Wayman Lawrence Tisdale was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and a smooth jazz bass guitarist. A three-time All American at the University of Oklahoma, he was elected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.
The Lloyd Noble Center is a 10,967-seat multi-purpose arena located in Norman, Oklahoma, some 19 mi (31 km) south of downtown Oklahoma City. It opened in 1975 and is home to the University of Oklahoma men's and women's basketball teams.
Joseph Leynard Smith is an American former professional basketball player. A power forward, he played for 12 teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) during his 16-year career.
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 Cow", 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.
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.
The 1996–97 NBA season was the 29th season for the Phoenix Suns in the National Basketball Association. This season is notable for the Suns drafting Steve Nash out of Santa Clara University with the fifteenth overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft. During the off-season, the team acquired Sam Cassell, Robert Horry, Mark Bryant and Chucky Brown from the Houston Rockets, and signed free agent Rex Chapman. However, the Suns struggled losing their first 13 games of the season, as Kevin Johnson missed the first eleven games with a hernia injury. After an 0–8 start, head coach Cotton Fitzsimmons resigned and was replaced by former Suns guard Danny Ainge, who led the team to a 40–34 finish. Along the way, there were many in-season moves such as trading Cassell, second-year star Michael Finley and A.C. Green, to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for All-Star guard Jason Kidd, second-year center Loren Meyer and Tony Dumas, sending Horry along with Joe Kleine to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for former Suns forward Cedric Ceballos and Rumeal Robinson, who was released to free agency after a short stint with the team, and trading Brown to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Darrin Hancock, who never played for the Suns and was released to free agency.
The Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team represents the University of Oklahoma in men's NCAA Division I basketball. The Sooners play in the Big 12 Conference. Although they have spent most of their existence in the shadow of the football program, the Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball program has had significant success over the last several decades. The team has participated in five Final Fours, and holds the record for most NCAA tournament wins without a championship. As of the 2022 season, they are tied for 12th all-time in NCAA tournament appearances. In addition to their tournament successes the program has produced several 33 All-Americans including Wayman Tisdale, Stacey King, Harvey Grant, Mookie Blaylock, Ryan Minor, Hollis Price, and Blake Griffin, 9 first round draft picks, including one No. 1 pick and four National Players of the Year: Vic Holt (1928), Gerald Tucker (1947), Blake Griffin (2009) and Buddy Hield (2016).
Taylor Griffin is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball at the University of Oklahoma and is the older brother of Blake Griffin.
The 1983–84 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team represented the University of Oklahoma in competitive college basketball during the 1983–84 NCAA Division I season. The Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team played its home games in the Lloyd Noble Center and was a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) former Big Eight Conference at that time. The team posted a 29–5 overall record and a 13–1 conference record to finish first in the Conference for head coach Billy Tubbs. This was the first Big Eight Conference Regular Season Championship for Tubbs.
Tim McCalister is an American former basketball player best known for his collegiate career at the University of Oklahoma from 1983 to 1987. He stood at 6'3" and played guard. Throughout his four-year career, he scored 2,275 career points. He also had 628 assists, along with 319 steals. McCalister was selected 47th overall and in the third round by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 1987 NBA draft, but never played in the NBA. He later played in the IBA and overseas in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) averaging 25.7 points in his brief three-game stint with Purefoods Hotdogs in 1988.
The 1975–76 Phoenix Suns season was the eighth season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. The season included an improbable run to the NBA Finals by a team that had never won a playoff series and made the playoffs only one other season in the franchise's existence.
The 1977–78 Phoenix Suns season was the tenth season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. The team finished second in a Pacific division that did not have a team finish below .500, as the Suns returned to the playoffs for the third time in franchise history. The Suns were led by head coach John MacLeod and played all home games in Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The 1995–96 NBA season was the 28th season for the Phoenix Suns in the National Basketball Association. During the off-season, the Suns acquired Hot Rod Williams from the Cleveland Cavaliers, and signed free agent Tony Smith. The Suns struggled with a 13–13 start to the season, then lost eight of their next nine games. Head coach Paul Westphal, who had led the Suns to the 1993 NBA Finals, went 14–19 before being replaced by Cotton Fitzsimmons, who would come on to coach in his third stint with the Suns, while Smith was traded to the Miami Heat in exchange for rookie guard Terrence Rencher at midseason. The team played above .500 for the remainder of the season, as they held a 22–24 record at the All-Star break, and finished fourth in the Pacific Division, and seventh in the Western Conference with a 41–41 record. All home games were played at America West Arena. They were also one of the nine teams to defeat the 72–10 Chicago Bulls.
Chavano Rainer "Buddy" Hield is a Bahamian professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners and was named the Big 12 Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year in 2015 and 2016. In 2016, he received four major national player of the year awards—the John R. Wooden Award, the Naismith Award, Sporting News Player of the Year, and the Oscar Robertson Trophy. Hield was selected with the sixth overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft by the New Orleans Pelicans and was traded to the Sacramento Kings for DeMarcus Cousins in 2017. He was dealt to the Indiana Pacers in a package for Domantas Sabonis in 2022. In February of 2024 he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Deandre Edoneille Ayton Sr. is a Bahamian professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A consensus five-star prospect in the Class of 2017 and a McDonald's All-American, he played one season of college basketball for the Arizona Wildcats, where he was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year. Ayton was selected with the first overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft by the Phoenix Suns and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2019. In 2021, he helped lead the Suns to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1993.
Rayford Trae Young is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners. In 2017, he tied the then-record in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I single-game assists with 22. Young became the only player to ever lead the NCAA in both points and assists in a single season. Nicknamed "Ice Trae", he was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2018 NBA draft with the fifth pick, and later traded to the Atlanta Hawks, along with a future first-round pick, for the draft rights to Luka Dončić. He joined Dončić in a unanimous selection to the 2019 NBA All-Rookie First Team. He is a three-time NBA All-Star, and has led the Hawks to three playoff runs, including a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021.
Kermit Leanell Holmes is an American basketball coach and former professional player. After sitting our his first year of college basketball due to Proposition 48, he played three years with the Oklahoma Sooners, being selected as a starter in his senior season. He went undrafted in the 1991 NBA draft and played several years in the CBA, where he won two championships and earned two selections in the United States national team, winning the gold medal during the FIBA Americas Championship 1997 and the silver medal at the 1999 Pan American Games. After the end of his playing career he started coaching.
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.
Victor Wembanyama, nicknamed "Wemby", is a French professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Considered one of the best basketball prospects in a generation, he was selected first overall by the Spurs in the 2023 NBA draft. With a listed height of 7 feet 4 inches, Wembanyama is tied with Boban Marjanović as the tallest active NBA player.
