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nbatrades · 34 years ago

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Philadelphia 76ers Deepen Frontcourt Rotation With Manute Bol Trade

On August 1st, 1990, the Golden State Warriors traded center Manute Bol to the Philadelphia 76ers for a 1991 first round draft pick (Chris Gatling).

In the 1980s, acquiring a seven-footer was a necessity. Having a mountain of a human ready to protect the basket could transform a defense.

That was the Golden State Warriors’ thought when they acquired center Manute Bol. He joined the club in the 1988 offseason after a trade with the Washington Bullets for Dave Feitl and a second round pick.

The tallest player in the NBA at 7-foot-7, Bol instantly added a shot-blocking presence to a Warriors team devoid of it. The season prior to Bol’s arrival, the Warriors were 23rd in the league in blocks. After Bol joined, the Warriors shot up to first in the NBA with a 127% rise in the category year-over-year.

Golden State was built around forward and sharp shooter Chris Mullin with incoming fifth pick Mitch Richmond adding a vital second option. That duo and a fast-paced offense propelled the Warriors to a surprise start.

Golden State went 31-21 in its first 52 games. In fourth place after 76 games (43-33), the Warriors lost their final six games to fall to 43-39 and seventh place in the West. Bol was a defensive weapon for the Warriors as the big man led the NBA in blocks per game (4.3) for the second time in his career. He also contributed 3.9 PPG and 5.8 RPG in 80 contests and 22.1 MPG.

The Warriors faced the 51-31 Utah Jazz in the first round of the 1989 postseason. In the series opener, the Warriors led for much of the game. They built a double digit lead in the fourth and held off a late Jazz rally to take the first game 123-119. Mullin led the way with 41 points while Bol had seven blocks in the win.

Game Two was tight through the first three quarters. In the final frame, Warriors reserve Terry Teagle scored 14 of his 20 total points and the Warriors outscored the Jazz 28-17 in a 99-91 win.

After stunning the Jazz twice on the road, Mullin (35 points) and Richmond (26) led the way in a 120-106 Warriors victory in Oakland, completing a 3-0 series sweep. During the sweep, Bol was a defensive force, averaging six blocks a game along with 4.3 PPG and 5.0 RPG in 20.7 MPG.

The Warriors went on to the second round where they faced the tough task of trying to take down the Phoenix Suns. Like the Warriors, the Suns were a high octane offense, but the 55-win team had a deep squad led by Tom Chambers and Kevin Johnson.

In the first game, four different Phoenix players recorded at least 19 points in a 130-103 Suns rout. Mullin (37 points, nine rebounds) and Terry Teagle (29 points) helped Golden State make Game Two competitive throughout. The Warriors went on a 11-2 run over the final 3:24 of game action to take the game 127-122.

In the third game, the Suns led for much of the action. Chambers scored 12 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter as Phoenix held on for a 113-104 victory. The fourth game was a 135-99 beatdown in favor of Phoenix. The Suns got 34 points from super-sub Eddie Johnson and 27 points from Chambers, and the Warriors shot 0-for-9 from three in the loss.

Mullin and Richmond combined for 45 points back in Phoenix, but a 24-point, nine-rebound, 11-assist game from Kevin Johnson guided the Suns to a 116-104 win and a 4-1 series outcome.

During the five-game series, Bol was relatively quiet, shooting just 2-18 (11.1%) from the field and averaging 1.0 PPG, 3.2 RPG and 2.2 BPG in 17.2 MPG.

The Warriors looked to build on their playoff appearance, adding former sixth round draft pick Šarūnas Marčiulionis from the Soviet Union and drafting point guard Tim Hardaway 14th in the 1989 NBA Draft.

Golden State’s hopes of a playoff appearance faded early as the team lost 14 of its first 18 games. Thanks to a defense that fell all the way to a rank of 26th (out of 27 teams), the Warriors struggled to find consistency. Golden State would rebound and reach .500 on a few occasions.

At the 74-game mark, Golden State was 35-39 and just two games out of the eighth seed. They went 2-6 in their final eight games to fall to 37-45 and out of the playoffs for the 1989-90 season.

Bol’s impact on the defensive end waned in his second season with the club. The seven-footer played in 75 games (20 starts) and compiled 1.9 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 0.5 APG and 3.2 BPG in 17.5 MPG.

After the Warriors’ disappointing season, the team decided to shift its focus away from relying on Bol to swat everything to more balanced defensive principles. The team traded the big man away to the Philadelphia 76ers for a future first round pick in the 1991 NBA Draft.

Bol ended his two-year stint with the Warriors with 3.0 PPG, 4.8 RPG and 3.8 BPG in 155 games. He shot 36% from the field, 21% fromm the three-point line and 56% fromm the free-throw line.

Desperate to add a defensive presence to a team on the fringes of title contention, the Philadelphia 76ers saw Bol as a rim protector off the bench.

The 76ers finished the previous season 53-29 and lost to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the second round 4-1.

The 1990-91 season would see a ton of changes happen for the club. Early on, starting point guard Johnny Dawkins tore the ACL in his right knee. Philadelphia looked like a contender early in the year, recording the second-best record in the Eastern Conference at 19-8.

A 6-16 stretch in the next 22 games led to the team falling to 25-24. Injuries to star Charles Barkley and inconsistent play led to the down period. Trying to add some life to the roster, the Sixers made an in-season trade, dealing center Mike Gminski to the Charlotte Hornets for scoring forward Armen Gilliam and backup center Dave Hoppen.

Luckily for the Sixers, the bottom half of the East was largely unspectacular, with the eighth-seed Indiana Pacers four and a half games back of Philly. The Sixers would continue to play uneven basketball. The team finished 44-38, good for fifth-best in the East.

Bol played in all 82 games in his first season in Philadelphia. The seven-footer posted 1.9 PPG, 4.3 RPG and 3.0 BPG in 18.6 MPG.

Philadelphia went on to the postseason where the franchise matched up with the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. Hersey Hawkins had 25 points in a 99-90 series opening Sixers win.

The second game was tight and went to overtime after a three-pointer from guard Jay Humphries tied the game at the buzzer of regulation. In overtime, Mahorn made a layup that broke a tie with 19 seconds and Ron Anderson made two free-throws to seal up a 116-112 victory.

Video via YouTube

In the third game, Barkley had 30 points and 12 rebounds as the 76ers routed Milwaukee 121-100 and swept the three-game set. Bol played in all three games of the first-round sweep, recording 2.3 PPG, 2.3 RPG and 2.7 BPG in 12.0 MPG.

In the Conference Semifinals Sixers battled the Chicago Bulls for the second consecutive year in the second round. Chicago led by as much as 23 points in a 105-92 Game One victory.

Game Two was tighter. All five Bulls starters scored in double figures in a 112-100 Bulls win. Michael Jordan scored 46 points but missed two key free-throws over the final two minutes in Game Three. Late in the game, Charles Barkley passed to Hersey Hawkins in the corner and Hawkins converted on a three-pointer with 10.3 seconds left, giving the Sixers a 98-97 lead.

Scottie Pippen missed a jumper and Armen Gilliam split a pair of free-throws with 1.5 seconds left. Chicago was unable to get a shot off as Philadelphia held on for a 99-97 win.

In the fourth game, the Bulls led by double digits early. Horace Grant dominated with 22 points and 11 rebounds (7 on the offensive end) as Chicago. won 101-85. Philadelphia tried to stay in the series in Game Five. Barkley had 30 points but Jordan and Pippen combined for 66 points to take Game Five 100-95 and the series 4-1.

Chicago won the board game, out-rebounding the 76ers 210-178. Bol was quiet during the series, posting 3.4 PPG, 2.4 RPG and 0.8 BPG in 14.6 MPG.

After Philadelphia’s loss to the eventual 1991 NBA champions, the Sixers kept much of the same roster together. The team traded Rick Mahorn to the Minnesota Timberwolves and signed center Charles Shackleford as a backup big.

The Sixers began the 1991-92 season 5-2 but the losses would start to pile up. As Barkley started to voice his frustrations with the team, the Sixers hovered around .500 for much of the year. After 60 games, the team was seventh in the East with a 29-31 record. Philadelphia went 6-16 over the final 22 games to finish 35-47 and out of the playoffs for the first time in four years.

Bol appeared in 72 games (two starts) and recorded 1.5 PPG, 3.1 RPG and 2.9 BPG (sixth in the NBA) in 17.8 MPG.

Barkley’s unhappiness would reach its boiling point as the Sixers dealt the perennial MVP candidate to the Phoenix Suns for Jeff Hornacek, Tim Perry and Andrew Lang. The team also drafted undersized forward Clarence Weatherspoon with its first round selection. Head coach Jim Lynam departed and moved into the front office. He hired Doug Moe to replace him as head coach.

The Moe-era got off to a rough start as Philadelphia lost 11 of its first 14 games. The 76ers were 19-37 when they decided to fire Moe. Assistant Fred Carter replaced him and the Sixers went 7-19 over the final 26 games, finishing with a 26-56 mark. Bol saw action in 58 contests (23 starts) and produced 2.2 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 2.1 BPG in 14.7 MPG.

The Sixers ended up with the second pick in the 1993 NBA Draft after the season and ended up selecting 7-foot-6 BYU center Shawn Bradley.

With Bradley expected to sign a significant deal, Philadelphia had to reorganize its finances for its roster. As the Sixers were signing Bradley, Bol was one of six players to have their options renounced by the 76ers, making him a free agent.

He later signed a one-year free agent deal believed to be worth $700,000 with the Miami Heat.

Bol ended his three-year stint in Philly with a stat line of 1.9 PPG, 3.6 RPG and 2.7 BPG in 211 appearances. The Sudanese swatter shot 40% from the field and 56% from the foul line in that time.

The 1991 first rounder Golden State acquired for Bol ended up in the 16th spot of the draft. The Warriors selected Old Dominion forward Chris Gatling. A two-time Sun Belt Conference player of the year, Gatling was impressive in three college seasons, averaging 21.3 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 2.3 BPG and 1.7 SPG in 85 career games.

Gatling’s selection was a part of the Warriors’ effort to beef up its suspect front line. Though the team built a high octane offense around players like Chris Mullin and Tim Hardaway, the five position had always remained a question the team had to answer if it wanted to reach contender status.

In addition to the 6-foot-9 Gatling, the Warriors also drafted Victor Alexander (17th overall, 6-foot-9) and Shaun Vandiver (26th overall, 6-foot-10) in the same draft.

After the draft, Gatling played with the Warriors’ 1991 Southern California Summer Pro League squad in Los Angeles. He averaged 19.1 PPG and 8.6 RPG in seven games. Gatling also played the Rocky Mountain Revue in Salt Lake City, recording 9.4 PPG and 6.3 RPG in eight games.

Soon after, he signed a five-year deal reported to be worth about $5.6 million, including $4.75 million guaranteed.

The 1991-92 regular season saw the Warriors start off by dealing Mitch Richmond to the Sacramento Kings for rookie Billy Owens.

The Warriors build a successful team thanks to an elite offense. Golden State began the year 9-3. The team continued its winning ways, taking 14 of 17 games from the middle of December to January. The Warriors finished 55-27, the third best record in the Western Conference and the franchise’s best mark in 17 years.

Gatling saw limited time on the floor early in his rookie year due to injury and coach’s decision. He became a part of the rotation late in the season thanks to “spectacular lob-jamming and shot-blocking.” The forward played in 54 games (one start) and posted 5.7 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 0.6 SPG and 0.7 BPG in 11.3 MPG.

By the postseason, Gatling had gained coach Don Nelson’s trust as a key reserve. Golden State battled the Seattle Supersonics in the 1992 playoffs’ first round.

The Sonics became the first team in the 1992 postseason to win a road game, taking the series opener 117-109. Shawn Kemp and Ricky Pierce both tallied 28 points in the win.

Warriors reserve Mario Elie had 12 points in the third quarter of Game Two and the Warriors outscored Seattle 61-41 in the second half to win 115-101 and even the series 1-1.

As the series scene shifted to Seattle, Game Three was very close. Owens converted on a layup with 7.5 seconds left to give the Warriors a 128-127 lead. Kemp was fouled on a drive and made two free-throws with 6.1 seconds left to give the Sonics a one-point edge. Sarunas Marciulionis air-balled a jumper at the buzzer to give Seattle the 2-1 series lead.

Game Four was tight as well. The Warriors held a 113-112 lead with 40 seconds left, but Rickey Pierce converted on a layup and Gary Payton knocked down three of four free-throws to help Seattle outscore Golden State 7-3 in the final moments of a 119-116 victory. The win ended the first round matchup in Seattle’s favor 3-1.

For the series, Gatling was a vital piece of the Warriors lineup, posting 12.5 PPG on 62% from the field, 6.3 RPG and 2.5 BPG in 20.3 MPG. Though he played well, Gatling’s one moment from the series that sticks out is when he was dunked on by Shawn Kemp in Game Four and dapped up Kemp after the jam.

In the 1992 offseason, the Warriors added guard Latrell Sprewell through the draft, but kept most of the roster the same. Injuries would be the story of the 1992-93 season. Owens missed 45 games, Mullin was out for 36 games, Sarunas Marciulionis missed 52 games, and Tim Hardaway sat out 16.

Golden State was a mild 20-21 through its first 41 games. The second half of the season was a tailspin as the Warriors went 14-27 over the final 41 games, finishing with a 34-48 record.

Gatling had a more consistent role in his second season, seeing action in 70 games and compiling 9.3 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 0.6 APG, 0.6 SPG and 0.8 BPG in 17.8 MPG.

Golden State took the third pick in the NBA Draft lottery. The franchise drafted guard Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway and subsequently dealt his rights and three first round picks to the Orlando Magic for the number one overall pick in the draft, Chris Webber.

Injuries would take center stage of Golden State’s 1993-94 season. Star Tim Hardaway tore his left ACL in a practice before the start of the season. Marčiulionis was also lost for the season due to a knee injury.

Thanks to the rise of Sprewell and the emergence of Webber, the Warriors were a good team that year. Despite a 3-6 start, the Warriors rebounded, winning eight of its next 10 games. Thanks to a top-ten offense the Warriors continued to win, finishing sixth in the West with a 50-32 record.

Gatling started 23 of his last 29 games played during the season. He appeared in all 82 games. In 15.8 MPG, the left-hander amassed 8.2 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 0.5 APG, 0.5 SPG and 0.8 BPG.

Golden State went on to the 1994 postseason where it battled the 56-26 Phoenix Suns and superstar Charles Barkley. The series opener saw Phoenix jump out to a 38-23 lead after the first quarter. Golden State would make a comeback, taking a brief lead n the fourth quarter before Phoenix regained the lead.

A late Barkley tip-in on a missed Kevin Johnson free-throw would seal up Phoenix’s 111-104 Game One win. In the second game, the Warriors built an early lead but Johnson scored 17 of his game-high 38 points in the third quarter to wrestle control of the game. The Suns managed to build a 12-point lead in the final quarter before holding on for a 117-111 outcome.

In Oakland, the third game was a high scoring affair with both teams registering 42 points in the opening quarter. With the Warriors choosing not to double-team Barkley, the former MVP went to work, scoring 38 points in the first half and a career-high 56 overall. The Warriors stayed close, but ended up losing 140-133 and suffered in a 3-0 series sweep.

Gatling started the series opener but was replaced by Byron Houston in the starting lineup for Games Two and Three. He averaged 8.7 PPG on 61.5% from the field, 5.7 RPG and 1.3 APG in 18.0 MPG.

In the 1994 offseason, Golden State made a trade, dealing Houston and Marčiulionis to the Seattle SuperSonics for super scorer Ricky Pierce, 1994 first round draft pick Carlos Rogers and two future second round picks.

The beginning of the 1994-95 season was chaotic for the Warriors. Webber was unhappy with the thought of playing center for the Warriors and was displeased with Nelson. He was a contract holdout after becoming a restricted free agent. To appease Webber, the Warriors dealt Billy Owens to the Miami Heat for center Rony Seikaly two days before the start of the season.

Hoping Seikaly’s presence at the pivot would make Webber happy as a power forward, it didn’t work and the Warriors eventually traded Webber to the Washington Bullets for Tom Gugliotta and three future first round picks. Gugliotta wasn’t long for the Warriors as he was dealt three months after to the Minnesota Timberwolves for rookie Donyell Marshall.

With all of the calamity, the Warriors struggled. The team was 14-31 when it moved on from Nelson and replaced him with assistant Bob Lanier on an interim basis. Under the former Hall of Fame center Lanier, Golden State continued to languish, finishing a disappointing 26-56.

Gatling appeared in 58 contests (22 starts) and recorded 13.7 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 0.9 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.9 BPG in 25.3 MPG. The forward led the NBA in field goal percentage (63.3%).

After Golden State’s season, the team hired Rick Adelman as head coach. The Warriors won the lottery and earned the first pick in the 1995 NBA Draft where they took Maryland forward Joe Smith. The team also made a move, dealing Carlos Rogers, Victor Alexander and three players picked in the second round of the 1995 draft to the Toronto Raptors for point guard B.J. Armstrong.

With Joe Smith ensconced in the starting power forward role alongside Seikaly at center, Gatling was limited to a backup center who also saw minutes at power forward.

Golden State began the year just 3-8. Though the team was just 9-14 after 23 games, it was still just two games behind in the loss column from the eighth seed.

After 19 games, All-Star Tim Hardaway was moved to the bench in favor of Armstrong. Hardaway’s conflicts with fellow All-Star and backcourt mate Latrell Sprewell and coach Adelman began to bubble to the surface. Soon after the demotion, the guard requested a trade. With Hardaway’s name circling the NBA trade rumor circuit, it was only a matter of when he would dealt.

Eventually, the Warriors settled on a deal with the Miami Heat built around Hardaway heading to Miami for veteran big man Kevin Willis and guard Bimbo Coles. Initially, the Warriors wanted to offer second year player Clifford Rozier but Miami insisted on Gatling being in the deal which the Warriors eventually relented on.

The team was 25-27 when the trade happened. Gatling appeared in 47 games with the Warriors during the 1995-96 season and managed 9.1 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 0.6 APG and 0.6 BPG in 18.3 MPG.

The power forward ended his four and a half year tenure in Golden State with a stat line of 9.2 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 0.6 APG, 0.6 SPG and 0.7 BPG in 311 career games. He shot 58% from the field and 64% from the free-throw line.

Manute Bol on why he liked the trade (via Oakland Tribune):

“I was really happy. Not because I don’t like Golden State. I don’t want to play against Charles Barkley again.”

How he thinks Philadelphia won’t be losing to Michael Jordan and the Bulls again:

“I don’t think that's gonna happen again, anyway. Chicago might not beat us anymore. We might beat everybody.”

How he won’t be taking as many three-pointers in Philly:

“I think on this team, the offensive guys like Charles and other guys, they have to do their job.”

Golden State Warriors executive vice president of basketball operations and head coach Don Nelson on how the trade was the perfect moment for the Warriors to make a trade (via UPI):

“Timing is everything. With the structure of [Bol’s] contract and with the salary cap, we may not have been able to trade him later. It gives us a second first-round pick in the 1991 draft. It’s [the draft] we consider a good draft and a lot of centers could be available.

“We are trying to stockpile some choices to be able to maneuver to get an all-around center. If we get a good center, we think we are really going to take off. Manute also was the only marketable big man we had. He was the only one other teams wanted.”

On trading Manute Bol:

“Manute understands these things happen. There are no hard feelings. We talked before the draft about things that could or might happen. What it means is he’s making his living in the NBA and this is what happens in the NBA.”

How the Warriors can’t rely on Bol’s shot-blocking presence:

“Our team is maturing. We can’t rely on Manute's expertise (blocking shots) at the end of the game. We can’t rely so much on the the zone trap. The physical nature of the game is changing. The bulkier players seems to be playing a bigger factor. If you can’t beat them you have to join them.”

How it became harder to play Bol with teams scheming to attack him on defense:

“Manute is still a big factor, but as teams get used to playing against him, it becomes more difficult to trick them. Most teams that played us had a Manute team. They came in and attacked him with a pick-and-roll that made it very difficult for him.”

How the trade helps Philadelphia (via The Philadelphia Inquirer):

“I think it’s a real good move for Philadelphia. I think he’ll win some games for them. They’re thinking of winning a title. The extra wins will help them.”

How Bol wasn’t as helpful to the rebuilding Warriors (via The San Francisco Examiner):

“His skills an very attractive to some teams. We’re still building, trying to get to where we’re decent. He’s not quite as valuable to us.”

Philadelphia 76ers general manager Gene Shue (via The Philadelphia Inquirer):

“I consider Manute Bol to be the best shot-blocker that we've ever had in this game. I played in the era with Bill Russell. I’d always said there was nobody better.”

76ers owner Harold Katz on acquiring Manute Bol (via LA Times/AP):

“Manute Bol is the premier shot-blocker in the NBA today. It is obvious to us that our biggest need last year was clogging the middle. We feel there is nobody in the game today that can do it better.”

How defense is a focus for the 76ers (via Philadelphia Daily News):

“You win in this league with defense. That's one thing this team lacked.”

76ers head coach Jim Lynam on Bol (via The Philadelphia Inquirer):

“You make an adjustment when Manute is in the game. When he is playing at the top of his defensive game, offense takes care of itself because most of it is open floor.”

On adding a rim protector like Bol (via Oakland Tribune):

“We’ve taken, no pun intended, a big step in that direction with the acquisition of Manute. You’re talking about an area where we were most deficient teams coming to the basket and us not being able to do a great deal about it in terms of serious intimidation or shot blocking. We’ve added the guy that’s the best shot-blocker in the league.”

76ers assistant coach Fred Carter on Bol (via Philadelphia Daily News):

“He’s legitimate, like a relief pitcher, a field-goal kicker. He comes in, has a direct impact on the game. He doesn’t have to get in the flow, he just does what he does. He comes in, you see the mindset of the opponent change. Their coaches, their players, their first thoughts are to change, to somehow circumvent his presence. I say going to the basket against Manute is like carrying water up a hill in a sieve. You get up the hill, the bucket is empty. And. in his case, he hasn’t jumped yet.

“I look at him, and I know this team is a lot different than Washington or the team he was with in Golden State. We have the offensive players, the defensive rebounders he hasn’t had around him. With this team, he’s the guy who controls the middle, one of the many parts you need to succeed.

“And like those other teams, we’re not jockeying to get in the playoffs, we’re right at the mountaintop trying to win a title and we’ve got a guy who already can look over the mountaintop and see it all. I can smell it I’m not saying we’re going to win the title, but I can smell his potential.”

On if teams figured out Bol:

“Teams didn’t figure anything out. They just didn’t go to the basket against him. Look it up, teams shoot about 47, 48 percent as an average. If he plays 20 minutes, the shots become harder, the percentages go down.”

76ers forward Derek Smith on Bol (via UPI):

“When I studied our team’s weaknesses this summer, it was clear we got beat at the point of the basket. Our Achilles heel was that we didn’t block any shots. To add a guy with that characteristic has to help our defense. And we were already a very good defensive team.”

Image Credit:

Manute Bol via Joe Patronite/Getty Images

Chris Gatling via Focus on Sport/Getty Images

#Manute Bol #Chris Gatling #Warriors #76ers #1990 #1990*91 Season

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travel9090 · 2 years ago

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Baby-faced Assassin Isiah Thomas

a former NBA basketball player During his career, he was a famous point guard with nicknames such as Zeke and Baby-faced Assassin, a former coach and one of the 50 great basketball players selected by GM. NBA, and the leader of the Detroit Bad Boys, who dominated the late 1980s. However, apart from his performance as a player, he was not very successful as an administrator or manager after retirement.

The team was the Pistons when he was a bad boy, and he dominated the team like the mafia boss, so his basketball style is easily misunderstood as a tough and messy type, but player Thomas is a very standard and colorful basketball player. Even Michael Jordan, who hates him, considers him the best PG player after Magic Johnson.

While talking about Thomas unexpectedly neglected his athletic ability, Izea was a player who had a tremendous athletic ability. Despite Jordan's defense, who was his opponent during the Bad Boys days, he was fast and agile enough to do his best, and Jordan, who was able to block even a short guard, could not completely beat Thomas at speed. Because Thomas was that fast. His jumping ability was amazing, but he once won a jump ball after beating his opponent's 7-foot center in a jump ball situation. If you look at the video below, you can see that there is an angle, but even though it is a jump in place, the head has risen to near the rim with its height.

In addition, he is a player who is very faithful to the basic skills of point guard in offense. Point guard creates a chance with dribbling, but in order to secure the next tactic to save the team member at any time during dribbling, the ball can be dribbled low and the team member's position can be seen with his head raised, and the next play should always be prepared. Thomas led the Pistons' Offence, which had many rather rugged types of players with excellent dribbling and skills as a player with perfect basic posture of point guard.

Thomas is the ace of the Pistons, who won the NBA twice, although he may not have consistently scored 20 points in the first round of stats, as he had excellent goal determination and ace quality as a point guard. The pull-up jumper or finish shown at the end of the persistent dribble shown in the highlight is his exclusive patent.

If I have to find a weakness, as a point guard 1 option, the ability to shoot long-distance shots such as 3-point shots and catch-and-shoots, which are the virtues of today, is not strong, so I was a little weak to dig under the net and make decisions, and my ability to take over itself was a little better than average. In particular, secondary stats such as TS are weaker than name values due to the absence of long-range shots. The field goal itself is not low at 45.2% in total, but the three-point shot was 29.0% and the free throw was also not good at 75.4%. In addition, he was a player with a lot of turnovers with an average of 3.8 turnovers.

If you compare Thomas to a modern player, you can say that there is a common denominator with Chris Paul. The basic skills and passing skills as a point guard are similar in that they are good at assembling a perfect and standard game, and if necessary, they can solve the game with their own scores. Of course, durability is far superior to that of Paul, who has many residual injuries. But it's not a secret that Paul is going longer than Thomas.Of course, winning…In addition, there is a Top 10 All-Star Game Assist video on NBA's official YouTube channel, four of which are the assists of Isea Thomas. Thomas' passing skills were also at the top of the list because he was covered by Magic's spectacular pass.

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pbwsports · 5 years ago

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The all-time starting five for every NBA Western Conference team

What if the Splash Bros. had Wilt Chamberlain playing center? How many titles would the Lakers have won if Magic Johnson was running the break with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal? Imagine Hakeem Olajuwon and James Hardenteaming up in Clutch City.

We asked our NBA writers to come up with an all-time starting five for every current NBA franchise, along with one additional blast from the past. Only a player's contributions during his time with that franchise were considered. (So, no, LeBron James doesn't crack the Lakers' all-time list ... yet.)

In this era of "positionless" basketball, traditional positions don't matter quite as much as they used to, so we allowed some flexibility in choosing a lineup -- but you won't see teams with four centers or three point guards. The idea was to dive into each team's history and create a group that could at least potentially share the floor together.

We rolled out the Eastern Conference on Wednesday. Here is the Western Conference:

Dallas Mavericks

G: Derek Harper G: Jason Terry G: Rolando Blackman F: Mark Aguirre F: Dirk Nowitzki

Terry joins Nowitzki as the only players on both of the Mavs' Finals teams and was the second-leading scorer on both squads. There's a reason Harper and Blackman, the backcourt for some good teams that just couldn't get past the Showtime Lakers, have their numbers in the American Airlines Center rafters. Aguirre's jersey probably won't ever be retired in Dallas because of his bitter departure, but you can't dismiss his 24.6 points per game in eight seasons with the Mavs.

The toughest cuts: Michael Finley and Jason Kidd, one of whom helped a young German kid find his way in the NBA and the other who helped Nowitzki finally deliver a title to Dallas.

-- Tim MacMahon

Denver Nuggets

G: Fat Lever G: David Thompson F: Alex English F: Carmelo Anthony C: Dikembe Mutombo

You're probably asking yourself the same question I debated for roughly 48 hours: Wait, no Nikola Jokic? There's a good chance Jokic eventually becomes the greatest player in franchise history, but he's just 25 years old.

EDITOR'S PICKS

Which active players are headed to the Hall? Our choice for every NBA team

Game Changers: Ranking the 100 most influential NBA players ever

Mutombo, on the other hand, is a Hall of Famer and produced probably the most iconic image in franchise history, celebrating the historic upset of the top-seeded Seattle SuperSonics in the 1994 playoffs. Mutombo is the defensive anchor behind a pure scoring lineup that could outgun just about anybody.

English, Anthony and Thompson all averaged better than 20 points a game for their careers, but at their peaks were pushing 30 PPG. Add in a floor general like Lafayette "Fat" Lever to pull the strings, and it could work. Between Fat, Melo and Dikembe, the Nuggets can outname just about anybody, too.

-- Royce Young

Golden State Warriors

G: Stephen Curry G: Klay Thompson F: Kevin Durant F: Draymond Green C: Wilt Chamberlain

Adding Chamberlain to the Durant-era Warriors teams that won back-to-back titles would just be unfair. Can you even imagine how dominant that team would be? Curry, Thompson, Durant and Green already have won titles together -- and now they have one of the greatest big men of all time to drop the ball to down low? Unbelievable. The defense is great, the offense is otherworldly.

It's tough leaving Hall of Famers Rick Barry and Chris Mullin out of this group, but who would come out? Curry and Thompson form the best shooting backcourt of all time. Durant is one of the best players of his generation and Green provides the defensive intensity and glue that has propelled them for years -- plus those four already have played together. There is no stopping this team. A juggernaut for the ages.

-- Nick Friedell

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Houston Rockets

G: James Harden G: Calvin Murphy F: Tracy McGrady F: Rudy Tomjanovich C: Hakeem Olajuwon

Apologies to Hall of Fame big men Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone and Yao Ming, but it's hard to get one center in the Houston lineup these days. Of course, there's no debate about the candidacy of Olajuwon, who remains the best player in franchise history, even after Harden's run of historic offensive production.

Harden is 22 points away from passing Murphy for second on the Rockets' career scoring list, so for now the flamboyant, 5-foot-9 Murphy continues to be the only player who ranks among the franchise's top two in points and assists.

Rudy T is best remembered as the Clutch City-era coach and for the brutal punch that interrupted his playing career, but he earned his spot here with five All-Star appearances during a career spent entirely in a Rockets uniform.

-- MacMahon

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LA Clippers

G: Chris Paul F: Kawhi Leonard F: Blake Griffin F: Elton Brand C: Bob McAdoo

Paul and Griffin authored the greatest and most exciting era in Clippers basketball with Lob City. Paul spent six seasons with the Clips, was first-team All-NBA three times and led the league in assists twice during that span. Griffin was Rookie of the Year, a five-time All-Star and the exciting, above-the-rim player the franchise sorely needed.

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Brand spent seven seasons with the team and made both of his All-Star appearances as a Clipper. McAdoo started his Hall of Fame career when the franchise was in Buffalo, where he led the league in scoring three straight seasons and was MVP in 1974-75.

Leonard is just 51 games into his Clippers tenure, but his elite production already puts him on this roster. Averaging 26.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists, a healthy Leonard can further validate this choice if he can get the Clippers to the conference finals for the first time.

-- Ohm Youngmisuk

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Los Angeles Lakers

G: Magic Johnson G: Jerry West G: Kobe Bryant F: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar C: Shaquille O'Neal

Four of these picks were no-brainers. Johnson (fifth in career assists) teamed up with Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's career scoring leader, to win five championships. Bryant (fourth all time in scoring) paired with O'Neal (eighth in scoring) to win three.

The fifth pick was harder. Is it Elgin Baylor, the greatest small forward in franchise history? Or how about LeBron James, the greatest small forward in NBA history? How about James Worthy, who teamed up with Magic and Kareem and won a Finals MVP?

Ultimately, the pick is West. Baylor never won a ring. James hasn't been a Laker long enough. Worthy would have to play the 4 and you already have Shaq and the Captain on the blocks. The Logo brings shooting and toughness and leadership, and he is extremely important to the franchise as a whole for his post-playing days in the front office.

-- Dave McMenamin

Memphis Grizzlies

G: Mike Conley G: Tony Allen F: Shareef Abdur-Rahim F: Zach Randolph C: Marc Gasol

The question with the Grizzlies: Who should be the final player to fill out a lineup that features the Grit 'n' Grind mainstays called the Core Four? (I'd make a joke about Chandler Parsons' max contract, but I want to be welcomed back to Memphis.)

Based purely on merit, Pau Gasol would be the pick, but he doesn't fit alongside his brother Marc at center and Randolph at power forward. So we will go with Abdur-Rahim, who was a really good player for some really bad teams in Vancouver, averaging 20.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game over five seasons in which the Grizzlies went a combined 86-292.

-- MacMahon

Minnesota Timberwolves

G: Ricky Rubio G: Sam Cassell F: Kevin Garnett F: Kevin Love C: Karl-Anthony Towns

The three best players in franchise history just all happen to be big men: Garnett, Love and Towns. Garnett is the franchise leader in points, rebounds, steals, assists and blocks; he's the only player in NBA history to lead a team in all five categories. Towns (22.7 points, 11.8 rebounds in 358 games) and Love (19.2 points, 12.2 rebounds in 364 games) each put up monster numbers, even though playoff success never came.

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(Side note: Towns is only 14 3-pointers away from becoming the franchise's all-time leader. Seriously.)

Rubio trails only Garnett in franchise history in steals and assists. Since Wally Szczerbiak and Andrew Wiggins were primarily listed as small forwards, the other guard spot goes to Cassell, who played only two years in Minnesota but had a career year and was a second-team All-NBA selection in 2003-04.

-- Andrew Lopez

New Orleans Pelicans

G: Chris Paul G: Jrue Holiday F: Jamal Mashburn F: David West C: Anthony Davis

(Just a reminder: The Pelicans' franchise history starts in 2002, when the team moved from Charlotte to New Orleans. Anything before that belongs to Charlotte, even though it's the same franchise. Got it? Cool, let's move on.)

First, the locks: Davis, Paul, Holiday and West. Now once you get to the wing ... oof. This spot came down to four players -- Mashburn, Peja Stojakovic, Eric Gordon and, yes, Brandon Ingram.

Mashburn, in the franchise's first season in New Orleans in 2002-03, made the All-Star team and was a third-team All-NBA selection. The Pelicans didn't get another All-Star selection from a wing player until this year, when Ingram made it. But with only 56 games under his belt, Ingram falls off this list. Gordon's time in New Orleans always seemed underwhelming. Stojakovic was a key cog on the 2007-08 team that won a franchise-best 56 games, but he struggled with injuries.

Mashburn was limited to 101 games for New Orleans, but his impact in Year 1 was unmistakable and he still sits second on the team's career scoring average list (21.5), behind only Davis.

-- Lopez

Oklahoma City Thunder

G: Russell Westbrook G: James Harden F: Kevin Durant F: Paul George F: Serge Ibaka

There's an irony to the Thunder's all-time starting five, because it features their best sixth man. The baggage of Harden's role looms large, whether he wanted to come off the bench, whether starting impacted his contract negotiations and ultimately facilitated the breakup of one of the greatest organically built superteams ever. That's a lot to unpack.

Hindsight and what-ifs aside, the Thunder's all-time group can stand with almost any in NBA history, and most certainly is among the most stout in the past 20 years. The Thunder have been around for just 12 years and boast a remarkable cupboard of talent: three MVPs (Durant, Westbrook, Harden) and piles of All-NBA and All-Star nods. Maybe one of the best examples of how deep they are is in showcasing who didn't make the cut: Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul. Not a bad bench.

-- Young

Phoenix Suns

G: Steve Nash G: Kevin Johnson F: Walter Davis F: Charles Barkley C: Amar'e Stoudemire

No Shawn Marion? No Paul Westphal? No Alvan Adams? No Larry Nance? No Jason Kidd? You can make a solid starting five from the next group of Phoenix legends.

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The franchise's two MVP winners, Nash and Barkley, were locks. Westphal split time as a point guard and shooting guard during his six seasons, but we give the nod at the other guard spot to Johnson, who spent 12 years in Phoenix, and had three consecutive 20-point, 10-assist seasons and five All-NBA nods.

Davis vs. Marion was a tough battle. Both made a pair of All-NBA teams (two second-teams for Davis compared to two third-teams for Marion), but Davis gets the edge as the franchise's leading scorer. At center, Stoudemire stands supreme as his four All-NBA honors best Adams' longevity.

-- Lopez

Portland Trail Blazers

G: Damian Lillard G: Clyde Drexler G: Brandon Roy F: LaMarcus Aldridge C: Bill Walton

As with any conversation about Blazers history, their starting five comes with plenty of introspective sighing and deep what-iffing. Injuries to Walton and Roy abbreviated what would've been legendary Portland careers. But at their best versions, Walton was a transcendent big man with unique skills, and Roy was a gifted scorer with a knack for the moment.

Drexler is a Hall of Famer who led Portland to its best sustained run of success in franchise history. Aldridge is one of the dominant scoring big men of his era, and Lillard will likely go down as the franchise's all-time best. The Blazers are haunted by history and a compulsion to live in the anguish of what could've been, but there is also a beauty to their all-time five. It represents who they are, and forever, what they might've been.

-- Young

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Sacramento Kings

G: Oscar Robertson G: Tiny Archibald F: Peja Stojakovic F: Chris Webber C: Jerry Lucas

A Hall of Fame backcourt of Robertson and Archibald knocks Kings great Mitch Richmond out of one of the two guard spots. Lucas, another Hall of Famer, averaged 19.6 points and 19.1 rebounds in six seasons with the Cincinnati Royals. He gets the center position.

For the forwards, we look at two Kings from the early 2000s, when Sacramento was a perennial playoff team. Stojakovic is still the franchise's leader in 3-pointers made, and Webber averaged 23.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks in 377 career games in Sacramento.

It feels weird not to have DeMarcus Cousins on the all-time Kings squad, but when you look back at the franchise's history -- which dates back to the Rochester Royals and their first year in the NBA in 1949 -- it becomes clearer why he doesn't make the cut.

-- Lopez

San Antonio Spurs

G: Tony Parker G: Manu Ginobili F: George Gervin F: Tim Duncan C: David Robinson

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It took about as long as the average Gregg Popovich sideline interview to come up with this squad. These were all easy decisions, considering each player's combination of greatness and longevity with the Spurs. (Kawhi Leonard would have been in strong consideration if not for the lack of the latter.)

Duncan and Robinson are on the short list of MVPs who played their entire careers for one franchise. Ginobili and Parker were essential parts of a dynasty. Gervin was a must-see superstar whose presence made sure that pro basketball stuck in small-market San Antonio.

-- MacMahon

Seattle SuperSonics

G: Gary Payton G: Gus Williams F: Detlef Schrempf F: Shawn Kemp C: Jack Sikma

Payton, Kemp and Sikma, the three players to make at least five All-Star appearances in Sonics uniforms, are the three certain selections here. At the other guard spot, there are strong cases for Fred Brown (who's second in career scoring) and Ray Allen (a four-time All-Star in Seattle), but Gus Williams' key role in the Sonics' 1979 championship and pair of All-NBA picks give him the nod.

Spencer Haywood reached greater heights and Rashard Lewis had more longevity, but with the last spot I'm going with Schrempf, whose versatile and efficient game was ahead of its time in the 1990s.

-- Kevin Pelton

Utah Jazz

G: John Stockton G: Pete Maravich F: Adrian Dantley F: Karl Malone C: Rudy Gobert

The Jazz's arena is located at the intersection of Stockton and Malone, with statues of the legends prominently featured out front, so we figured those guys should make the cut. Dantley was a historically elite scorer for the Jazz, averaging 29.6 points on 56.2% shooting and winning a pair of NBA scoring titles during his seven-season tenure in Utah.

Gobert gets the nod over fellow dominant defensive anchor Mark Eaton because he's a far superior offensive player and rebounder. It was difficult not to include Darrell Griffith, aka "Dr. Dunkenstein," but Pistol Pete was too productive (25.7 points and 5.7 assists per game) with the New Orleans Jazz to be left out. Source - ESPN

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Dennis Rodman

Dennis Keith Rodman (born May 13, 1961) is an American retired professional basketball player. Rodman played for the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, and Dallas Mavericks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was nicknamed "the Worm" and is famous for his fierce defensive and rebounding abilities.

Rodman played at the small forward position in his early years before becoming a power forward. He earned NBA All-Defensive First Team honors seven times and won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award twice. He also led the NBA in rebounds per game for a record seven consecutive years and won five NBA championships. His biography at NBA.com states that he is "arguably the best rebounding forward in NBA history". On April 1, 2011, the Pistons retired Rodman's No. 10 jersey, and he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame later that year.

Rodman experienced an unhappy childhood and was shy and introverted in his early years. After aborting a suicide attempt in 1993, he reinvented himself as a "bad boy" and became notorious for numerous controversial antics. He repeatedly dyed his hair in artificial colors, had many piercings and tattoos, and regularly disrupted games by clashing with opposing players and officials. He famously wore a wedding dress to promote his 1996 autobiography Bad As I Wanna Be. Rodman pursued a high-profile affair with singer Madonna and was briefly married to actress Carmen Electra. Rodman also attracted international attention for his visits to North Korea and his subsequent befriending of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2013.

In addition to being a retired professional basketball player, Rodman is a retired part-time professional wrestler and actor. He was a member of the nWo and fought alongside Hulk Hogan at two Bash at the Beach events. In professional wrestling, Rodman was the first ever winner of the Celebrity Championship Wrestling tournament. He had his own TV show, The Rodman World Tour, and had lead roles in the action films Double Team (1997) and Simon Sez (1999). Both films were critically panned, with the former earning Rodman a triple Razzie Award. He appeared in several reality TV series and was the winner of the $222,000 main prize of the 2004 edition of Celebrity Mole.

Early life and college career

Rodman was born in Trenton, New Jersey, the son of Shirley and Philander Rodman, Jr., an Air Force enlisted member, who later fought in the Vietnam War. When he was young, his father left his family, eventually settling in the Philippines. Rodman has many brothers and sisters: according to his father, he has either 26 or 28 siblings on his father's side. However, Rodman himself has stated that he is the oldest of a total of 47 children.

After his father left, Shirley took many odd jobs to support the family, up to four at the same time. In his 1996 biography Bad As I Wanna Be, he expresses his feelings for his father: "I haven't seen my father in more than 30 years, so what's there to miss ... I just look at it like this: Some man brought me into this world. That doesn't mean I have a father". He would not meet his father again until 2012.

Rodman and his two sisters, Debra and Kim, grew up in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas, at the time one of the most impoverished areas of the city. Rodman was so attached to his mother that he refused to move when she sent him to a nursery when he was four years old. According to Rodman, his mom was more interested in his two sisters, who were both considered more talented than he was in basketball, and made him a laughing stock whenever he tagged along with them. He felt generally "overwhelmed" by the all-female household. Debra and Kim would go on to become All-Americans at Louisiana Tech and Stephen F. Austin, respectively. Debra won two national titles with the Lady Techsters.

While attending South Oak Cliff High School, Rodman was a gym class student of future Texas A&M basketball coach Gary Blair. Blair coached Rodman's sisters Debra and Kim, winning three state championships. However, Rodman was not considered an athletic standout. According to Rodman, he was "unable to hit a layup" and was listed in the high school basketball teams, but was either benched or cut from the squads. Measuring only 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) as a freshman in high school, he also failed to make the football teams and was "totally devastated". After finishing school, Rodman worked as an overnight janitor at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. He then experienced a sudden growth spurt from 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) to 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) and decided to try basketball again, despite becoming even more withdrawn because he felt odd in his own body.

A family friend tipped off the head coach of Cooke County College (now North Central Texas College) in Gainesville, Texas. In his single semester there, he averaged 17.6 points and 13.3 rebounds, before flunking out due to poor academic performance. After his short stint in Gainesville, he transferred to Southeastern Oklahoma State University, an NAIA school. There, Rodman was a three-time NAIA All-American and led the NAIA in rebounding twice (1985, 1986). In three seasons there (1983–1986), he averaged 25.7 points and 15.7 rebounds, led the NAIA in rebounding twice and registered a .637 field goal percentage. At the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, a pre-draft camp for NBA hopefuls, he won Most Valuable Player honors and caught the attention of the Detroit Pistons.

During college Rodman worked at a summer youth basketball camp, where he befriended camper Byrne Rich, who was shy and withdrawn due to a hunting accident in which he mistakenly shot and killed his best friend. The two became almost inseparable and formed a close bond. Rich invited Rodman to his rural Oklahoma home; at first, Rodman was not well-received by the Riches because he was black. But the Riches were so grateful to him for bringing their son out of his shell that they were able to set aside their prejudices. Although Rodman had severe family and personal issues himself, he "adopted" the Riches as his own in 1982 and went from the city life to "driving a tractor and messing with cows". Though Rodman credited the Riches as his "surrogate family" that helped him through college, as of 2013 he had stopped communicating with the Rich family for reasons unknown to them.

Professional basketball career

Detroit Pistons1986–1989

Rodman made himself eligible for the 1986 NBA draft. He was drafted by the Detroit Pistons as the third pick in the second round (27th overall), joining the rugged team of coach Chuck Daly that was called "Bad Boys" for their hard-nosed approach to basketball. The squad featured Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars at the guard positions, Adrian Dantley and Sidney Green at forward, and center Bill Laimbeer. Bench players who played more than 15 minutes per game were sixth man Vinnie Johnson and the backup forwards Rick Mahorn and John Salley. Rodman fit well into this ensemble, providing 6.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and some tough defense in 15.0 minutes of playing time per game.

Winning 52 games, the Pistons comfortably entered the 1987 playoffs. They swept the Washington Bullets and soundly beat the Atlanta Hawks in five games, but bowed out in seven matches against the archrival Boston Celtics in what was called one of the physically and mentally toughest series ever. Rodman feuded with Celtics guard Dennis Johnson and taunted Johnson in the closing seconds when he waved his right hand over his own head. When the Celtics took Game Seven, Johnson went back at Rodman in the last moments of the game and mimicked his taunting gesture.

After the loss, Rodman made headlines by directly accusing Celtics star Larry Bird of being overrated because he was white: "Larry Bird is overrated in a lot of areas. ... Why does he get so much publicity? Because he's white. You never hear about a black player being the greatest". Although teammate Thomas supported him, he endured harsh criticism, but avoided being called a racist because, according to him, his own girlfriend Anicka "Annie" Bakes was white.

In the following 1987–88 season, Rodman steadily improved his stats, averaging 11.6 points and 8.7 rebounds and starting in 32 of 82 regular season games. The Pistons fought their way into the 1988 NBA Finals, and took a 3–2 lead, but lost in seven games against the Los Angeles Lakers. In Game Six, the Pistons were down by one point with eight seconds to go; Dumars missed a shot, and Rodman just fell short of an offensive rebound and a putback which could have won the title. In Game Seven, L.A. led by 15 points in the fourth quarter, but Rodman's defense helped cut down the lead to six with 3:52 minutes to go and to two with one minute to go. But then, he fouled Magic Johnson, who hit a free throw, missed an ill-advised shot with 39 seconds to go, and the Pistons never recovered. In that year, he and his girlfriend Annie had a daughter they named Alexis.

Rodman remained a bench player during the 1988–89 season, averaging 9.0 points and 9.4 rebounds in 27 minutes, yet providing such effective defense that he was voted into the All-Defensive Team, the first of eight times in his career. He also began seeing more playing time after Adrian Dantley was traded at midseason to Dallas for Mark Aguirre. In that season, the Pistons finally vanquished their playoffs bane by sweeping the Boston Celtics, then winning in six games versus the Chicago Bulls—including scoring champion Michael Jordan—and easily defeating the Lakers 4–0 in the 1989 NBA Finals. Although he was hampered by back spasms, Rodman dominated the boards, grabbing 19 rebounds in Game 3 and providing tough interior defense.

1989–1993

In the 1989–90 season, Detroit lost perennial defensive forward Rick Mahorn when he was taken by the Minnesota Timberwolves in that year's expansion draft and ended up on the Philadelphia 76ers when the Pistons could not reacquire him. It was feared that the loss of Mahorn – average in talent, but high on hustle and widely considered a vital cog of the "Bad Boys" teams – would diminish the Pistons' spirit, but Rodman seamlessly took over his role. He went on to win his first big individual accolade. Averaging 8.8 points and 9.7 rebounds while starting in the last 43 regular season games, he established himself as the best defensive player in the game; during this period, the Pistons won 59 games, and Rodman was lauded by the NBA "for his defense and rebounding skills, which were unparalleled in the league". For his feats, he won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award; he also connected on a .595 field goal percentage, best in the league. In the 1990 playoffs, the Pistons beat the Bulls again, and in the 1990 NBA Finals, Detroit met the Portland Trail Blazers. Rodman suffered from an injured ankle and was often replaced by Mark Aguirre, but even without his defensive hustle, Detroit beat Portland in five games and claimed their second title.

During the 1990–91 season, Rodman finally established himself as the starting small forward of the Pistons. He played such strong defense that the NBA stated he "could shut down any opposing player, from point guard to center". After coming off the bench for most of his earlier years, he finally started in 77 of the 82 regular season games, averaged 8.2 points and 12.5 rebounds and won his second Defensive Player of the Year Award. In the 1991 playoffs, however, the Pistons were swept by the championship-winning Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals.

It was in the 1991–92 season where Rodman made a remarkable leap in his rebounding, collecting an astounding 18.7 rebounds per game (1,530 in total), winning his first of seven consecutive rebounding crowns, along with scoring 9.8 points per game, and making his first All-NBA Team. His 1,530 rebounds (the most since Wilt Chamberlain's 1,572 in the 1971–1972 season) have never been surpassed since then; the best mark not set by Rodman is by Kevin Willis, who grabbed 1,258 boards that same season. Willis lamented that Rodman had an advantage in winning the rebounding title with his lack of offensive responsibilities. In a March 1992 game, Rodman totaled a career high 34 rebounds. However, the aging Pistons were eliminated by the up-and-coming New York Knicks in the first round of the 1992 playoffs.

Rodman experienced a tough loss when coach Chuck Daly, whom he had admired as a surrogate father, resigned in May; Rodman skipped the preseason camp and was fined $68,000. The following 1992–93 season was even more tumultuous. Rodman and Annie Bakes, the mother of his daughter Alexis, were divorcing after a short marriage, an experience which left him traumatized. The Pistons won only 40 games and missed the 1993 playoffs entirely. One night in February 1993, Rodman was found asleep in his car with a loaded rifle. Four years later in his biography As Bad As I Wanna Be, he confessed having thought about suicide and described that night as an epiphany: "I decided that instead [of killing myself] I was gonna kill the impostor that was leading Dennis Rodman to a place he didn't want to go ... So I just said, 'I'm going to live my life the way I want to live it and be happy doing it.' At that moment I tamed [sic] my whole life around. I killed the person I didn't want to be." The book was later adapted for a TV movie Bad As I Wanna Be: The Dennis Rodman Story. Although he had three years and $11.8 million remaining on his contract, Rodman demanded a trade. On October 1, 1993, the Pistons dealt him to the San Antonio Spurs.

San Antonio Spurs

In the 1993–94 season, Rodman joined a Spurs team that was built around perennial All-Star center David Robinson, with a supporting cast of forwards Dale Ellis, Willie Anderson and guard Vinny Del Negro. On the hardwood, Rodman now was played as a power forward and won his third straight rebounding title, averaging 17.3 boards per game, along with another All-Defensive Team call-up. Living up to his promise of killing the "shy imposter" and "being himself" instead, Rodman began to show first signs of unconventional behavior: before the first game, he shaved his hair and dyed it blonde, which was followed up by stints with red, purple, blue hair and a look inspired from the film Demolition Man. During the season, he headbutted Stacey King and John Stockton, refused to leave the hardwood once after being ejected, and had a highly publicized two-month affair with Madonna. The only player to whom Rodman related was reserve center Jack Haley, who earned his trust by not being shocked after a visit to a gay bar. However, despite a 55-win season, Rodman and the Spurs did not survive the first round of the 1994 playoffs and bowed out against the Utah Jazz in four games.

In the following 1994–95 season, Rodman clashed with the Spurs front office. He was suspended for the first three games, took a leave of absence on November 11, and was suspended again on December 7. He finally returned on December 10 after missing 19 games. After joining the team, he suffered a shoulder separation in a motorcycle accident, limiting his season to 49 games. Normally, he would not have qualified for any season records for missing so many games, but by grabbing 823 rebounds, he just surpassed the 800-rebound limit for listing players and won his fourth straight rebounding title by averaging 16.8 boards per game and made the All-NBA Team. In the 1995 playoffs, the 62-win Spurs with reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Award winner Robinson entered the Western Conference Finals and were considered favorites against the reigning champions Houston Rockets who had only won 47 games. It was thought that Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon would have a hard time asserting himself versus Robinson and Rodman, who had both been voted into the NBA All-Defensive Teams. However, neither Robinson nor Rodman, who had disrupted a playoff game against the Lakers by sitting down on the court, could stop Olajuwon, who averaged 35.3 points against the elite defensive Spurs frontcourt, and helped eliminate the Spurs in six games.

Rodman admitted his frequent transgressions, but asserted that he lived his own life and thus a more honest life than most other people:

I just took the chance to be my own man ... I just said: "If you don't like it, kiss my ass." ... Most people around the country, or around the world, are basically working people who want to be free, who want to be themselves. They look at me and see someone trying to do that ... I'm the guy who's showing people, hey, it's all right to be different. And I think they feel: "Let's go and see this guy entertain us."

Chicago Bulls

Prior to the 1995–96 season, Rodman was traded to the Chicago Bulls of perennial scoring champion Michael Jordan for center Will Perdue to fill a large void at power forward left by Horace Grant, who left the Bulls prior to the 1994–95 season. Given Rodman could not use the 10 jersey as the Bulls had retired it for Bob Love, and the NBA denied him the reversion 01, Rodman instead picked the number 91, whose digits add up to 10. Although the trade for the already 34-year-old and volatile Rodman was considered a gamble at that time, the power forward quickly adapted to his new environment, helped by the fact that his best friend Jack Haley was also traded to the Bulls. Under coach Phil Jackson, he averaged 5.5 points and 14.9 rebounds per game, winning yet another rebounding title, and was part of the great Bulls team that won 72 of 82 regular season games, an NBA record at the time. About playing next to the iconic Jordan and co-star Scottie Pippen, Rodman said:

On the court, me and Michael are pretty calm and we can handle conversation. But as far as our lives go, I think he is moving in one direction and I'm going in the other. I mean, he's goin' north, I'm goin' south. And then you've got Scottie Pippen right in the middle. He's sort of the equator.

Although struggling with calf problems early in the season, Rodman grabbed 20 or more rebounds 11 times and had his first triple-double against the Philadelphia 76ers on January 16, 1996 scoring 10 points and adding 21 rebounds and 10 assists; by playing his trademark tough defense, he joined Jordan and Pippen in the All-NBA Defense First Team. Ever controversial, Rodman made negative headlines after a head butt of referee Ted Bernhardt during a game in New Jersey on March 16, 1996; he was suspended for six games and fined $20,000, a punishment that was criticized as too lenient by the local press.

In the 1996 playoffs, Rodman scored 7.5 points and grabbed 13.7 rebounds per game and had a large part in the six-game victory against the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 NBA Finals: in Game Two at home in the Bulls' United Center, he grabbed 20 rebounds, among them a record-tying 11 offensive boards, and in Game Six, again at the United Center, the power forward secured 19 rebounds and again 11 offensive boards, scored five points in a decisive 12–2 Bulls run, unnerved opposing power forward Shawn Kemp and caused Seattle coach George Karl to say: "As you evaluate the series, Dennis Rodman won two basketball games. We controlled Dennis Rodman for four games. But Game 2 and tonight, he was the reason they were successful." His two games with 11 offensive rebounds each tied the NBA Finals record of Elvin Hayes.

In the 1996–97 season, Rodman won his sixth rebounding title in a row with 16.7 boards per game, along with 5.7 points per game, but failed to rank another All-Defensive Team call-up. However, he made more headlines for his notorious behavior. On January 15, 1997, he was involved in an incident during a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. After tripping over cameraman Eugene Amos, Rodman kicked Amos in the groin. Though he was not assessed a technical foul at the time, he ultimately paid Amos a $200,000 settlement, and the league suspended Rodman for 11 games without pay. Thus, he effectively lost $1 million. Missing another three games to suspensions, often getting technical fouls early in games and missing an additional 13 matches due to knee problems, Rodman was not as effective in the 1997 playoffs, in which the Bulls reached the 1997 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz. He struggled to slow down Jazz power forward Karl Malone, but did his share to complete the six-game Bulls victory.

The regular season of the 1997–98 season ended with Rodman winning his seventh consecutive rebounding title with 15.0 boards per game, along with 4.7 points per game. He grabbed 20 or more rebounds 11 times, among them a 29-board outburst against the Atlanta Hawks and 15 offensive boards (along with ten defensive) versus the Los Angeles Clippers. Led by the aging Jordan and Rodman (respectively 35 and 37 years old), the Bulls reached the 1998 NBA Finals, again versus the Jazz. After playing strong defense on Malone in the first three games, he caused major consternation when he left his team prior to Game Four to go wrestling with Hulk Hogan. He was fined $20,000, but it was not even ten percent of what he earned with this stint. However, Rodman's on-court performance remained top-notch, again shutting down Malone in Game Four until the latter scored 39 points in a Jazz Game Five win, bringing the series to 3–2 from the Bulls perspective. In Game Six, Jordan hit the decisive basket after a memorable drive on Jazz forward Bryon Russell, the Bulls won their third title in a row and Rodman his fifth ring.

Rodman garnered as much publicity for his public antics. He dated Madonna and claimed she tried to conceive a child with him. Shortly after, Rodman famously wore a wedding dress to promote his autobiography Bad As I Wanna Be, claiming that he was bisexual and that he was marrying himself.

Twilight years

After the 1997–98 season, the Bulls started a massive rebuilding phase, largely at the behest of then-general manager Jerry Krause. Head coach Phil Jackson and several members of the team left via free agency or retirement, including Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Steve Kerr, and Jud Buechler. Rodman was released by the Bulls on January 21, 1999, before the start of the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season. With his sister acting as his agent at the time, Rodman joined the Los Angeles Lakers, for a pro-rated salary for the remainder of the 1998–1999 season. With the Lakers he only played in 23 games and was released.

In the 1999–2000 season, the then-38-year-old power forward was signed by the Dallas Mavericks, meaning that Rodman returned to the place where he grew up. Dallas had won 10 of 13 before his arrival, but went just 4–9 until he was waived by the Mavericks. He played 12 games, received six technical fouls, was ejected twice, and served a one-game suspension. Despite averaging 14.3 rebounds per game, above his career average of 13.1, Rodman alienated the franchise with his erratic behavior and did not provide leadership to a team trying to qualify for their first playoffs in 10 years. Dallas guard Steve Nash commented that Rodman "never wanted to be [a Maverick]" and therefore was unmotivated.

Post-NBA career

After his NBA career, Rodman took a long break from basketball and concentrated on his film career and on wrestling.

After a longer hiatus, Rodman returned to play basketball for the Long Beach Jam of the newly formed American Basketball Association during the 2003–04 season, with hopes of being called up to the NBA midseason. While he did not get that wish that season, he did help the Jam win the ABA championship in their inaugural season. He also played in Mexico, with Fuerza Regia in 2004. In the following 2004–05 season, he signed with the ABA's Orange County Crush and the following season with the league's Tijuana Dragons. In November 2005, he played one match for Torpan Pojat of the Finland's basketball league, Korisliiga.

The return to the NBA never materialized, but on January 26, 2006, it was announced that Rodman had signed a one-game "experiment" deal for the UK basketball team Brighton Bears of the British Basketball League to play Guildford Heat on January 28 and went on to play three games for the Bears. In spring 2006, he played two exhibition games in the Philippines along with NBA ex-stars Darryl Dawkins, Kevin Willis, Calvin Murphy, Otis Birdsong and Alex English. On April 27, they defeated a team of former Philippine Basketball Association stars in Mandaue City, Cebu and Rodman scored five points and grabbed 18 rebounds. On May 1, 2006, Rodman's team played their second game and lost to the Philippine national basketball team 110–102 at the Araneta Coliseum, where he scored three points and recorded 16 rebounds.

On April 4, 2011, it was announced that Rodman would be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

NBA career statistics

Regular seasonPlayoffs

Awards, records, and achievements

Legacy in basketball

From the beginning of his career Rodman was known for his defensive hustle, which was later accompanied by his rebounding prowess. In Detroit, he was mainly played as a small forward, and his usual assignment was to neutralize the opponent's best player; Rodman was so versatile that he could guard centers, forwards, or guards equally well and won two NBA Defensive Player of the Year Awards. From 1991 on, he established himself as one of the best rebounders of all time, averaging at least 15 rebounds per game in six of the next seven years. Playing power forward as member of the Spurs and the Bulls, he had a historical outburst in the 1996 NBA Finals: he twice snared 11 offensive rebounds, equalling an all-time NBA record. In addition, he had a career-high 34-rebound game on March 4, 1992. Rodman's rebounding prowess with Detroit and San Antonio was also aided by his decreased attention to defensive positioning and helping teammates on defense. Daly said Rodman was selfish about rebounding, but deemed him a hard worker and coachable. Rodman's defensive intensity returned while with Chicago.

On offense, Rodman's output was mediocre. He averaged 11.6 points per game in his second season, but his average steadily dropped: in the three championship seasons with the Bulls, he averaged five points per game and connected on less than half of his field goal attempts. His free throw shooting (lifetime average: .584) was considered a big liability: on December 29, 1997, Bubba Wells of the Dallas Mavericks committed six intentional fouls against him in only three minutes, setting the record for the fastest foul out in NBA history. The intention was to force him to attempt free throws, which in theory would mean frequent misses and easy ball possession without giving up too many points. However, this plan backfired, as Rodman hit 9 of the 12 attempts. This was Dallas coach Don Nelson's early version of what would later develop into the famous "Hack-a-Shaq" method that would be implemented against Shaquille O'Neal, Dwight Howard, and other poor free throw shooters.

In 14 NBA seasons, Rodman played in 911 games, scored 6,683 points, and grabbed 11,954 rebounds, translating to 7.3 points and 13.1 rebounds per game in only 31.7 minutes played per game. NBA.com lauds Rodman as "arguably the best rebounding forward in NBA history and one of the most recognized athletes in the world" but adds "enigmatic and individualistic, Rodman has caught the public eye for his ever-changing hair color, tattoos and, unorthodox lifestyle". On the hardwood, he was recognized as one of the most successful defensive players ever, winning the NBA championship five times in six NBA Finals appearances (1989, 1990, 1996–1998; only loss 1988), being crowned NBA Defensive Player of the Year twice (1990–1991) and making seven NBA All-Defensive First Teams (1989–1993, 1995–1996) and NBA All-Defensive Second Teams (1994). He additionally made two All-NBA Third Teams (1992, 1995), two NBA All-Star Teams (1990, 1992) and won seven straight rebounding crowns (1992–1998) and finally led the league once in field goal percentage (1989).

Rodman was recognized as the prototype bizarre player, stunning basketball fans with his artificial hair colors, numerous tattoos and body piercings, multiple verbal and physical assaults on officials, frequent ejections, and his tumultuous private life. He was ranked No. 48 on the 2009 revision of SLAM Magazine's Top 50 Players of All-Time. Metta World Peace played one year with the 91 jersey number in homage to Rodman, who he described as a player who he liked "on the court as a hustler, not when he kicked the cameraman."

Non-basketball awards

World Humanitarian Special Award, 2015. For his contributions into helping create peace and trying to unite North Korea and the USA.

Professional wrestling career

World Championship Wrestling (1997–1999)

Rodman took up his hobby of professional wrestling seriously and appeared on the edition of March 10 of Monday Nitro with his friend Hollywood Hulk Hogan in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). At the March 1997 Uncensored event, he appeared as a member of the nWo. His first match was at the July 1997 Bash at the Beach event, where he teamed with Hogan in a loss to Lex Luger and The Giant. At the August 1997 Road Wild event, Rodman appeared as the Impostor Sting hitting Luger with a baseball bat to help Hogan win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.

After the 1997–98 season, where Rodman and the Chicago Bulls defeated Karl Malone and the Utah Jazz in the 1998 NBA Finals, Rodman and Malone squared off again, this time in a tag team match at the July 1998 Bash at the Beach event. He fought alongside Hulk Hogan, and Malone tagged along with Diamond Dallas Page. In a poorly received match, the two power forwards exchanged "rudimentary headlocks, slams and clotheslines" for 23 minutes. Rodman bested Malone again as he and Hogan picked up the win.

Rodman returned to WCW in 1999 and feuded with Randy Savage. This culminated in a match at Road Wild which Rodman lost.

i-Generation Superstars of Wrestling and retirement (2000)

On July 30, 2000, Rodman competed on the i-Generation Superstars of Wrestling Rodman Down Under pay-per-view event. He fought against i-Generation champion Curt Hennig in an Australian Outback match; Hennig won the match by disqualification. Following the match, Rodman refrained from wrestling at the top level and retired.

Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling (2008)

Rodman came out of retirement to appear as a contestant on Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling, broadcast on CMT. Rodman was the winner of the series, defeating other challengers such as Butterbean and Dustin Diamond.

Championships and accomplishments

Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling

Celebrity Championship Wrestling tournament

Media appearances

In 1996, Rodman had his own MTV reality talk show called The Rodman World Tour, which featured him in a series of odd-ball situations. That same year, Rodman had two appearances in releases by rock band Pearl Jam. A Polaroid picture of Rodman's eyeball is on the cover of the album No Code, and "Black, Red, Yellow", B-side of its lead single "Hail, Hail", was written about Rodman and has him contribute a voice message.

A year later, he made his feature film debut in the action film Double Team alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme and Mickey Rourke. The film was critically panned and his performance earned him three Golden Raspberry Awards: Worst New Star, Worst Supporting Actor and Worst Screen Couple (shared with Van Damme). Rodman starred in Simon Sez, a 1999 action/comedy and co-starred with Tom Berenger in a 2000 action film about skydiving titled Cutaway. In 1998, he joined the cast of the syndicated TV show Special Ops Force, playing 'Deke' Reynolds, a flamboyant but skilled ex-Army helo pilot and demolitions expert.

In 2005, Rodman became the first man to pose naked for PETA's advertisement campaign "Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur". That same year, Rodman traveled to Finland, at first, he was present at Sonkajärvi in July in a wife-carrying contest. However, he resigned from the contest due to health problems. Also in 2005, Rodman published his second autobiography, I Should Be Dead By Now; he promoted the book by sitting in a coffin.

Rodman became Commissioner of the Lingerie Football League in 2005.

Since his initial entry into acting, he has appeared in few acting roles outside of playing himself. Rodman has made an appearance in an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun playing the character of himself, except being a fellow alien with the Solomon family. He voiced an animated version of himself in the Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror XVI".

Rodman has also appeared in several reality shows: in January 2006, Rodman appeared on the fourth version of Celebrity Big Brother in the UK, and on July 26, 2006, in the UK series Love Island as a houseguest contracted to stay for a week. Finally, he appeared on the show Celebrity Mole on ABC. He wound up winning the $222,000 grand prize.

In 2008, Rodman joined as a spokesman for a sports website OPENSports.com, the brainchild of Mike Levy, founder and former CEO of CBS Sportsline.com. Rodman also writes a blog and occasionally answers members' questions for OPEN Sports.

In 2009, he appeared as a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice. Throughout the season, each celebrity raised money for a charity of their choice; Rodman selected the Court Appointed Special Advocates of New Orleans. He was the fifth contestant eliminated, on March 29, 2009.

In 2013, he appeared again as a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice. He raised $20,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and was the sixth contestant eliminated, on April 7, 2013.

In March 2013, Rodman arrived at the Vatican City during voting in the papal conclave for the selection of a new pope. The trip was organized by an Irish gambling company.

In July 2013, Rodman joined Premier Brands to launch and promote Bad Boy Vodka.

Rodman's visits to North Korea were depicted in the 2015 documentary film Dennis Rodman's Big Bang in Pyongyang.

In 2017, Rodman was featured on the alternative R&B/hip-hop duo Mansionz self-titled album Mansionz. He provides vocals on the single "Dennis Rodman" and uncredited vocals on "i'm thinking about horses".

Personal life

Family

Rodman married his first wife Annie Bakes in September 1992. They began dating in 1987, and their daughter Alexis Caitlyn was born in 1988. Their relationship was marred by infidelites and accusations of abuse. They divorced after 82 days.

On November 14, 1998, Rodman married model Carmen Electra at the Little Chapel of the Flowers in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nine days later, Rodman filed for an annulment claiming he was of "unsound mind" when they married. They reconciled, but Electra filed for divorce in April 1999. She later stated that it was an "occupational hazard" to be Rodman's girlfriend".

In 1999, Rodman met Michelle Moyer, with whom he had a son, Dennis Jr. ("D. J.", born April 25, 2001) and a daughter, Trinity. Moyer and Rodman married in 2003 on his 42nd birthday. Michelle Rodman filed for divorce in 2004, although the couple spent several years attempting to reconcile. The marriage was officially dissolved in 2012, when Michelle again petitioned the court to grant a divorce. It was reported that Rodman owed $860,376 in child and spousal support.

Rodman's son D. J. started playing college basketball for Washington State in 2019. His daughter, Trinity, signed to play for the Cougars women's soccer team starting in 2020.

Alcohol issues

Rodman entered an outpatient rehab center in Florida in May 2008. In May 2009, his behavior on Celebrity Apprentice led to an intervention which included Phil Jackson as well as Rodman's family and other friends. Rodman initially refused to enter rehabilitation because he wanted to attend the Celebrity Apprentice reunion show. In 2009, Rodman agreed to appear on the third season of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. Rodman remained a patient at the Pasadena Recovery Center for the 21-day treatment cycle. A week after completion he entered a sober-living facility in the Hollywood Hills, which was filmed for the second season of Sober House. During episode seven of Sober House, Rodman was shown being reunited with his mother Shirley, from whom he had been estranged for seven years. During this same visit Shirley also met Rodman's two children for the first time. On January 10, 2010, on the same day that Celebrity Rehab premiered, Rodman was removed from an Orange County, California restaurant for disruptive behavior. In March 2012, Rodman's financial advisor said, "In all honesty, Dennis, although a very sweet person, is an alcoholic. His sickness impacts his ability to get work."

On January 15, 2014, Rodman again entered a rehabilitation facility to seek treatment for alcohol abuse. This came on the heels of a well-publicized trip to North Korea where his agent, Darren Prince, reported he had been drinking heavily and to an extent "that none of us had seen before."

Legal troubles

Rodman has settled several lawsuits out of court for alleged sexual assault.

In August 1999, Rodman was arrested for public drunkenness and spent the night in jail after he got into an altercation at Woody's Wharf in Newport Beach, California. The charges were eventually dropped.

On November 5, 1999, Rodman and his then-wife, Carmen Electra, were charged with misdemeanor battery after police were notified of a domestic disturbance. Each posted a bail worth $2,500 and were released with a temporary restraining order placed on them. The charges were dropped the next month.

In December 1999, Rodman was arrested for drunk driving and driving without a valid driver's license. In July 2000, Rodman pleaded guilty to both charges and was ordered to pay $2,000 in fines as well as attend a three-month treatment program.

In 2002, he was arrested for interfering with police investigating a code violation at a restaurant he owned; the charges were eventually dropped. After settling down in Newport Beach, California, the police appeared over 70 times at his home because of loud parties. In early 2003, Rodman was arrested and charged with domestic violence at his home in Newport Beach for allegedly assaulting his then-fiancée.

In April 2004, Rodman pleaded nolo contendere to drunk driving in Las Vegas. He was fined $1,000 and ordered to serve 30 days of home detention. On April 30, 2008, Rodman was arrested following a domestic violence incident at a Los Angeles hotel. On June 24, 2008, he pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor spousal battery charges. He received three years of probation and was ordered to undergo one year of domestic violence counseling as well as 45 hours of community service, which were to involve some physical labor activities.

On November 21, 2016, Rodman was charged with causing a hit and run accident, lying to police, and driving without a license following an incident on Interstate 5 near Santa Ana, California, in July. In February 2017, Rodman pleaded guilty to the charges. He was sentenced to three years of probation and 30 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay restitution and donate $500 to the Victim Witness Emergency Fund.

In January 2018, Rodman was arrested for driving under the influence in Newport Beach. He pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges and received three years of probation.

In May 2019, the Los Angeles Times reported that Newport Beach yoga studio owner Ali Shah accused Rodman of helping steal over $3,500 worth of items from the studio's reception area, including a 400-pound decorative geode. Rodman disputed the account, claiming the owner told him "Dennis, get anything you want." No charges had been filed at the time of reporting.

On October 18, 2019, Rodman was charged with misdemeanor battery after slapping a man at the Buddha Sky Bar in Delray Beach, Florida.

Politics

On July 24, 2015, Rodman publicly endorsed Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. That same month, Rodman sent out an endorsement tweet, stating, "Donald Trump has been a great friend for many years. We don't need another politician, we need a businessman like Mr. Trump! Trump 2016." Rodman and then U.S. Presidential hopeful Trump had previously appeared together on Celebrity Apprentice.

North Korea visits

On February 26, 2013, Rodman made a trip to North Korea with Vice Media correspondent Ryan Duffy to host basketball exhibitions. He met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Rodman and his travel party were the first Americans to meet Kim. He later said that Kim was "a friend for life" and suggested that President Barack Obama "pick up the phone and call" Kim, since the two leaders were basketball fans. On May 7, after reading an article in The Seattle Times, Rodman sent out a tweet asking Kim to release American prisoner Kenneth Bae, who had been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea. Kim released Bae the following year.

In July 2013, Rodman told Sports Illustrated: "My mission is to break the ice between hostile countries. Why it's been left to me to smooth things over, I don't know. Dennis Rodman, of all people. Keeping us safe is really not my job; it's the black guy's [Obama's] job. But I'll tell you this: If I don't finish in the top three for the next Nobel Peace Prize, something's seriously wrong." On September 3, 2013, Rodman flew to Pyongyang for another meeting with Kim Jong-un. He said that Kim has a daughter named Kim Ju-ae, and that he is a "great dad". He also noted that he planned to train the North Korean national basketball team. He stated that he is "trying to open Obama's and everyone's minds" and encouraged Obama to reach out to Kim Jong-un.

In December 2013, Rodman announced that he would visit North Korea again. He also said that he has plans to take a number of former NBA players with him for an exhibition basketball tour. According to Rory Scott, a spokesman for the exhibitions' sponsoring organization, Rodman planned to visit December 18–21 and train the North Korean team in preparation for January games. The games were scheduled for January 8 (Kim Jong-un's birthday) and January 10, 2014. Included on the U.S. exhibition team were Kenny Anderson, Cliff Robinson, Vin Baker, Craig Hodges, Doug Christie, Sleepy Floyd, Charles D. Smith, and four streetballers. Rodman departed from Beijing on January 6. Among his entourage was Irish media personality Matt Cooper, who had interviewed Rodman a number of times on the radio.

Rodman made comments on January 7, 2014 during a CNN interview implying that Kenneth Bae was at fault for his imprisonment. The remarks were widely reported in other media outlets and provoked a storm of criticism. Two days later, Rodman apologized for his comments, saying that he had been drinking and under pressure. He added that he "should know better than to make political statements". Some members of Congress, the NBA, and human rights groups suggested that Rodman had become a public relations stunt for the North Korean government. On May 2, 2016, Kenneth Bae credited Rodman with his early release. He said that Rodman's rant raised awareness of his case and that he wanted to thank him for his expedited release.

The Department of the Treasury is reportedly investigating whether Rodman broke the law by bringing Kim Jong-un thousands of dollars in luxury gifts on his 2014 trip to North Korea.

On June 13, 2017, Rodman returned to North Korea on what was initially described as a sports-related visit to the country. "My purpose is to go over there and try to see if I can keep bringing sports to North Korea," he said. He added that he hoped to accomplish "something that's pretty positive" during the visit. He met with national Olympic athletes and basketball players, viewed a men's basketball practice, and visited a state-run orphanage. He was not able to meet with Kim Jong Un, but met instead with the nation's Minister of Sports and gave him several gifts for Kim Jong Un, including two signed basketball jerseys, two soap sets, and a copy of Donald Trump's 1987 book The Art of the Deal. Other gifts believed to be intended for the leader's daughter included a Where's Waldo? book and a jigsaw puzzle of a mermaid.

Rodman posted a video on Twitter that was recorded before he left for the visit in which he and his agent describe the mission of the trip. "He's going to try to bring peace between both nations," said Rodman's agent Chris Volo, referring to the strained relations between North Korea and the United States. Rodman added, "That's the main reason why we're going. We're trying to bring everything together. If not, at least we tried." The visit was sponsored by the cryptocurrency company PotCoin.

Rodman's "hoops diplomacy" inspired the 20th Century Fox comedy Diplomats. Tim Story and Peter Chernin are set to produce the film, while Jonathan Abrams is reportedly writing the script.

Rodman visited North Korea again in June 2018. "I'm just happy to be a part of" the 2018 North Korea–United States summit, he said, "because I think I deserve it."

Presidential involvement suggested

The Washington Post raised the question of whether President Donald Trump sent Rodman on his 2017 visit to negotiate the release of several American prisoners of North Korea or to open a back channel for diplomatic communications. The U.S. State Department, White House officials, and Rodman all denied any official government involvement in the visit. Rodman, who publicly endorsed Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, is a self-described longtime friend of the president and, as the article put it, "Trump and Kim's only mutual acquaintance." The Washington Post article stated, "Multiple people involved in unofficial talks with North Korea say that the Trump administration has been making overtures toward the Kim regime, including trying to set up a secret back channel to the North Korean leader using 'an associate of Trump's' rather than the usual lineup of North Korea experts and former officials who talk to Pyongyang's representatives."

When asked if he had spoken with Trump about the visit, Rodman replied, "Well, I'm pretty sure he's pretty much happy with the fact that I'm over here trying to accomplish something that we both need." Rodman publicly presented a copy of Trump's book, "The Art of the Deal" to North Korean officials, as a personal gift for Kim Jong Un. In a Twitter video posted by Rodman, his agent Chris Volo said, "He's the only person on the planet that has the uniqueness, the unbelievable privilege of being friends with President Trump and Marshal Kim Jong Un." Rodman went on to say in the video that he wanted to bring peace and "open doors between both countries."

Otto Warmbier, an American student held captive in North Korea for 17 months, was released to U.S. officials the same day as Rodman's visit to North Korea. Despite the timeline of the two events, the U.S. State Department, The White House, and Rodman all flatly denied any diplomatic connection or coordination between Rodman's visit and the U.S. government. The U.S. State Department said the release of Warmbier was negotiated and secured by high level U.S. diplomats including Joseph Yun, the State Department's special envoy on North Korea. Warmbier, who was in a nonresponsive coma throughout much of his imprisonment in North Korea, died days after being returned to his family in the U.S.

In an emotional interview with Michael Strahan of "Good Morning America", Rodman expressed sorrow for the death of Warmbier and said, "I was just so happy to see the kid released. Later that day, that's when we found out he was ill. No one knew that." He added that he wished to give "all the prayer and love" to the Warmbier family and had contacted them and hoped to meet with them personally.

Rodman's agent, Chris Volo, told ABC News that before they left for the 2017 trip, he had asked North Korean officials to release Warmbier as a symbol of good faith for any future sports-relations visits. "I asked on behalf of Dennis for his release three times," Volo said.

In December 2017, Columbia University professor of neurobiology Joseph Terwilliger, who has accompanied Rodman to North Korea, argued that "While I don't suspect that very many Americans would have chosen him to be an emissary or international goodwill ambassador, Dennis has had a long friendship with Mr. Trump and has also developed a very cordial friendship with Mr. Kim. In this tense climate, as we stand at a perilous crossing, Mr. Rodman's unique position as a friend to the leaders of both U.S. and North Korea could provide a much-needed bridge to help resolve the current nuclear standoff.

#05/13

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macrosoftgo · 2 years ago

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Grown ups 2 shaq

A successful businessman outside of sports, O'Neal served on the board of directors of pizza company Papa John's.I’m not sure which is a stranger idea - that there will be a “Grown Ups 2” or that Shaquille O’Neal will star in it.īut both of those things are happening, according to the Boston Globe (via ). He famously teamed with Ernie Johnson Jr., Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley for the popular studio show "Inside the NBA" (TNT, 1989- ). He enjoyed a successful sports broadcasting career working with basketball. He also joined fellow basketball stars Kyrie Irving, Reggie Miller, and Chris Webber for the comedy "Uncle Drew" (2018). O'Neal appeared with the comedian in "Jack and Jill" (2011), "Grown Ups 2" (2013), and "Blended" (2014). After his playing career, he continued acting on occasion, especially in Adam Sandler vehicles. Leaving basketball didn't diminish his public presence.

He was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. He retired from the NBA in 2011 having scored more than 28,000 points and being named an All-Star fifteen times. Off the court, he hosted the reality competition "Shaq Vs." (ABC, 2009-10). Injuries began to add up for O'Neal and he spent his final seasons playing diminished roles for the Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Boston Celtics. The championship would by the last for the center. He partnered again with an All-Star guard, this time Dwyane Wade, and the team won an NBA title in 2006. O'Neal's contentious relationship with Bryant eventually led to him being traded to the Miami Heat in 2004. His TV appearances, usually playing himself, included a memorable guest appearance on Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (HBO, 2000- ) in a storyline involving the basketball star being accidentally injured by the comedian.

His outgoing personality also made him a media darling and in-demand guest actor. His proximity to Hollywood as a Laker allowed O'Neal to expand his acting career, starring as a genie in "Kazaam" (1996) and as a superhero in "Steel" (1997). During the early parts of his career, he had acted in the basketball themed movie "Blue Chips" with Nick Nolte. The Lakers won three consecutive NBA titles and played for another during his tenure. alongside Kobe Bryant and under the direction of legendary coach Phil Jackson. O'Neal would find the greatest success of his career playing in L.A. National Basketball team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, he joined the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent. After winning a gold medal as part of the U.S. In his third season, he teamed with guard Penny Hardaway to lead Orlando to the NBA Finals, where they lost to Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets. HIs success as a professional was immediate as he averaged more than 23 points-per-game his first season and was named Rookie of the Year. He was drafted first overall in the 1992 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic. He was recruited by Louisiana State University to play college basketball and spent three seasons at Baton Rouge where he earned All-American honors twice and was named the national College Player of the Year by the Associated Press in 1991. During a two-year high school career in San Antonio, Texas, his teams lost only one game. As a youngster, O'Neal grew so big that he was frequently mistaken for an out of uniform enlisted man on Army bases. Born in Newark, New Jersey, he moved frequently as a child after his mother married his stepfather, Army sergeant Phil Harrison. Basketball superstar Shaquille O'Neal rose to fame in the NBA but became, quite literally, one of the biggest personalities in pop culture.

#Grown ups 2 shaq

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lboogie1906 · 9 months ago

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Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), known by his initials MJ, is a businessman and former basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: “By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time.” He was integral in popularizing the NBA around the world, becoming a global cultural icon in the process. He played 15 seasons, winning six championships with the Chicago Bulls. He is the principal owner and chairman of the Charlotte Hornets and of 23XI Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series.

He played college basketball for three seasons with the North Carolina Tar Heels. As a freshman, he was a member of the Tar Heels national championship team. He joined the Bulls in 1984 and quickly emerged as a league star. He retired from basketball before the 1993–94 NBA season to play Minor League Baseball but returned to the Bulls in March 1995 and led them to three more championships, as well as a then-record 72 regular season wins (1995–96) NBA season. He retired for the second time but returned for two more seasons with the Washington Wizards.

His accolades and accomplishments include six NBA Finals MVP Awards, ten scoring titles, five MVP Awards, ten All-NBA First Team designations, nine All-Defensive First Team honors, fourteen NBA All-Star Game selections, three All-Star Game MVP Awards, three steals titles, and the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. He holds the NBA records for career regular season scoring average (30.12 points per game) and career playoff scoring average (33.45 points per game). He was twice inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, once in 2009 for his career and again in 2010 as part of the 1992 US Men’s Olympic basketball team (“The Dream Team”). He became a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2015.

He is known for his product endorsements. He fueled the success of Nike’s Air Jordan sneakers. He starred as himself in Space Jam and is the central focus of the Emmy Award-winning documentary miniseries The Last Dance. He became the first billionaire player in NBA history. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence #omegapsiphi

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nba-clothes-store · 2 years ago

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#brooklyn #flatlanticbasketball #GoldenGlobes2023RedCarpet #LeBronwatch:Saturday’sLakers-PelicansgamemovedtoESPN2 #NBAMOSTSTYLISHPLAYERANDTHEFINALROUND #ThemoststylishNBAplayersin2022 #womenmarchmadness2023 #womensnit

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travel9090 · 2 years ago

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Rodman, the bad boy on the court

an American basketball player

A power forward of 201cm. The big players dominated the rebound under the NBA's goal. He has been the rebound king for seven consecutive years from the 91-92 season to the 97-98 season, and has already been explained that he has recorded an average rebound of 18.7 in the season. There are six seasons alone with an average rebound of 15 or more.

His defense was so strong that he was selected as the second defending player of the year (90, 91), the seventh defending first team (89-93, 95-96), and the first second team (94). It became the motif of Kang Baek-ho's character from the source slam dunk, and showed that the scorers or high-fliers are not the only basketball players with husks throwing themselves at the ball, tight rebounds, and sticky defense that sticks like earthworms.

He had an extremely biased talent for defense and rebounding, and was one of the best players in NBA history in those two categories. During his time in Detroit, he won Defoe twice, going back and forth between No. 3 and No. 4, and became more famous as the king of rebounds after settling in No. 4.

To indirectly see Roadman's rebound style, you can see Kang Baek-ho's awakening mode in the second half of the Slam Dunk Sanwang Technical High School. A style of catching the ball by hitting it briefly through quick and short jumps and persistent physical fights. What's interesting is that Dennis Rodman's play in reality was much greater than Kang Baek-ho's play in the cartoon. Kang Baek-ho's rebound play led to three times, but Dennis Rodman does this four times as shown in the GIF below. Including the mid-range jump, it is a total of five times.

Rodman was a more specialized player in catching offensive rebounds in style, although he had much more defensive rebounds than offensive rebounds, similar to other top-class rebounds. As explained in the rebound item, each offense and defense rebound requires a little different techniques, but since defensive rebounds are rebounds that protect them from an advantageous position, factors such as physique and strength are more important, and offensive rebounds are more important such as agility and activity. However, Rodman was an agile, small rebounder, and very active, so his talent as an offensive rebound was overwhelming. When Rodman rebounds, once the ball flies, he fights with the defender, sneaks one foot inside, digs inside like a rump, and at the same time, blocks the ball through a trick, such as putting one arm on the defender's arm, and catches it with one free hand. Strong and big players such as Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neill, and Carl Malone were better at "the ability to secure rebounds in an unfavorable position," but there was no player to follow Rodman. Of course, basically Rodman also had a screen hanging from the outside and basic checks when attacking (although the score/assist participation was minimal) (Rodman rarely post-ups at low posts) It is the same that it is placed in the structure of goalpost, defender, and striker, so the ratio of offense and defense rebounds was a little over 1:2, and of course, the defensive rebound was the top of the league, but he boasted more overwhelming ability in offensive rebounds.

In addition, Roadman often catches a rebound with an over-run movement like a cartoon, but it is not a performance, but to secure the ball for sure. Rodman holds the ball strong enough to make a "slap" sound so that he does not miss the ball when catching the rebound, and at the same time, he firmly protects it by putting the ball inside the body once. It is a movement that is faithful to ball protection, the basic of basketball, and shows Rodman's tenacity for the ball. For this reason, he is a player who catches the rebound "tastily" from the standpoint of watching, so he is definitely fun to watch even though he puts aside his travel. Instead, the offense is poor (average score of 7.3 points). At one time, he topped the field goal success rate season, but since the early 90s, he gave up the attack and almost turned it to his team members unless it was a no-mark chance under the net. In fact, when you look at his game, it's very hard to see that dribble or shot is that of a professional. However, it is ironic that this point was very positive for Michael Jordan and the Bulls. He doesn't even try to shoot at all, and all he scores is an easy chance under the goal, a footback dunk, and a tip. However, he rarely missed shots like this. However, I threw three points in the first half and somehow went in, but I remembered it and tried again in the second half and became an airball. Some fans may remember shaking their heads as if they were pathetic after the shot. A very unusual player whose biggest barrier to triple double is scoring anyway. He only recorded a triple double once. He also recorded an average of three assists in the season even though he had a very short time with the ball due to his wide field of view and good ability to read the game flow.

Unlike his appearance, he is well-known as a player with good BQ (basketball IQ). In fact, it is already widely believed that he mastered the difficult Triangle Opens in one day in his first practice after moving to Chicago. Even in Jackson's interview, he is considered "a very smart player who helped the team a lot." Jackson brought him in because, as recalled, he was a member of the Bad Boys. The former Bad Boys fought hard with Jordan's Chicago, which was a big obstacle to their victory, so they thought it would be easy to perform because they would understand the Triangle Opens to some extent to destroy them. Among them, Roadman, who was smart, easily melted into the Triangle Opens as soon as he came. John Sally, a former Bad Boys player at the time, was also recruited in a similar vein.

He is also one of the best defenders of all time. He was able to mark from guard to center as an almost all-round defender because he had strength, muscle strength, speed, quickness, and steel strength. In Detroit, he was an ace stopper who exclusively marked Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan in a small forward position, not a power forward, and in Chicago, he played big man roles and blocked players such as Carl Malone and Shaquille O'Neill.

When blocking players larger and heavier than him, such as Marlon and O'Neill, he kept his body as close as possible to the opponent and pressed the second move to make it difficult to take even after the ball was put in, and immediately entered the box out after shooting to prevent the opponent from participating in the rebound. The height itself was relatively low, but he could make the opponent uncomfortable because he had the sense to jump several times at the moment of need by making the most of his quickness and body balance. Also, to match the nickname "The Worm", he kept his body close to the opponent's rhythm He induced an open-ended foul or continued the movement in an unstable posture. It is a bonus that he mixed the subtle foul play he learned from Bill Raimbeer and Rick Mahone, and used his arms well to avoid the referee's eyes.

In particular, O'Neill was devastating Chicago's paint zone (all other clubs) before Rodman defended, and as soon as Rodman defended, his score slowed down. He even blocked better and showed better offense than center Rook Longley (218cm, 120kg), who blocked Shaquille O'Neill at the time. It reminds me of Kang Baek-ho, who was defending Shin Hyun-pil in the slam dunk.

However, Look Longley was never a good defensive center. One can be mistaken for this because Defensive winshare is higher than Offensive winshare, and Longley's defensive winshare rises sharply during the Bulls' third consecutive loss and falls sharply for the rest of the season. At this time, the big men who were dealing with the Bulls had more trouble with Ron Harper, Michael Jordan, Scotty Pippen, and Dennis Rodman's hellish help defense than Longley's defense. Longley's defensive performance was high because he was a member of the Bulls, the strongest defense team. Even so, elite centers often performed better than usual when dealing with the Bulls. Longley was a player who could not properly defend one-on-one against other teams' top centers in a situation where regional defense was still banned, except for huge block shots (but never exceeded 1.5 per game). The strength to endure was not that strong compared to his size, and above all, he was too dull. On the contrary, unlike the image, it had surprisingly high BQ, medium-range shots above average, and passing ability. Thanks to this, he is a big man who is the core of the Triangle Opens, and his contribution to the attack is not small even though his post-up ability is very low. Secondary stats selected by statistics in basketball are often inaccurate, and credibility is also questionable. This is because basketball is a sport with a lot of "unrecorded contributions."

When he played in Chicago, the Seattle SuperSonics and Utah Jazz, the opponents he met in the final, were the teams with outstanding power forwards named Sean Kemp and Carl Malone, who were able to beat them three times, and Roadman's contribution is not small.

In particular, I heard that Michael Jordan is the real MVP of the 1996 final, which was blocked by the Seattle backcourt. He effectively blocked Sean Kemp throughout the series, and in Game 2, he succeeded in free throws while being chased by three points to lead the game to victory.

In terms of record, he topped the NBA's rebounds for seven consecutive years from 92 to 98 and won the Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) in 1990, 91, and 10 consecutive NBA All-Defensive Team (1st 7 times, 2nd 1 time, 3rd 2 times).

Rodman's rebound ability may be relatively underestimated because Wilt Chamberlain or Bill Russell ate an average of 20 rebounds per season, but it is difficult to evaluate the stats of the time as today's NBA in the 60s and 70s has different rules and court standards. Rodman is the only player who has played since the 7-80s, when today's rules and court standards became common, with an average of more than 18 rebounds per season. And his physical condition is close to below par for a post-up player. This is especially true for defense and rebound, not scoring.

If Jordan's prominent part of his body is a powerful ankle that enables ridiculously fast change of direction and instantaneous movement, then the part that stands out in Rodman's physical condition is the powerful lower body. Rodman has a light body of less than 100kg throughout his career, but his lower body has been so strong since his early professional days that he was able to match up with players who were bigger and stronger than him. He was slimmer than he was in Chicago when he was in the Pistons, but he used to match up with power players such as Magic Johnson and James Wardy, who are bigger and stronger than him. Both Johnson and Wardy were strong post-ups, with power at the level of helplessly relegating not only most small forwards but also power forwards. Unlike Adrian Dantley, who was the main player when the Pistons and Lakers joined for the second consecutive year, Rodman was able to withstand their post-ups based on his strong lower body, which allowed him to gradually expand his position in the team.

As he switched to the big man in the second half of his career, his overall athletic ability was lower than in his heyday, so his ability to block outside players decreased a lot, but on the contrary, his power was reinforced enough to cover even the center. As mentioned above, he even endured Shaquille O'Neill's post-up. Naturally, this powerful lower body also helped the box out, and this lower body power was crucial to Rodman's ability to reign as a powerful rebound. In the case of an offensive rebound, it is a rebound that reads the direction and moves quickly, but in the case of a defensive rebound, it is necessary to box out and protect it from an advantageous position, but Rodman was also strong as a big man.

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blackkudos · 5 years ago

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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr.; April 16, 1947) is an American former professional basketball player who played 20 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Milwaukee Bucks and the 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 more 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.

After winning 71 consecutive basketball games on his high school team in New York City, Alcindor was recruited by Jerry Norman, the assistant coach of UCLA, where he played for coach John Wooden on three consecutive national championship teams and was a record three-time MVP of the NCAA Tournament. Drafted with the first overall pick by the one-season-old Bucks franchise in the 1969 NBA draft, Alcindor spent six seasons in Milwaukee. After leading the Bucks to its first NBA championship at age 24 in 1971, he took the Muslim name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Using his trademark "skyhook" shot, he established himself as one of the league's top scorers. In 1975, he was traded to the Lakers, with whom he played the final 14 seasons of his career and won five additional NBA championships. Abdul-Jabbar's contributions were a key component in the "Showtime" era of Lakers basketball. Over his 20-year NBA career, his teams succeeded in making the playoffs 18 times and got past the first round 14 times; his teams reached the NBA Finals on 10 occasions.

At the time of his retirement at age 42 in 1989, Abdul-Jabbar was the NBA's all-time leader in points scored (38,387), games played (1,560), minutes played (57,446), field goals made (15,837), field goal attempts (28,307), blocked shots (3,189), defensive rebounds (9,394), career wins (1,074), and personal fouls (4,657). He remains the all-time leader in points scored, field goals made, and career wins. He is ranked third all-time in both rebounds and blocked shots. In 2007, ESPN voted him the greatest center of all time, in 2008, they named him the "greatest player in college basketball history", and in 2016, they named him the second best player in NBA history (behind Michael Jordan). Abdul-Jabbar has also been an actor, a basketball coach, and a best-selling author. In 2012, he was selected by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be a U.S. global cultural ambassador. In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Early life and high school career

Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. was born in New York City, the only child of Cora Lillian, a department store price checker, and Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Sr., a transit police officer and jazz musician. He grew up in the Dyckman Street projects in the Inwood neighborhood of Upper Manhattan. Alcindor was unusually large and tall from a young age. At birth he weighed 12 lb 11 oz (5.75 kg) and was 22 1⁄2 inches (57 cm) long, and by the age of nine he was already 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) tall. By the eighth grade (age 13–14) he had grown to 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) tall and could already slam dunk a basketball.

Alcindor began his record-breaking basketball accomplishments when he was in high school, where he led coach Jack Donahue's Power Memorial Academy team to three straight New York City Catholic championships, a 71-game winning streak, and a 79–2 overall record. This earned him a nickname—"The tower from Power". His 2,067 total points were a New York City high school record. The team won the national high school boys basketball championship when Alcindor was in 10th and 11th grade and was runner-up his senior year. Alcindor had a strained relationship with his coach. In his 2017 book "Coach Wooden and Me," Abdul-Jabbar relates an incident where Donahue called him a nigger.

UCLA

Alcindor was recruited to the UCLA freshman team in 1965 and only played because the "freshman rule" was in effect, but his prowess was already well known. He received national coverage when he made his varsity debut in 1967: Sports Illustrated described him as "The New Superstar." From 1967 to 1969, he played on the varsity under head coach John Wooden. He was the main contributor to the team's three-year record of 88 wins and only two losses: one to the University of Houston in which Alcindor had an eye injury, and the other to crosstown rival USC who played a "stall game" (i.e., there was no shot clock in those days, so a team could hold the ball as long as it wanted before attempting to score). In his first game, Alcindor scored 56 points, which set a UCLA single-game record.

During his college career, Alcindor was twice named Player of the Year (1967, 1969); was a three-time First Team All-American (1967–1969); played on three NCAA basketball champion teams (1967, 1968 and 1969); was honored as the Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Tournament three times and became the first-ever Naismith College Player of the Year in 1969.

In 1967 and 1968, he also won USBWA College Player of the Year, which later became the Oscar Robertson Trophy. Alcindor became the only player to win the Helms Foundation Player of the Year award three times. The 1965–66 UCLA Bruin team was the preseason #1. On November 27, 1965, the freshman team, led by Alcindor, defeated the varsity 75–60 in the first game in the new Pauley Pavilion. Alcindor scored 31 points and had 21 rebounds in what was a good indication of things to come. After the game, the UCLA varsity was #1 in the country but #2 on campus. If the "freshman rule" had not been in effect at that time, UCLA would have had a much better chance of winning the 1966 National Championship.

Alcindor had considered transferring to Michigan because of unfulfilled recruiting promises. UCLA player Willie Naulls introduced Alcindor and teammate Lucius Allen to athletic booster Sam Gilbert, who convinced the pair to remain at UCLA.

The dunk was banned in college basketball after the 1967 season, primarily because of Alcindor's dominant use of the shot. The rule was not rescinded until the 1976–77 season, which was shortly after Wooden's retirement.

During his junior year, Alcindor suffered a scratched left cornea on January 12, 1968, in a game against Cal when he was struck by Tom Henderson in a rebound battle. He would miss the next two games against Stanford and Portland. This happened right before the showdown game against Houston. His cornea would again be scratched during his pro career, which subsequently caused him to wear goggles for eye protection.

Conversion to Islam and 1968 Olympic boycott

During the summer of 1968, Alcindor took the shahada twice and converted to Sunni Islam, though he did not begin publicly using his Arabic name until 1971. He boycotted the 1968 Summer Olympics by deciding not to try out for the United States Men's Olympic Basketball team, who went on to easily win the gold medal. Alcindor's decision to stay home during the 1968 Games was in protest of the unequal treatment of African-Americans in the United States.

Alcindor was one of only four players who started on three NCAA championship teams; the others all played for Wooden at UCLA: Henry Bibby, Curtis Rowe and Lynn Shackelford. At the time, the NBA did not allow college underclassmen to declare early for the draft. He completed his studies and earned a Bachelor of Arts with a major in history in 1969. In his free time, he practiced martial arts. He studied Jeet Kune Do under Bruce Lee.

Game of the Century

On January 20, 1968, Alcindor and the UCLA Bruins faced coach Guy Lewis's Houston Cougars in the first-ever nationally televised regular-season college basketball game, with 52,693 in attendance at the Astrodome. Cougar forward Elvin Hayes scored 39 points and had 15 rebounds, while Alcindor, who suffered from a scratch on his left cornea, was held to just 15 points as Houston won 71–69. The Bruins' 47-game winning streak ended in what has been called the "Game of the Century". Hayes and Alcindor had a rematch in the semi-finals of the NCAA Tournament, where UCLA, with a healthy Alcindor, defeated Houston 101–69 en route to the national championship. UCLA limited Hayes, who was averaging 37.7 points per game, to only ten points. Wooden credited his assistant, Jerry Norman, for devising the diamond-and-one defense that contained Hayes. Sports Illustrated ran a cover story on the game and used the headline: "Lew's Revenge: The Rout of Houston."

School records

As of the 2011–12 season, he still holds or shares a number of individual records at UCLA:

Highest career scoring average: 26.4;

Most career field goals: 943 (tied with Don MacLean);

Most points in a season: 870 (1967);

Highest season scoring average: 29.0 (1967);

Most field goals in a season: 346 (1967);

Most free throw attempts in a season: 274 (1967);

Most points in a single game: 61;

Most field goals in a single game: 26 (vs. Washington State, February 25, 1967).

Professional career

Milwaukee Bucks (1969–1975)

The Harlem Globetrotters offered Alcindor $1 million to play for them, but he declined and was picked first in the 1969 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, who were in only their second season of existence. The Bucks won a coin-toss with the Phoenix Suns for first pick. He was also chosen first overall in the 1969 American Basketball Association draft by the New York Nets. The Nets believed that they had the upper hand in securing Alcindor's services because he was from New York; however, when Alcindor told both the Bucks and the Nets that he would accept only one offer from each team, the Nets bid too low. Sam Gilbert negotiated the contract along with Los Angeles businessman Ralph Shapiro at no charge. After Alcindor chose the Milwaukee Bucks' offer of $1.4 million, the Nets offered a guaranteed $3.25 million. Alcindor declined the offer, saying, "A bidding war degrades the people involved. It would make me feel like a flesh peddler, and I don't want to think like that."

Alcindor's presence enabled the 1969–70 Bucks to claim second place in the NBA's Eastern Division with a 56–26 record (improved from 27–55 the previous year). On February 21, 1970, he scored 51 points in a 140-127 win over the SuperSonics. Alcindor was an instant star, ranking second in the league in scoring (28.8 ppg) and third in rebounding (14.5 rpg), for which he was awarded the title of NBA Rookie of the Year. In the series-clinching game against the 76ers, he recorded 46 points and 25 rebounds. With that, he joins Wilt Chamberlain as the only rookies to record at least 40 points and 25 rebounds in a playoff game in their rookie season. Until Jayson Tatum in 2018, Alcindor would be the only rookie to record 10 or more games of 20+ points scored during the playoffs.

The next season, the Bucks acquired All-Star guard Oscar Robertson. Milwaukee went on to record the best record in the league with 66 victories in the 1970–71 season, including a then-record 20 straight wins. Alcindor was awarded his first of six NBA Most Valuable Player Awards, along with his first scoring title (31.7 ppg). He also led the league in total points, with 2,596. In the playoffs, the Bucks went 12–2 (including a four-game sweep of the Baltimore Bullets in the NBA Finals), and won the championship, while Alcindor was named Finals MVP. He posted 27 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists in Game 4 of the finals series. On May 1, 1971, the day after the Bucks won the NBA championship, he adopted the Muslim name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Arabic: كريم عبد الجبار‎, Karīm Abd al-Jabbār), its translation roughly "noble one, servant of the Almighty [i.e., servant of Allah]". He had converted to Islam while at UCLA.

Abdul-Jabbar remained a dominant force for the Bucks. The following year, he repeated as scoring champion with (34.8 ppg and 2,822 total points) and was named NBA Most Valuable Player. He helped the Bucks to repeat as division leaders for four straight years. In 1974, Abdul-Jabbar won his third MVP Award in five years and was among the top five NBA players in scoring (27.0 ppg, third), rebounding (14.5 rpg, fourth), blocked shots (283, second), and field goal percentage (.539, second).

Abdul-Jabbar remained relatively injury-free throughout his NBA career, but he twice broke one of his hands. The first incident occurred during a pre-season game in 1974, when he was bumped hard and got his eye scratched; this angered him enough to punch the basket support stanchion. He returned after missing the first 16 games of the season and started to wear protective goggles. In the second incident, he broke his hand during the opening game of the 1977–78 season. Two minutes into the game, Abdul-Jabbar punched Milwaukee's Kent Benson in retaliation for an overly aggressive elbow; the punch broke Benson's jaw. As a result of the injury to his hand, Abdul-Jabbar was out for two months, and it was unnecessary for the NBA to suspend him.

Although Abdul-Jabbar always spoke well of Milwaukee and its fans, he said that being in the Midwest did not fit his cultural needs. In October 1974, he requested a trade to either the New York Knicks or Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Lakers (1975–1989)

In 1975, the Lakers acquired Abdul-Jabbar and reserve center Walt Wesley from the Bucks for center Elmore Smith, guard Brian Winters, and rookie "blue chippers" Dave Meyers and Junior Bridgeman. In the 1975–76 season, his first with the Lakers, he had a dominating season, averaging 27.7 points per game and leading the league in rebounding, blocked shots, and minutes played. His 1,111 defensive rebounds remains the NBA single-season record (defensive rebounds were not recorded prior to the 1973–74 season). He earned his fourth MVP award, but missed the post-season for the second straight year.

Once he joined the Lakers, Abdul-Jabbar began wearing his trademark goggles (he briefly ditched them in the 1979–80 season). Years of battling under NBA backboards, and being hit and scratched in the face in the process, had taken their toll on his eyes and he developed corneal erosion syndrome, where the eyes begin to dry out easily and cease to produce moisture. He missed one game in the 1986–87 season when his eyes dried out and swelled.

In the 1976–77 season, Abdul-Jabbar had another strong performance. He led the league in field goal percentage, finished second in rebounds and blocked shots, and third in points per game. He helped lead the Lakers to the best record in the NBA, and he won his record-tying fifth MVP award. In the playoffs, the Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference semi-finals, setting up a confrontation with the Portland Trail Blazers. The result was a memorable matchup, pitting Abdul-Jabbar against a young, injury-free Bill Walton. Although Abdul-Jabbar dominated the series statistically, Walton and the Trail Blazers (who were experiencing their first-ever run in the playoffs) swept the Lakers, behind Walton's skillful passing and leadership.

Abdul-Jabbar's play remained strong during the next two seasons, being named to the All-NBA Second Team twice, the All-Defense First Team once, and the All-Defense Second Team once. The Lakers, however, continued to be stymied in the playoffs, being eliminated by the Seattle SuperSonics in both 1978 and 1979.

In 1979, the Lakers acquired first overall draft pick Magic Johnson. The trade and draft paved the way for a Laker dynasty as they went on to become the most dominant team of the 1980s, appearing in the finals eight times and winning five NBA championships. Individually, while Abdul-Jabbar was not the dominant center he had been in the 1970s, he experienced a number of highlight moments. Among them were his record sixth MVP award in 1980, four more All-NBA First Team designations, two more All-Defense First Team designations, the 1985 Finals MVP, and on April 5, 1984 breaking Wilt Chamberlain's record for most career points. Later in his career, he bulked up to about 265 pounds (120 kg), to be able to withstand the strain of playing the highly physical center position into his early 40s.

While in Los Angeles, Abdul-Jabbar started doing yoga in 1976 to improve his flexibility, and was notable for his physical fitness regimen. He says, "There is no way I could have played as long as I did without yoga."

In 1983, Abdul-Jabbar's house burned down. Many of his belongings, including his beloved jazz LP collection of about 3,000 albums, were destroyed. Many Lakers fans sent and brought him albums, which he found uplifting.

On June 28, 1989, Abdul-Jabbar was 42 years old when he announced that he would retire at the end of the season after 20 years in the NBA. On his "retirement tour" he received standing ovations at games, home and away and gifts ranging from a yacht that said "Captain Skyhook" to framed jerseys from his basketball career to an Afghan rug. In his biography My Life, Magic Johnson recalls that many Lakers and Celtics legends participated in Abdul-Jabbar's farewell game. Every player wore Abdul-Jabbar's trademark goggles and had to try a skyhook at least once, which led to comic results. The Lakers made the NBA Finals in each of Abdul-Jabbar's final three seasons, defeating Boston in 1987, and Detroit in 1988. The Lakers lost to the Pistons in a four-game sweep in his final season.

At the time of his retirement, Abdul-Jabbar held the record for most games played by a single player in the NBA; this would later be broken by Robert Parish. He also was the all-time record holder for most points (38,387), most field goals made (15,837), and most minutes played (57,446).

Post-NBA career

Since 2005, Abdul-Jabbar has served as a special assistant coach for the Lakers. He had been interested in coaching since his retirement, and given the influence that he exerted on the league during his playing days, he thought that the opportunity would present itself. However, during his playing years, Abdul-Jabbar had developed a reputation for being introverted and sullen. He did not speak to the press, which led to the impression that he disliked journalists. In his biography My Life, Magic Johnson recalls instances when Abdul-Jabbar brushed him off when he was a ball boy and asked him for an autograph. Abdul-Jabbar also froze out reporters who gave him a too-enthusiastic handshake or even hugged him, and he refused to stop reading the newspaper while giving an interview.

Abdul-Jabbar believes that his reticence, whether through disdain for the press or simply because of introversion, contributed to the dearth of coaching opportunities offered to him by the NBA. In his words, he said he had a mindset he could not overcome, and proceeded through his career oblivious to the effect his reticence may have had on his future coaching prospects. Abdul-Jabbar said: "I didn't understand that I also had affected people that way and that's what it was all about. I always saw it like they were trying to pry. I was way too suspicious and I paid a price for it." Since he began lobbying for a coaching position in 1995, he has managed to obtain only low-level assistant and scouting jobs in the NBA, and a head coaching position only in a minor professional league.

Abdul-Jabbar has worked as an assistant for the Los Angeles Clippers and the Seattle SuperSonics, helping mentor, among others, their young centers, Michael Olowokandi and Jerome James. Abdul-Jabbar was the head coach of the Oklahoma Storm of the United States Basketball League in 2002, leading the team to the league's championship that season, but he failed to land the head coaching position at Columbia University a year later. He then worked as a scout for the New York Knicks. Finally, on September 2, 2005, he returned to the Lakers as a special assistant to Phil Jackson to help the Lakers' centers, and in particular their young draftee Andrew Bynum. Abdul-Jabbar's influence has been credited with Bynum's emergence as a more talented NBA center. Abdul-Jabbar also served as a volunteer coach at Alchesay High School on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in Whiteriver, Arizona in 1998.

In 2016, he performed a tribute to friend Muhammad Ali along with Chance the Rapper. He is also co-author of a comic book published by Titan Comics entitled Mycroft Holmes and the Apocalypse Handbook.

Player profile

On offense, Abdul-Jabbar was a dominant low-post threat. In contrast to other low-post specialists like Wilt Chamberlain, Artis Gilmore or Shaquille O'Neal, Abdul-Jabbar was a relatively slender player, standing 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) tall but only weighing 225 lb (102 kg) (though in his latter years the Lakers listed Abdul-Jabbar's weight as 265 pounds (120 kg)). However, he made up for his relative lack of bulk by showing textbook finesse, strength and was famous for his ambidextrous skyhook shot, which was impossible for defenders to block. It contributed to his high .559 field goal accuracy, making him the eighth most accurate scorer of all time and a feared clutch shooter. Abdul-Jabbar was also quick enough to run the Showtime fast break led by Magic Johnson and was well-conditioned, standing on the hardwood an average 36.8 minutes. In contrast to other big men, Abdul-Jabbar also could reasonably hit his free throws, finishing with a career 72% average.

Abdul-Jabbar maintained a dominant presence on defense. He was selected to the NBA All-Defensive Team eleven times. He frustrated opponents with his superior shot-blocking ability and denied an average of 2.6 shots a game. After the pounding he endured early in his career, his rebounding average fell to between six or eight a game in his latter years.

As a teammate, Abdul-Jabbar exuded natural leadership and was affectionately called "Cap" or "Captain" by his colleagues. He had an even temperament, which Riley said made him coachable. A strict fitness regime made him one of the most durable players of all time. In the NBA, his 20 seasons and 1,560 games are performances surpassed only by former Celtics center Robert Parish.

Skyhook

Abdul-Jabbar was well known for his trademark "skyhook", a hook shot in which he bent his entire body (rather than just the arm) like a straw in one fluid motion to raise the ball and then release it at the highest point of his arm's arching motion. Combined with his long arms and great height—7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)—the skyhook was difficult for a defender to block without committing a goaltending violation. It was a reliable and feared offensive weapon and contributed to his high lifetime field goal percentage of 0.559. He was adept at shooting the skyhook with either hand, which made him even more difficult to defend against, though as a right-handed player, he was stronger shooting the skyhook with his right hand than he was with his left. According to Abdul-Jabbar, he learned the move in fifth grade after practicing with the Mikan Drill and soon learned to value it, as it was "the only shot I could use that didn't get smashed back in my face".

Legacy

Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA's all-time leading scorer with 38,387 points, and he won a league-record six MVP awards. He earned six championship rings, two Finals MVP awards, 15 NBA First or Second Teams, a record 19 NBA All-Star call-ups and averaging 24.6 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.6 blocks per game. He is ranked as the NBA's third leading all-time rebounder (17,440). He is also the third all-time in registered blocks (3,189), which is even more impressive because this stat had not been recorded until the fourth year of his career (1974).

Abdul-Jabbar combined dominance during his career peak with the longevity and sustained excellence of his later years. He credited Bruce Lee with teaching him "the discipline and spirituality of martial arts, which was greatly responsible for me being able to play competitively in the NBA for 20 years with very few injuries." After claiming his sixth and final MVP in 1980, Abdul-Jabbar continued to average above 20 points in the following six seasons, including 23 points per game in his 17th season at age 38. He made the NBA's 35th Anniversary Team, and was named one of its 50 greatest players of all time in 1996. Abdul-Jabbar is regarded as one of the best centers ever, and league experts and basketball legends frequently mentioned him when considering the greatest player of all time. Former Lakers coach Pat Riley once said, "Why judge anymore? When a man has broken records, won championships, endured tremendous criticism and responsibility, why judge? Let's toast him as the greatest player ever." Isiah Thomas remarked, "If they say the numbers don't lie, then Kareem is the greatest ever to play the game." Julius Erving in 2013 said, "In terms of players all-time, Kareem is still the number one guy. He's the guy you gotta start your franchise with." In 2015, ESPN named Abdul-Jabbar the best center in NBA history, and ranked him No. 2 behind Michael Jordan among the greatest NBA players ever. While Jordan's shots were enthralling and considered unfathomable, Abdul-Jabbar's skyhook appeared automatic, and he himself called the shot "unsexy".

NBA career statistics

Regular seasonPlayoffs

Athletic honors

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (May 15, 1995)

College:

National Basketball Association:

November 16, 2012 – A statue of Abdul-Jabbar was unveiled in front of Staples Center on Chick Hearn Court, in Los Angeles.

2× Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year (1967, 1969)

2× Oscar Robertson Trophy winner (1967, 1968)

2× UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1967, 1969)

Three-time First Team All-American (1967–1969)

Three-time NCAA champion (1967–1969)

Most Outstanding Player in NCAA Tournament (1967–1969)

Naismith College Player of the Year (1969)

3× First-team All-Pac-8 (1967–1969)

National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame (2007)

Rookie of the Year (1970)

Six-time NBA champion (1971, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988)

NBA MVP (1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980)

Sporting News NBA MVP (1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980)

Finals MVP (1971, 1985)

Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" (1985)

One of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History (1996)

First player in NBA history to play 20 seasons

Ranked No.2 in ESPN's 100 greatest NBA players of all time #NBArank

Film and television

Playing in Los Angeles facilitated Abdul-Jabbar's trying his hand at acting.He made his film debut in Bruce Lee's 1972 film Game of Death, in which his character Hakim fights Billy Lo (played by Lee).

In 1980, he played co-pilot Roger Murdock in Airplane!. Abdul-Jabbar has a scene in which a little boy looks at him and remarks that he is in fact Abdul-Jabbar—spoofing the appearance of football star Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch as an airplane pilot in the 1957 drama that served as the inspiration for Airplane!, Zero Hour!. Staying in character, Abdul-Jabbar states that he is merely Roger Murdock, an airline co-pilot, but the boy continues to insist that Abdul-Jabbar is "the greatest", but that, according to his father, he doesn't "work hard on defense" and "never really tries, except during the playoffs". This causes Abdul-Jabbar's character to snap, "The hell I don't!", then grab the boy and snarl he has "[heard] that crap ever since ... UCLA", he "busts his buns every night" and the boy should tell his "old man to drag [Bill] Walton and [Bob] Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes". When Murdock loses consciousness later in the film, he collapses at the controls wearing Abdul-Jabbar's goggles and yellow Lakers' shorts.

Abdul-Jabbar has had numerous other television and film appearances, often playing himself. He has had roles in movies such as Fletch, Troop Beverly Hills and Forget Paris, and television series such as Full House, Living Single, Amen, Everybody Loves Raymond, Martin, Diff'rent Strokes (his height humorously contrasted with that of diminutive child star Gary Coleman), The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Scrubs, 21 Jump Street, Emergency!, Man from Atlantis, and New Girl. Abdul-Jabbar played a genie in a lamp in a 1984 episode of Tales from the Darkside. He also played himself on the February 10, 1994 episode of the sketch comedy television series In Living Color.

He also appeared in the television version of Stephen King's The Stand, played the Archangel of Basketball in Slam Dunk Ernest, and had a brief non-speaking cameo appearance in BASEketball. Abdul-Jabbar was also the co-executive producer of the 1994 TV film Road to Freedom: The Vernon Johns Story. He has also made appearances on The Colbert Report, in a 2006 skit called "HipHopKetball II: The ReJazzebration Remix '06" and in 2008 as a stage manager who is sent out on a mission to find Nazi gold. Abdul-Jabbar also voiced himself in a 2011 episode of The Simpsons titled "Love Is a Many Strangled Thing". He had a recurring role as himself on the NBC series Guys with Kids, which aired from 2012 to 2013. On Al Jazeera English he expressed his desire to be remembered not just as a player, but somebody who had many talents and used them.

Abdul-Jabbar was selected to appear in the 2013 ABC reality series Splash, a celebrity diving competition.

Abdul-Jabbar has also created the 2011 documentary On the Shoulders of Giants, based on the all-black basketball team New York Renaissance.

Abdul-Jabbar has also appeared with Robert Hays (Ted Striker) in a 2014 Airplane! parody commercial promoting Wisconsin tourism. In 2015, he appeared in an HBO documentary on his life, Kareem: Minority of One.

In April 2018, Abdul-Jabbar was announced as one of the celebrities who competed on season 26 of Dancing with the Stars. He was partnered with professional dancer Lindsay Arnold.

In February 2019, he appeared in season 12 episode 16 of The Big Bang Theory, "The D&D Vortex".

In September 2018, Abdul-Jabbar was announced as one of the writers for the July 2019 revival of Veronica Mars.

Abdul-Jabbar is the executive producer of the 2020 History channel's Black Patriots: Heroes of the Revolution.

Writing and activism

Abdul-Jabbar is also a best-selling author and cultural critic. His first book, his autobiography Giant Steps, was written in 1983 with co-author Peter Knobler. (The book's title is an homage to jazz great John Coltrane, referring to his album Giant Steps.) Others include On the Shoulders of Giants: My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance, co-written with Raymond Obstfeld, and Brothers in Arms: The Epic Story of the 761st Tank Battalion, World War II's Forgotten Heroes, co-written with Anthony Walton, which is a history of an all-black armored unit that served with distinction in Europe.

Abdul-Jabbar has also been a regular contributor to discussions about issues of race and religion, among other topics, in national magazines and on television. He has written a regular column for Time, for example, and he appeared on Meet the Press on Sunday, January 25, 2015, to talk about a recent column, which pointed out that Islam should not be blamed for the actions of violent extremists, just as Christianity has not been blamed for the actions of violent extremists who profess Christianity. When asked about being Muslim, he said: "I don't have any misgiving about my faith. I'm very concerned about the people who claim to be Muslims that are murdering people and creating all this mayhem in the world. That is not what Islam is about, and that should not be what people think of when they think about Muslims. But it's up to all of us to do something about all of it."

In November 2014, Abdul-Jabbar published an essay in Jacobin magazine calling for just compensation for college athletes, writing, "in the name of fairness, we must bring an end to the indentured servitude of college athletes and start paying them what they are worth."

In 2007, Abdul-Jabbar participated in the national UCLA alumni commercial entitled "My Big UCLA Moment". The UCLA commercial is featured on YouTube.

On February 10, 2011, Abdul-Jabbar debuted his film On the Shoulders of Giants, documenting the tumultuous journey of the famed yet often-overlooked Harlem Renaissance professional basketball team, at Science Park High School in Newark, New Jersey. The event was simulcast live throughout the school, city, and state.

Commenting on Donald Trump's 2017 travel ban, he strongly condemned it, saying, "The absence of reason and compassion is the very definition of pure evil because it is a rejection of our sacred values, distilled from millennia of struggle."

Government appointments

Cultural ambassador

In January 2012, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that Abdul-Jabbar had accepted a position as a cultural ambassador for the United States. During the announcement press conference, Abdul-Jabbar commented on the historical legacy of African-Americans as representatives of U.S. culture: "I remember when Louis Armstrong first did it back for President Kennedy, one of my heroes. So it's nice to be following in his footsteps." As part of this role, Abdul-Jabbar has traveled to Brazil to promote education for local youths.

President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition

Former President Barack Obama announced in his last days of office that he has appointed Abdul-Jabbar along with Gabrielle Douglas & Carli Lloyd to the President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition.

Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee

In January 2017, Abdul-Jabbar was appointed to the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee by United States Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin. According to the United States Mint, Abdul-Jabbar is a keen coin collector whose interest in the life of Alexander Hamilton had led him into the hobby. He resigned in 2018 due to what the Mint described as "increasing personal obligations".

Personal life

Abdul-Jabbar met Habiba Abdul-Jabbar (born Janice Brown) at a Lakers game during his senior year at UCLA. They eventually married and together had three children: daughters Habiba and Sultana and son Kareem Jr, who played basketball at Western Kentucky after attending Valparaiso. Abdul-Jabbar and Janice divorced in 1978. He has another son, Amir, with Cheryl Pistono. Another son, Adam, made an appearance on the TV sitcom Full House with him.

Religion and name

At age 24 in 1971, he converted to Islam and became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, which means "noble one, servant of the Almighty." He was named by Hamaas Abdul Khaalis. Abdul-Jabbar purchased and donated 7700 16th Street NW, a house in Washington, D.C., for Khaalis to use as the Hanafi Madh-Hab Center. Eventually, Kareem "found that [he] disagreed with some of Hamaas' teachings about the Quran, and [they] parted ways." He then studied the Quran on his own, and “emerged from this pilgrimage with my beliefs clarified and my faith renewed.”

Abdul-Jabbar has spoken about the thinking that was behind his name change when he converted to Islam. He stated that he was "latching on to something that was part of my heritage, because many of the slaves who were brought here were Muslims. My family was brought to America by a French planter named Alcindor, who came here from Trinidad in the 18th century. My people were Yoruba, and their culture survived slavery... My father found out about that when I was a kid, and it gave me all I needed to know that, hey, I was somebody, even if nobody else knew about it. When I was a kid, no one would believe anything positive that you could say about black people. And that's a terrible burden on black people, because they don't have an accurate idea of their history, which has been either suppressed or distorted."

In 1998, Abdul-Jabbar reached a settlement after he sued Miami Dolphins running back Karim Abdul-Jabbar (now Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar, born Sharmon Shah) because he felt Karim was sponging off the name he made famous by having the Abdul-Jabbar moniker and number 33 on his Dolphins jersey. As a result, the younger Abdul-Jabbar had to change his jersey nameplate to simply "Abdul" while playing for the Dolphins. The football player had also been an athlete at UCLA.

Health problems

Abdul-Jabbar suffers from migraines, and his use of cannabis to reduce the symptoms has had legal ramifications.

In November 2009, Abdul-Jabbar announced that he was suffering from a form of leukemia, Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow. The disease was diagnosed in December 2008, but Abdul-Jabbar said his condition could be managed by taking oral medication daily, seeing his specialist every other month and having his blood analyzed regularly. He expressed in a 2009 press conference that he did not believe that the illness would stop him from leading a normal life. Abdul-Jabbar is now a spokesman for Novartis, the company that produces his cancer medication, Gleevec.

In February 2011, Abdul-Jabbar announced via Twitter that his leukemia was gone and he was "100% cancer free". A few days later, he clarified his misstatement. "You're never really cancer-free and I should have known that", Abdul-Jabbar said. "My cancer right now is at an absolute minimum".

In April 2015, Abdul-Jabbar was admitted to hospital when he was diagnosed with cardiovascular disease. Later that week, on his 68th birthday, he underwent quadruple coronary bypass surgery at the UCLA Medical Center.

Non-athletic honors

In 2011, Abdul-Jabbar was awarded the Double Helix Medal for his work in raising awareness for cancer research. Also in 2011, Abdul-Jabbar received an honorary degree from New York Institute of Technology. In late 2016, Abdul-Jabbar was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama.

Works

Books

Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem; Knobler, Peter (1983). Giant Steps. New York: Bantam Books.

Kareem, with Mignon McCarthy (1990) ISBN 0-394-55927-4

Selected from Giant Steps (Writers' Voices) (1999) ISBN 0-7857-9912-5

Black Profiles in Courage: A Legacy of African-American Achievement, with Alan Steinberg (1996) ISBN 0-688-13097-6

A Season on the Reservation: My Sojourn with the White Mountain Apaches, with Stephen Singular (2000) ISBN 0-688-17077-3

Brothers in Arms: The Epic Story of the 761st Tank Battalion, World War II's Forgotten Heroes with Anthony Walton (2004) ISBN 978-0-7679-0913-6

On the Shoulders of Giants: My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance with Raymond Obstfeld (2007) ISBN 978-1-4165-3488-4

What Color Is My World? The Lost History of African American Inventors with Raymond Obstfeld (2012) ISBN 978-0-7636-4564-9

Streetball Crew Book One Sasquatch in the Paint with Raymond Obstfeld (2013) ISBN 978-1-4231-7870-5

Streetball Crew Book Two Stealing the Game with Raymond Obstfeld (2015) ISBN 978-1423178712

Mycroft Holmes with Anna Waterhouse (September 2015) ISBN 978-1-7832-9153-3

Writings on the Wall: Searching for a New Equality Beyond Black and White with Raymond Obstfeld (2016) ISBN 978-1-6189-3171-9

Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court (2017) ISBN 978-1538760468

Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court (2017) ISBN 978-0316555388

Mycroft and Sherlock with Anna Waterhouse (October 9, 2018) ISBN 978-1785659256

Mycroft and Sherlock: The Empty Birdcage with Anna Waterhouse (September 24, 2019) ISBN 978-1785659300

Audio book

On the Shoulders of Giants: An Audio Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance 8-CD Set Vol. 1–4, with Avery Brooks, Jesse L. Martin, Maya Angelou, Herbie Hancock, Billy Crystal, Charles Barkley, James Worthy, Julius Erving, Jerry West, Clyde Drexler, Bill Russell, Coach John Wooden, Stanley Crouch, Quincy Jones and other chart-topping musicians, as well as legendary actors and performers such as Samuel L. Jackson. (2008) ISBN 978-0-615-18301-5

Articles

Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem (April 20, 2015). "Nothing Less Than an Assassination". Ideas • Race. Time. Vol. 185 no. 14 (South Pacific ed.). p. 23.

#04/16

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junker-town · 4 years ago

Text

Western Illinois, Year 30 and Year 31, 2036-2038

The Leathernecks played two instant classic NCAA tournament games in our College Hoops 2K8 sim.

Welcome back to our simulated dynasty with the Western Illinois Leathernecks in College Hoops 2K8. You can find a full explanation of this project + spoiler-free links to previous seasons here. Check out the introduction to this series from early April for full context. As a reminder, we simulate every game in this series and only control the recruiting and coaching strategies. Dynasty mode runs for 40 years.

Before we pick up with the Leathernecks at the start of Year 30, here’s a recap of everything that happened last season:

Western Illinois returned three starters from our national championship-winning team in Year 28. We began the new year ranked No. 10 in the preseason polls.

We crushed the non-conference season, went undefeated in Summit League play, and punched our ticket the big dance by winning the conference tournament once again. We entered March Madness at 27-3 overall and were given a No. 7 seed.

We beat Arizona State in the opening round, defeated BYU in the round of 32, took out Seton Hall in the Sweet 16, and beat Xavier in the Elite Eight. Then we lost one of the wildest Final Four games ever in overtime to West Virginia. Read the full recap here.

We recruited for three scholarships and landed three players: shooting guard Scott Doornekamp (No. 111 overall), point guard Randolph Pompey (No. 134 overall), and power forward Ernesto Mack (No. 108 overall).

Here’s a first look at our roster for Year 30:

We lost our top three big men from last season’s team: true junior Elvin King left to become an NBA lottery pick, while C.J. Cesar and Daron Coulter graduated. While we’ll be green up front, we do return all three starters from last year on the perimeter.

Let’s meet the lineup:

PG Sammy Yan, true senior, 90 overall: Yan entered the program as the highest-rated recruit we’ve ever had as the former No. 10 overall prospect in his class. It would be fair to say he’s been a disappointment so far. For his senior year, we have decided to move Yan from his natural shooting guard spot to point guard. It feels like a better fit for his skill set: he’s the best ball handler and passer on the team, and isn’t a very good three-point shooting. We’re hoping he can rewrite his legacy in his final year with the ‘Necks. Bay Area native with C potential.

SG Duncan Martinez, redshirt senior, 96 overall: D-Mart has been our starting point guard each of the last two years, but he’s always been more of a bucket getter than a natural facilitator. That’s why for his final year in school, we’re moving the 6’3 guard to the two. Martinez goes up two points on his overall rating with the switch, and will give a chance to tie or surpass Nic Cummings as the highest rated player in program history (97 overall). Martinez is an elite three-point shooter with a 95 rating. We need him to get hot and stay hot in March. Chicago native with C+ potential, projected lottery pick.

SF Warren Schultz, redshirt senior, 91 overall: Big 6’9, 240 pound small forward with elite three-point shooting and dunking ability. He’s always been a tantalizing talent, but we’ve never seen him fully takeover. This is his last chance. Jacksonville native with C potential.

PF Mitch Hunter, redshirt sophomore, 86 overall: Hunter is one of the lowest rated recruits we’ve ever taken at No. 201 overall, but we had a good feeling about his long-term potential. This year will put that to the test. Hunter is huge for a four (6’9, 265 pounds) with impressive inside scoring and rebounding ability. He isn’t a threat to shoot from the outside. Atlanta native with C+ potential.

C Thom Towe, redshirt sophomore, 86 overall: We’re excited for Towe to finally get a big role as a redshirt sophomore. While he isn’t the biggest center ever at 6’11, 228 pounds, he projects as a quality rebounder and shot blocker who also has the highest potential rating (B+) on the team. Former No. 5 center recruit out of Garden Grove, CA.

We’ll have four players off the bench. Redshirt sophomores Dave French (6’4 shooting guard from New Zealand) and Rashaun Diggs (5’10 point guard from Colorado Springs) will man the backcourt positions, while two redshirt freshmen Vinnie Harmon (7-foot center out of Cincinnati) and Spanky Fanning (6’5 small forward out of Davis, CA) will backup the front court spots.

We’re redshirting our three true freshmen. Those players are:

SG Scott Doornekamp (No. 111 overall): 77 overall with C+ potential

PG Randolph Pompey (No. 134 overall): 76 overall with D potential

PF Ernesto Mack (No. 108 overall): 76 overall with C potential

Recruiting

We also have four scholarships to recruit for this season. We want two wings and two bigs. After scanning the available options, we decide to offer the following players:

6’2 PG Vidal McCurry, No. 8 overall and No. 4 at his position, from Oak Park, IL

6’3 SG Ransom White, No. 17 overall and No. 5 at his position, from Indianapolis

6’10 C Kendric Morales, No. 127 overall and No. 11 at his position, from Lancaster, PA

6’5 SF D.J. Stapleton, No. 81 overall and No. 14 at his position, from Reno, NV

The created player for this year is 7’3 power forward Ralph Sampson, made by reader Sean as the winner of the last bracket contest. I’m going to make an educated guess that he’ll be incredible.

We begin the year ranked No. 15 in the preseason polls. Let’s go!

Regular season

Do we want to start with the good news or the bad news?

Let’s get the bad news out of the way: We lost to Notre Dame, Baylor, Big Country Reeves Jr. and Washington State, Deke Van Jr. and South Florida, and Marquette.

We did get wins over Northwestern, DePaul, Butler, Eastern Washington, Valpo and UIC.

Needless to say, this wasn’t our best non-conference season, especially given the expectations as a preseason top-15 team.

Summit League play

Can we run the table and go 18-0 again in conference play?

Yes we can. That is nice to see after we uncharacteristically dropped a few conference games in recent years. Now we need to win the conference tournament to punch our ticket to the big dance. Will it happen?

Yes it will. We defeat Southern Utah in the title game to reach the NCAA tournament once again. Before we get to March Madness, let’s check out this season’s stats.

Sorry for the potato quality here, screenshot was taken from the stream. Martinez and Schultz ended up both having great senior years: rarely do we have two perimeter players each average better than 15 points per game, but that’s exactly what they did. Thom Towe also had a great sophomore year that will likely put him in position to jump to the NBA after his junior year. Elsewhere, I really like what Kiwi guard Dave French and backup center Vinnie Harmon were able to give us off the bench.

Tournament time, baby. I have zero clue what seed this team is going to get.

How did recruiting go?

We took two shots at five-star All-Americans and, no surprise, neither worked out. Maybe we’ll see Vidal McCurray and Ransom White in an NCAA tournament game somewhere else down the line.

We didn’t land anyone at the early signing deadline, but small forward D.J. Stapleton is ready to commit on the first day of the spring recruiting period. The three other spots remain open, but we’re making progress on Morales, who was also one of our early targets.

On the created player front, Ralph Sampson commits to Florida. I’m already worried about running into him in the tournament in the not too distant future.

2037 NCAA tournament

Western Illinois is a No. 12 seed in the NCAA tournament. Our first round opponent will be No. 5 seed UConn Cal.

Before we get into the opening round, here’s a look at our roster:

I’ll break it all down for you because, potato quality:

Duncan Martinez goes up to a 97 overall, which ties him for the highest rated player in program history with Nic Cummings.

Yan and Schultz are each up to a 93 overall at point guard and power forward respectively. Reminder that: a) Yan never took a redshirt, b) he went down two points when we moved him to the one to accomodate D-Mart. To this point, Yan has not lived up to his billing as the highest rated recruit (No. 10 overall) in ‘Necks history, but as we all know, legends are made in March.

Towe (90 overall), Hunter (89 overall), and Harmon (84 overall) have the size and the talent to carry us in the front court, but lack the experience. Will it come back to bite us?

The bench improved quite a bit. Our redshirt sophomore guards Dave French (88 overall) and Rashaun Diggs (86 overall) will need to give us a reliable scoring punch off the bench if we’re going to go on a long tournament run. We’ll see what Spanky Fanning (up five to an 85 overall) — yes that’s his real name — can do, too.

Western Illinois enters the game rated as a 100 overall. Cal is rated as a 92 overall.

As always: we’re watching a simulated game, I’m not actually controlling the Leathernecks.

Let’s go!

***

Loss, 88-85! For the first time in 10 years, Western Illinois fails to win at least one game in the NCAA tournament!

I realized we were in for a fight early in the second half. While Cal led by one at halftime behind some hot outside shooting, our ‘Necks have made a habit of running up the score out of halftime. That didn’t happen in this one. Instead, it was Cal who went on a run, opening up an 11-point lead five minutes into the final frame.

We clawed back behind the starters to tie it around 10 minutes to go. From there, it felt like the lead changed at least twice every minute. Buckets were traded, turnovers were forced, every 50/50 ball on an offensive rebound felt like the difference between a win or a loss.

Down two with about 35 seconds left, Martinez drove the lane, drew a foul, and knocked down both foul shots to tie it. Cal inbounded with the shot clock turned off. This is what happened next.

twitch_clip

What a horrible way to go out for our seniors. Martinez (24 points, six assists) was excellent in his final college game. I honestly believe he would have won it for us if we got the last shot. Schultz was also very good — 20 points and nine rebounds on 8-of-16 shooting — but not quite Skip Clemmons-level like I was hoping. Yan was downright good after an up-and-down career: 14 points, nine assists, and five rebounds. He always should have been a point guard.

On the plus side, Thom Towe looks like a future star. He projects to be our go-to guy next season.

I thought last year’s tournament loss in the Final Four was the most exciting game we ever watched together on Twitch. This one might have topped it. Leathernecks basketball is still going strong, even if we can’t win them all. To the offseason!

Offseason

Boston College wins the national championship as a No. 1 seed that was rated as a 100 overall.

DEKE VAN JR. WINS FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR AT SOUTH FLORIDA. He averaged 12.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

Yan, Martinez, Schultz all get drafted after graduation. No one leaves early. That means we’re going to have a) no seniors next year, and b) no scholarships to recruit for. First time ever for the latter.

We lose an assistant and replace him coach Yates, who has a B+ rating in teaching and offense, and an A rating in charisma.

I get offered jobs by Cal (!), Virginia, Iowa, USC, and Northwestern, but turn them all down.

Recruiting

Stapleton commits on the first day of the spring signing period. The 6’5 small forward out of Reno, NV is ranked No. 81 overall and No. 14 at his position. A week later, Kendric Morales joins as our second signing of the year. Morales is a 6’10, 227-pound center out of Lancaster, PA rated No. 127 overall and No. 11 at his position. One wing and one big are in the books.

We’ve been going after 6’3 shooting guard Rob Borchardt for most of the season as one of our top backup plans. The Fresno, CA native becomes the third member of our recruiting class.

While Borchardt is ranked No. 137 overall and No. 33 at his position and lacks elite size, his AAU numbers were really solid. He averaged 14.5 points, 9.4 rebounds, and two steals per game on the circuit while shooting 38.6 percent from three-point range. We think he can be a sleeper.

We went back and forth on who we should offer with our final scholarship. After considering another wing, we ended up opting for a big. Stevie Strong — yes, his real name — becomes our fourth and final commitment of the class.

At 6’10, 213 pounds, Strong is rated as the No. 179 overall player and No. 15 center in his class. We’ll eventually move one of Strong-Morales to the four. They should be a promising front line for our future.

Now it’s time to make our schedule for next year. This is what we went with:

@ Northwestern, Great Alaskan Shootout, @ South Florida, vs. Illinois State, @ Florida, @ Washington State, vs. Valpo, @ San Francisco, Gossner Foods Holiday Classic (?), vs. Loyola (IL)

Year 31

Let’s keep this moving, shall we? Yan, Martinez, and Schultz have graduated. A new generation of ‘Necks are about to come into focus.

Let’s meet the starters:

PG Rashaun Diggs, redshirt junior, 87 overall: Diggs is the smallest player we’ve ever had here at 5’11, 165 pounds. He’s also projecting as one of the better three-point shooters we’ve ever had, while not being particularly skilled in passing and ball handling. I assumed Diggs would likely be a sixth man for us when he committed, but he’s developed nicely. Long-time fans of the series will also remember we had great success with another tiny point guard in Koko Reeves many years back. Here’s hoping Diggs follows his path. Former No. 121 overall recruit out of Colorado Springs with C- potential.

SG Dave French, redshirt junior, 90 overall: French was a five-star international recruit out of New Zealand, and enters his junior year projected to be our primary option on the perimeter. A natural point guard, French goes up a couple points on his overall rating at the two. He has grown to 6’4, projects as a skilled shooter with a three-point rating in the low 80s, and is also the best passer and ball handler on the team. Projected first round pick with a B potential rating.

SF Spanky Fanning, redshirt sophomore, 86 overall: Fanning is a 6’6 wing whose best attributes are as a rebounder and defender. He is not the type of skilled three-point shooter we typically like on the wing, but he does have impressive dunking ability. Will he be able to hit enough shots for us to go on a deep tournament run? Former No. 92 overall recruit out of Davis, CA with B- potential.

PF Mitch Hunter, redshirt junior: 90 overall: A massive, throwback power forward at 6’9, 270 pounds, Hunter isn’t a threat to shoot from the outside but impresses as a rebounder and paint protector. He has some nice post scoring ability and will also get a few putbacks each game. We felt like he was undervalued as a recruit, and he has been a nice piece for us so far. Excited to see what he can do as a senior. Former No. 201 overall recruit with C+ potential.

C Thom Towe, redshirt junior: 90 overall: Towe should be poised to jump to the NBA if he has a breakout junior year as expected. He impressed last season in his first year as a starter as a solid two-way big who could score inside the paint and also protect the rim. While he’s not the biggest five man ever at 6’11, 230 pounds, Towe just finds a way to get the job done. Projected lottery pick out of Garden Grove, CA with B+ potential.

Redshirt sophomore center Vinnie Harmon (86 overall) will be our sixth man and should play a big role. The rest of the bench will be rounded out by our redshirt freshmen class: 6’6 shooting guard Scott Doornekamp (82 overall, C+ potential), 6’6 point guard Randolph Pompey (79 overall, D potential), and 6’8 power forward Ernesto Mack (79 overall, C potential) will all get minutes.

We are redshirting our four freshmen. Here’s how they’re rated:

D.J. Stapleton, 76 overall, C+ potential: Rated No. 91 overall and No. 14 at his position. Enters school as a 6’5 small forward out of Reno, NV.

C Stevie Strong, 75 overall, C+ potential: Rated No. 179 overall and No. 15 at his position. Enters school as a 6’10 center from Hammond, Indiana.

SG Rob Borchardt, 74 overall, C+ potential: Rated No. 137 overall and No. 33 at his position. Enters school as a 6’3 shooting guard out of Fresno, CA.

C Kendric Morales, 74 overall, C+ potential: Rated No, 127 overall and No. 11 at his position. Enters school as a 6’10 center from Lancaster, PA who will move to power forward.

We have no scholarships to recruit for this year, so we will be putting a bunch of juniors on our target list. We want a big class a year from now when we’ll have four open scholarships.

We do create a recruit for reader Dave as the winner of last year’s bracket contest: 6’3, 350-pound power forward Biggie Smalls out of Brooklyn.

We’re unranked to start the new season.

How did the regular season go?

We crushed the regular season this year. We earned big wins over Northwestern, South Florida (with Deke Van Jr.!), Florida (with Ralph Sampson!), and Illinois State. Our biggest losses were to Arizona and Washington State, with Big Country Reeves Jr.

We went out to sweep Summit League once again and win the conference tournament.

We entered the NCAA tournament with a record of 31-3 on the season.

2038 NCAA tournament

We were given a No. 6 seed in March Madness. Our opponent in round one is No. 11 seed Virginia. We enter the game rated as a 99 overall. UVA is rated an 87 overall.

Here’s an updated look at our roster:

Towe led the team in scoring at 19.5 points per game, and dropped 42 in one game during the conference tournament. It looks like he’ll jump to the NBA after this season as a projected lottery pick. This could also be the final run for Dave French, who has established himself as our top perimeter threat. French is a projected first round pick. I really like how the bench developed this season. The freshman combo of Doornekamp and Randy Pompey should be excellent in the backcourt for a long time, while Mack looks like the consummate glue guy.

I’m a little worried about our play on the wings and a general lack of experience, but this team is good enough for a deep run.

As always: we’re watching a simulated game; I’m not controlling the ‘Necks. Let’s go!

Win, 87-65! We were up by so much we decided to ‘sim to end’ with about eight minutes left in the game.

We only led by eight points at the half, but turned it up from there. I thought pretty much the whole team looked great. Dave French paced the offense throughout the game to finish 18 points. Diggs chipped in 11 points and tied the program record for assists in a tournament game with 13. Hunter gave us a double-double (13 points and 12 rebounds) and Towe lived up to his billing as a top NBA prospect with 17 points and six rebounds in the win.

The win sets up a round of 32 matchup with Clemson

Clemson is loaded. Both teams enter rated as a 99 overall. I don’t think this is going to be a ‘sim to end’ game.

Sweet 16 berth on the line. Let’s go!

Win, 84-68! This actually was another sim to end game as we held a 20+ point lead with about four minutes to go.

This was a big-time win against a great team. French was wonderful once again, finishing with 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 shooting from deep. He’s turning into a great player before our eyes. Mitch Hunter made it two double-doubles in two NCAA tournament games to end his night with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Towe wasn’t super efficient (7-of-16 shooting) but still had 15 points, nine rebounds, six assists, and three blocks in the win. How about backup center Vinnie Harmon with 16 points and nine rebounds off the bench?

The win sets up a matchup with Oklahoma State in the Sweet 16

Oklahoma State is going to be a serious test. They have a 6’10 small forward, talented guards, and enough bigs to compete with us on the glass.

We enter the game rated as a 99 overall. The Cowboys are a 98 overall.

Let’s go!

***

Loss, 107-104! Another heartbreaking ending in the NCAA tournament for the ‘Necks. Oh my god, we lose on another buzzer-beater. How???

The last two minutes of regulation were ridiculous. Towe gave us the lead with a Dirk-like fadeaway. After Oklahoma State answered, Dave French gave us the lead again with a beautiful up-and-under layup. Up two with 30 seconds left, French went to the foul line looking to ice the game. He missed the front end of the one-and-one, but Towe recovered, was fouled, and sank both free throws.

Game should be over up four with 30 seconds left, right? Wrong. Oklahoma State hit a quick three. After Mitch Hunter knocked down two free throws, their shooting guard Stys hit a bomb of a three from NBA range to tie the game. Doornekamp had a clean look from three at the buzzer but missed. We went into overtime.

The two teams traded buckets in OT. French tied the game at 104 all with under a minute left with a corner three. Towe took a three (????) on our final offensive possession and bricked it. That gave Oklahoma State the ball at the end of the game. Here’s what happened:

twitch_clip

Unbelievable. Oklahoma State had some ballers on that team. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap.

There were some truly great performances from our guys even in defeat. French finished with 28 points and seven steals. Hunter posted a double-double for the third straight tournament game. Towe had 21 points. Harmon and Doornekamp each contributed off the bench.

The ‘Necks will be back. It just stings to know we’ve bowed out of the tournament in painful fashion each of the last three seasons.

Offseason

No. 1 seed South Carolina wins the national championship

Towe leaves early for the NBA draft, where he was projected as a lottery pick. Everyone else is coming back. We’re going to be incredibly deep next season with the redshirts coming off last year’s freshmen class. I want a title run for No. 8.

I get offered by Minnesota, Baylor, Oregon, and Northwestern, but turn them all down. WIU 4 Life.

This is going to be a quick offseason because we didn’t have any scholarships to recruit for. Let’s set the schedule for next season:

@ Florida, @ Indiana, vs. DePaul, vs Valpo, @ Oregon State, vs. South Florida, @ Illinois, vs. Wichita State, vs. Dayton

Year 32

I don’t have a screenshot of the roster at the beginning of the year, but I do have one from where we left off: at the onset of the Sweet 16.

It is a deep and talented team. Could we be on our way to our eighth national title? We’re going to be picking up with the Leathernecks in the Sweet 16 by streaming the remaining games on Twitch on Monday Jan. 25, at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Here’s how you can watch.

How to watch Western Illinois’ Sweet 16 run continued in Year 32 on Twitch

What: Western Illinois is in the Sweet 16 in our College Hoops 2K8 simulation. We’ll stream each game in this tournament run until we lose or win the national championship.

Where: On my Twitch channel

When: Monday Jan. 25, at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Go ‘Necks.

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