Larry Joe Bird is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He is the only person in NBA history to be named Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, Finals MVP, All-Star MVP, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year.
Richard Francis Dennis Barry III is an American retired professional basketball player who starred at the NCAA, American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA) levels. Barry ranks among the most prolific scorers and all-around players in basketball history. He is the only one to lead the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), ABA, and NBA in points per game in a season. He ranks as the all-time ABA scoring leader in regular season and postseason (33.5) play, while his 36.3 points per game are the most in the NBA Finals history. Barry was also the only player to score at least 50 points in a Game 7 of the playoffs in either league until Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum both reached that mark in 2023. He is one of only four players to be a part of a championship team in both leagues.
Richard Preston Carlisle is an American basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has previously served as head coach of the Detroit Pistons and Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a player, Carlisle played for the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, and New Jersey Nets. He is also one of only eleven people to win an NBA championship both as a player and as a coach.
Ralph Lee Sampson Jr. is an American former professional basketball player. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. A 7-foot-4-inch (2.24 m) phenom, three-time college national player of the year, and first overall selection in the 1983 NBA draft, Sampson brought heavy expectations with him to the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Douglas Edwin Moe is an American former professional basketball player and coach. As a head coach with the Denver Nuggets in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he was named the NBA Coach of the Year in 1988.
Samuel Bruce Perkins is an American former professional basketball player and executive. Perkins was a three-time college All-American, was a member of the 1982 national champion North Carolina Tar Heels, and won a gold medal with the 1984 United States men's Olympic basketball team. Perkins played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 17 seasons.
Clark Clifton Kellogg Jr. is an American former professional basketball player who is the lead college basketball analyst for CBS Sports. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Indiana Pacers.
Jonathan Rene Bender is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A highly-touted 6’11 prospect who mostly played shooting guard in high school, Bender’s unusual height and potential garnered much attention leading up to the 1999 NBA draft. After playing 78 games for the Pacers in 2001, knee injuries limited him to a combined 76 games over the next four seasons. He played 25 games for the Knicks in 2009 before his retirement.
David Moorer West is an American former professional basketball player who played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the New Orleans Hornets, Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors. He played college basketball for the Xavier Musketeers, earning national college player of the year honors from the Associated Press (AP) and United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) as a senior in 2003. West was a two-time NBA All-Star and a two-time NBA champion.
Stephen Samuel Stipanovich is an American retired professional basketball player. A 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) center who played for the University of Missouri between 1979 and 1983. He and Jon Sundvold helped coach Norm Stewart to four consecutive Big Eight Conference championships and NCAA tournament appearances. Stipanovich was selected by the Indiana Pacers with the second pick of the 1983 NBA draft. Knee problems limited his career to five seasons, and he retired in 1988 with career totals of 5,323 points and 3,131 rebounds.
James Franklin Edwards is a former American basketball center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Los Angeles Lakers, Indiana Pacers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Phoenix Suns, Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Clippers, Portland Trail Blazers, and Chicago Bulls during a career that spanned 19 seasons. Though he never appeared in an All-Star Game, he was a reliable low-post scorer, averaging 12.7 points per game over his career. He played college basketball at the University of Washington.
Mark Andre West is an American retired professional basketball player. A center from Old Dominion University, West was selected by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the 1983 NBA draft.
Granville S. Waiters was an American professional basketball player.
Carl John Neumann, nicknamed "Johnny Reb", was an American professional basketball player and coach. At 6'6" and 200 pounds, he played at the shooting guard and small forward positions.
The ABA-NBA merger was a major pro sports business maneuver in 1976 when the American Basketball Association (ABA) combined with the National Basketball Association (NBA), after multiple attempts over several years. The NBA and ABA had entered merger talks as early as 1970, but an antitrust suit filed by the head of the NBA players union, Robertson v. National Basketball Ass'n, blocked the merger until 1976.
Gregory Jones is an American retired basketball player. He was an All-American player at West Virginia University and later Rookie of the Year in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA).
Malcolm Moses Brogdon is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers under Tony Bennett. As a senior in 2015–16, he was a consensus first-team All-American. He was also named the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first player in conference history to earn both honors in the same season. He was selected in the second round of the 2016 NBA draft by the Bucks with the 36th overall pick. He went on to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, becoming the first second-round pick in the NBA to win the award since 1965. In 2019, Brogdon became the eighth player in NBA history to achieve a 50–40–90 season. In the 2019 offseason, he was traded to the Indiana Pacers before being traded to the Boston Celtics in 2022, where he won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 2023.
Daniel Theis is a German professional basketball player for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After seven seasons in the Basketball Bundesliga where he was a four-time All Star and three-time champion, Theis signed with the Boston Celtics of the NBA where he played for four seasons before a trade brought him to the Chicago Bulls in March 2021. The Bulls traded Theis to the Houston Rockets in August 2021, who in turn traded Theis back to the Celtics in February 2022, before being traded to the Indiana Pacers in July 2022. With the Celtics, he reached the NBA Finals during his second stint with the team.
Kyle Joseph Guy is an American professional basketball player for the Joventut Badalona of the Liga ACB. He played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers as a shooting guard for three years and was named the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player during his junior season before declaring for the draft. In high school, he was Indiana Mr. Basketball and a McDonald's All-American.
Juwan Christopher Morgan is an American professional basketball player for the Ontario Clippers of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Indiana Hoosiers.
