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Michael Jeffrey Jordan, also known by his initials MJ, is an American former professional basketball player and businessman. His biography on the official National Basketball Association (NBA) website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time." He played fifteen seasons in the NBA, winning six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls. Jordan is the principal owner and chairman of the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA and of 23XI Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. He was integral in popularizing the basketball sport and the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s, becoming a global cultural icon.
The USA Basketball Men's National Team, commonly known as the United States men's national basketball team, is the basketball team representing the United States. They are the most successful team in international competition, winning medals in all nineteen Olympic tournaments it has entered, including sixteen golds. In the professional era, the team won the Olympic gold medal in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020. Two of its gold medal-winning teams were inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in August 2010: the 1960 team, which featured six Hall of Famers, and the 1992 "Dream Team", featuring 14 Hall of Famers. The team is currently ranked second in the FIBA World Rankings, only behind Spain.
LeBron Raymone James Sr. is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is considered to be one of the greatest basketball players in history and is often compared to Michael Jordan in debates over the greatest basketball player of all time. James is the all-time leading scorer in NBA history and ranks fourth in career assists. He has won four NBA championships, and has competed in 10 NBA Finals. He has four MVP awards, four Finals MVP awards, and two Olympic gold medals. He has been named an All-Star 19 times, selected to the All-NBA Team 18 times, to the All-Defensive Team six times, and was a runner-up for the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award twice in his career.
Kobe Bean Bryant was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players and scorers of all time, Bryant won five NBA championships, was an 18-time All-Star, a 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, a 12-time member of the All-Defensive Team, the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), and a two-time NBA Finals MVP. Bryant also led the NBA in scoring twice, and ranks fourth in league all-time regular season and postseason scoring. He was posthumously voted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020 and named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.
Stephen John Nash is a Canadian professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 18 seasons in the NBA, where he was an eight-time All-Star and a seven-time All-NBA selection. Nash was a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player while playing for the Phoenix Suns.
Vincent Lamar Carter Jr. is an American former professional basketball player who serves as a basketball analyst for ESPN. He primarily played the shooting guard and small forward positions, but occasionally played power forward later in his NBA career. He was an eight-time All-Star and a two-time All-NBA Team selection. He is the only player in NBA history to play as many as 22 seasons and in four different decades, from his debut in 1999 to his retirement in 2020. He was the scoring leader on the 2000 United States Men’s Olympic Basketball Team where the USA defeated France to win the nation’s twelfth Men’s Basketball Olympic gold medal. He entertained crowds with his leaping ability and slam dunks, earning him nicknames such as "Vinsanity", "Air Canada", and "Half Man, Half Amazing". He has been ranked as the greatest dunker of all time by numerous players, journalists, and by the National Basketball Association (NBA). In addition to his dunking prowess, he was a prolific three-point shooter, making the seventh most three-point field goals in league history.
Chauncey Ray Billups is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 17 seasons in the NBA. After playing college basketball with the Colorado Buffaloes, he was selected third overall in the 1997 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics. A five-time NBA All-Star, a three-time All-NBA selection and two-time NBA All-Defensive selection, Billups played for the Celtics, Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, and Los Angeles Clippers during his NBA career. He won the NBA Finals MVP in 2004 after helping the Pistons beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals, and was given the nickname "Mr. Big Shot" for making late-game shots with Detroit. The Pistons retired his No. 1 jersey in 2016.
Grant Henry Hill is an American professional basketball executive and former player who is a co-owner of the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Hill also works as a basketball analyst for CBS and Turner Sports.
Carmelo Kyam Anthony is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been named an NBA All-Star ten times and an All-NBA Team member six times. He played college basketball for the Syracuse Orange, winning a national championship as a freshman in 2003 while being named the NCAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Player. In 2021, he was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, and is regarded as one of the greatest scorers in NBA history.
Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. is an American former professional basketball player. Wade spent the majority of his 16-year career playing for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and won three NBA championships, was a 13-time NBA All-Star, an 8-time member of the All-NBA Team, and a 3-time member of the All-Defensive Team. Wade is also Miami's all-time leader in points, games, assists, steals, shots made, and shots taken. Wade is currently the host of the American adaptation of The Cube.
Gregg Charles Popovich is an American professional basketball coach and executive who is the president and head coach of the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Taking over as coach of the Spurs in 1996, Popovich is the longest tenured active coach in the NBA as well as all other major sports leagues in the United States. Often called "Coach Pop", Popovich has the most wins of any coach in NBA history, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches in NBA history.
Deron Michael Williams is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini before being drafted third overall in the 2005 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz. A three-time NBA All-Star with the Jazz and Brooklyn Nets, Williams also played for Beşiktaş of the Turkish Basketball League during the 2011 NBA lockout, and was a gold medal winner on the United States national team at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.
Kevin Wayne Durant, also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for the Texas Longhorns, and was selected as the second overall pick by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2007 NBA draft. He played nine seasons with the franchise, which became the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008, before signing with the Golden State Warriors in 2016, winning consecutive NBA championships and NBA Finals MVP Awards in 2017 and 2018. After sustaining an Achilles injury in the 2019 finals, he joined the Brooklyn Nets as a free agent that summer. Following disagreements with the Nets' front office, he requested a trade during the 2022 offseason and was eventually traded to the Suns in 2023. Durant is widely regarded as one of the greatest players and scorers of all time.
In the United States, sports are televised on various broadcast networks, national and specialty sports cable channels, and regional sports networks. U.S. sports rights are estimated to be worth a total of $22.42 billion in 2019, about 44 percent of the total worldwide sports media market. U.S. networks are willing to pay a significant amount of money for television sports contracts because it attracts large amounts of viewership; live sport broadcasts accounted for 44 of the 50 list of most watched television broadcasts in the United States in 2016.
The men's national basketball team of the United States won the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. They qualified for the Olympics by winning the 2007 FIBA American Championship held in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team was nicknamed the "Redeem Team", a play on an alternative name for the legendary 1992 squad that was called the "Dream Team", and a reference to the fact that the United States came away with disappointing bronze medals during the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2006 FIBA World Championship. Former Phoenix Suns chairman and CEO Jerry Colangelo was named managing director of the national team program by the USA Basketball Executive Committee in 2005. Kobe Bryant was named the team captain and Mike Krzyzewski was named the head coach of the 2008 team." An ESPN program, Road to Redemption, followed the team's preparations. Additionally, a Netflix produced documentary titled The Redeem Team was released in 2022.
Gordon Daniel Hayward is an American professional basketball player for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Hayward has previously played for the Utah Jazz and the Boston Celtics.
Kyrie Andrew Irving is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was named the Rookie of the Year after being selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the first overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft. An eight-time All-Star and three-time member of the All-NBA Team, he won an NBA championship with the Cavaliers in 2016.
The 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, nicknamed the "Dream Team", was the first American Olympic team to feature active professional players from the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team has been described by journalists around the world as the greatest sports team ever assembled.
Isaac Nnamdi Okoro is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Auburn Tigers. Listed at 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m) and 225 pounds (102 kg), he plays the small forward position.
The men's national basketball team of the United States won the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. The Olympics were delayed a year until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal for the Americans. Team USA qualified for the Olympics by finishing as one of the top two teams from the Americas at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2019.
References
- 1 2 USA Basketball And NIKE Announce Five-Part Documentary Series Chronicling The USA Men’s Senior National Team Archived 2008-07-19 at the Wayback Machine . USA Basketball, June 26, 2008.
