rebounds on the year and set an NBA rookie record for three-point field goals made with 185. He joined Oscar Robertson and Allen Iverson as the only rookies in NBA history to record 1,500 points and 500 assists in a season, and became just one of two Trail Blazers to ever finish with 1,500 points and 500 assists in a season (Clyde Drexler being the other). He was named the unanimous Rookie of the Year and became just the fourth rookie to win the award unanimously joining Blake Griffin (2011), David Robinson (1990), and Ralph Sampson (1984).

On April 20, 2014, in a game one victory over Houston, Lillard recorded 31 points, 5 assists, and 1 turnover. He became the first player in NBA history to register 30+ points with only one turnover in their playoff debut. On May 2, 2014, in game six of the series, Lillard hit a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer to clinch the series and send the Trail Blazers to the second round. Portland won the series against Houston 4-2 and would make their first second-round appearance since 2000. Lillard joined Ralph Sampson, Michael Jordan, and John Stockton as the only players in NBA history to make a game-winning buzzer beater to clinch a playoff series.

Portland would go on to lose to the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs in the conference semi-finals. Lillard averaged 22.9 points, 6.5 assists and 5.1 rebounds for the playoffs. On June 4, 2014, he was named to the 2014 All-NBA third team for the first time in his career.

On February 8, 2015, Lillard was selected as the replacement for the injured Blake Griffin in the 2015 NBA All-Star Game. On March 4, 2015, Lillard recorded a career-high 18 rebounds in a 98-93 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Blazers finished the season with a record of 51-31, which was good for the fourth seed in the Western Conference. They faced the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs where they lost the series in five games.

On July 9, 2015, Lillard signed a five-year, $120 million contract extension with the Trail Blazers.On October 28, 2015, Lillard recorded 21 points and 11 assists in a season-opening win over the New Orleans Pelicans. His one three-pointer made during the game was his 600th career three-point field goal, making him the fastest NBA player in history to reach the mark at 247 games. In addition, Lillard’s 11 assists gave him 1,500 for his career, making him the fastest Trail Blazer to reach the milestone since Terry Porter (1987–88 season, 215 games). In the following game on October 30 against the Phoenix Suns, Lillard became the fastest player to reach 5,000 points and 1,500 assists (248 games) since Derrick Rose (240 games). On January 18, in a win over the Washington Wizards, he hit his 2,000th NBA field goal, one of only eight players to reach that mark since he entered the league in 2012–13. On January 26, 2016 in a win over the Sacramento Kings, Lillard recorded 15 points and 13 assists for his 10th double-double of the season, a career-high.

 

Career highlights and awards
2× NBA All-Star (2014, 2015)
All-NBA Third Team (2014)
NBA Rookie of the Year (2013)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (2013)
2× NBA Skills Challenge champion (2013, 2014)
Third-team All-American – AP, NABC (2012)
2× Big Sky Player of the Year (2010, 2012)

 

 

Julius Erving

Julius Winfield Erving II (born February 22, 1950), commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is an American retired basketball player who helped popularize a modern style of play that emphasizes leaping and playing above the rim. Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Association (ABA) and was the best-known player in that league when it merged with the National Basketball Association (NBA) after the 1975–76 season.

Erving won three championships, four Most Valuable Player Awards, and three scoring titles with the ABA’s Virginia Squires and New York Nets (now the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets) and the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers. He is the sixth-highest scorer in ABA/NBA history with 30,026 points (NBA and ABA combined). He was well known for slam dunking from the free throw line in slam dunk contests and was the only player voted Most Valuable Player in both the American Basketball Association and the National Basketball Association.

Many consider him one of the most talented players in the history of the NBA; he is widely acknowledged as one of the game’s best dunkers. While Connie Hawkins, “Jumping” Johnny Green, Elgin Baylor, Jim Pollard and Gus Johnson performed spectacular dunks before Erving’s time, “Dr. J” brought the practice into the mainstream. His signature dunk was the “slam” dunk, since incorporated into the vernacular and basic skill set of the game in the same manner as the “crossover” dribble and the “no look” pass. Before Julius Erving, dunking was a practice most commonly used by the big men (usually standing close to the hoop) to show their brutal strength which was seen as style over substance, even unsportsmanlike, by many purists of the game. However, the way Erving utilized the dunk more as a high-percentage shot made at the end of maneuvers generally starting well away from the basket and not necessarily a “show of force” helped to make the shot an acceptable strategy, especially in trying to avoid a blocked shot. Although the slam dunk is still widely used as a show of power, a method of intimidation and a way to fire up a team (and spectators), Dr. J demonstrated that there can be great artistry, and almost balletic style, to slamming the ball into the hoop, particularly after a launch several feet from that target.

Erving was inducted in 1993 into the Basketball Hall of Fame and was also named to the NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time team. In 1994, Erving was named by Sports Illustrated as one of the 40 most important athletes of all time. In 2004, he was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame.

Career highlights and awards
NBA champion (1983)
2× ABA champion (1974, 1976)
2× ABA Playoffs MVP (1974, 1976)
NBA Most Valuable Player (1981)
3× ABA Most Valuable Player (1974–1976)
11× NBA All-Star (1977–1987)
5× ABA All-Star (1972–1976)
2× NBA All-Star Game MVP (1977, 1983)
5× All-NBA First Team (1978, 1980–1983)
2× All-NBA Second Team (1977, 1984)
4× All-ABA First Team (1973–1976)
All-ABA Second Team (1972)
ABA All-Defensive First Team (1976)
ABA All-Rookie First Team (1972)
ABA Slam Dunk Champion (1976)
J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award (1983)
No. 32 retired by Brooklyn Nets
No. 6 retired by Philadelphia 76ers
ABA All-Time Team
NBA 35th Anniversary Team
NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
Third-team All-American – NABC, UPI (1971)
No. 32 retired by UMass

Career NBA statistics
Points 18,364 (22.0 ppg)
Rebounds 5,601 (6.7 rpg)
Assists 3,224 (3.9 apg)

 

 

Jerry West

 

Jerry Alan West (born May 28, 1938) is an American retired basketball player who played his entire professional career for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His nicknames include “Mr. Clutch”, for his ability to make a big play in a clutch situation, such as his famous buzzer-beating 60-foot shot that tied Game 3 of the 1970 NBA Finals against the New York Knicks; “The Logo”, in reference to his silhouette being incorporated into the NBA logo; “Mr. Outside”, in reference to his perimeter play with the Los Angeles Lakers; and “Zeke from Cabin Creek”, for the creek near his birthplace of Chelyan, West Virginia. Playing the small forward position early in his career, West was a standout at East Bank High School and at West Virginia University, leading the Mountaineers to the 1959 NCAA championship game, earning the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player honor despite the loss. He then embarked on a 14-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, and was the co-captain of the 1960 U.S. Olympic gold medal team in Rome, a squad that would be inducted as a unit into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.

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 All-Star MVP in 1972, the same year that he won the only title of his career. West holds the NBA record for the highest points per game average in a playoff series with 46.3. He was also a member of the first five NBA All-Defensive Teams (one second, followed by four firsts), 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 be named Finals MVP 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 six 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, played college basketball for the West Virginia Mountaineers team.

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As player:

NBA champion (1972)
NBA Finals MVP (1969)
14× NBA All-Star (1961–1974)
NBA All-Star Game MVP (1972)
10× All-NBA First Team (1962–1967, 1970–1973)
2× All-NBA Second Team (1968, 1969)
4× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1970–1973)
NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1969)
NBA scoring champion (1970)
NBA assists leader (1972)
NBA 35th Anniversary Team
NBA 50th Anniversary Team
No. 44 retired by Los Angeles Lakers
NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player (1959)
2× Consensus first-team All-American (1959, 1960)
Third-team All-American – AP, UPI (1958)
2× SoCon Player of the Year (1959, 1960)
As executive:

7× NBA champion (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2015)
2× NBA Executive of the Year (1995, 2004)
Career statistics
Points 25,192 (27.0 ppg)
Rebounds 5,366 (5.8 rpg)
Assists 6,238 (6.7 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Basketball Hall of Fame as player
College Basketball Hall of Fame
Inducted in 2006

Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1960 Rome Team competition
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1959 Chicago Team competition

 

 

Kawhi Leonard

Kawhi Anthony Leonard (born June 29, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played two seasons of college basketball for San Diego State University.

Leonard was selected with the 15th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Indiana Pacers but was traded that night to the San Antonio Spurs along with the rights to Erazem Lorbek and Davis Bertans in exchange for George Hill. On December 10, 2011, following the conclusion of the NBA lockout, he signed a multi-year deal with the Spurs.

Leonard and teammate Tiago Splitter were selected to play in the 2012 Rising Stars Challenge as members of Team Chuck. Although he suited for the event, he did not play due to a calf strain. After starter Richard Jefferson was traded to the Golden State Warriors for Stephen Jackson, Leonard was promoted to the starting small forward position while Jackson served as his backup.

At season’s end, Leonard placed fourth in Rookie of the Year voting and was named to the 2012 All-Rookie first team. Leonard was selected to play for the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge where he was once again drafted to Team Chuck. He recorded 20 points and 7 rebounds as Team Chuck defeated Team Shaq for the second straight year 163–135.

On April 6, 2014, Leonard scored a season-high 26 points in the Spurs’ 112–92 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. He finished the season averaging 12.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.7 steals while shooting 52.2% from the field. Leonard helped the Spurs to a 62–20 record – the number one seed in the NBA – and was named to the NBA All-Defensive second team for the first time.

The Spurs and the Miami Heat met once again in the NBA Finals. On June 10, 2014, in Game 3 of the series, Leonard scored a 29 points in a 111–92 victory. San Antonio went on to win the series 4–1. Leonard averaged 17.8 points on 61% shooting and was named NBA Finals MVP. He was the third-youngest player to win the award (22 years and 351 days), behind only Magic Johnson—who won in both 1980 (20 years and 278 days) and 1982 (22 years and 298 days). Leonard was also only the sixth player, and the first since Chauncey Billups in 2004, to win Finals MVP in a season in which they were not an All-Star. On April 23, Leonard was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, joining Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon as the only players to win both NBA Defensive Player of the Year and NBA Finals MVP. The next day, he scored a playoff career-high 32 points in a Game 3 first-round playoff series victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Spurs went on to lose the series in seven games.

On July 16, 2015, Leonard re-signed with the Spurs to a five-year, $90 million contract. On October 28, he scored a career-high 32 points in a 112–106 season opening loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. On December 3, he scored 27 points and made a career-high seven three-pointers in a 103–83 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. On January 21, 2016, he was named as a starter to the Western Conference team for the 2016 All-Star Game, earning his first All-Star selection and became the sixth Spurs player in franchise history to be selected as an All-Star starter, joining George Gervin, Larry Kenon, Alvin Robertson, David Robinson and Tim Duncan.

On March 23, 2016, Leonard matched his career high with 32 points in a 112–88 win over the Miami Heat, helping the Spurs extend their franchise-record home winning streak to 45 games (dating to 2014–15 season)

 

Career highlights and awards
NBA champion (2014)
NBA Finals MVP (2014)
NBA Defensive Player of the Year (2015)
NBA All-Defensive First Team (2015)
NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2014)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (2012)
Consensus second-team All-American (2011)
2× First-team All-MWC (2010–2011)
California Mr. Basketball (2009)

 

 

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis Antetokounmpo (born December 6, 1994) is a Greek professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Antetokounmpo’s country of origin, in addition to his size, speed, strength, and ball-handling skills have earned him the nickname “Greek Freak”.

On April 28, 2013, it was announced that Antetokounmpo was entering his name into the 2013 NBA draft, as an early entrant. He fulfilled his draft projections as a first round pick by being selected 15th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks. On July 30, 2013, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Bucks. On May 22, 2014, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie second team for the 2013–14 season.

On February 15, 2018, he recorded his first triple-double of the season with 36 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists in a 134–123 loss to the Denver Nuggets. It was his ninth career triple-double, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most in Bucks history.

Antetokounmpo won back-to-back NBA Most Valuable Player Awards in 2019 and 2020, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James as the only players in NBA history to win two MVPs before turning 26. Along with his MVP award, he was also named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2020, becoming only the third player after Michael Jordan (1988) and Hakeem Olajuwon (1994) to win both awards in the same season. In 2021, Antetokounmpo helped lead the Bucks to their first NBA championship since 1971, and was named Finals MVP by unanimous vote.

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Career highlights and awards
NBA champion (2021)
NBA Finals MVP (2021)
2× NBA Most Valuable Player (2019, 2020)
6× NBA All-Star (2017–2022)
NBA All-Star Game MVP (2021)
4× All-NBA First Team (2019–2022)
2× All-NBA Second Team (2017, 2018)
NBA Defensive Player of the Year (2020)
4× NBA All-Defensive First Team (2019–2022)
NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2017)
NBA Most Improved Player (2017)
NBA All-Rookie Second Team (2014)
NBA 75th Anniversary Team
FIBA EuroBasket Top Scorer (2022)
Euroscar Player of the Year (2018)

Russell Westbrook

Russell Westbrook Jr. (born November 12, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Westbrook played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins and was selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics who then relocated to Oklahoma City six days later.

Westbrook was selected 4th overall in the 2008 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics (later known as the Oklahoma City Thunder due to sale of team and relocation). He signed with the team on July 5, 2008. On March 2, 2009 Westbrook recorded his first career triple double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. He was the first rookie since Chris Paul and the third rookie in Sonics/Thunder franchise history (Art Harris and Gary Payton) to record a triple-double.

Westbrook averaged 15.3 points, 5.3 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.3 steals on the season. He finished fourth in the 2008–09 NBA Rookie of the Year voting behind Rookie of the Year winner Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls), O. J. Mayo (Memphis Grizzlies) and Brook Lopez (New Jersey Nets). He was named to the NBA’s All-Rookie First Team.

On November 26, 2010, Westbrook scored a then-career-high 43 points against the Indiana Pacers. On December 1, 2010, he scored 38 points with 9 assists and achieved a new career-high of 15 rebounds in a triple-overtime win over the New Jersey Nets. Westbrook was selected by the NBA head coaches to be a Western Conference reserve for the 2011 NBA All-Star Game.

In the 2011-12 season, Westbrook was again selected by the coaches to participate in the 2012 NBA All-Star Game. On March 23, 2012, he scored a career-high 45 points in a 149–140 double overtime win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. He averaged 23.6 points, 5.5 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.7 steals for the lockout-shortened season and was voted to the All-NBA Second Team for the second year in a row.

Prior to the start of the 2013–14 season, Westbrook had a second surgery on his right knee, which set back his return to basketball. On March 4, 2014, Westbrook recorded his second triple-double of the season. He recorded 13 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds, in just 20 minutes in a 125–92 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

After tying a career-high 45 points on February 4, 2015 in a 102–91 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, Westbrook broke that mark to score a new career-high of 48 points two days later, this time in a 113–116 loss to the Pelicans. After being injured the previous year, Westbrook returned to the All-Star game in 2015. He tallied 41 points, and was named the All-Star MVP. He scored 27 points in 11 minutes in the first half, setting an All-Star record for points in a half, and finished one point shy of the All-Star game record set by Wilt Chamberlain (42) in 1962. On February 22, Westbrook recorded 21 points and tied a career-high 17 assists in a 119–94 win over the Denver Nuggets. Two days later, he recorded 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in a 105–92 win over the Indiana Pacers. In doing so he claimed his third triple-double of the season and 11th of his career despite resting for the entire fourth quarter. On February 26, Westbrook scored 39 points in his 12th career triple-double (14 rebounds and 11 assists) but missed what would have been the game-tying layup with 5.7 seconds left in overtime as the Phoenix Suns defeated the Thunder 117–113 to snap the Thunder’s seven-game winning streak.

On October 28, 2015, Westbrook opened the Thunder’s 2015–16 season with a game-high 33 points and 10 assists in a 112–106 win over the San Antonio Spurs. Two days later, in a double-overtime win over the Orlando Magic, Westbrook and Kevin Durant became the first pair of teammates to each score at least 40 points in a single game since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen accomplished the feat in 1996. Westbrook had 48 and Durant had 43 as the Thunder defeated the Magic 139–136. On November 10, Westbrook recorded his first triple-double of the season (20th of career) with 22 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds in a 125–101 win over the Washington Wizards. Three days later, he recorded his second straight triple-double, recording 21 points, a career-high 17 rebounds and 11 assists in a 102–85 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. On December 6, he recorded his third triple-double of the season with 19 points, 10 assists and 11 rebounds in a 98–95 win over the Sacramento Kings.

Following the off-season departure of Kevin Durant, trade speculation began swirling around Westbrook, with his contract set to expire in 2017. The Thunder were determined to keep Westbrook and held off all trade talks in order to work out an extension.[63] On August 4, 2016, Westbrook signed a three-year, $85.7 million contract extension with the Thunder. In the Thunder’s second game of 2016–17 on October 28, Westbrook recorded his 38th career regular-season triple-double with 51 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in a 113–110 overtime win over the Phoenix Suns, marking the first 50-point triple-double since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had one in 1975. Westbrook also took a career-high 44 shots. Two days later, he recorded 33 points, 12 rebounds and 16 assists in a 113–96 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, joining Robertson, Magic Johnson, and Jerry Lucas as the only players in NBA history with two triple-doubles in the first three games of a season. On November 30, he recorded his fourth straight triple-double with 35 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists in a 126–115 overtime win over the Washington Wizards, becoming just the second player in NBA history to average a triple-double heading into December (joining Robertson). He extended that streak to seven straight on December 9 with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 102–99 loss to the Houston Rockets—the longest triple-double streak since Michael Jordan had seven straight in 1989.

Westbrook missed the 2018 preseason and the first two regular-season games after having a procedure in September 2018 to deal with inflammation in his right knee. In his season debut for the Thunder on October 21, Westbrook had 32 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in 35 minutes in a 131–120 loss to the Sacramento Kings. On November 19, he returned to the line-up after missing five games with a left ankle sprain and had 29 points and 13 assists in a 117–113 loss to the Kings. On November 21, he recorded his first triple-double of the season with 11 points, 13 assists, 11 rebounds in a 123–95 win over the Golden State Warriors. On November 28, he recorded his third triple-double of the season with 23 points, 19 rebounds and 15 assists in a 100–83 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. He moved into a tie for third place on the NBA list for triple-doubles, with the 107th of his career matching Jason Kidd’s total. He moved into sole position of third on December 5, recording his 108th career triple-double with 21 points, 17 assists and 15 rebounds in a 114–112 win over the Brooklyn Nets. On December 28, he scored 40 points in a 118–102 win over the Phoenix Suns. On December 31, he had 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his 10th triple-double of the season in a 122–102 win over the Dallas Mavericks. On January 10, he recorded a career-high 24 assists to go with 24 points and 13 rebounds in a 154–147 double-overtime loss to the San Antonio Spurs. On January 31, he received his eighth career All-Star selection by being named a Western Conference reserve. On February 5, he had his seventh straight triple-double with 16 points, 16 assists and 15 rebounds in a 132–122 win over the Orlando Magic. He matched the longest triple-double streak of his career with his 20th of the season and No. 124 overall. On February 7, he had 15 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds in a 117–95 win over the Memphis Grizzlies, thus the longest triple-double streak of his career and sitting one short of Wilt Chamberlain’s NBA record of nine straight set in 1968. On February 9, in a 117–112 win over the Houston Rockets, Westbrook had 21 points, 11 assists and 12 rebounds to match Chamberlain’s record streak. On February 11, Westbrook broke Chamberlain’s record after tallying 21 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists in a 120–111 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

On May 16, 2021 in a 115–110 win over the Charlotte Hornets, the Wizards finished the season with a 34–38 record and were seeded 8th to face the 7th seeded Boston Celtics in the play-in thanks to a 17–6 record over the last six weeks. With Westbrook posting a triple double with 23 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists, he officially nabbed his third NBA assist title, averaging a career-high 11.7 assists per game. He ended the season with 22.2 points, a career-high 11.5 rebounds, and 11.7 assists on 43.9% shooting; the Wizards finished with a 23–15 record when Westbrook recorded a triple-double. After a 118–100 loss to the Celtics for the No. 7 spot in the play-in tournament, Westbrook alongside Bradley Beal led the Wizards to a blowout win 142–115 over the Pacers to clinch the last playoff spot and Wizards’ first playoff appearance since 2018.

2009 Topps Photoshoot Draft Autograph Red TWD-WB

Career highlights and awards
NBA Most Valuable Player (2017)
9× NBA All-Star (2011–2013, 2015–2020)
2× NBA All-Star Game MVP (2015, 2016)
2× All-NBA First Team (2016, 2017)
5× All-NBA Second Team (2011–2013, 2015, 2018)
2× All-NBA Third Team (2019, 2020)
2× NBA scoring champion (2015, 2017)
3× NBA assists leader (2018, 2019, 2021)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (2009)
Third-team All-Pac-10 (2008)
Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year (2008)
Pac-10 All-Defensive Team (2008)

Medals Men’s basketball Representing United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2012 London Team competition
World Championship/World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2010 Turkey Team competition

Klay Thompson

Klay Alexander Thompson (born February 8, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The son of former NBA player Mychal Thompson, he played college basketball for three seasons at Washington State University before being selected by Golden State with the 11th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft. In 2014, he and teammate Stephen Curry set an NBA record with 484 combined three-pointers in a season as the pair were given the nickname the “Splash Brothers”. Thompson was named an NBA All-Star and selected to the All-NBA Team in 2015, and helped lead the Warriors to their first NBA championship since 1975.

Thompson declared for, and opted to remain in, the 2011 NBA Draft after his junior season. He was selected 11th overall by the Golden State Warriors. This pick of a guard prompted speculation that the Warriors would trade starting guard Monta Ellis. Warriors general manager Larry Riley praised Thompson for his shooting ability and expressed confidence that Thompson would improve his defensive skills with new coach Mark Jackson.

Thompson was a member of the United States national team that won the gold medal in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup. He also won gold as a member of the Under-19 national team at the 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship.

Thompson began the 2016 season averaging 17.2 points per game over his first 21 games, but failed to record a 30-point game over that stretch. That streak ended on December 8, as he scored a then season-high 39 points on 13-of-21 shooting in a 131–123 win over the Indiana Pacers, helping the Warriors extend their unbeaten record to start the season to 23–0. The Warriors’ NBA-record start ended after 24 wins when they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks 108–95 on December 12. In the Warriors’ next game, on December 16, Thompson scored 27 of his then season-high 43 points in the third quarter of their 128–103 win over the Phoenix Suns. On January 8, he recorded his third consecutive game with 30 or more points, finishing with 36 points in a 128–108 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. On January 27, he scored a season-high 45 points on 14-of-20 shooting in a 127–107 win over the Dallas Mavericks. The following night, he was named a Western Conference All-Star reserve for the 2016 NBA All-Star Game, earning his second straight All-Star nod. On February 13, he competed in the All-Star Weekend’s Three-Point Contest and won the event after defeating Stephen Curry and Devin Booker in the final round.

In Game 3 of the first round of the 2022 playoffs, Thompson scored 26 points in a 118–113 win over the Denver Nuggets. He passed Hall of Fame guard Ray Allen for third on the NBA playoffs all-time three-pointers list. In Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals, Thompson posted 30 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks while going 8 for 14 from behind the 3-point arc in a 110–96 closeout win over the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies. On May 26, in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals, Thompson scored 32 points and had 8 three-pointers in a closeout 120–110 win over the Dallas Mavericks to advance to his sixth NBA Finals. In Game 1 of the Finals, Thompson passed LeBron James for second on the NBA playoffs all-time three-pointers list. In Game 5 of the Finals, Thompson joined teammate Stephen Curry and LeBron James as the only players in NBA history to make at least 100 3-pointers on the championship stage. He also passed LeBron James for second on the NBA Finals all-time three-pointers list.

2012-13 Panini Threads RC Autograph

Career highlights and awards
4× NBA champion (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022)
5× NBA All-Star (2015–2019)
2× All-NBA Third Team (2015, 2016)
NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2019)
NBA Three-Point Contest champion (2016)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (2012)
2× First-team All-Pac-10 (2010, 2011)
No. 1 retired by Washington State Cougars

Men’s basketball Representing the United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team
World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2014 Spain Team
U-19 World Championship
Gold medal – first place 2009 New Zealand Team

Dwayne Wade

Dwyane Tyrone Wade, Jr. (born January 17, 1982) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has established himself as one of the most well-known and popular players in the league. Wade had the top selling jersey in the NBA for nearly two years, leading the league in jersey sales from the 2005 NBA Playoffs, until the midpoint of the 2006–07 season. His first name is pronounced the same as the more common spellings “Dwayne” and “Duane”.

After entering the league as the fifth pick in the 2003 NBA draft, Wade was named to the All-Rookie team and the All-Star team the following eleven seasons. In his third season, Wade led the Miami Heat to their first NBA championship in franchise history. He was named the 2006 NBA Finals MVP as the Heat won the series 4-2 over the Dallas Mavericks. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Wade led the United States men’s basketball team, commonly known as the “Redeem Team”, in scoring, and helped them capture gold medal honors in Beijing, China. In the 2008–09 season, Wade led the league in scoring and earned his first NBA scoring title.

After LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined the Heat, Wade was part of Miami’s second championship win in the 2012 NBA Finals, when Miami defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder. He won his third NBA championship in 2013, when the Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs in the 2013 NBA Finals. In 2014, the Heat reached the Finals for the fourth consecutive year, but lost in five games to the San Antonio Spurs.

In recognition of his All-Star career, Wade was named by NBA Commisioner Adam Silver as a special roster addition for the 2019 All-Star game, thus marking his 13th All-Star appearance. Wade had received the second-most fan votes for guards in the Eastern Conference. On April 9, Wade played his last home game in Miami, scoring 30 points in the Heat’s 122–99 win against the 76ers. In his final game, Miami’s 113-94 loss to the Brooklyn Nets the following night, In recognition of his All-Star career, Wade was named by NBA Commisioner Adam Silver as a special roster addition for the 2019 All-Star game, thus marking his 13th All-Star appearance.^[122] Wade had received the second-most fan votes for guards in the Eastern Conference.^[123] On April 9, Wade played his last home game in Miami, scoring 30 points in the Heat’s 122–99 win against the 76ers.^[124] In his final game, Miami’s 113-94 loss to the Brooklyn Nets the following night, Wade recorded just his fifth triple-double in his career with 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists

Topps Chromographs Wade Autograph

Career highlights and awards
3× NBA champion (2006, 2012, 2013)
NBA Finals MVP (2006)
13× NBA All-Star (2005–2016, 2019)
NBA All-Star Game MVP (2010)
2× All-NBA First Team (2009, 2010)
3× All-NBA Second Team (2005, 2006, 2011)
3× All-NBA Third Team (2007, 2012, 2013)
3× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2005, 2009, 2010)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (2004)
NBA scoring champion (2009)
Consensus first-team All-American (2003)
Third-team All-American – SN (2002)
Conference USA Player of the Year (2003)
No. 3 retired by Marquette

Men’s basketball
Representing United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing Team competition
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Athens Team competition
World Cup
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Japan Team competition

Bill Sharman (– October 25, 2013)

William Walton “Bill” Sharman (May 25, 1926 – October 25, 2013) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He is mostly known for his time with the Boston Celtics in the 1950s, partnering with Bob Cousy in what some consider the greatest backcourt duo of all time. As a coach, Sharman won titles in the ABL, ABA, and NBA, and is credited with introducing the morning shootaround.

He was a 10-time NBA Champion (having won four titles as a player with the Celtics, one as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, and five as a Lakers executive), and a 12-time World Champion in basketball overall counting his ABL and ABA titles. Sharman is also a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, having been being inducted in 1976 as a player, and in 2004 as a coach. Only John Wooden, Lenny Wilkens and Tommy Heinsohn share this double honor.

Sharman was drafted by the Washington Capitols in the 2nd round of the 1950 NBA draft. Following the disbanding of the Capitols, he was selected by the Fort Wayne Pistons in the dispersal draft and was subsequently traded to the Boston Celtics (with Bob Brannum) for Chuck Share prior to the 1951-52 season. Sharman played a total of ten seasons for the Celtics, leading the team in scoring between the 1955-56 and 1958-59 seasons and averaging over 20 points per game during three of them.

Sharman played in eight NBA All-Star games, scoring in double figures in seven of them. He was named the 1955 NBA All-Star Game MVP after scoring ten of his fifteen points in the fourth quarter. Sharman still holds the NBA All-Star Game record for field goals attempted in a quarter with 12.

Sharman ended his NBA playing career after 11 seasons in 1961.

Sharman coached the Cleveland Pipers of the American Basketball League to the league championship in 1962. He next went on to coach Los Angeles State (now California State, Los Angeles) for two seasons.

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.

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 Los Angeles and the first for the team in more than a decade. That season, Sharman 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 again in 2004 as a coach. He is one of only four people to be enshrined in both categories, the others being John Wooden, Lenny Wilkens and his former teammate Tom Heinsohn.

In 1971, Sharman was named to the NBA 25th Anniversary Team. On October 29, 1996, Sharman was named one of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players.

As Lakers General Manager, Sharman built the 1980 and 1982 NBA Championship teams, and as Lakers President he oversaw the 1985, 1987 and 1988 NBA Championship teams. Sharman retired from the Lakers front office in 1991 at age 65

Career highlights and awards
As player:

4× NBA Champion (1957, 1959-1961)
8× NBA All-Star (1953–1960)
NBA All-Star Game MVP (1955)
4× All-NBA First Team (1956–1959)
3× All-NBA Second team (1953, 1955, 1960)
NBA 25th Anniversary Team
NBA 50th Anniversary Team
Consensus first-team All-American (1950)
2× First-team All-PCC (1949–1950)
No. 11 retired by USC
As coach:

NBA Champion (1972)
ABA Champion (1971)
ABL Champion (1962)
NBA Coach of the Year (1972)
ABA Coach of the Year (1970)
As executive:

5× NBA Champion (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988)

LeBron James

LeBron Raymone James (born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has started at the small forward and power forward positions. James has won three NBA championships (2012, 2013, 2016), four NBA Most Valuable Player Awards (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013), two NBA Finals MVP Awards (2012, 2013), two Olympic gold medals (2008, 2012), an NBA scoring title (2008), and the NBA Rookie of the Year Award (2004). He has also been selected to 11 NBA All-Star teams, 11 All-NBA teams, and six All-Defensive teams, and is the Cavaliers’ all-time leading scorer.

James played high school basketball at St. Vincent–St. Mary High School in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, where he was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar. After graduating, he was selected with the first overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft by the Cavaliers. James led Cleveland to the franchise’s first Finals appearance in 2007, losing to the San Antonio Spurs. In 2010, he left the Cavaliers for the Miami Heat in a highly publicized ESPN special titled The Decision. James played four seasons for the Heat, reaching the Finals all four years and winning back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013. In 2013, he led Miami on a 27-game winning streak, the second longest in league history. Following his final season with the Heat, James opted out of his contract and re-joined the Cavaliers. Behind his leadership, Cleveland advanced to the Finals before losing to the Golden State Warriors.

James was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the first overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft. In his first professional game, he recorded 25 points against the Sacramento Kings, setting an NBA record for most points scored by a prep-to-pro player in his debut outing. In a late season match-up with the New Jersey Nets, he scored a season-high 41 points, becoming the youngest player in league history to score at least 40 points in a game. He was eventually named the Rookie of the Year, finishing with averages of 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game. He became the first Cavalier to receive the honor and joined Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history to average at least 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game in their rookie year (Tyreke Evans has since joined this group). James recorded his first career triple-double on January 19 of the 2004–05 season, becoming the youngest player in league history to do so at 20 years. At the conclusion of the 2008–09 season, James finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting and made his first All-Defensive Team with 23 chase-down blocks and a career-high 93 total blocks. He also became only the fourth postmerger player to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks in a single season. Behind his play, Cleveland went a franchise record 66–16 and fell one game short of matching the best home record in league history. With averages of 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game, James became the first Cavalier to win the MVP Award.

James became an unrestricted free agent at 12:01 am EDT on July 1, 2010. James officially became a member of the Heat on July 10, completing a sign-and-trade six-year contract with the team. In 2013 Conference Finals, Game 7, he tied the Finals record for most points scored in a Game 7 victory, leading Miami over San Antonio with 37 points. He was named Finals MVP for the second straight season, averaging 25.3 points, 10.9 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2.3 steals per game for the series. On March 3 of the 2013–14 season, James scored a career-high and franchise record 61 points in a game against the Charlotte Bobcats. On June 25, 2014 James opted out of his contract with the Heat, officially becoming an unrestricted free agent on July 1. On July 11, he revealed via a first-person essay in Sports Illustrated that he intended to rejoin the Cavaliers. In contrast to The Decision, his announcement to return to Cleveland was well received. On July 12, he signed a two-year contract with the team worth $42.1 million with an option to become a free agent again in 2015. On June 28, James announced that he would opt out of his contract with the Cavaliers, and on July 10, he re-signed with the team on another two-year contract with a player option for the second year. On January 24, 2018 in a game against the San Antonio Spurs James became the youngest player in NBA history to reach 30,000 points.

Prior to the start of the 2017–18 season season, the Cavaliers overhauled their roster by moving Kyrie Irving to the Celtics, who requested a trade in part because he no longer wanted to play with James. After a slow start to the year, Cleveland rebounded by winning 18 of 19 games in December. Their turnaround began with a victory over the Wizards where James scored 57 points, which represented the second-highest point total of his career and tied a franchise record. In January, the Cavaliers had a losing record, and James was criticized for his lackluster effort.[188] Following another round of trades in February, Cleveland returned to form and James reached a number of historical milestones; for example, on March 30, he set an NBA record with 867 straight games scoring in double-digits. James eventually finished the season with averages of 27.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, and a career-high 9.2 assists and 4.2 turnovers per game. In the playoffs, he guided the Cavaliers to another Finals rematch with the Warriors. Along the way, he had some of the most memorable moments of his career, including a game-winning shot against the Pacers and another against the Raptors. In the first game of the Finals, James scored a playoff career-high 51 points, but Cleveland was defeated in overtime. Following the defeat, James injured his hand after punching a wall in the locker room, which hindered his effectiveness for the remainder of the series.[193] The Cavaliers lost the series in four games, with James averaging 34 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 10 assists per game for the Finals.

On June 29, 2018, James opted out of his contract with the Cavaliers and became an unrestricted free agent. On July 1, his management company, Klutch Sports, announced that he would sign with the Los Angeles Lakers,[196] which was officially completed on July 9.

On November 14, 2018, James scored 44 points in a 126–117 win over the Portland Trail Blazers, passing Wilt Chamberlain for fifth on the all-time NBA scoring list. On November 18, he scored a season-high 51 points in a 113–97 win over the Heat

Career highlights and awards
4× NBA champion (2012, 2013, 2016, 2020)
4× NBA Finals MVP (2012, 2013, 2016, 2020)
4× NBA Most Valuable Player (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013)
17× NBA All-Star (2005–2021)
3× NBA All-Star Game MVP (2006, 2008, 2018)
13× All-NBA First Team (2006, 2008–2018, 2020)
3× All-NBA Second Team (2005, 2007, 2021)
All-NBA Third Team (2019)
5× NBA All-Defensive First Team (2009–2013)
NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2014)
NBA Rookie of the Year (2004)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (2004)
NBA scoring champion (2008)
NBA assists leader (2020)
J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award (2017)
4× AP Athlete of the Year (2013, 2016, 2018, 2020)
3× Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year (2012, 2016, 2020)
Time Athlete of the Year (2020)
USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year (2012)
2× National high school player of the year (2002, 2003)
McDonald’s All-American Game MVP (2003)
2× First-team Parade All-American (2002, 2003)
3× Ohio Mr. Basketball (2001–2003)

Shaquille O’Neal

Shaquille Rashaun O’Neal (born March 6, 1972), nicknamed Shaq ), is a retired American professional basketball player who is currently an analyst on the television program Inside the NBA. Listed at 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) tall and weighing 325 pounds (147 kg), he was one of the heaviest players ever to play in the NBA. O’Neal played for six teams throughout his 19-year NBA career.

Following his career at Louisiana State University, O’Neal was drafted by the Orlando Magic with the first overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft. He quickly became one of the best centers in the league, winning Rookie of the Year in 1992–93 and later leading his team to the 1995 NBA Finals. After four years with the Magic, O’Neal signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers. They won three consecutive championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Amid tension between O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, O’Neal was traded to the Miami Heat in 2004, and his fourth NBA championship followed in 2006. Midway through the 2007–2008 season he was traded to the Phoenix Suns. After a season-and-a-half with the Suns, O’Neal was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2009–10 season. O’Neal played for the Boston Celtics in the 2010–11 season before retiring.

O’Neal’s individual accolades include the 1999–2000 MVP award, the 1992–93 NBA Rookie of the Year award, 15 All-Star game selections, three All-Star Game MVP awards, three Finals MVP awards, two scoring titles, 14 All-NBA team selections, and three NBA All-Defensive Team selections. He is one of only three players to win NBA MVP, All-Star game MVP and Finals MVP awards in the same year (2000); the other players are Willis Reed in 1970 and Michael Jordan in 1996 and 1998. He ranks 6th all-time in points scored, 5th in field goals, 13th in rebounds, and 7th in blocks. Largely due to his ability to dunk the basketball, O’Neal also ranks 3rd all-time in field goal percentage (58.2%).

O’Neal’s “drop step”, (called the “Black Tornado” by O’Neal) in which he posted up a defender, turned around and, using his elbows for leverage, powered past him for a very high-percentage slam dunk, proved an effective offensive weapon. In addition, O’Neal frequently used a right-handed jump hook shot to score near the basket. The ability to dunk contributed to his career field goal accuracy of .582, second only to Artis Gilmore as the highest field goal percentage of all time. He led the NBA in field goal percentage 10 times, breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s record of nine.

O’Neal only made one three point shot during his entire career. He made the shot during the 1995–96 NBA season with the Orlando Magic. His career three point shot record is 1 for 22 (a 4.5% career percentage).

On his own half of the hardwood, O’Neal was a capable defender, named three times to the All-NBA Second Defensive Team. His presence intimidated opposing players shooting near the basket, and he averaged 2.3 blocked shots per game over the course of his career.

Phil Jackson believed O’Neal underachieved in his career, saying he “could and should have been the MVP player for 10 consecutive seasons.” The Lakers retired his No. 34 jersey on April 2, 2013.

On January 31, 2012, O’Neal was honored as one of the 35 Greatest McDonald’s All-Americans.

In September 2013, O’Neal became a minority owner of the Sacramento Kings.

In June 2015, O’Neal invested in technology startup Loyale3 Holdings Inc, a San Francisco brokerage firm whose website and mobile app make which enables companies to sell a piece of their IPOs directly to small investors who put up as a little as $100 and also allows investors to regularly buy small amounts of shares in already public companies.

Career highlights and awards
4× NBA champion (2000, 2001, 2002, 2006)
3× NBA Finals MVP (2000–2002)
NBA Most Valuable Player (2000)
15× NBA All-Star (1993–1998, 2000–2007, 2009)
3× NBA All-Star Game MVP (2000, 2004, 2009)
8× All-NBA First Team (1998, 2000–2006)
2× All-NBA Second Team (1995, 1999)
4× All-NBA Third Team (1994, 1996, 1997, 2009)
3× All-Defensive Second Team (2000, 2001, 2003)
NBA Rookie of the Year (1993)
2× NBA scoring champion (1995, 2000)
NBA 50th Anniversary Team
No. 34 retired by Los Angeles Lakers
FIBA World Championship MVP (1994)
USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year (1994)
College national player of the year (1992)
2× Consensus first-team All-American (1991, 1992)
2× SEC Player of the Year (1991, 1992)
McDonald’s All-American MVP (1989)

James Harden

James Edward Harden, Jr. (born August 26, 1989) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Harden played college basketball for Arizona State, where he was named a consensus All-American and Pac-10 Player of the Year in 2009. Harden was selected with the third overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft by Oklahoma City and became the first player drafted in Oklahoma City Thunder franchise history. In 2012, he was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year with the Oklahoma City Thunder while helping them reach the NBA Finals. Harden was traded to Houston prior to the 2012–13 NBA season. Upon joining the Rockets, Harden became one of the NBA’s most prolific scorers and earned recognition as the best shooting guard in the NBA, as well as one of the top overall players in the league. He has earned All-Star nods three times, and has earned All-NBA Team honors three times as well – once to the All-NBA third team (2013) and twice to the All-NBA first team (2014 and 2015). In 2015, Harden was awarded the first National Basketball Players Association MVP Award, being voted by his peers as the league’s most valuable player.

On August 3, 2015, the sports apparel company, Adidas, submitted an endorsement deal to Harden worth $200 million over the next 13 years. Harden is a two-time member of the United States national basketball team, winning gold medals in both the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2014 FIBA World Cup.

To begin the season, the Rockets lost their first three games, before winning four straight, then going on another three-game losing streak to end up 4–6 after 10 games. All three runs were reflective in the shooting accuracy of Harden. Over the first three losses, he shot 12-of-54 from the field (22%); over the four-game winning streak, he shot 45-of-97 (46%); and then over the succeeding three-game losing streak, he shot 22-of-62 (35%).

On November 18, head coach Kevin McHale was fired after the Rockets began the season with a 4–7 record. Later that night, Harden recorded 45 points and 11 assists in a 108–103 overtime win over the Portland Trail Blazers. On November 25, he recorded his fourth 40-point game of the season in a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, dropping to 5–10 overall and 1–3 under interim coach J. B. Bickerstaff. Two days later, he recorded his third career 50-point game in a 116–114 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. On January 13, in his 492nd game, he scored 27 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves to reach 10,000 career points. On January 20, he recorded his first triple-double of the season and seventh of his career with 33 points, a career-high 17 rebounds and 14 assists in a 123–114 loss to the Detroit Pistons. He became the first player to have those numbers in a game since Wilt Chamberlain had 53 points, 32 rebounds and 14 assists on March 18, 1968. Four days later, he recorded second triple-double of the season with 23 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in a 115–104 win over the Dallas Mavericks. On February 2, he scored 26 points and tied a career-high with 14 assists as the Rockets snapped a three-game skid with a 115–102 win over the Miami Heat. On March 22, he recorded 24 points, a career-high 16 assists and seven rebounds in a 111–107 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Three days later, he recorded his third triple-double of the season with 32 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds in a 112–109 win over the Toronto Raptors. In March 2015, Harden recorded 457 points, 152 assists and 102 rebounds, becoming the first player to record at least 450 points, 150 assists and 100 rebounds in a single month since Oscar Robertson did so December 1967. On April 7, he tied a 38-year-old record for most turnovers in a season by committing his 366th turnover against the Phoenix Suns. He surpassed that record three days later against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Rockets scrapped into the postseason with a 41–41 record and an eighth-seeded finish. Harden completed the regular season with career high marks in points (29), assists (7.5) and rebounds (6.1) to join LeBron James, Michael Jordan and Oscar Robertson as the only players in NBA history to average at least 29 points, seven assists and six rebounds in a season.

On July 9, 2016, Harden signed a four-year, $118.1 million contract extension with the Rockets. In September 2016, new Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni announced that Harden would switch to the point guard position for the 2016–17 season. In the Rockets’ season opener on October 26, Harden recorded 34 points, a career-high 17 assists and 8 rebounds in a 120–114 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, becoming just the second player in NBA history to record at least 30 points and 15 assists in an opener; Tim Hardaway had 32 and 18 for the Golden State Warriors in 1990. On November 1, he scored a season-high 41 points and had 15 assists in a 128–120 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. On November 7, he had his fourth straight 30-10 game with 32 points and 15 assists in a 114–106 win over the Washington Wizards

 

 

Career highlights and awards
4× NBA All-Star (2013–2016)
2× All-NBA First Team (2014, 2015)
All-NBA Third Team (2013)
NBA Sixth Man of the Year (2012)
NBA All-Rookie Second Team (2010)
Consensus first-team All-American (2009)
Pac-10 Player of the Year (2009)
2× First-team All-Pac-10 (2008, 2009)
No. 13 retired by Arizona State

Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2012 London Team
World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2014 Spain Team

Stephen Curry

Wardell Stephen “Steph” Curry II (born March 14, 1988) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is considered by some to be the greatest shooter in NBA history. He was named the 2015 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) and is a two-time NBA All-Star. He is the son of former NBA player Dell Curry, and the older brother of current NBA player Seth Curry.

Curry played college basketball for Davidson. There, he was twice named Southern Conference Player of the Year and set the all-time scoring record for both Davidson and the Southern Conference. During his sophomore year, Curry also set the single-season NCAA record for three-pointers made.

Curry was selected with the seventh overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors. During the 2012–13 season, he set the NBA record for three-pointers made in a regular season with 272. The following year, Curry and teammate Klay Thompson set the NBA record for combined threes in a season with 484,[8] earning the pair the nickname the “Splash Brothers”.In 2014–15, Curry eclipsed his own record by knocking down his 273rd three-pointer on April 9, 2015, finishing the regular season with 286. He was named MVP after leading the Warriors to a franchise-record and NBA-best 67 wins on the season. That same year, Curry led the Warriors to their first NBA championship since 1975.

On July 1, 2017, approximately 15 minutes into free agency, Curry agreed to resign with Golden State on a ‘supermax’ 5 year/$201 million deal, the biggest contract in NBA history.

In the 2022 NBA All-Star Game held on February 20, Curry’s Team LeBron defeated Team Durant 163–160. Curry scored 50 points (just 2 points shy of the All-Star Game record set by Anthony Davis in 2017); he also set the record for most three-pointers made in an All-Star quarter (6), half (8), and game (16),[202] and was named the All-Star Game MVP. On February 24, Curry had a season-high 14 assists with 18 points in a 132–95 blowout win over the Portland Trail Blazers. On March 10, Curry scored 34 points in a 113–102 win over the Denver Nuggets. He became the 49th player in NBA history to rack up 20,000 points.[205] On March 14, his 34th birthday, Curry scored 47 points in a 126–112 win over the Washington Wizards. On March 16, in a 110–88 loss to the Boston Celtics, Curry suffered a sprained ligament in his left foot after having it rolled over by a diving Marcus Smart and was ruled out indefinitely. On April 1, he was ruled out for the remainder of the regular season.

College Records
NCAA Division I scoring leader (2009)
Single-season NCAA 3-point field goals (162, 2007–08)
Single-season NCAA freshman 3-point field goals (122, 2006–07)
Davidson College Records
All-time leading scorer in Davidson College history (2,635)
All-time Davidson College leader in 3-point field-goals made (414)
All-time Davidson College leader in 30-point games (30)
All-time Davidson College leader in 40-point games (6)
Single-season Davidson College points (974, 2008–09)
Single-season Davidson College steals (86, 2008–09)
Single-season Davidson College freshman points (730, 2006–07)

Career highlights and awards
4× NBA champion (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022)
NBA Finals MVP (2022)
2× NBA Most Valuable Player (2015, 2016)
8× NBA All-Star (2014–2019, 2021, 2022)
NBA All-Star Game MVP (2022)
4× All-NBA First Team (2015, 2016, 2019, 2021)
3× All-NBA Second Team (2014, 2017, 2022)
All-NBA Third Team (2018)
NBA Western Conference Finals MVP (2022)
2× NBA Three-Point Contest champion (2015, 2021)
2× NBA scoring champion (2016, 2021)
NBA steals leader (2016)
50–40–90 club (2016)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (2010)
NBA 75th Anniversary Team
Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year (2022)
Consensus first-team All-American (2009)
Consensus second-team All-American (2008)
NCAA season scoring leader (2009)
2× SoCon Player of the Year (2008, 2009)
3× First-team All-SoCon (2007–2009)
No. 30 retired by Davidson Wildcats
Representing United States
FIBA World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2010 Turkey Team
Gold medal – first place 2014 Spain Team

John Wooden

John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the “Wizard of Westwood,” as head coach at UCLA he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period, including an unprecedented seven in a row. Within this period, his teams won a men’s basketball-record 88 consecutive games. Wooden’s streak of seven consecutive NCAA Championships is even more remarkable and impressive because to this day no other coach or school has won the tournament more than two consecutive years.

Wooden was named national coach of the year six times.

As a 5′ 10″ guard, Wooden was the first to be named basketball All-American three times, and the 1932 Purdue team on which he played as a senior was retroactively recognized as the pre-NCAA Tournament national champion by the Helms Athletic Foundation and the Premo-Porretta Power Poll. Wooden was named a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player (inducted in 1961) and as a coach (in 1973), the first person ever enshrined in both categories. Only Lenny Wilkens, Bill Sharman and Tommy Heinsohn have since been accorded the same honors.

One of the most revered coaches in the history of sports,[1] Wooden was beloved by his former players, among them Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (originally Lew Alcindor) and Bill Walton. Wooden was renowned for his short, simple inspirational messages to his players, including his “Pyramid of Success”. These often were directed at how to be a success in life as well as in basketball.

During his tenure with the Bruins, Wooden became known as the “Wizard of Westwood,” although he personally disdained the nickname. He gained lasting fame with UCLA by winning 620 games in 27 seasons and 10 NCAA titles during his last 12 seasons, including seven in a row from 1967 to 1973. His UCLA teams also established a then-record winning streak of 88 games and four perfect 30–0 seasons. They also won 38 straight games in NCAA tournaments and 98 straight home wins at Pauley Pavilion.

“He never made more than $35,000 a year salary (not including camps and speaking engagements), including 1975, the year he won his 10th national championship, and never asked for a raise,” wrote Rick Reilly of ESPN. He was given a Bruin powder blue Mercedes that season as a retirement gift.[39] According to his own writings, Wooden turned down an offer to coach the Los Angeles Lakers from owner Jack Kent Cooke that may have been ten times what UCLA was paying him.

 

Accomplishments and honors
Championships
As player
Helms and Premo-Porretta National Championships (1932)
As coach
10 NCAA Divsion I Tournament Championships (1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975)
12 NCAA Regional Championships – Final Four (1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975)
Awards
College Basketball Hall of Fame (2006)
National Basketball Hall of Fame (1972)
6 NCAA College Basketball Coach of the Year
Basketball All-American (1930, 1931, 1932)
College Basketball Player of the Year (1932)
NBL scoring leader (1933)
NBL First Team (1938)
National Basketball Hall of Fame (1960)
Henry Iba Award Coach of the Year (1964)
Presidential Medal of Freedom

Red Auerbach

Arnold Jacob “Red” Auerbach (September 20, 1917 – October 28, 2006) was an American basketball coach of theWashington Capitols, the Tri-Cities Blackhawks and the Boston Celtics. After he retired from coaching, he served as president and front office executive of the Celtics until his death. As a coach, he won 938 games (a record at his retirement) and nine National Basketball Association (NBA) championships in ten years (a number surpassed only by Phil Jackson, who won 11 in twenty years). As general manager and team president of the Celtics, he won an additional seven NBA titles, for a grand total of 16 in a span of 29 years, making him one of the most successful team officials in the history of North American professional sports.

Auerbach is remembered as a pioneer of modern basketball, redefining basketball as a game dominated by team play and defense and for introducing the fast break as a potent offensive weapon. He groomed many players who went on to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Additionally, Auerbach was vital in breaking down color barriers in the NBA. He made history by drafting the first African-American NBA player, Chuck Cooper in 1950, and introduced the first African-American starting five in 1964. 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.

In 1967, the NBA Coach of the Year award, which he had won in 1965, was named the “Red Auerbach Trophy,” and Auerbach was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1969. In 1980, he was named the greatest coach in the history of the NBA by the Professional Basketball Writers Association of America, and was NBA Executive of the Year in 1980. In addition, Auerbach was voted one of the NBA 10 Greatest Coaches in history, was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and is honored with a retired number 2 jersey in the TD Garden, the home of the Boston Celtics.

 

Among Auerbach’s accomplishments during his 20-year professional coaching career were eleven Eastern Division titles (including nine in a row from 1957–65), 11 appearances in the finals (including ten in a row from 1957–66), and nine NBA championships. With a total of 16 NBA championship rings in a span of 29 years (1957–86) as the Celtics coach, general manager, and team president, Auerbach is the most successful team official in NBA history.[2] He is credited with creating several generations of championship Boston Celtics teams, most notably the first Celtics dynasty with Bill Russell which won an NBA record eight titles in a row (1959–66). As Celtics general manager, he created championship-winning teams around Hall-of-Famers Dave Cowens in the 1970s and Larry Bird in the 1980s. 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 founderWalter Brown, in whose honor the number-1 “BROWN” jersey is retired. To honor Auerbach, the Celtics created the Arnold “Red” Auerbach award in 2006. It is an award given annually to the current Celtic player or coach who “best exemplifies the spirit and meaning of what it is to be a Celtic. This award is named in honor of the legendary Coach, General Manager and President of the organization, Arnold ‘Red’ Auerbach.”

Career highlights and awards
As head coach:

9× NBA champion (1957, 1959–1966)
NBA Coach of the Year (1965)
11× NBA All-Star Game head coach (1957-1967)
Top 10 Coaches in NBA History
As executive:

7× NBA champion (1968–1969, 1974, 1976, 1981,1984, 1986)
NBA Executive of the Year (1980)
ANDRE ROBERSON

 

 

David Robinson

David Maurice Robinson (born August 6, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player, who played centerfor the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for his entire career. Based on his prior service as an officer in the United States Navy, Robinson earned the nickname “The Admiral”.

Robinson is a 10-time NBA All-Star, the 1995 NBA MVP, a two-time NBA Champion (1999 and 2003), a two-time Olympic Gold Medal winner (1992, 1996), a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (2009 for his individual career, 2010 as a member of the 1992 United States men’s Olympic basketball team), and a two-time U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame inductee (2008 individually, 2009 as a member of the 1992 Olympic team).He is widely considered one of the greatest centers in both college and NBA history. To date, Robinson is the only player from Navy to play in the NBA.

Before the start of the 1998–99 season, the NBA owners and NBA commissioner David Stern locked out the NBA Players’ Association to force negotiations on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. This lockout lasted for 202 days, well into the regular NBA season, before an agreement was finally reached. After playing a truncated 50-game season, the Spurs finished with an NBA-best record of 37–13, giving them the home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Spurs blitzed through the first three rounds of the NBA playoffs, beating the Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Lakers, and Portland Trail Blazers by a combined record of 11–1 to reach the NBA Finals for the first time ever. In the Finals, the combination of Robinson in the post and second-year, 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) Tim Duncan proved overpowering, the Spurs beat the New York Knicks in five games to become the first former American Basketball Association team to win an NBA title. Duncan was named Finals MVP.

Robinson and teammate power forward Tim Duncan were nicknamed “The Twin Towers”. Robinson announced he would retire from basketball after the 2002–03 season. On June 15, 2003, in the finale to Robinson’s career, the Spurs won another NBA title with an 88–77 victory over the New Jersey Nets in Game 6 of the 2003 NBA Finals. Turning back the clock, Robinson scored 13 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in his final game for the Spurs. He and the year’s regular season and NBA Finals MVP Tim Duncan sharedSports Illustrated magazine’s 2003 Sportsmen of the Year award.

Robinson averaged 21.1 points per game, 10.7 rebounds per game, 3 blocks per game, and 2.5 assists per game over 987 games in his NBA career. Also, he is one of only a very small group of players to have scored over 20,000 career points in the NBA, as well as being one of only four players to have recorded a quadruple-double (with 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and 10 blocks against the Detroit Pistons on February 17, 1994).

He is also one of the only five players to record more than 70 points in a single game with 71 points against the Los Angeles Clippers on April 24, 1994. Only Elgin Baylor (71 points), Wilt Chamberlain (70, 72, 73 twice, 78, 100 points), David Thompson (73 points), and Kobe Bryant (81 points) have scored more than 70 points in a single game.

Robinson is also noteworthy for his harmonious relationship with Tim Duncan. Sportswriter Chris Sheridan noted that it was rare for someone like Robinson to have welcomed and mentored Duncan as willingly as he did.

 

 

Career highlights and awards
2× NBA champion (1999, 2003)
NBA Most Valuable Player (1995)
10× NBA All-Star (1990–1996, 1998, 2000–2001)
4× All-NBA First Team (1991–1992, 1995–1996)
2× All-NBA Second Team (1994, 1998)
4× All-NBA Third Team (1990, 1993, 2000–2001)
NBA Defensive Player of the Year (1992)
4× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1991–1992,1995–1996)
4× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1990,1993–1994, 1998)
NBA Rookie of the Year (1990)
NBA Sportsmanship Award (2001)
NBA scoring champion (1994)
NBA blocks leader (1992)
NBA rebounding leader (1991)
NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
No. 50 retired by San Antonio Spurs
USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year (1986)
National college player of the year (1987)
Consensus first-team All-American (1987)
Consensus second-team All-American (1986)
3× CAA Player of the Year (1985–1987)

 

Patrick Ewing

Patrick Aloysius Ewing, Sr. (born August 5, 1962) is a Jamaican-American retired Hall of Fame basketball player. He played most of his career with the NBA’s New York Knicks as their starting center and played briefly with the Seattle SuperSonics and Orlando Magic. He is currently the associate head coach of the Charlotte Hornets, working under Steve Clifford.

Ewing played center for the Georgetown Hoyas for four years and was named as the 16th greatest college player of all time by ESPN. He won Olympic gold medals as a member of the 1984 and 1992 United States men’s Olympic basketball teams. In a 1996 poll celebrating the 50th anniversary of the NBA, Ewing was selected as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. He is a two-time inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts (in 2008 for his individual career, and in 2010 as a member of the 1992 Olympic team).In 2009, he was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame as a member of the “Dream Team”. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame on September 5, 2008 along with former NBA coach Pat Riley and former Houston Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon. His number 33 was retired by the Knicks in 2003.

 

Career highlights and awards
11× NBA All-Star (1986, 1988–1997)
All-NBA First Team (1990)
6× All-NBA Second Team (1988–1989, 1991–1993,1997)
3× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1988–1989,1992)
NBA Rookie of the Year (1986)
New York Knicks all-time leading scorer
No. 33 retired by the New York Knicks
NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
NCAA champion (1984)
NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player (1984)
College national player of the year (1985)
3× Consensus first-team All-American (1983–1985)
2× Big East Player of the Year (1984, 1985)

 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr.; April 16, 1947) is an American retired professional basketball player who played 20 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers. During his career as a center, Abdul-Jabbar was a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), a record 19-time NBA All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA selection, and an 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team member. A member of six NBA championship teams as a player and two as an assistant coach, Abdul-Jabbar twice was voted NBA Finals MVP. In 1996, he was honored as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. NBA coach Pat Riley and players Isiah Thomas and Julius Erving have called him the greatest basketball player of all time.

He was one of only 4 players to have started on 3 NCAA championship teams; the others all played for Wooden at UCLA: Henry Bibby, Curtis Rowe and Lynn Shackelford. Along with playing basketball, Alcindor earned a Bachelor of Arts with a major in history from UCLA in 1969. In his free time he practiced martial arts. He studied Jeet Kune Do under Bruce Lee.

Career highlights and awards
6× NBA champion (1971, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988)
2× NBA Finals MVP (1971, 1985)
6× NBA Most Valuable Player (1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980)
19× NBA All-Star (1970–1977, 1979–1989)
10× All-NBA First Team (1971–1974, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1986)
5× All-NBA Second Team (1970, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1985)
5× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1974, 1975, 1979–1981)
6× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1970, 1971, 1976–1978, 1984)
NBA Rookie of the Year (1970)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (1970)
2× NBA scoring champion (1971, 1972)
NBA rebounding champion (1976)
4× NBA blocks leader (1975, 1976, 1979, 1980)
NBA anniversary teams (35th, 50th, 75th)
No. 33 retired by Milwaukee Bucks
No. 33 retired by Los Angeles Lakers
3× NCAA champion (1967–1969)
3× NCAA final Four Most Outstanding Player (1967–1969)
3× National college player of the year (1967–1969)
3× Consensus first-team All-American (1967–1969)
No. 33 retired by UCLA Bruins
2× Mr. Basketball USA (1964, 1965)
3× First-team Parade All-American (1963–1965)
Presidential Medal of Freedom (2016)
As head coach:

USBL champion (2002)
As assistant coach:

2× NBA champion (2009, 2010)

Magic Johnson

Earvin “Magic” Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 13 seasons. After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA draft by the Lakers. He won a championship and an NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in his rookie season, and won four more championships with the Lakers during the 1980s. Johnson retired abruptly in 1991 after announcing that he had contracted HIV, but returned to play in the 1992 All-Star Game, winning the All-Star MVP Award. After protests from his fellow players, he retired again for four years, but returned in 1996, at age 36, to play 32 games for the Lakers before retiring for the third and final time.

Johnson’s career achievements include three NBA MVP Awards, nine NBA Finals appearances, twelve All-Star games, and ten All-NBA First and Second Team nominations. He led the league in regular-season assists four times, and is the NBA’s all-time leader in average assists per game, at 11.2. Johnson was a member of the 1992 United States men’s Olympic basketball team (“The Dream Team”), which won the Olympic gold medal in 1992. After leaving the NBA in 1992, Johnson formed the Magic Johnson All-Stars, a barnstorming team that travelled around the world playing exhibition games. Johnson was honored as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996.

Johnson is one of only seven players in history to win an NCAA Championship, an NBA Championship, and an Olympic Gold Medal. He became a two-time inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame—being enshrined in 2002 for his individual career, and again in 2010 as a member of the “Dream Team”. He was rated the greatest NBA point guard of all time by ESPN in 2007. His friendship and rivalry with Boston Celtics star Larry Bird, whom he faced in the 1979 NCAA finals and three NBA championship series, are well documented.
In January 2012, Johnson joined with Guggenheim Partners and Stan Kasten in a bid for ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team. Together with Guggenheim, Johnson was also involved in the February 2014 purchase of the Los Angeles Sparks team in the WNBA. Johnson announced his co-ownership of a future Major League Soccer expansion franchise based in Los Angeles on October 30, 2014.

Johnson runs Magic Johnson Enterprises, a company that has a net worth of $700 million; its subsidiaries include Magic Johnson Productions, a promotional company; Magic Johnson Theaters, a nationwide chain of movie theaters; and Magic Johnson Entertainment, a movie studio. In addition to these business ventures, Johnson has also created the Magic Card, a pre-paid MasterCard aimed at helping low-income people save money and participate in electronic commerce. In 2006, Johnson created a contract food service withSodexo USA called Sodexo-Magic.

 

 

Career highlights and awards
5× NBA champion (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987–1988)
3× NBA Finals MVP (1980, 1982, 1987)
3× NBA Most Valuable Player (1987, 1989–1990)
12× NBA All-Star (1980, 1982–1992)
2× NBA All-Star Game MVP (1990, 1992)
9× All-NBA First Team (1983–1991)
All-NBA Second Team (1982)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (1980)
4× NBA assists leader (1983–1984, 1986–1987)
2× NBA steals leader (1981–1982)
J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award (1992)
NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
No. 32 retired by Los Angeles Lakers
NCAA champion (1979)
NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player (1979)
Consensus first-team All-American (1979)
No. 33 retired by Michigan State

Larry Bird

Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American retired professional basketball player who played for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Since retiring as a player, he has been a mainstay in the Indiana Pacersorganization, currently serving as team president. Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird started at small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons, spearheading one of the NBA’s most formidable frontcourts that included center Robert Parish and forward Kevin McHale. Bird was a 12-time NBA All-Star and was named the league’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) three consecutive times (1984–1986). He played his entire professional career for Boston, winning three NBA championships and two NBA Finals MVP awards.

He was a member of the 1992 United States men’s Olympic basketball team (“The Dream Team”) that won the gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Bird was voted to the NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996 and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998 (and was inducted again 2010 as a member of the “Dream Team”).

Despite having no previous coaching experience, Bird led the Pacers to a 58–24 record—the franchise’s best as an NBA team at the time—in the 1997–98 season, and pushed the Bulls to seven games in the Eastern Conference finals. He was named the NBA Coach of the Year for his efforts, becoming the only man in NBA history to have won both the MVP and Coach of the Year awards. He then led the Pacers to two consecutive Central Division titles in 1999 and 2000, and a berth in the 2000 NBA Finals.

 

He served as head coach of the Indiana Pacers from 1997 to 2000. In 2003, he assumed the role of president of basketball operations for the Pacers, holding the position until retiring in 2012. After a year away from the position, he announced he would return to the Pacers as president of basketball operations in 2013. In addition to being part of the 50–40–90 club, he is the only person in NBA history to be named Most Valuable Player, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year.

Career highlights and awards
As player:

3× NBA champion (1981, 1984, 1986)
2× NBA Finals MVP (1984, 1986)
3× NBA Most Valuable Player (1984–1986)
12× NBA All-Star (1980–1988, 1990–1992)
NBA All-Star Game MVP (1982)
9× All-NBA First Team (1980–1988)
All-NBA Second Team (1990)
3× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1982–1984)
NBA Rookie of the Year (1980)
3× NBA 3-Point Shootout champion (1986–1988)
2× 50–40–90 club (1987-1988)
AP Athlete of the Year (1986)
No. 33 retired by Boston Celtics
NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
National college player of the year (1979)
2× Consensus first-team All-American (1978–1979)
2× MVC Player of the Year (1978–1979)
As coach:

NBA Coach of the Year (1998)
NBA All-Star Game head coach (1998)
As executive:

NBA Executive of the Year (2012)

William “Bill” Russell

William Felton “Bill” Russell (born February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) is an American retired professional basketball player. Russell played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. A five-time NBA Most Valuable Player and a twelve-time All-Star, he was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty, winning eleven NBA championships during his 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.

Russell is widely considered one of the best players in NBA history. He was listed as between 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) and 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m), and his shot-blocking and man-to-man defense were major reasons for the Celtics’ success. He also inspired his teammates to elevate their own defensive play. Russell was equally notable for his rebounding abilities. He led the NBA in rebounds four times, had a dozen consecutive seasons of 1,000 or more rebounds,[2] and remains second all-time in bothtotal rebounds and rebounds per game. He is one of just two NBA players (the other being prominent rival Wilt Chamberlain) to have grabbed more than 50 rebounds in a game. Though never the focal point of the Celtics’ offense, Russell also scored 14,522 career points and provided effective passing.

Russell is one of only seven players in history to win an NCAA Championship, an NBA Championship, and an Olympic Gold Medal. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He was selected into the NBA 25th Anniversary Team in 1971 and the NBA 35th Anniversary Team in 1980, and named as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996, one of only four players to receive all three honors. In 2007, he was enshrined in the FIBA Hall of Fame. In 2009, the NBA announced that the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player trophy would be named the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in honor of Russell.

2008 Topps Letterman Patch 3/5

Career highlights and awards
As player:

11× NBA champion (1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962,1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969)
5× NBA Most Valuable Player (1958, 1961, 1962,1963, 1965)
12× NBA All-Star (1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962,1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969)
NBA All-Star Game MVP (1963)
3× All-NBA First Team (1959, 1963, 1965)
8× All-NBA Second Team (1958, 1960, 1961, 1962,1964, 1966, 1967, 1968)
NBA All-Defensive First Team (1969)
4× NBA rebounding champion (1958–1959,1964–1965)
NBA 50th Anniversary Team
NBA 35th Anniversary Team
NBA 25th Anniversary Team
No. 6 retired by the Boston Celtics
2× NCAA champion (1955–1956)
NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player (1955)
UPI College Player of the Year (1956)
2× Helms Player of the Year (1955–1956)
2× Consensus first-team All-American (1955–1956)
WCC Player of the Year (1956)
As coach:

2× NBA champion (1968–1969)

John Houston Stockton

John Houston Stockton (born March 26, 1962) is an American retired professional basketball player. He spent his entire professional playing career as a point guard for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA), from 1984 to 2003. Stockton is regarded as one of the best point guards of all time, holding the NBA records for most career assists andsteals by considerable margins. He is a ten-time NBA All-Star, and a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fameinductee (in 2009 for his individual career, and in 2010 as a member of the 1992 United States men’s Olympic basketball team (“Dream Team”). He was also inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame as a member of the “Dream Team” in 2009.

Stockton averaged a career double-double, with 13.1 points and 10.5 assists per game. He holds the NBA’s record for most career assists (15,806) by a margin of more than 3,000, as well as the record for most career steals (3,265). He had five of the top six assists seasons in NBA history (the other belonging to Isiah Thomas). He holds the NBA record for the most seasons, games, and consecutive games played with one team, and is third in total games played, behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Robert Parish. He missed only 23 games during his career, 18 of them in one season. He played in 38 games where he tallied 20 or more assists.

On February 1, 1995 Stockton broke Magic Johnson’s record of 9,221 career assists in a game in Salt Lake City against the Denver Nuggets with 6:22 left in the first half with a bounce pass to Karl Malone, ending up with 9,227 in a 129-98 win; it was his 860th game, vs. 874 for Johnson.

Stockton appeared in 10 All-Star games, and was named co-MVP of the game in 1993 with Jazz teammate Karl Malone, which was held in Salt Lake City, Utah. He played with the 1992 and 1996 US Olympic basketball teams, the first Olympic squads to feature NBA players, keeping the game ball from both gold medal games. He was selected to the All-NBA First Team twice, the All-NBA Second Team six times, the All-NBA Third Team three times, and the NBA All-Defensive Second Team five times. He was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history in 1996. Stockton’s career highlight came in Game 6 of the 1997 Western Conference Finals. Stockton scored the last 9 points for the Jazz, including a buzzer-beating 3-point shot over the Houston Rockets’ Charles Barkley, to send the Jazz to the first of its two consecutive NBA Finals appearances. In both of these appearances, Stockton’s Jazz teams were defeated by the Chicago Bulls. In Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals, Stockton made a three-pointer with 41.9 seconds left to give the Jazz an 86–83 lead, but Bulls guard Michael Jordan made two field goals to put his team ahead 87–86, the second one after stealing from Jazz forward Karl Malone. Stockton missed a three-point attempt with 5.2 seconds left and said in a post-game interview that he felt confident that the shot would go in.

For many years, he and Malone were the Jazz’s 1-2 punch. The two played a record 1,412 regular-season games together as teammates (by comparison, only three other NBA players besides Stockton and Malone have reached 1,412 NBA games played). Many of Stockton’s assists resulted from passes to Malone. Stockton earned the “old school” tag for his physical play – surveys of athletes and fans alike often judged him among the toughest players in the NBA, usually just behind teammate Karl Malone. His uniform of “shortshorts” was noteworthy as he was the most recent notable NBA player to wear them, preferring the style after the rest of the league had adopted today’s baggier look. Off the court, he dressed in rather ordinary attire, which contrasted with many of his NBA contemporaries who favored flashy designer clothes. Stockton was and is known for his reserved demeanor in interviews.

On May 2, 2003, Stockton announced his retirement with a released statement instead of the customary news conference. The Jazz later held a retirement ceremony for him, in which Salt Lake City renamed the street in front of the Energy Solutions Arena (then known as the Delta Center), where the Jazz play, John Stockton Drive. Stockton would later declare that despite being still content with the game and how well he was playing, his growing family made him feel that “sitting in the hotel room waiting for games wasn’t making up for what I was missing at home”.

On May 11, 2006, ESPN.com named Stockton the 4th best point guard of all time. He played in 1,504 NBA games (the all-time record for a player who played for only one team and games with a single team), of which Stockton started 1,300 (third all-time since starts became an official statistic beginning with the 1981–82 season), Stockton averaged a double-double in points and assists along with 2.2 steals and 31:45 of floor time per game, and he holds other scoring accuracy records as noted above.

. 

Career highlights and awards
10× NBA All-Star (1989–1997, 2000)
NBA All-Star Game MVP (1993)
2× All-NBA First Team (1994, 1995)
6× All-NBA Second Team (1988–1990, 1992, 1993, 1996)
3× All-NBA Third Team (1991, 1997, 1999)
5× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1989, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1997)
9× NBA assists leader (1988–1996)
2× NBA steals leader (1989, 1992)
NBA 50th Anniversary Team
NBA 75th Anniversary Team
No. 12 retired by Utah Jazz
WCAC Player of the Year (1984)
2× First-team All-WCAC (1983, 1984)
No. 12 retired by Gonzaga Bulldog

Karl “The Mailman” Malone

 

Karl Anthony Malone (born July 24, 1963) is an American retired professional basketball player. Nicknamed “The Mailman”, Malone played the power forward position and spent his first 18 seasons (1985–2003) in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Utah Jazz and formed a formidable duo with his teammate John Stockton. Malone also played for the Los Angeles Lakers. Malone was a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player, a 14-time NBA All-Star, and an 11-time member of the All-NBA first team. He scored the second most career points in NBA history (36,928), and holds the records for most free throws attempted and made, in addition to co-holding the record for the most first team All-NBA elections in history (tied with Kobe Bryant). He is considered among the greatest power forwards in NBA history.

Malone played college basketball at Louisiana Tech University. In his three seasons with Louisiana Tech, he helped theBulldogs basketball team to its first-ever NCAA tournament in 1984 and to first place in the Southland Conference in 1985. The Utah Jazz drafted Malone in 1985 with the 13th overall pick in the first round. Malone appeared in the playoffs every season in his career, including the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998 with the Jazz. He played his final season with the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he played his third Finals in 2004. However, Malone has the most career postseason losses of any NBA player ever, with 95. Malone also competed with the United States national team in the Summer Olympic games of 1992 and 1996; in both years he won gold medals. After retiring from the NBA, Malone joined the staff of the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball team in 2007 and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010 (twice – for his individual career, and as a member of the 1992 United States men’s Olympic basketball team)

 

Career highlights and awards
2× NBA Most Valuable Player (1997, 1999)
14× NBA All-Star (1988–1998, 2000–2002)
2× NBA All-Star Game MVP (1989, 1993)
11× All-NBA First Team (1989–1999)
2× All-NBA Second Team (1988, 2000)
All-NBA Third Team (2001)
3× All-Defensive First Team (1997–1999)
All-Defensive Second Team (1988)
NBA All-Rookie Team (1986)
Utah Jazz all-time leading scorer
No. 32 retired by Utah Jazz
NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
Second-team All-American – NABC (1985)
Southland Player of the Year (1983)
No. 32 retired by Louisiana Tech
Louisiana Tech Athletic Hall of Fame (1992)

Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bean Bryant (born August 23-1978 -January 27, 2020) was an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He entered the NBA directly from high school, and has played for the Lakers his entire career, winning five NBA championships. Bryant is a 17-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, and 12-time member of the All-Defensive team. He has led the league in scoring twice, and he ranks third on both the league’s all-time regular season scoring and all-time postseason scoring lists. After beginning his 20th season with the Lakers in 2015–16, which set an NBA record for the most seasons with the same team, Bryant announced that he would retire after the season.

The son of former NBA player Joe Bryant, Kobe Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania, where he was recognized as the top high school basketball player in the country. He declared his eligibility for the NBA draft upon graduation, and was selected with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft by theCharlotte Hornets, then traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. As a rookie, Bryant earned himself a reputation as a high-flyer and a fan favorite by winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest, and he was named an All-Star by his second season. Despite a feud between them, Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive championships from 2000 to 2002.

In 2003, Bryant was accused of sexual assault in Colorado, but the charges were eventually dropped, and a civil suit was settled out of court. After the Lakers lost the 2004 NBA Finals, O’Neal was traded to the Miami Heat. Bryant became the cornerstone of the Lakers, and he led the NBA in scoring during the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. In 2006, Bryant scored a career-high 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, the second most points scored in a single game in league history, second only to Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in 1962. He was awarded the regular season’s Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) in 2008. After losing in the 2008 NBA Finals, Bryant led the Lakers to two consecutive championships in 2009and 2010, earning the NBA Finals MVP Award on both occasions.

At 34 years and 104 days of age, Bryant became the youngest player in league history to reach 30,000 career points. He is also the all-time leading scorer in Lakers franchise history. Since his second year in the league, Bryant has been selected to start every All-Star Game. He has won the All-Star MVP Award four times (2002, 2007, 2009, and 2011), tying him for the most All Star MVP Awards in NBA history. At the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, he won gold medals as a member of theU.S. national team. Sporting News and TNT named Bryant the top NBA player of the 2000s.

After recovering to play in the 2015–16 preseason, Bryant suffered a calf injury and missed the final two weeks of exhibition games. However, he played in the season opener to begin his 20th season with the Lakers, surpassing John Stockton’s league record of 19 for the most seasons with the same team. On November 24, 2015, the Lakers fell to 2–12 after losing 111–77 to the Warriors, as the defending NBA champions improved to 16–0 and broke the league record for consecutive wins to start a season. Bryant scored just four points in 25 minutes on 1-for-14 shooting, matching the worst-shooting game of his career in which he attempted at least five shots. On December 1, 2015, Bryant played his last game against his hometown team, the Philadelphia 76ers, where the Lakers lost 91-103.[268] The following day, Bryant had his first game over 30 points since April 12, 2013, where Bryant scored 31 points against the Washington Wizards.
On November 29, 2015, Bryant announced via The Players’ Tribune that he will be retiring at the end of the season. In his poem titled “Dear Basketball”, Bryant wrote that he fell in love with the game at age six; “A love so deep I gave you my all/From my mind & body/To my spirit & soul.” The 2015–16 season “is all I have left to give./My heart can take the pounding/My mind can handle the grind/But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye./And that’s OK./I’m ready to let you go.” In a letter distributed to Lakers’ fans before that evening’s game against the Indiana Pacers, Bryant wrote, “What you’ve done for me is far greater than anything I’ve done for you. … My love for this city, this team and for each of you will never fade. Thank you for this incredible journey.

On April 13, 2016, Bryant played his final NBA game against the Utah Jazz, scoring a season-high 60 points (the most points scored by a player that season), including outscoring the entire Jazz team 23–21 in the fourth quarter, in the Lakers’ 101–96 victory.

Bryant died at age 41, along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others, in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California in 2020. A number of tributes and memorials were subsequently issued, including renaming the All-Star Game MVP Award in his honor.

Beckett  graded and Slabed

Career highlights and awards
5× NBA champion (2000–2002, 2009–2010)
2× NBA Finals MVP (2009–2010)
NBA Most Valuable Player (2008)
17× NBA All-Star (1998, 2000–2015)
4× NBA All-Star Game MVP (2002, 2007, 2009,2011)
11× All-NBA First Team (2002–2004, 2006–2013)
2× All-NBA Second Team (2000–2001)
2× All-NBA Third Team (1999, 2005)
9× NBA All-Defensive First Team (2000,2003–2004, 2006–2011)
3× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2001–2002,2012)
2× NBA scoring champion (2006–2007)
NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion (1997)
NBA All-Rookie Second Team (1997)
Los Angeles Lakers all-time leading scorer
Naismith Prep Player of the Year (1996)

Career statistics
Points 33,643 (25.0 ppg)
Rebounds 7,047 (5.2 rpg)
Assists 6,306 (4.7 apg)

Men’s basketball Representing the United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing Team
Gold medal – first place 2012 London Team
FIBA Americas Championship
Gold medal – first place 2007 Las Vegas Team

Michael Jordan North Carolina

As a freshman in coach Dean Smith’s team-oriented system, he was named ACC Freshman of the Year after he averaged 13.4 points per game (ppg) on 53.4% shooting (field goal percentage). He made the game-winning jump shot in the 1982 NCAA Championship game against Georgetown, which was led by future NBA rival Patrick Ewing. Jordan later described this shot as the major turning point in his basketball career. During his three seasons at North Carolina, he averaged 17.7 ppg on 54.0% shooting, and added 5.0 rebounds per game (rpg). He was selected by consensus to the NCAA All-American First Team in both his sophomore (1983) and junior (1984) seasons. After winning the Naismith and the Wooden College Player of the Year awards in 1984, Jordan left North Carolina one year before his scheduled graduation to enter the 1984 NBA draft. The Chicago Bulls selected Jordan with the third overall pick, after Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets) and Sam Bowie (Portland Trail Blazers). One of the primary reasons why Jordan was not drafted sooner was because the first two teams were in need of a center. However, the Trail Blazers general manager Stu Inman contended that it was not a matter of drafting a center, but more a matter of taking Sam Bowie over Jordan, in part because Portland already had a guard with similar skills to Jordan, Clyde Drexler. In 2005 ESPN, citing Bowie’s injury-laden college career, named the Blazers’ choice of Bowie as the worst draft pick in North American professional sports history.

 

Jordan returned to North Carolina to complete his degree in 1986

Career highlights and awards

NCAA champion (1982)
2× Consensus first-team All-American (1983–1984)
National college player of the year (1984)
ACC Player of the Year (1984)
No. 23 retired by the University of North Carolina

Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls

Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. He played fifteen seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) between 1984 and 2003, winning six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls. He was integral in popularizing basketball and the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s, becoming a global cultural icon. His profile on the NBA website states “By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time.”

Jordan played college basketball with the North Carolina Tar Heels. As a freshman, he was a member of the Tar Heels’ national championship team in 1982. Jordan joined the Bulls in 1984 as the third overall draft pick and quickly emerged as a league star, entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring while gaining a reputation as one of the best defensive players. His leaping ability, demonstrated by performing slam dunks from the free-throw line in Slam Dunk Contests, earned him the nicknames “Air Jordan” and “His Airness”. Jordan won his first NBA title with the Bulls in 1991 and followed that achievement with titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a three-peat. Following the murder of his father, Jordan abruptly retired from basketball before the 1993–94 NBA season to play Minor League Baseball in the Chicago White Sox organization, but returned to the Bulls in March 1995 and led them to three more championships in 1996, 1997, and 1998, as well as a then-record 72 regular season wins in the 1995–96 NBA season. He retired for the second time in January 1999, returning for two more NBA seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the Washington Wizards. During his professional career, he was selected to play for the United States national team, winning four gold medals—at the 1983 Pan American Games, 1984 Summer Olympics, 1992 Tournament of the Americas and 1992 Summer Olympics—while also being undefeated.

In August 2009, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, opened a Michael Jordan exhibit that contained items from his college and NBA careers as well as from the 1992 “Dream Team”; the exhibit also has a batting baseball glove to signify Jordan’s short career in the Minor League Baseball. After Jordan received word of his acceptance into the Hall of Fame, he selected Class of 1996 member David Thompson to present him. As Jordan would later explain during his induction speech in September 2009, he was not a fan of the Tar Heels when growing up in North Carolina but greatly admired Thompson, who played for the rival NC State Wolfpack. In September, he was inducted into the Hall with several former Bulls teammates in attendance, including Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Charles Oakley, Ron Harper, Steve Kerr, and Toni Kukoč. Dean Smith and Doug Collins, two of Jordan’s former coaches, were also among those present. His emotional reaction during his speech when he began to cry was captured by Associated Press photographer Stephan Savoia and would later go viral on social media as the “Crying Jordan” Internet meme. In 2016, President Barack Obama honored Jordan with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In October 2021, Jordan was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. In September 2022, Jordan’s jersey in which he played the opening game of the 1998 NBA Finals was sold for $10.1 million, making it the most expensive game-worn sports memorabilia in history. In December 2022, the NBA unveiled a new MVP trophy, named in Jordan’s honor, to be awarded beginning with the 2022–23 season, which replaced the original trophy, named in honor of former NBA commissioner Maurice Podoloff.

1999 Fleer Michael Jordan 22k foil Retirement cards

PSA DNA Authenticated Rare Bobcat Draft day cap.

Career highlights and awards

6× NBA champion (1991–1993, 1996–1998)
6× NBA Finals MVP (1991–1993, 1996–1998)
5× NBA Most Valuable Player (1988, 1991–1992,1996, 1998)
14× NBA All-Star (1985–1993, 1996–1998,2002–2003)
3× NBA All-Star Game MVP (1988, 1996, 1998)
10× All-NBA First Team (1987–1993, 1996–1998)
All-NBA Second Team (1985)
NBA Defensive Player of the Year (1988)
9× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1988–1993,1996–1998)
NBA Rookie of the Year (1985)
10× NBA scoring champion (1987–1993,1996–1998)
3× NBA steals champion (1988, 1990, 1993)
2× NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion (1987–1988)
NBA playoffs all-time leading scorer
Chicago Bulls all-time leading scorer
No. 23 retired by Chicago Bulls
No. 23 retired by Miami Heat
3x AP Athlete of the Year (1991, 1992, 1993)
2x USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year (1983–1984)
NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team

Men’s basketball
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
	1984 Los Angeles	Men’s basketball
	1992 Barcelona	Men’s basketball
Tournament of the Americas
	1992 Portland	Men’s basketball
Pan American Games
	1983 Caracas	Men’s basketball

Jabari Parker

Jabari Ali Parker (born March 15, 1995) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was taken with the second overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft. He ended his college career after one season of playing for Duke University. Parker was a standout high school athlete, helping his team win four straight state championships for Simeon Career Academy, and was named the National High School Player of the Year by Gatorade and McDonald’s. In his freshman year for the 2013–14 Duke Blue Devils, he was named a consensus first-team All-American, the USBWA National Freshman of the Year, and the runner-up for the John R. Wooden Award (College Player of the Year). Parker is the son of former NBA player Sonny Parker.

Career highlights and awards
Consensus first-team All-American (2014)
USBWA National Freshman of the Year (2014)
First-team All-ACC (2014)
ACC Rookie of the Year (2014)
Jordan Brand Classic co-MVP (2013)
Gatorade National Player of the Year (2012)
USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year (2011)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals[hide]
Men’s basketball
Representing the United States
FIBA World U17 Championship
Gold medal – first place 2012 Lithuania National team
FIBA Americas U16 Championship
Gold medal – first place 2011 Mexico National team

Lamar Odom

Lamar Joseph Odom (born November 6, 1979) is an American retired professional basketball player. As a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he won NBA championships in 2009 and 2010 and was named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 2011.

Career highlights and awards
2× NBA champion (2009, 2010)
NBA Sixth Man of the Year (2011)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (2000)
First-team All-Atlantic 10 (1999)
Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year (1999)
Parade Player of the Year (1997)
2× Parade All-American (1996, 1997)

Summer Olympics
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Athens National team
FIBA World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2010 Turkey National team

DeMar DeRozan

DeMar Darnell DeRozan (born August 7, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for USC and was selected ninth overall by the Raptors in the 2009 NBA draft. In 2017, he was named an All-NBA Team member for the first time, earning All-NBA Third Team honors. In 2018, he was named an NBA All-Star for the fourth time in five years. DeRozan has played for the United States men’s national basketball team in two major tournaments: the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Career highlights and awards
5× NBA All-Star (2014, 2016–2018, 2022)
2× All-NBA Second Team (2018, 2022)
All-NBA Third Team (2017)
Pac-10 tournament MVP (2009)
Pac-10 All-Freshman Team (2009)
No. 10 retired by USC Trojans
First-team Parade All-American (2008)
McDonald’s All-American (2008)

Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team
World Championship
Gold medal – first place 2014 Spain Team

Jimmy Jones

James Jones (born January 1, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player who was a six-time All-Star in the American Basketball Association (ABA).

Since he was not a number one draft choice in the NBA, he began his professional career in the rival ABA where he was a number one draft choice, playing seven seasons for the New Orleans Buccaneers, Memphis Pros, and Utah Stars. Though largely forgotten today, Jones was one of the ABA’s best players, averaging 19.2 points, 5.1 assists, and 4.9 rebounds during his seven years in that league. Jones finally joined the Bullets franchise in 1974, appearing in three seasons before retiring in 1977.

Career highlights and awards
6× ABA All-Star (1968–1971, 1973, 1974)
3× All-ABA First Team (1969, 1973, 1974)
ABA All-Rookie First Team (1968)
ABA All-Time Team
Career ABA and NBA statistics
Points 11,366 (16.3 ppg)
Rebounds 2,930 (4.6 rpg)
Assists 3,069 (4.5 apg)

Jonas Valanciunas

Jonas Valančiūnas (born 6 May 1992) is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Raptors with the fifth overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft.

Valančiūnas has been a member of the Lithuania men’s national basketball team since age 19. He won two EuroBasket silver medals in EuroBasket 2013 and EuroBasket 2015, earning All-Tournament honours in the latter. Valančiūnas also appeared in the documentary The Other Dream Team.

Career highlights and awards
NBA All-Rookie Second Team (2013)
LKL champion (2010)
2× LKL Most Improved Player (2011, 2012)
LKL MVP (2012)
LKL Player of the Year (2012)
2× LKL blocks leader (2011, 2012)
VTB United League rebounding leader (2012)
3x LKL All-Defensive Team (2010–2012)
LKF Cup winner (2010)
3× LKL All-Star (2010–2012)
2× LKL All-Star Game MVP (2011, 2012)
5× Lithuanian Player of the Year (2011, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2021)
2× FIBA Young Player of the Year (2011, 2012)
All-EuroCup First Team (2012)
EuroCup Rising Star (2012)
FIBA Under-19 World Cup MVP (2011)

Abdel Nader

Abdel Nader (born September 25, 1993) is an Egyptian-American basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Northern Illinois and Iowa State before being drafted by the Boston Celtics with the 58th overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft.

Career highlights and awards
NBA D-League Rookie of the Year (2017)
All-NBA D-League Second Team (2017)
NBA D-League All-Rookie Team (2017)
NBA D-League All-Star (2017)
MAC All-Freshman Team (2012)

Georgios Papagiannis

Georgios Papagiannis (born July 3, 1997 alternate spellings: Georgio, Giorgios, Giorgos; ) for the Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Born in Maroussi, Athens, Greece, he is a 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) tall center, with a 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) wingspan. His nickname is “Big George”. He was selected 13th overall in the 2016 NBA draft by the Phoenix Suns, and was later traded to the Sacramento Kings.

On March 8, 2018, Papagiannis signed a 10-day contract with the Portland Trail Blazers. Despite not playing a single game for Portland at the end of his 10-day contract, Papagiannis would sign a two-year contract on March 18.

Career highlights and awards
All-EuroLeague Second Team (2022)
EuroLeague Blocks Leader (2022)
EuroLeague Top Rebounder (2022)
3× Greek Basket League champion (2019–2021)
4× Greek Cup winner (2015, 2016, 2019, 2021)
Greek Super Cup winner (2021)
Greek League Best Five (2021)
Greek League Blocks Leader (2022)
2× Greek League All-Star (2019, 2020)
Greek All-Star Game Slam Dunk winner (2020)
Greek Super Cup MVP (2021)

Damian Jones

Damian William Jones (born June 30, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Vanderbilt.

Career highlights and awards
2x NBA champion (2017,2018)
2× First-team All-SEC (2015, 2016)

Dakari Johnson

Dakari Naeem Johnson (born September 22, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA G League, on assignment from the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the University of Kentucky.

Career highlights and awards
CBA All Import Player First Team (2021)
NBL champion (2019)
NBL Finals MVP (2019)
CBA All-Star (2019)
All-NBA D-League First Team (2017)
NBA D-League All-Star (2017)
NBA D-League All-Rookie Team (2016)
McDonald’s All-American (2013)
Men’s basketball
Representing the United States
FIBA World U17 Championship
Gold medal – first place 2012 Lithuania National team

Luther Wright

Luther A. Wright Jr. (born September 22, 1971) is a retired American professional basketball player, in the center position.

After the season with the Jazz finished, he entered a mental institution. Still during his NBA stint, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and left the team. In 1996, he was released from Essex County Hospital Center, a psychiatric hospital, after a 30-day admission. Under the terms of his contract with the Jazz, Wright was to be paid US$153,000 per year for 25 full years.

Career history
1993–1994 Utah Jazz

Representing United States
FIBA Americas U18 Championship
Gold medal – first place 1990 Montevideo National team
Summer Universiade
Gold medal – first place 1991 Sheffield National team