Chukwuemeka Ndubuisi "Emeka" Okafor is an American former professional basketball player. Okafor attended Bellaire High School in Bellaire, Texas and the University of Connecticut, where in 2004 he won a national championship. In his first season in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 2004–05, Okafor was named Rookie of the Year. He was traded to the New Orleans Hornets in 2009 and was then dealt to the Washington Wizards in 2012. However, a herniated disc in his neck caused Okafor to miss four consecutive seasons from 2013 to 2017 before being medically cleared to play.
George Daniel Ewing, Jr. is an American former professional basketball player. He currently works as a scout for the Los Angeles Lakers.
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.
Elvin Ernest Hayes, nicknamed "the Big E", is an American former professional basketball player and radio analyst for his alma mater Houston Cougars. He is a member of the NBA's 50th and 75th anniversary teams, and an inductee in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Known for both his offensive and defensive prowess, Hayes is often regarded as one of the best power forwards in NBA history. Hayes is also known for his longevity, being third all-time in NBA minutes played, and missing only nine games during his 16-season career.
Caldwell "Pops" Jones Jr. was an American professional basketball player.
Othella Harrington is an American former professional basketball player. After he finished his high school career at Murrah High School, he played in college at Georgetown University where he teamed with future NBA star Allen Iverson. Harrington was drafted 30th overall in the 1996 NBA draft by the Houston Rockets.
Brian Lee Cardinal is an American former professional basketball player. He played 456 games in the NBA between 2000 and 2012, and won an NBA championship with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011. Before his NBA career, he was one of the best players in the history of Purdue University.
Joe Barry Carroll is an American former professional basketball player who spent ten seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After retiring from basketball, he became a wealth advisor, philanthropist, artist, author of the memoir Growing Up... In Words and Images, and recipient of the Hank Aaron Champion for Justice award.
Gregory Fuller Kite is an American retired professional basketball player. Kite was a member of two NBA Championship teams with the Boston Celtics in 1984 and 1986. Kite played eleven NBA seasons.
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. 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.
Taj Allen Gray is an American professional basketball player. He was a basketball player for the University of Oklahoma.
Mark Craig Bryant is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons. As a player, he played collegiately at Seton Hall University from 1984 to 1988, and was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the 1988 NBA draft. Bryant played for 10 NBA teams during his career, averaging 5.4 ppg and appeared in the 1990 and 1992 NBA Finals as a member of the Blazers.
Brian Butch is an American former professional basketball player. He is currently working mornings on 97.3 the Game with Steve Czaban in Milwaukee and as a radio color commentator for the Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball and analyst for the Big Ten Network. He was a center on the 2003 McDonald's All-American basketball team and later attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison on a basketball scholarship. He was briefly a member of the Denver Nuggets of the NBA, although he never played any games for them.
Antonio Lamar Crocker is an American professional basketball player who last played for Metropolitans 92 of the LNB Pro A. He played college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners. Crocker has had significant stints in Europe and Turkey.
Blake Austin Griffin is an American former professional basketball player. Griffin primarily played with the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and played college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners, where he was named the consensus national college player of the year as a sophomore. Griffin was selected first overall by the Clippers in the 2009 NBA draft, and was a six-time NBA All-Star and a five-time All-NBA selection. In January 2018, Griffin was traded to the Detroit Pistons and played for them until 2021. In March 2021, Griffin signed with the Brooklyn Nets. In September 2022, Griffin signed with the Boston Celtics, who he stayed with until his retirement in 2023.
Damian Johnson is an American former professional basketball player. He played four years of college basketball for Minnesota and spent the first two years of his professional career in Japan and the NBA Development League. Upon moving to Australia in 2014, he made a name for himself in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL). Over three seasons in the SEABL, Johnson was a champion every year and won back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year honours in 2015 and 2016.
Ray Lee Turner is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Mandurah Magic of the NBL1 West. He played college basketball for Texas A&M University before playing professionally in Cyprus, Australia, Japan and Hungary. During his first two years in Australia, Turner won a QBL championship with the Rockhampton Rockets and was named the SBL Most Valuable Player with the Perth Redbacks.
Moses Shirief-Lamar Brown is an American professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins.
Cade Parker Cunningham is an American professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He attended Bowie High School in his hometown of Arlington, Texas, before transferring to Montverde Academy in Florida, where he was rated a consensus five-star recruit and among the top players in the 2020 class by major recruiting services. As a senior, he led one of the best high school teams in history and received national player of the year recognition.
Tari Jordan Eason is an American professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Cincinnati Bearcats and the LSU Tigers. Eason was selected 17th overall in the 2022 NBA draft by the Houston Rockets.
