Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is an American former basketball player, considered one of the sport's greatest ever players. He played professionally for 20 seasons for the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins as a center. Abdul-Jabbar won a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards. He was a 19-time NBA All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA Team member, and an 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team selection. He was a member of six NBA championship teams as a player and two more as an assistant coach, and was twice voted the NBA Finals MVP. He was named to three NBA anniversary teams. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he has been called the greatest basketball player of all time by many of his contemporaries such as Pat Riley, Isiah Thomas, and Julius Erving. Abdul-Jabbar broke the NBA's career scoring record in 1984, and held it until LeBron James surpassed him in 2023.
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.
The NBA Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1955–56 season to the best performing player of the regular season. Since the 2022–23 season, winners receive the Michael Jordan Trophy, named for the five-time MVP often considered to be the greatest player in NBA history.
The center (C), or the centre, also known as the five, the big or the pivot, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is almost always the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well. In the NBA, the center is typically close to 7 feet (2.13 m) tall; centers in the WNBA are typically above 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m). Centers traditionally play close to the basket in the low post. The two tallest players in NBA history, Manute Bol and Gheorghe Mureșan, were both centers, each standing 7 feet 7 inches (2.31 m) tall.
The NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1982–83 NBA season to the best defensive player of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel of 124 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada, each of whom casts a vote for first, second and third place selections. Each first-place vote is worth five points, second-place votes are worth three points, and a third-place vote is worth one. The player with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award. Since the 2022–23 NBA season, winners receive the Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy, named after the two-time defensive player of the year winner.
The 1984 NBA draft was the 37th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held at the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, on June 19, 1984, before the 1984–85 season. The draft is generally considered to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, in NBA history, with four Hall of Famers being drafted in the first sixteen picks and five overall. It included first pick Akeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and John Stockton. The draft was broadcast in the United States on the USA Network.
The 1969 NBA draft was the 23rd annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 7 and May 7, 1969, before the 1969–70 season. In this draft, fourteen NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball 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 NBA All-Defensive Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1968–69 NBA season to the best defensive players during the regular season. The All-Defensive Team is generally composed of ten players in two five-man lineups, a first and a second team. Voting is conducted by a panel of 123 writers and broadcasters. Prior to the 2013–14 NBA season, voting was performed by the NBA head coaches, who were restricted from voting for players on their own team. The players each receive two points for each first team vote and one point for each second team vote. The top five players with the highest point total make the first team, with the next five making the second team. In the case of a tie at the fifth position of either team, the roster is expanded. If the first team consists of six players due to a tie, the second team will still consist of five players with the potential for more expansion in the event of additional ties. Ties have occurred several times, most recently in 2013 when Tyson Chandler and Joakim Noah tied in votes received.
The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting is conducted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The team has been selected in every season of the league's existence, dating back to its inaugural season in 1946. The All-NBA Team originally had two teams, but since 1988 it is typically composed of three five-man lineups—a first, second, and third team.
The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for players on their own team. The All-Rookie Team is generally composed of two five-man lineups: a first team and a second team. The players each receive two points for each first team vote and one point for each second team vote. The top five players with the highest point total make the first team, with the next five making the second team. In the case of a tie at the fifth position of either team, the roster is expanded. If the first team consists of six players due to a tie, the second team will still consist of five players with the potential for more expansion in the event of additional ties. Ties have occurred several times, most recently in 2012, when Kawhi Leonard, Iman Shumpert, and Brandon Knight tied in votes received. No respect is given to positions. For example, the first team had four forwards, and one guard in 2008, while the first team had four centers and one guard in 2016.
The 2000–01 NBA season was the Lakers' 53rd season in the National Basketball Association, and 41st in the city of Los Angeles. The Lakers entered the season as the defending NBA champions, having defeated the Indiana Pacers in the 2000 NBA Finals in six games, winning their twelfth NBA championship. During the off-season, the Lakers acquired Horace Grant from the Seattle SuperSonics. Grant won three championships with the Chicago Bulls in the early 1990s. The team also signed free agent Isaiah Rider, who was released by the Atlanta Hawks during the previous season due to off the court troubles, and signed Greg Foster, who had two NBA Finals appearances with the Utah Jazz. Derek Fisher only played just 20 games due to a stress fracture in his right foot, which forced him to miss the first 62 games of the regular season. The Lakers held a 31–16 record at the All-Star break, and won their final eight games, finishing the regular season with a 56–26 record, and won the Pacific Division over the rival Sacramento Kings by one game.
The NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant Most Valuable Player (MVP) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to the player(s) voted best of the annual All-Star Game. The award was established in 1953 when NBA officials decided to designate an MVP for each year's game. The league also re-honored players from the previous two All-Star Games. Ed Macauley and Paul Arizin were selected as the 1951 and 1952 MVP winners respectively. The winner is voted upon by a panel of media members, who cast their vote after the conclusion of the game. The fan voting accounts for 25% of the voting. The player(s) with the most votes or ties for the most votes wins the award. In February 2020, Commissioner Adam Silver renamed the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player in honor of four-time winner Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash a few weeks earlier.
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball franchise based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before relocating to Houston. They have made the playoffs in 25 of their 42 seasons, and won their division and conference four times each; they also won back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. They won 22 straight games during the 2007–08 season, the third-longest streak in NBA history.
The IBM Award was an award given out to National Basketball Association players from 1984 to 2002. The award was sponsored and calculated by technology company IBM and was determined by a computer formula, which measured a player's statistical contribution to his team. The player with the best contribution to his team in the league received the award. The first recipient was Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers, and the final recipient was Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs.
Kawhi Anthony Leonard is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A two-time NBA champion, he is a six-time All-Star and a six-time member of the All-NBA Team. Nicknamed the "Claw" or "Klaw" for his ball-hawking skills and exceptionally large hands, Leonard is often regarded as one of the greatest two-way players in NBA history, earning seven All-Defensive Team selections and winning Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2015 and 2016. In 2021, he was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.
Giannis Sina Ugo Antetokounmpo is a Greek and Nigerian professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His size, speed, strength, and country of origin have earned him the nickname "Greek Freak". He is widely regarded as one of the greatest power forwards of all time as well as one of the greatest players of all time.
