William P. Melchionni is an American former National Basketball Association (NBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA) player. A three time All-Star, Melchionni is one of only four players to win NBA and ABA championships.
William Theodore Walton III was an American basketball player and television sportscaster. He played collegiately for UCLA Bruins and professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Portland Trail Blazers, San Diego / Los Angeles Clippers, and Boston Celtics. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
Robert Jerry Lanier Jr. was an American professional basketball player. He played center for the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lanier was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992.
Robert Allen McAdoo Jr. is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he was a five-time NBA All-Star and named the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1975. He won two NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers during their Showtime era in the 1980s. In 2000, McAdoo was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. He was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.
Cazzie Lee Russell is an American former professional basketball player and coach. An NBA All-Star, he was selected by the New York Knicks with the first overall pick of the 1966 NBA draft. He won an NBA championship with the Knicks in 1970.
Alfred "Butch" Beard Jr. is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He was the starting point guard with the 1975 NBA champion Golden State Warriors.
Louis Clyde Hudson was an American National Basketball Association (NBA) player, who was an All-American at the University of Minnesota and a six-time NBA All-Star, scoring 17,940 total points in 13 NBA seasons.
Gregory Ballard was an American professional basketball player and NBA assistant coach. A collegiate All-American at Oregon, Ballard averaged 12.4 points and 6.1 rebounds over an eleven-season NBA career with the Washington Bullets, Golden State Warriors and briefly, the Seattle SuperSonics.
Clifford Ray is an American former professional basketball coach and player. He played three of his ten seasons in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls from 1971 to 1974, and the other seven with the Golden State Warriors from 1974 to 1981.
Garfield Heard is an American retired professional basketball player and coach. He played collegiately at the University of Oklahoma and was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics in the third round of the 1970 NBA draft. He had a 15-year NBA career for four teams: the Sonics, the Buffalo Braves, the Chicago Bulls, and the Phoenix Suns. Heard is best known for a buzzer beater he made to send Game 5 of the 1976 Phoenix–Boston championship series into a third overtime. This feat is commonly known as "The Shot", or "The Shot Heard 'Round the World", in reference to Ralph Waldo Emerson's poem "Concord Hymn", which was written about the Battle of Lexington.
Jared Anthony Dudley is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A forward, he played college basketball for the Boston College Eagles.
Steven Dwayne Burtt is a retired American professional basketball player. The 6'2" point guard played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) sporadically from 1984 until 1993. He also had an established playing career overseas. Born in New York City, Burtt played high school basketball for Charles Evans Hughes before enrolling at Iona to play for the Gaels. Burtt now teaches at Bronx Collegiate Academy.
The 1977 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1976–77 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Portland Trail Blazers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. It was Portland's first NBA title. Bill Walton was named NBA Finals MVP.
Dwight E. Davis is a retired American professional basketball player. After playing college basketball at the University of Houston from 1969 to 1972, Davis was selected as the 3rd overall pick of 1972 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Nicknamed "Double D", Davis played for five seasons in the NBA.
Charles Francis "Cotton" Nash was an American professional basketball and baseball player. He played as a forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Los Angeles Lakers and San Francisco Warriors, and in the American Basketball Association (ABA) for the Kentucky Colonels. He was an outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins.
The 1997–98 New York Knicks season was the 52nd season for the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). During the off-season, the Knicks acquired Chris Mills from the Boston Celtics, and acquired Chris Dudley from the Portland Trail Blazers in a three-team trade. At mid-season, the team traded Herb Williams to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for former All-Star forward Terry Cummings. However, Williams never played for the 76ers, and was re-signed by the Knicks for the remainder of the season.
The 1996–97 New York Knicks season was the 51st season for the Knicks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). For the season, the Knicks celebrated their 50th anniversary in the NBA by revealing an anniversary version of the team's primary logo. During the off-season, the Knicks acquired All-Star forward Larry Johnson from the Charlotte Hornets, and signed free agents Allan Houston, Chris Childs, and former All-Star forward Buck Williams. The team also had three first-round draft picks in the 1996 NBA draft, selecting small forward John Wallace out of Syracuse University with the 18th overall pick, small forward Walter McCarty from the University of Kentucky with the 19th overall pick, and small forward Dontae' Jones out of Mississippi State University with the 21st overall pick. However, Jones would miss the entire season due to a foot injury, and would never play for the Knicks.
The 1980–81 Portland Trail Blazers season was the 11th season of the Portland Trail Blazers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Blazers won seven more games than the previous season, ending with a record of 45–37 and making the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.
The 1976–77 NBA season was the Detroit Pistons' 29th season in the NBA and 20th season in the city of Detroit. The team played at Cobo Arena in Detroit.
