A.C. Green Jr. is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Iron Man", he holds a National Basketball Association (NBA) record for most consecutive regular-season games played with 1,192. Green played for the Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat. He found most success with the Lakers, with whom he won three championships in 1987, 1988 and 2000, and was named an NBA All-Star in 1990.
Clifford Ralph Robinson was an American professional basketball player who played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Selected in the second round of the 1989 NBA draft, he played the first eight seasons of his career with the Portland Trail Blazers, followed by stints with the Phoenix Suns, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors, and New Jersey Nets. Robinson received the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 1993 and was selected as an NBA All-Star in 1994. He played college basketball for the UConn Huskies.
The 1997–98 NBA season was the 52nd season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Chicago Bulls winning their third straight championship and sixth in the last eight years, beating the Utah Jazz 4 games to 2 in the 1998 NBA Finals. It also marked the departure of Michael Jordan and the end of the dynasty for the Chicago Bulls.
Randolph Smith was an American professional basketball player who set the NBA record for consecutive games played. From 1972 to 1982, Smith played in every regular season game, en route to a then-record of 906 straight games. In college, he was a Division II All-American basketball player, soccer player and track athlete. He was born in Bellport, New York.
James Edward Harden Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is widely regarded as one of the greatest scorers and shooting guards in NBA history. In 2021, Harden was honored as one of the league's top 75 players by being named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.
The 2008–09 Cleveland Cavaliers season was the 39th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They finished the regular season with 66 wins and 16 losses, the best record in the NBA, which easily surpassed the previous franchise best of 57–25 from the 1988–89 and 1991–92 seasons. LeBron James won his first MVP Award and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting. The Cavaliers had the fourth best team offensive rating and the third best team defensive rating in the NBA.
The 2004–05 NBA season was the Pacers' 29th season in the National Basketball Association, and 38th season as a franchise. The Pacers finished third in the Central Division with a 44–38 record. This season also marked the final season for All-Star guard Reggie Miller.
The 1998–99 NBA season was the Lakers' 51st season in the National Basketball Association, and 39th in the city of Los Angeles. On March 23, 1998, the owners of all 29 NBA teams voted 27–2 to reopen the league's collective bargaining agreement, seeking changes to the league's salary cap system, and a ceiling on individual player salaries. The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) opposed to the owners' plan, and wanted raises for players who earned the league's minimum salary. After both sides failed to reach an agreement, the owners called for a lockout, which began on July 1, 1998, putting a hold on all team trades, free agent signings and training camp workouts, and cancelling many NBA regular season and preseason games. Due to the lockout, the NBA All-Star Game, which was scheduled to be played in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 14, 1999, was also cancelled.
The 2010–11 Miami Heat season was the 23rd season of the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In the regular season, the Heat finished first in the Southeast Division with 58–24 record, and made the NBA playoffs for the 3rd consecutive year as the Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed.
The 2001–02 NBA season was the 34th season for the Phoenix Suns in the National Basketball Association. During the off-season, the Suns acquired All-Star point guard Stephon Marbury from the New Jersey Nets, re-signed former All-Star Suns guard and three-point specialist Dan Majerle, who was a member of the team when they appeared in the 1993 NBA Finals, and acquired John Wallace and Jud Buechler from the Detroit Pistons. Early into the season, Buechler was traded to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Bo Outlaw in November.
The 1997–98 NBA season was the Mavericks' 18th season in the National Basketball Association. In the off-season, the Mavericks acquired three-point specialist Dennis Scott from the Orlando Magic, and signed free agent Hubert Davis. After winning their first three games of the season, the Mavericks struggled once again losing ten straight in November. Head coach Jim Cleamons was fired, and replaced with General Manager Don Nelson after a 4–12 start. Along the way, forward A.C. Green broke the NBA's Iron Man record of most consecutive games played, breaking Randy Smith's record, which was 906 consecutive games. After winning their first game under Nelson, which was a 105–91 home victory over the New York Knicks on December 4, 1997, the Mavericks traveled to Mexico City, Mexico, where they lost to the Houston Rockets, 108–106 on December 6, which was the first NBA regular season game played in Mexico.
An iron man is an athlete of unusual physical endurance. This durability is generally measured by an athlete's ability to play without missing a game for an extended period of time, sometimes even for an entire career. Some of the more notable athletes with significant streaks in sports history include baseball's Lou Gehrig and Cal Ripken Jr., American football's Brett Favre and Joe Thomas, basketball's A.C. Green, stock car racing's Jeff Gordon and hockey's Phil Kessel and Keith Yandle.
Jalen Marquis Brunson is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted with the 33rd overall selection of the 2018 NBA draft by the Dallas Mavericks and played his first four seasons in the NBA with them. He played college basketball for Villanova University, where he was the National Player of the Year as a junior and won two national championships.
The 2015–16 NBA season was the 70th season of the National Basketball Association. The regular season began on October 27, 2015, at the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls, with their game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The 2016 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on February 14, 2016. The regular season ended on April 13, 2016. Golden State's Stephen Curry became the first unanimous MVP in league history. The playoffs started on April 16, 2016, and ended with the 2016 NBA Finals on June 19, 2016, with the Cleveland Cavaliers becoming NBA Champions for the first time in franchise history after defeating the Golden State Warriors in seven games. This would also be the final season for All-Stars and future Hall of Famers Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett.
The 2015–16 Golden State Warriors season was the 70th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and its 54th in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Warriors entered the season as the defending NBA champions and they set the best ever regular-season record of 73–9, breaking the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls record of 72–10. Golden State broke their franchise record of 28 road wins in a season which they set in 2014–15; they ended the season with 34, passing the same 1995-96 Chicago Bulls team led by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen for the most road wins in NBA history. Warriors' head coach, Steve Kerr, has a significant connection to the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, as he previously served as a point guard for the team during that specific season. Throughout the 2015-16 NBA season, Golden State broke over twenty-five NBA records and more than ten franchise records, including most wins ever recorded in a NBA season ; with 88. However, they were defeated in the NBA Finals by the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games, having lost the series despite initially leading with a 3–1 advantage.
The 2016–17 NBA season was the 71st season of the National Basketball Association. The regular season began on October 25, 2016, with the 2016 NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers hosting a game against the New York Knicks. The 2017 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, on February 19, 2017, with the West defeating the East 192–182. Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans was named the All Star Game MVP after breaking Wilt Chamberlain's record by scoring 52 points in the All Star Game. The original host of the game, Charlotte's Spectrum Center, was removed as the host on July 21, 2016, due to the league's opposition against North Carolina's Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act. The regular season ended on April 12, 2017, and the playoffs began on April 15, 2017, and ended on June 12, 2017, with the Golden State Warriors going 16–1 in the playoffs and beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games during their third consecutive matchup in the NBA Finals. This was the last season for the NBA to use Adidas jerseys. Starting with the 2017-18 NBA season, the jerseys were from Nike. Additionally, Kevin Durant signed with the Golden State Warriors, and Dwyane Wade with the Chicago Bulls, after playing their entire careers until then with one team.
Mikal Bridges is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Villanova Wildcats, winning national championships in 2016 and 2018. Bridges was selected with the tenth overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2018 NBA draft before being traded to the Phoenix Suns on draft night, where he was a part of the team that reached the 2021 NBA Finals. He was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in February 2023 and was later traded to the Knicks in July 2024. Nicknamed “the Warden”, Bridges holds the active record for the most consecutive games played, having not missed a game in his NBA career since being drafted.
The 2021–22 NBA season was the 76th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on October 19, 2021, and ended on April 10, 2022. For the first time since the 2018–19 season, the NBA returned to its usual October to April regular season schedule after the previous two seasons were shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 NBA All-Star Game was played at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland on February 20, 2022. The play-in tournament was held on April 12–15, 2022. The 2022 NBA playoffs then began on April 16, and ended on June 16 with the Golden State Warriors defeating the Boston Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals.
