The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver. The Grizzlies competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference. The team was established in 1995, along with the Toronto Raptors, as part of the NBA's expansion into Canada. Following the 2000–01 season, the team relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, United States and was renamed the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies played their home games at General Motors Place for all of their six seasons in Vancouver.
Theodore "Blue" Edwards is an American former professional basketball player who played ten seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Edwards now coaches at his alma mater, Greene Central High School in Snow Hill, North Carolina.
Robert Matthew Hurley is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Arizona State Sun Devils. He was previously the head coach at the University at Buffalo.
The 1995 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1995, at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It marked the first NBA draft to be held outside the United States and was the first draft for the two Canadian expansion teams, Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies. Kevin Garnett, who was taken fifth in this draft, is notable for being the first player in two decades to be selected straight out of high school. Garnett ultimately gathered fifteen All Star selections, nine All-NBA selections, one NBA MVP award, and multiple other accolades. Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse also had successful careers, being four-time and two-time All-Stars respectively. Wallace won an NBA championship in 2004 with the Detroit Pistons, while Stackhouse scored the most total points in the league in 2000, also with the Pistons.
Shane Courtney Battier is an American former professional basketball player. He also worked for ESPN and recently joined the board of Yext.
Shammond Omar Williams is a retired American-born naturalized Georgian professional basketball player. Standing at 1.85 m, he played at both point guard and shooting guard positions. During his career he played in the NBA and in Europe. He is currently an assistant coach for the University of Denver Pioneers team.
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.
Brendan Todd Haywood is an American former professional basketball player who was a center in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He won an NBA championship with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011. Following his playing career, Haywood became a college basketball announcer for CBS Sports and a co-host/analyst on SiriusXM NBA Radio. Brendan Haywood also works as an analyst for the NBA Playoffs on NBATV.
Scott Anthony Padgett is a retired American professional basketball player and current assistant to the head coach for Mississippi State men's basketball. He was formerly the head coach at Samford University. He played for the National Basketball Association's Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets, New Jersey Nets and Memphis Grizzlies.
Eduardo Enrique Cota is a Panamanian-American former professional basketball player.
Rudy Carlton Gay Jr. is an American professional basketball player. The forward played college basketball for the UConn Huskies before being selected eighth overall in the 2006 NBA draft by the Houston Rockets; he was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies days later.
Richard Patrick Versace was an American basketball coach and executive. He was also the first American of Puerto Rican descent to have coached a National Basketball Association (NBA) team.
The Senegal national basketball team represents Senegal in men's international basketball and it is overseen by Federation Senegalaise de basketball, five time a gold medallist, a six time silver medallist, and a four time bronze medallist at the FIBA Africa Championship. Senegal was the first Sub-Saharan African team to qualify for the Summer Olympics Basketball Tournament.
Ademola Okulaja was a German professional basketball player. The last team he played for were the Brose Baskets of the Basketball Bundesliga. After his playing career, he became an agent for NBA player Dennis Schröder.
The Utah Utes men's basketball team, also known as the Runnin' Utes, represents the University of Utah as an NCAA Division I program that plays in the Big-12. They play their home games at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The school has made the NCAA tournament 29 times, which ranks 20th in NCAA history and tied for third most appearances behind UCLA and the University of Arizona in the Western United States. They last made the tournament in 2016. Utah won the NCAA Championship in 1944, defeating Dartmouth College 42–40 for the school's only NCAA basketball championship. However, the school also claims the 1916 AAU National Championship, which was awarded after winning the AAU national tournament. They have also won the NIT once, defeating Kentucky in 1947. In 1998, the Utes played in the NCAA championship game, losing to Kentucky.
Gorgui Sy Dieng is a Senegalese former professional basketball player currently working as a basketball operations representative with the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals.
Bennett Davison is an American former basketball player who played professionally for over ten years, including several seasons in Italy's Lega Basket Serie A. Davison is also known for his success as a college player, where he was a starter on the University of Arizona's 1997 NCAA championship team.
Mamadou N'Diaye is a Senegalese professional basketball player who last played for Correcaminos UAT Victoria of the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP). He played college basketball for UC Irvine, where he was the tallest basketball player at the NCAA Division I level, standing at 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m).
Grayson James Allen is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played four years of college basketball at Duke University, where he helped Duke win a national championship in 2015. He has often been called one of Duke's best players of the 2010s. Allen was drafted with the 21st overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz, where he played for one season before being traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in July 2019. In August 2021, Allen was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, where he played for two seasons before being traded to the Suns in September 2023.
Dillon Brooks is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Oregon Ducks, where he was named a consensus second-team All-American and earned conference player of the year honors in the Pac-12 in 2017. Brooks was selected in the second round of the 2017 NBA draft. He began his career with the Memphis Grizzlies, earning NBA All-Defensive Second Team honors in 2023.
