The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams. It is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier professional basketball league in the world.
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at the Toyota Center, located in Downtown Houston. Throughout its history, Houston has won two NBA championships and four Western Conference titles. It was established in 1967 as the San Diego Rockets, an expansion team originally based in San Diego. In 1971, the Rockets relocated to Houston.
Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon, nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian-American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Houston Rockets, and in his last season, the Toronto Raptors. He led the Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. Olajuwon was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 and the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2016. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest centers, as well as one of the greatest basketball players of all time.
John Houston Stockton is an American former professional basketball player. Regarded as one of the greatest point guards, players, and passers of all time, he spent his entire NBA career (1984–2003) with the Utah Jazz, and the team made the playoffs in each of his 19 seasons. In 1997 and 1998, together with his longtime teammate Karl Malone, Stockton led the Jazz to the franchise's only two NBA Finals appearances, both of which were losses to the Chicago Bulls.
Calvin Jerome Murphy is an American former professional basketball player who after a prolific collegiate career at Niagara, where he averaged 33.1 points per game over his three years, played in the National Basketball Association as a guard for the San Diego/Houston Rockets from 1970 to 1983. He is a currently a member of the Houston Rockets' AT&T SportsNet TV broadcast team. Standing at a height of 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m), Murphy has the distinction of being the shortest NBA player inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and to play in an NBA All-Star Game.
Moses Eugene Malone Sr. was an American professional basketball player who played in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1974 through 1995. A center, he was named the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) three times, was a 12-time NBA All-Star and an eight-time All-NBA Team selection. Malone led the Philadelphia 76ers to an NBA championship in 1983, winning both the league and Finals MVP. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2001. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the sport's history, Malone is also seen as one of the most underrated NBA players.
Troy Delvon Bell is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and other leagues mostly in Europe. He is also a R&B producer. He was an All-American college player at Boston College and finished as one of the greatest players in the program's history.
Nathaniel "Tiny" Archibald is an American retired professional basketball player. He spent 14 years playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA), most notably with the Cincinnati Royals/Kansas City–Omaha Kings and Boston Celtics. In 1991, he was enshrined into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame.
Mario Antoine Elie is an American former professional basketball coach and player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Elie grew up in New York City and played college basketball at American International College, before being drafted in the seventh round of the 1985 NBA draft as the 160th overall pick by the Milwaukee Bucks.
Shane Courtney Battier is an American former professional basketball player. He also worked for ESPN and recently joined the board of Yext.
The 1971 NBA draft was the 25th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 29 and 30, 1971 before the 1971–72 season. In this draft, 17 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. A player who had finished his four-year college eligibility was eligible for selection. If a player left college early, he would not be eligible for selection until his college class graduated. The first two picks in the draft belonged to the teams that finished last in each conference, with the order determined by a coin flip. The Cleveland Cavaliers won the coin flip and were awarded the first overall pick, while the Portland Trail Blazers were awarded the second pick. The remaining first-round picks and the subsequent rounds were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season. Prior to the start of the season, the San Diego Rockets and the San Francisco Warriors relocated to Houston, Texas, and Oakland, California, and became the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors respectively. The draft consisted of 19 rounds comprising the selection of 237 players. The league also hosted a supplemental hardship draft on September 20, 1971, for college underclassmen who wished to join the league.
Hasheem Thabeet is a Tanzanian professional basketball player. He played college basketball for UConn before being drafted second overall in the 2009 NBA draft by the Memphis Grizzlies. His performance as a second overall draft pick has led many analysts to label him as one of the "biggest busts" in NBA history.
Eric Demarqua Maynor is an American former professional basketball player and current assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association. He played college basketball for Virginia Commonwealth University. As a senior, he averaged 22.4 points, 6.2 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game in the 2008–09 season.
Allen Frazier Leavell is a retired American professional basketball player from Muncie, Indiana.
William Edward "Easy Ed" Ratleff is an American retired basketball player. He attended Columbus East High School where he led his high school basketball team to the Ohio State Championship in 1968 and was joined by Dwight "Bo" Lamar to claim the 1969 Ohio High School title. In college, Ratleff was a two-time first-team All-American at Long Beach State. He was chosen for the 1972 U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball Team and participated in the Munich Games. He was selected with the sixth pick of the NBA Draft and played five NBA seasons.
DeJuan Lamont Blair is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Pittsburgh Panthers from 2007 to 2009. Blair entered the 2009 NBA draft where he was selected as the 37th overall pick by the San Antonio Spurs. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 7 seasons with the Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and Washington Wizards. Blair also played in the NBA Development League and overseas in Russia, China and Argentina.
Bernard Anthony Hopkins White is an American-Spanish retired professional basketball player. Hopkins is a 6'6", 235-pound power forward. He played college ball at Hagerstown Community College for two seasons before transferring to Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) for his final two. As a senior in 1995–96, Hopkins was named the 1996 CAA men's basketball tournament MVP as well as the Colonial Athletic Association Men's Basketball Player of the Year.
Marcus Alexander Thornton is an American professional basketball player for Lavrio of the Greek Basket League. He was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the 45th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft. Thornton completed his collegiate career at the College of William & Mary (W&M) in 2015 and was named the 2014–15 Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year. Thornton spent 10 days on the NBA roster of the Cleveland Cavaliers, but never played.
Mery Elizabeth Fernandes Andrade is a former professional basketball player. She played five seasons in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
