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female-buckets · 1 year

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Brittney Griner's reintegration with the sport she loves and the only WNBA team she's ever known has been filled with "joy, excitement, and celebration," Phoenix Mercury President Vince Kozar told Insider.

"She wants to get back the pieces of her life that were taken away from her for a while," Kozar added. "Basketball is one of those things."

The Phoenix executive 'found out with the rest of the world' that Griner had been freed

Kozar remembers December 7, 2022 being a long day and a late night. He was in attendance at Footprint Center as the Mercury's NBA counterpart, the Suns, hosted the Boston Celtics for a game that tipped at 8 p.m. local time.

By the time the final buzzer sounded two hours later, Phoenix had suffered its biggest loss of the season — a 25-point rout so demoralizing, Suns superstar Devin Booker suggested it "should count as two losses," per the AP.

The daylight hours of that Wednesday hadn't been much more pleasant for Kozar; the slightly chilly, slightly overcast morning marked 293 days since Griner had first been taken into Russian custody. With the holidays fast approaching and end-of-year preparations in full swing, The Athletic published an article naming Griner the "WNBA Person of the Year."

The young executive had been interviewed for the story, so as he crawled into bed shortly before night gave way to morning, he ended the day by giving it a read.

"The very last line of that article — I'm paraphrasing — basically said, 'It's December 7th, and Brittney Griner still isn't home,'" Kozar recalled. "And that was essentially the last thing I read before I went to bed."

He woke up mere hours later to the sound of a phone that wouldn't stop ringing. Bleary-eyed, Kozar briefly glimpsed a screen that showed "five or six missed calls and dozens and dozens and dozens of text messages and a CNN alert and an ESPN alert and a New York Times alert" before yet another incoming call filled the display of his phone.

It was Diana Taurasi, the league legend who had spent all 18 seasons of her illustrious WNBA career with the Mercury. She had some urgent news — the same news contained in Kozar's constant stream of notifications.

It was December 8, and Brittney Griner was headed home.

"When I finally answered, that's essentially how I found out for sure," Kozar said. "And it was her call that woke me up.

"I found out with the rest of the world," he added.

Days after Griner first touched down in the US, Kozar was on a private jet to bring her home to Phoenix

"Tremendous relief" washed over Kozar as soon as he answered his phone and heard the good news. Sure, Griner's return would be great for his team — she is, after all, a generational talent and a key contributor to Phoenix's on-court success over the past decade — but that didn't even cross his mind.

Basketball had long ago taken a back seat to his concerns for Griner's "safety and her physical and mental well-being."

A Mercury mainstay for nearly a decade — a year longer than Kozar himself — the 6-foot-9 center represented so much more than points, rebounds, playoff bids, and championship rings to the leader of Phoenix's front office and the rest of his franchise. Griner was, and is, "a member of the family."

"Even after so much concern over time, none of that core anxiety ever waned," Kozar told Insider. "And so when you hear that she's on her way home, the feeling is relief because you no longer have to be worried about her safety and her physical and mental well-being."

"Anyone who's ever experienced something like that with a family member, you know you never really realize the weight that you're carrying around until it's lifted off," he added. "Certainly a lot of people who love her felt that, and the weight that we were carrying around doesn't even compare to that of her family or BG herself."

But after allowing himself a brief moment to let it all sink in, Kozar was back to work. He had plenty of preparations to make and people to reach out to: members of the Mercury, WNBA executives, and Griner's agent — Wasserman's Lindsay Kagawa Colas — among them.

On behalf of the franchise, Kozar made it clear that "anything and everything was available to BG" as she prepared to come home. One of those resources, he noted, was a private plane belonging to Sam Garvin, a minority owner of Phoenix's WNBA and NBA teams.

Griner — who had flown from Russia to the United Arab Emirates, then from Abu Dhabi to San Antonio, Texas — first arrived in her native Lone Star State to undergo physical and mental health evaluations at the Brooke Army Medical Center. But upon getting the green light to resume her normal life — whatever that might look like for her now — it was expected that Griner would join her wife, Cherelle, back home in Phoenix.

But standing nearly a foot and a half taller than the average woman in the US, the eight-time WNBA All-Star couldn't exactly be discreet walking through an airport and boarding a commercial flight to Arizona. Kozar, via Garvin, had a solution.

And "with the blessing of all the people who were helping her in San Antonio," Colas encouraged him and some other folks from the Mercury to "be on that plane to come pick her up." One week and one day after Kozar answered that fateful phone call from Taurasi, "Diana, myself, and our general manager, Jim Pitman, got on that plane and flew to San Antonio.

"It was a turnaround trip that was done in about five hours," he added. "Unforgettable, for sure."

After so many months of uncertainty, Griner and her team were able to 'pick up where they left off'

Griner knew there was a plane coming to pick her and Cherelle up from the military base and bring them back home to The Valley. But she had "no idea" that anyone she knew would be coming along for the ride.

It was a complete surprise. The night before their highly anticipated return to Phoenix, the two-time Olympic gold medalist and her wife FaceTimed with Kozar and Colas, both of whom were "keeping up the ruse."

So the next morning, when they looked up to find Kozar, Taurasi, and Pitman in front of them in Texas, they were "very, very surprised" and "so happy."

"It was a very celebratory moment," Kozar said. "There were a lot of tears shed throughout the process, but to my knowledge, there weren't any shed that morning just because there was so much joy. Joy and excitement and celebration."

Even with all that had transpired over the previous 10 months, the five of them managed to "pick up where [they] left off." And despite understandable speculation that Griner may not be ready to return to play for the 2023 season — including from Kozar himself, who was careful not to exert any pressure on the 32-year-old — the then-unrestricted free agent made it clear "as soon as we were wheels up" that she "intended to play basketball for the Phoenix Mercury" in 2023.

Right from her seat on that flight, the two-time WNBA scoring champion pushed send on an Instagram post that publicized those intentions to the world.

While Kozar and Pitman still needed to mind the rules governing free agency, they felt free to talk "about everything from the haircut she got in San Antonio, to some of her time away, to family and friends, to basketball."

"She loves basketball," Kozar said. "She wanted to talk about the team. She wanted to talk about last year. She wanted to talk about this year."

"It's one of her loves, and she's been excited to talk about it every time I've seen her," he added.

Griner has been reacclimating to life in Phoenix, reintegrating with the Mercury, and 'rehabbing her way back' to basketball in the months since

Griner took the holiday season to get comfortable back home, rest, spend time with family and loved ones, and continue her recovery after an unimaginably trying 10 months. But once the new year came around, she made her way back to the gym of the very same franchise where she started her professional basketball career.

Yes, Griner was technically a free agent, so Kozar and the Mercury staff had "to be careful" to abide by the league's rules. But the WNBA's eight-time blocks leader was "allowed to be in our facility to see our trainers," the president explained, as she was — and is — "rehabbing her way back to being able to play basketball."

Throughout her time back in Phoenix's facilities, Kozar has been "fortunate" to witness several of Griner's reunions with teammates and many of the other "people that make up the lifeblood of a team." The moments have been "really special" every single time — from crossing paths with trainers and equipment managers to run-ins with staffers and teammates who are in-market for the off-season.

Griner enjoyed some fun extracurriculars away from the Mercury as well. With the Valley playing host to two massive sporting events in mid-February, the superstar and her wife hit the town and made appearances at both Super Bowl LVII and the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

The Griners also made the five-plus hour drive from Phoenix to Los Angeles for the 2023 NAACP Image Awards on February 25. The couple took the stage, and the basketball star used her moment on the mic to implore the audience to "fight to bring home every American detained overseas."

And, on Monday, another piece of her former reality fell back into place; Griner officially re-signed with the Mercury. She'll earn $165,100 over the 2023 WNBA campaign, per Spotrac, marking a 32% drop from last season's salary and far less than the $234,936 supermax for which she was eligible and could have easily drawn from Phoenix.

But as a result of Griner commanding less than 15% of the team's total salary cap, the Mercury were able to re-sign Taurasi — a 10-time All-Star and the WNBA's all-time scoring champion — while reaching deals with several other free agents to round out their roster.

Because the league enforces a hard salary cap — and because Phoenix already has star point guard Skylar Diggins-Smith signed to a supermax contract of her own — the Mercury only had enough space to offer either Taurasi or Griner the supermax. Sources familiar with the contract negotiations told Insider that Griner's financial sacrifice was one of unselfishness rather than necessity.

It was meant as an act of good will toward the franchise — which paid her salary in full through the season she missed while detained in Russia — and as a show of respect to Taurasi, who played the vast majority of her illustrious WNBA career without the opportunity to make more than five figures.

Once Griner signed on the dotted line, both parties were quick to celebrate her return. She posed for fresh headshots featuring her newly cropped hair, did a shoot-around in her jersey, and announced to the locker room — and the world — "I'm Back MF!!"

But Griner's welcome home wasn't just about photo shoots and fun social media posts; the franchise also recommitted itself to the cause Kozar calls Griner's "legacy work." The Mercury's "leadership team spent the afternoon writing letters to Paul Whelan" — a fellow American whom the US government deems "wrongfully detained" by Russia — in honor of BG's decision to return to Phoenix, according to social media posts from the franchise.

The organization encouraged fans to keep Whelan top of mind and join the effort to bring all wrongfully detained Americans home to their families.

"What we saw was the power of sport generally last year in support of her, but also specifically the power of W players and the power of W fans," Kozar said. "So we won't deter from that in any way. We will do the campaigns to bring these detainees home, to have these families reunited.

"We will do the same work that we would've done on BG's behalf if she were still gone," he added. "We will just now do it with her in support of all of those other families who are enduring the same thing. So there's a lot more to come there."

What comes next in Griner's journey is still a bit of a mystery

Griner is itching to get back into the flow of WNBA competition, sources close to the star tell Insider. And the Mercury's fans, front office, and players — who struggled last season without Griner in the paint — are eager to see their superstar back in orange and purple.

But the logistics of making it happen are far more complicated than they were prior to February 17, 2022. Her Russian detainment and the politicized circumstances surrounding her return stateside has drastically increased her recognizability and, among some people, her notoriety.

As a result, ensuring Griner's "safety and security" throughout the season has become a major concern.

"We are all acutely aware of some of the things that have been said about her. We were acutely aware of the way that her return has been used to try and further polarize people," Kozar said. "We understand that certain [people] have tried to continue to use this to polarize people... and we understand that people have done that through the lens of BG's identity, which is as a woman, it's as a Black woman, and it's as a gay, Black woman.

"None of that is lost on us, and we understand that words oftentimes can be a precursor to violence," he added. "And so we take all of that incredibly seriously. We understand, and all of the people around her understand, that it is our joint responsibility to ensure that we are approaching this with the due gravity that it requires."

The franchise is prepared to take every precaution necessary to protect its superstar — at its own venues, on the road, and everywhere in between — and Kozar says "there is a collective commitment to support" those efforts across the WNBA. They'll likely approach Griner's security much like the NBA handles its biggest superstars' safety, sources familiar with the situation tell Insider.

That could very well necessitate private flights to and from away games, as many have speculated could be the case. But sources privy to conversations between the league, the Mercury, and Griner's camp told Insider the involved parties have not yet reached a consensus regarding how they'll handle her and her teammates' transportation for the season.

The WNBA's collective bargaining agreement (CBA) prohibits individual franchises from chartering flights. BG's unique circumstances, however, could very well elicit an exception.

"It's safe to say that as we consider all of those things, her safety as we travel is a top priority," Kozar said.

They have just under three months to figure it out. Phoenix's season tips off on the road, with Griner and the Mercury set to take on the Los Angeles Sparks at Crypto.com Arena on May 19. Two days later, she will suit up at Phoenix's Footprint Center for the first time in 19 months for her homecoming game against the Chicago Sky.

Regardless of all the remaining uncertainties, Kozar said he expects the moment Griner steps back onto her home court to be "one of the most special things any of us has ever experienced."

"After December 8, nothing will compare to December 8, right?" Kozar told Insider, referring to the date of Griner's release. "The news of BG coming home is the best thing that I've ever experienced in this job. What will probably come close to that is May 21 — what this building is going to look and feel like the moment she returns to play a home game for the first time.

"I don't know how that works, if you have any energy left to play basketball after something like that, so I don't know what the game's gonna be like," he continued, adding: "It's a moment in history. It's sports history; it's American history; it's just this moment in history that you'll be able to say you were a part of, but that also one that no news story or broadcast will be able to capture. I hope everyone's in the building, and I hope there's not a single seat left."

As far as the rest of the season goes, Kozar doesn't have any expectations for how things will play out. Though he's hopeful, he can't be sure whether Phoenix will compete among the upper echelons of the WNBA's Western Conference, return to the playoffs for an 11th consecutive year, or clinch the franchise's fourth WNBA championship.

All he knows for certain, he says, is that Griner will serve as "a constant reminder to all of us, whether on the court or off the court, that tomorrow's just not guaranteed."

"These moments that we have to be together, to compete, to find joy in this game, and to make a difference because of the platform we've been given by this game, they're not things to waste," Kozar said. "And so that relief has become gratitude, and I think it's just gonna be an incredible season of gratitude.

"I don't know how many games we're gonna win," he added. "My hope is that we're gonna win the very last one we play.

"But I know the season's gonna be about a lot more than just basketball."

#wnba #phoenix mercury #brittney griner

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lboogie1906 · 2 months

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Christopher Wesson Bosh (born March 24, 1984) is a former basketball player. A Texas Mr. Basketball in high school, he played one season of college basketball for Georgia Tech before declaring for the 2003 NBA draft. He was selected fourth overall by the Toronto Raptors.

While at Toronto, he became a five-time NBA All-Star, was named to the All-NBA Second Team once, and played for the US national team (with whom he won a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. In the 2006–07 season, he led the Raptors to their first playoff appearance in five years and their first-ever division title. He left Toronto in 2010 as the franchise’s all-time leader in points, rebounds, blocks, and minutes played.

In 2010, after seven seasons with the Raptors, he entered into a sign-and-trade deal whereby he was traded to the Miami Heat. In Miami, he joined fellow stars Dwyane Wade and LeBron James; the trio became known as the Big Three. He spent the second half of his career with Miami, appearing in the NBA Finals each year from 2011 to 2014 and winning NBA titles in 2012 and 2013. He made the NBA All-Star team every year during his time in Miami. His career was cut short by a blood clotting condition that the NBA ruled to be a career-ending illness. He played his final NBA game on February 9, 2016. Notwithstanding the NBA’s ruling, he fought to resume his playing career for three years before announcing in February 2019 that he intended to retire. The same year, the Heat retired his #1 jersey. In 2021, he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Seeking to promote sports and education amongst youths in Dallas and Toronto, he set up the Chris Bosh Foundation and regularly speaks to youths about the benefits of reading.

Born to Noel and Freida Bosh in Dallas, he was raised in Hutchins.

He married Adrienne Williams (2011). The couple has five children, three sons, and two daughters.

He has dabbled in hip-hop production. In 2017, alongside record producer, songwriter, and singer Rico Love, he co-produced a song titled “Miss My Woe” by Gucci Mane. The song is featured on Gucci’s 11th studio album titled, Mr. Davis. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

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mjordan-nba-nhl · 1 year

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TOP 10 NBA ALL-TIME PLAYOFFS REBOUNDS LEADERS OF NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION

Bill Russell - 4,104

Wilt Chamberlain - 3,913

Tim Duncan - 2,859

Shaquille O'Neal - 2,508

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 2,481

LeBron James - 2,391

Karl Malone - 2,062

Wes Unseld - 1,777

Robert Parish - 1,765

Elgin Baylor - 1,724

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savefilescomng12 · 11 days

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Timberwolves outlast Suns to finish sweep. Minnesota coach Chris Finch leaves with knee injury

PHOENIX (AP) — Minnesota star Anthony Edwards noticed early in the third quarter that the Phoenix Suns switched up their defense, playing him one-on-one most of the time instead of using the double teams from the first half.The budding superstar took that as a challenge.“It was like — you’ve got to beat us,” Edwards said. “And I showed them.”Edwards scored 31 of his 40 points in the second half, Karl-Anthony Towns added 28 and the Timberwolves pulled away late to beat the Suns 122-116 on Sunday night and sweep the first-round playoff series.The franchise’s first playoff series win in 20 years came after coach Chris Finch left the game late in the fourth after an inadvertent collision with Wolves guard Mike Conley. The team said he had a ruptured patellar tendon in his right knee.Edwards finished 13 of 23 from the field, including 7 of 13 from 3-point range. The 22-year-old threw down a powerful, one-handed jam to give Minnesota a 115-111 lead with 2:14 left. “We’ve watched him grow, evolve as a leader, as a player, as a man,” Wolves center Rudy Gobert said. “It’s been fun.”Phoenix would never recover. The Wolves finished off the Suns despite Devin Booker’s 49 points on 13 of 21 shooting. He also made 20 of 21 free throws. Kevin Durant added 33, but the rest of the team struggled.Assistant coach Micah Nori took over for Finch for the final 1:41 and the Wolves closed with relative ease. “Everybody has their role, everybody has each other’s back,” Nori said. “I know it sounds corny, but it’s just next man up, even with the coaching staff.”Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels scored 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting and the Wolves had a 44-33 rebounding advantage.It was a tight fourth quarter and the Suns tied it at 107 on Royce O’Neale’s 3-pointer with 4:30 remaining. Edwards and Jaden McDaniels hit back-to-back corner 3s to put the Wolves up 113-109 with 3:20 left. The Wolves now wait to see if they will face the Denver Nuggets or Los Angeles Lakers in the second round.“Their whole team created a lot of problems for us,” Suns coach Frank Vogel said. “The role players, the stars. Anthony Edwards is a special, special talent. And their bigs played really well.”Edwards hit back-to-back 3-pointers early in the third and McDaniels followed with a powerful dunk, helping Minnesota turn a six-point deficit into a 68-66 lead. It was part of a big third for Edwards, who hit four 3-pointers and had 15 points.Booker responded, scoring 18 points during the quarter and the Suns took a 92-90 lead into the fourth. It was a tough game for three-time All-Star Bradley Beal, who scored just nine points on 4-of-13 shooting before fouling out.“They were executing late and we didn’t,” Booker said.The Suns threw various looks at the Wolves in the first half, using five perimeter players at various times to try to pull big men Gobert and Towns away from the basket. Booker hit a fallaway jumper at the buzzer to give the Suns a 61-56 halftime lead. Durant led Phoenix with 20 points before the break, while Booker had 17. Towns had 15 for the Wolves.Suns guard Grayson Allen missed his second straight game because of a sprained ankle suffered in Game 1 that he aggravated in Game 2. He averaged 13.5 points per game and led the NBA in 3-point percentage during the regular season.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA Source link Read the full article

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sportsloverguide · 4 months

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"Ranking the 10 Greatest NBA Players of All Time"

Michael Jordan: The ultimate winner, Jordan conquered the playoffs like no other, racking up 6 titles and 6 Finals MVPs. He could score and defend like nobody else!

Bill Russell: The king of defense, Russell led the Celtics to a mind-blowing 11 championships! He grabbed more rebounds than anyone, ever.

Magic Johnson: Magic's dazzling passing and Finals success with the Lakers cemented his place as one of the all-time greats. He made basketball fun to watch!

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: The unstoppable "Skyhook" shot made Kareem the NBA's all-time leading scorer. He also won 6 championships and holds a bunch of other records.

Larry Bird: Bird's smart play, deadly shooting, and fierce competitiveness brought 3 titles to the Celtics. He was a real "hick from French Lick" legend!

LeBron James: King James is still adding to his trophy case, but his amazing all-around play and multiple MVP awards already secure his place among the greats.

Wilt Chamberlain: Wilt was a scoring machine! He once averaged 50 points per game, which is just crazy. He also won 2 championships and had some other wild stats.

Tim Duncan: The quiet leader, Duncan anchored the Spurs with his steady play and championship focus. He won 4 titles and was always a tough opponent.

Shaquille O'Neal: Shaq was a giant force in the paint! His unstoppable power and size helped him win 4 championships and dominate his era.

Hakeem Olajuwon: With his fancy footwork and "Dream Shake" moves, Hakeem was one of the best big men ever. He won 2 titles and showed off his skills against the best competition.

There you have it, the top 10 NBA players in simple terms! Each one brought something special to the game and left their mark on basketball history.

#nbagreats #basketballlegends #goats #nbahistory #hoopsheroes #sportsicons #ballers #courtroyalty #legendaryplayers #top10nba

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shortfeedshq · 1 year

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LeBron James Sets NBA Record with Most Playoff Series Wins

LeBron James has surpassed former Chicago Bulls player Derek Fisher for the most playoff series wins in NBA history. The Los Angeles Lakers forward now has 49 series victories under his belt, breaking Fisher's record of 48. James achieved this milestone during the Lakers' first-round series win over the Phoenix Suns, which saw him averaging 23.3 points, 8 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game. With this series win, the Lakers have advanced to the second round of the playoffs where they will face the winner of the Denver Nuggets-Portland Trail Blazers matchup. This achievement is just one of many for James, who has already cemented his legacy as one of the greatest players in NBA history. He has won four NBA championships, four NBA MVP awards, and has been selected to the All-Star team 17 times. In addition to his impressive individual accolades, he has also been a leader on the court and has helped guide his teams to success throughout his career. As James continues to add to his list of accomplishments, he remains focused on leading the Lakers to another championship. With his experience and leadership, he is sure to be a major factor in the team's success in the playoffs and beyond. Read the full article

#LeBronJames #LosAngelesLakers #NBAPlayoffs #PlayoffSeriesWins #Record

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defensefilms · 1 year

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Joel Embiid’s 2022-23 NBA MVP Case Is Unassailable

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The 2022-23 NBA MVP race has been among the most interesting in years, and this MVP certainly ushers in and serves as acknowledgement of the international wave that the league is in right now.

All 3 of these candidates offer a good reason to believe in them individually as the NBA MVP. Nikola Jokic’s numbers, Joel Embiid leading the league in scoring and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s case as the best player on the most dominant team in the league this year, have all contributed to creating an atmosphere of fervent debate surrounding the winner of this year’s award.

Starting with my pick for the 2023 NBA MVP, Joel Embiid.

At 33 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists, Joel is leading the league in scoring as a center.

Aside from how historic that is, and the fact that he’s doing it for the 2nd time in a row. The last centre to lead the league in scoring was Shaquile O’neal in the 1999/00 season. Before that was David Robinson in 1993/94 and before that Kareem Abdul Ajbbar, Bob McAdoo and then Wilt Chamberlain.

The point is, having a center that scores as much as Joel Embiid, and in the way that Embiid does in as unique as anything in basketball and yet there are some in the NBA media that seem to think different.

The more concerning narrative to me though, is how the media have chosen not to make a story of how far back Nikola Jokic has fallen in the MVP race.

The Denver Nuggets still lead the conference, but I dare you to tell me that this is a strong Western Conference. The Clippers are now dealing with a new injury to Paul George, Steph Curry and the Warriors have been off-the-pace this season, while the Lakers are scratching and fighting for a play-in spot.

So Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets are essentially the leaders of a Conference whose 2nd and 3rd best teams are made up of young players, because the Western Conference is aging. While Ja and the Grizzlies are the most interesting story in the West as far as the media are concerned, it’s an aging Conference in which most of the best players are in the 30+ age range, if not out injured, as is the case with Kevin Durant and LeBron James.

Former Denver Nuggets head coach and known hater of players that are good at scoring, George Carl, attempted a lazy critique of Joel Embiid by mentioning Embiid’s body language, but it’s just pure hogwash, and George Carl is not an honest narrator.

It became so glaring that Denver Nuggets head coach, Mike Malone, struggled to mount a convincing argument to defend Nikola Jokic’s backslide in this year’s race, and the he actually tried the “everyone’s a winner” excuse, which even if he feels that way will not stop the nitpicking and chatter over this year’s MVP

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The guy that should be in consideration far more than what Jokic is, is Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Aside from his team having the 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, coupled with the most wins of any team in the league, Giannis is averaging 31 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists per game but Giannis not being mentioned as the MVP candidate that he is, which falls right in line with a continued refusal on the part of the national sports media to acknowledge anything that the Milwaukee Bucks have done this season, and that’s a trend that goes back to well before all-star weekend.

The American media have pretty much decided not to talk about Milwaukee. They might have them high up in thier power rankings, but that’s not the same as actually providing coverage/talking about a team or player.

The Bucks have the longest winning streak this year with 16 wins, the no 1 seed, the first team to clinch a playoff berth and Giannis is arguably the most dominant player in the league. All reasons to talk about the Bucks and yet, the media have given them little to no coverage.

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76ers head coach weighed in with his opinion on April 5th, and just because his opinion is biased doesn’t mean that he’s wrong.

At this point the race should really be over, and as far as I’m concerned Joel Embiid is the 2022/23 NBA MVP, now whether the voters see it that way is a whole other issue.

I will conclude with this.

The NBA MVP is not awarded to the best player in the NBA or the player with the best numbers in the NBA, or even the player with the most wins.

It is the Most Valuable Player award.

And based on that metric, value as I am choosing to understand it, means this player’s team simply cannot win without them playing above average.

In 2022/23, that player is Joel Embiid.

#sports #basketball #nba #Nba 2023 #nba mvp #joel embiid #nikola jokic #giannis antetokounmpo #philadelphia 76ers #denver nuggets #milwaukee bucks

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female-buckets · 2 years

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With the regular season coming to an end on Sunday, the perennial question for Mercury star Diana Taurasi comes up: will she return for the next season?

Taurasi, 40, is under contract for this season and becomes a free agent next season. With longtime friend and former teammate Sue Bird opting to play at 41 and conduct a farewell season this year, it’s possible that Taurasi isn’t finished yet.

The league has spent the entire season building a farewell tour to transformative players in Bird and Sylvia Fowles. Bird still holds the all-time record for assists and Fowles is the all-time leader in rebounds.

“Two cornerstones in this league who are getting the praise they deserve and it was pretty cool to see every team paying their respects to them. No matter if you’re battling for a playoff spot or wherever it may be, you saw every organization pay them that respect,” Taurasi said.

She remains undecided in what the next season will look like for her.

“I take it day by day, week by week. When the season’s over, I’ll do what I’ll always do, brainstorm with the four or five people that I really confide in and have honest conversations with and then I’ll go from there,” Taurasi said.

If it were to come down to it, Taurasi isn’t sure if she’d take the same route as Bird and Fowles did in announcing when her last season will be. Taurasi herself isn’t comfortable with big celebrations. One thing she took from Bird this season is the number of emotions it takes to process the entire game when a team puts on a tribute.

“Her and Syl have been amazing at handling that pressure and all those emotions and be able to go on the court and still be at the top of their games. It’s been amazing,” Taurasi said. “The one thing I keep saying is it’s nice to see Sue at peace with her decision because it’s not an easy decision she made. Last year, she was thinking about it, back-and-forth, and for her to come out and say it, I think there was a weight off her shoulders that made this season very enjoyable for her. It’s fun to see your good friend out there still enjoying it out there after all these years.”

The 18-year WNBA veteran conducted an impressive feat this season where she played 31 consecutive games in a year where the Mercury struggled with injuries.

As the Mercury logged heavy minutes with its starters all season, Taurasi remained a major contributor for the Mercury. Taurasi hit another milestone on July 28 when she became the first WNBA player in league history to score 30 or more at age 40 or older in the 90-80 win over the Los Angeles Sparks. Only Michael Jordan and Dirk Nowitzki have done the feat in NBA history.

However, Taurasi was unable to finish the regular season after she went down on August 2 against the Connecticut Sun with a Grade 2 quadricep injury.

The respective timeline of recovery is three to four weeks, which means she would not be able to play in a potential first round game for the Mercury. The first round is scheduled to start August 17 and potentially end on August 23.

“Timing is not great. Obviously, I’m going to try to push the envelope as much as I can on my end to get back on the court until they say I can’t,” Taurasi said.

The drive to play remains within Taurasi. Even with her standing alone in the league in scoring with 9,693 points and a potential to reach 10,000, she’s not focused on individual accomplishments.

“At this point of my career, nothing matters but being in a position to win a title. That to me in the offseason is going to be my biggest point of contention going forward,” Taurasi said.

There’s also the potential for Brittney Griner to return from Russia for Taurasi to consider. Playing without Griner, who remains detained in Russia, has taken a toll on the league and its players.

Since Griner’s rookie season in 2013, the two have formed a close relationship. Both were also teammates in Russia where Taurasi played with Griner on UMMC Ekaterinburg for two seasons.

“Over the last 10 years, we’ve forged this bond on the court, which everyone gets to see. But there’s a behind-the-scenes of our friendship and our relationship that is dear to us. We have this mutual respect for each other, we have an understanding of each other, and you don’t get that with a lot of people. Not only in life, but in your professional career. That would be one thing that I think a lot of people are hoping would happen, obviously me included,” Taurasi said.

#so... basically... if there's a miracle and BG is back and Phoenix has a potential championship team... she'll play next year #if not... this is her last year #phoenix mercury #wnba #diana taurasi

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lboogie1906 · 24 days

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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr.; April 16, 1947) is a former basketball player who played 20 seasons in the NBA for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. As a center, he was a record six-time NBA MVP, a record 19-time NBA All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA selection, and an 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team member. A member of six NBA championship teams as a player and two more as an assistant coach, he twice was voted NBA Finals MVP. He was honored as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History.

He was recruited by UCLA, where he played for coach John Wooden on three consecutive national championship teams and was a record three-time MVP of the NCAA Tournament. Drafted with the first overall pick by the Bucks franchise, he spent six seasons in Milwaukee. After leading the Bucks to its first NBA championship, he took the Muslim name. Using his trademark “skyhook” shot, he established himself as one of the league’s top scorers. He was traded to the Lakers, with whom he played the final 14 seasons of his career and won five NBA championships. His contributions were a key component in the “Showtime” era of Lakers basketball. His teams succeeded in making the playoffs 18 times and got past the first round 14 times; his teams reached the NBA Finals on 10 occasions.

At the time of his retirement, he was the NBA’s all-time leader in points scored (38,387), games played (1,560), minutes played (57,446), field goals made (15,837), field goal attempts (28,307), blocked shots (3,189), defensive rebounds (9,394), career wins (1,074), and personal fouls (4,657). He remains the all-time leader in points scored, field goals made, and career wins. He is ranked third all-time in both rebounds and blocked shots. ESPN voted him the greatest center of all time, they named him the “greatest player in college basketball history”, and they named him the second-best player in NBA history. He has been an actor, a basketball coach, and a best-selling author. He was selected by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be a US global cultural ambassador. President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

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thefiveisalive · 3 years

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The Guardian on Nikola Jokic: “The Serb was an afterthought when he was drafted in 2014. Since then he has helped evolve a position that some thought was becoming obsolete”

When you get European progressives worked up about a 6′11 Serb and it’s not about war crimes, you know you’re onto something important is happening! The Guardian’s Andrew Lawrence weighed in on Big Nik late last week:

Averaging an eye-popping 27.1 points, 11.0 rebounds and 8.6 assists through Thursday, Jokić has been the triggerman for a Nuggets offense that has been top five in the NBA for much of the season and best-in-show in the eight games through the Milwaukee contest. More to the point: unlike his teammate Jamal Murray, who cooled down from his supernova streak in last season’s bubble, Jokić has stayed plenty hot enough to keep Denver in the playoff hunt. So it figures that when the NBA All-Star game tips off on Sunday, Jokić, the league’s leader in efficiency, will make his third career appearance – this time as a starter for Team LeBron.

There’s some great back story here, too:

You figure a guy like Jokić must have been hard to miss as a kid, and he was in a sense. Growing up in Serbia, Jokić was less pick-and-roll than roly-poly, a 300lbs teen who downed three liters of Coca-Cola per day and dabbled in soccer and volleyball before falling into a basketball career in European leagues and dazzling as a passer. And though his lack of muscle definition and athleticism turned off NBA talent evaluators, who dismissed Jokić as a “soft Serbian” in the mold of Darko Miličić, Jokić nonetheless played well enough to earn a lucrative offer from FC Barcelona. But just before sealing the deal he played one of his worst-ever games, and the offer was snatched off the table.

That opened the door for the Nuggets to take him 41st overall in 2014 in what might be one of the most slept-on draft picks ever. There was no bear-hugging the commissioner on stage or boisterous reaction shot with the family at home. There was just his name on a sports ticker during a Taco Bell commercial. Jokic himself had to be woken up by his older brother when the news broke, which should provide some sense of the laid-back personality we’re dealing with. Beat reporters didn’t even realize they were mispronouncing his name until Orlando’s Nikola Vučević pointed it out before his first All-Star appearance in 2019. “I just don’t care,” Jokić told a bewildered media gaggle, “because I don’t wanna, like, fix you guys.” Nor does he seem to mind sharing a nickname, Joker, with another of Serbia’s sporting heroes, Novak Djokovic.

Check out the full article, very much worth a read.

#nikola jokic #the joker #denver nuggets #denver #nuggets #nba #mvp #big men #the guardian #andrew lawrence #eurosport

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comfysocksfirst · 4 years

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Chihayafuru as NBA Players!! Part 1

Oh Man!! Two of my great loves Chihayafuru and basketball. Finally they meet. No one asked for this. This is most likely an incredibly small venn diagram of converging interests.Nonetheless here it is which NBA player is the real world equal of which Chihayafuru character. Note: I tend to skew more current with my NBA picks mostly cause that’s what I’m most familiar with but also because it is much more difficult to know those older players’ personalities. One more note I just now decided to include runner-up choices for some people I think it will mostly be a jokey runner up. Wataya Arata: Oh boy let’s start hot! My second favorite character in the series he is the Karuta God and the True soul-mate to Chihaya. Disagree? Fite me. He is STEPHEN CURRY. Karuta is the family business. He is the legacy one born to devastate. I could see Nicki Minaj dropping Arata’s name in her songs calling out to him all at hours talking about those eyes, that accent, and that water-like play style that has her downing gallons of his essence. He’s also perfectly chill to outer appearances. Everyone thinks he’s having a good time win or lose but they don’t notice how he’s smiling at them while he is steadily inching closer to dropping 50 on them. Shinobu Wakamiya: I’m not letting up with this second name. My all time favorite characther in the series.Sharpest dresser in the hemisphere. The youngest Queen of all. You know this. She is KOBE. And not one to be fucked with. She brings that Mamba Mentality to all she does whether it’s destroying her opponents 25-0 or slinging them pastries she takes no prisoners. She’s eked out every drop of potential she possesses with constant practice and total devotion to Karuta. She’s all about that grind and sees the game in a way only she can some would even say it’s crazy??? Anyone and everyone trying to take cards from her is her enemy and she’ll cut them if given chance when they take some of her favorites. Runner-up: Michael Jordan. The GOAT. I like that the similarity that they both pushed away and oftentimes used the people around them in order to get better. But ultimately didn’t go with MJ cause he walked away from the game at his peak for a year and change and I don’t see Shinobu ever doing that. Chihaya Ayase: The protagonist. Lady Big Eyes. Mrs. Daddy Bear. President/Founder/(Only Member??) of the Chitose Appreciation Society. She’s gotta be GIANNIS. A physical freak who’s sheer athleticism catapults her puts her in the realm of Class A. Everywhere Giannis goes he draws them eyes and the same can said of this beauty who can rattle her male opponents with a smile or even just eye contact. Who else is on Giannis’ team? What? Can’t name anyone else cause you’re not a basketball fan? Well let me tell you even if you were a fan you might struggle cause he’s carrying that team on his back! And so is this young lady. They got some good players on this squad but this Ace knows well that is she don’t win and cruise through to victory it could adversely affect her team’s psyche so she is unstoppable on her own much like Giannis’ fast breaks. Runner-up: Ben Simmons was my first choice for her but ultimately I decided against him cause I think he’s not a great team player and I don’t think he’s serious enough about improving his deficiencies. I thought these runner ups were supposed to be funny??? IDK Kanade Oe: KENDRICK PERKINS. I’m kinda running out of steam here. And I got a long list to go. Kana-chan and Kendrick both top heavy. I never really noticed until they made it a topic of discussion in the mini-comic. But damn yeah definitely carrying a lot of weight on top. She’s also the team enforcer. Hear me out on this. Sure she’s small but she’s probably the most serious of all the team. Serious about life, about how people should behave, about the beauty of Karuta. And if anyone is disrespecting the poems--You better hold her back!! She will get into the face of anyone lowkey Empress in the making. She’s also a big small voice in the locker room a different type of leader than Ayase and Taichi. She knows what poems people need to hear to click back in into the present. Perk is an old-school kind of player and Kana-chan has an old-school mentality and while both were important members of their title winning teams they weren’t close to being the focus. Midori Tamaru: I actually forgot I wrote a write-up for her! Cool I’m glad I did. She is LUKA DONCIC. She is a shit-talker supreme. She wants all the smoke and she got all the weapons. Big-time potential. Everyone saying to her Wait your turn. But Fuck It she says and is ready to shoot her shot. Drop a cold 3 at the buzzer to win a playoff game in front of a 10 year vet who’s desperate for a win. They’re both missing one critical aspect of their game. For Luka he needs to increase his stamina for Tamaru she needs to get mentally tough. Right now she can most definitely be fucked with and she may be the only one that don’t know it. But any team with her is going to be in the conversation for best in their region and they should be looking to book a hotel by the big red shrine every year. Dr. Harada: Da Big Bear. Brown Bear? Black Bear? Daddy Bear? He all da bear. A walking a build-a-bear-workshop. What’s that mean? I have no clue. This guy. There’s a reason he was Ayase’s first love. He cuddly af but he still got that tenacity and overwhelming physicality that keeps him happily married decades later and a Karuta vet to be feared. I went with a non-contemporary player for the Dr. and no not Dr.J but rather his teammate MOSES MALONE. Nicknamed the Chairman of the Board cause he throws his body into every rebound lunging wildly at each miss cause he KNOWS that every rebound is his by right. Yeah that sound our friend the bear. Moses played a looooong time longer maybe than one might think considering the era he played in and how physical his game was. But that incredible body of his allowed him to stay in the game as long as wanted throwing elbows to clear out any close competition. Alright I’m tired Part 2 to come soon. It’s already written out I just HATE transcribing. There’s another 9 characters to come! Let me know what you all think please. Am I alone in my dual NBA and Chihayafuru fandom??

#chihayafuru #wataya arata #harada #shinobu wakamiya #nba as anime #venn diagram #chiharata #first post I've written here #should I play better attention to my grammar in these #to be continued

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pbwsports · 4 years

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The all-time starting five for every NBA Western Conference team

What if the Splash Bros. had Wilt Chamberlain playing center? How many titles would the Lakers have won if Magic Johnson was running the break with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal? Imagine Hakeem Olajuwon and James Hardenteaming up in Clutch City.

We asked our NBA writers to come up with an all-time starting five for every current NBA franchise, along with one additional blast from the past. Only a player's contributions during his time with that franchise were considered. (So, no, LeBron James doesn't crack the Lakers' all-time list ... yet.)

In this era of "positionless" basketball, traditional positions don't matter quite as much as they used to, so we allowed some flexibility in choosing a lineup -- but you won't see teams with four centers or three point guards. The idea was to dive into each team's history and create a group that could at least potentially share the floor together.

We rolled out the Eastern Conference on Wednesday. Here is the Western Conference:

Dallas Mavericks

G: Derek Harper G: Jason Terry G: Rolando Blackman F: Mark Aguirre F: Dirk Nowitzki

Terry joins Nowitzki as the only players on both of the Mavs' Finals teams and was the second-leading scorer on both squads. There's a reason Harper and Blackman, the backcourt for some good teams that just couldn't get past the Showtime Lakers, have their numbers in the American Airlines Center rafters. Aguirre's jersey probably won't ever be retired in Dallas because of his bitter departure, but you can't dismiss his 24.6 points per game in eight seasons with the Mavs.

The toughest cuts: Michael Finley and Jason Kidd, one of whom helped a young German kid find his way in the NBA and the other who helped Nowitzki finally deliver a title to Dallas.

-- Tim MacMahon

Denver Nuggets

G: Fat Lever G: David Thompson F: Alex English F: Carmelo Anthony C: Dikembe Mutombo

You're probably asking yourself the same question I debated for roughly 48 hours: Wait, no Nikola Jokic? There's a good chance Jokic eventually becomes the greatest player in franchise history, but he's just 25 years old.

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Mutombo, on the other hand, is a Hall of Famer and produced probably the most iconic image in franchise history, celebrating the historic upset of the top-seeded Seattle SuperSonics in the 1994 playoffs. Mutombo is the defensive anchor behind a pure scoring lineup that could outgun just about anybody.

English, Anthony and Thompson all averaged better than 20 points a game for their careers, but at their peaks were pushing 30 PPG. Add in a floor general like Lafayette "Fat" Lever to pull the strings, and it could work. Between Fat, Melo and Dikembe, the Nuggets can outname just about anybody, too.

-- Royce Young

Golden State Warriors

G: Stephen Curry G: Klay Thompson F: Kevin Durant F: Draymond Green C: Wilt Chamberlain

Adding Chamberlain to the Durant-era Warriors teams that won back-to-back titles would just be unfair. Can you even imagine how dominant that team would be? Curry, Thompson, Durant and Green already have won titles together -- and now they have one of the greatest big men of all time to drop the ball to down low? Unbelievable. The defense is great, the offense is otherworldly.

It's tough leaving Hall of Famers Rick Barry and Chris Mullin out of this group, but who would come out? Curry and Thompson form the best shooting backcourt of all time. Durant is one of the best players of his generation and Green provides the defensive intensity and glue that has propelled them for years -- plus those four already have played together. There is no stopping this team. A juggernaut for the ages.

-- Nick Friedell

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Houston Rockets

G: James Harden G: Calvin Murphy F: Tracy McGrady F: Rudy Tomjanovich C: Hakeem Olajuwon

Apologies to Hall of Fame big men Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone and Yao Ming, but it's hard to get one center in the Houston lineup these days. Of course, there's no debate about the candidacy of Olajuwon, who remains the best player in franchise history, even after Harden's run of historic offensive production.

Harden is 22 points away from passing Murphy for second on the Rockets' career scoring list, so for now the flamboyant, 5-foot-9 Murphy continues to be the only player who ranks among the franchise's top two in points and assists.

Rudy T is best remembered as the Clutch City-era coach and for the brutal punch that interrupted his playing career, but he earned his spot here with five All-Star appearances during a career spent entirely in a Rockets uniform.

-- MacMahon

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LA Clippers

G: Chris Paul F: Kawhi Leonard F: Blake Griffin F: Elton Brand C: Bob McAdoo

Paul and Griffin authored the greatest and most exciting era in Clippers basketball with Lob City. Paul spent six seasons with the Clips, was first-team All-NBA three times and led the league in assists twice during that span. Griffin was Rookie of the Year, a five-time All-Star and the exciting, above-the-rim player the franchise sorely needed.

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Brand spent seven seasons with the team and made both of his All-Star appearances as a Clipper. McAdoo started his Hall of Fame career when the franchise was in Buffalo, where he led the league in scoring three straight seasons and was MVP in 1974-75.

Leonard is just 51 games into his Clippers tenure, but his elite production already puts him on this roster. Averaging 26.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists, a healthy Leonard can further validate this choice if he can get the Clippers to the conference finals for the first time.

-- Ohm Youngmisuk

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Los Angeles Lakers

G: Magic Johnson G: Jerry West G: Kobe Bryant F: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar C: Shaquille O'Neal

Four of these picks were no-brainers. Johnson (fifth in career assists) teamed up with Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's career scoring leader, to win five championships. Bryant (fourth all time in scoring) paired with O'Neal (eighth in scoring) to win three.

The fifth pick was harder. Is it Elgin Baylor, the greatest small forward in franchise history? Or how about LeBron James, the greatest small forward in NBA history? How about James Worthy, who teamed up with Magic and Kareem and won a Finals MVP?

Ultimately, the pick is West. Baylor never won a ring. James hasn't been a Laker long enough. Worthy would have to play the 4 and you already have Shaq and the Captain on the blocks. The Logo brings shooting and toughness and leadership, and he is extremely important to the franchise as a whole for his post-playing days in the front office.

-- Dave McMenamin

Memphis Grizzlies

G: Mike Conley G: Tony Allen F: Shareef Abdur-Rahim F: Zach Randolph C: Marc Gasol

The question with the Grizzlies: Who should be the final player to fill out a lineup that features the Grit 'n' Grind mainstays called the Core Four? (I'd make a joke about Chandler Parsons' max contract, but I want to be welcomed back to Memphis.)

Based purely on merit, Pau Gasol would be the pick, but he doesn't fit alongside his brother Marc at center and Randolph at power forward. So we will go with Abdur-Rahim, who was a really good player for some really bad teams in Vancouver, averaging 20.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game over five seasons in which the Grizzlies went a combined 86-292.

-- MacMahon

Minnesota Timberwolves

G: Ricky Rubio G: Sam Cassell F: Kevin Garnett F: Kevin Love C: Karl-Anthony Towns

The three best players in franchise history just all happen to be big men: Garnett, Love and Towns. Garnett is the franchise leader in points, rebounds, steals, assists and blocks; he's the only player in NBA history to lead a team in all five categories. Towns (22.7 points, 11.8 rebounds in 358 games) and Love (19.2 points, 12.2 rebounds in 364 games) each put up monster numbers, even though playoff success never came.

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(Side note: Towns is only 14 3-pointers away from becoming the franchise's all-time leader. Seriously.)

Rubio trails only Garnett in franchise history in steals and assists. Since Wally Szczerbiak and Andrew Wiggins were primarily listed as small forwards, the other guard spot goes to Cassell, who played only two years in Minnesota but had a career year and was a second-team All-NBA selection in 2003-04.

-- Andrew Lopez

New Orleans Pelicans

G: Chris Paul G: Jrue Holiday F: Jamal Mashburn F: David West C: Anthony Davis

(Just a reminder: The Pelicans' franchise history starts in 2002, when the team moved from Charlotte to New Orleans. Anything before that belongs to Charlotte, even though it's the same franchise. Got it? Cool, let's move on.)

First, the locks: Davis, Paul, Holiday and West. Now once you get to the wing ... oof. This spot came down to four players -- Mashburn, Peja Stojakovic, Eric Gordon and, yes, Brandon Ingram.

Mashburn, in the franchise's first season in New Orleans in 2002-03, made the All-Star team and was a third-team All-NBA selection. The Pelicans didn't get another All-Star selection from a wing player until this year, when Ingram made it. But with only 56 games under his belt, Ingram falls off this list. Gordon's time in New Orleans always seemed underwhelming. Stojakovic was a key cog on the 2007-08 team that won a franchise-best 56 games, but he struggled with injuries.

Mashburn was limited to 101 games for New Orleans, but his impact in Year 1 was unmistakable and he still sits second on the team's career scoring average list (21.5), behind only Davis.

-- Lopez

Oklahoma City Thunder

G: Russell Westbrook G: James Harden F: Kevin Durant F: Paul George F: Serge Ibaka

There's an irony to the Thunder's all-time starting five, because it features their best sixth man. The baggage of Harden's role looms large, whether he wanted to come off the bench, whether starting impacted his contract negotiations and ultimately facilitated the breakup of one of the greatest organically built superteams ever. That's a lot to unpack.

Hindsight and what-ifs aside, the Thunder's all-time group can stand with almost any in NBA history, and most certainly is among the most stout in the past 20 years. The Thunder have been around for just 12 years and boast a remarkable cupboard of talent: three MVPs (Durant, Westbrook, Harden) and piles of All-NBA and All-Star nods. Maybe one of the best examples of how deep they are is in showcasing who didn't make the cut: Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul. Not a bad bench.

-- Young

Phoenix Suns

G: Steve Nash G: Kevin Johnson F: Walter Davis F: Charles Barkley C: Amar'e Stoudemire

No Shawn Marion? No Paul Westphal? No Alvan Adams? No Larry Nance? No Jason Kidd? You can make a solid starting five from the next group of Phoenix legends.

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The franchise's two MVP winners, Nash and Barkley, were locks. Westphal split time as a point guard and shooting guard during his six seasons, but we give the nod at the other guard spot to Johnson, who spent 12 years in Phoenix, and had three consecutive 20-point, 10-assist seasons and five All-NBA nods.

Davis vs. Marion was a tough battle. Both made a pair of All-NBA teams (two second-teams for Davis compared to two third-teams for Marion), but Davis gets the edge as the franchise's leading scorer. At center, Stoudemire stands supreme as his four All-NBA honors best Adams' longevity.

-- Lopez

Portland Trail Blazers

G: Damian Lillard G: Clyde Drexler G: Brandon Roy F: LaMarcus Aldridge C: Bill Walton

As with any conversation about Blazers history, their starting five comes with plenty of introspective sighing and deep what-iffing. Injuries to Walton and Roy abbreviated what would've been legendary Portland careers. But at their best versions, Walton was a transcendent big man with unique skills, and Roy was a gifted scorer with a knack for the moment.

Drexler is a Hall of Famer who led Portland to its best sustained run of success in franchise history. Aldridge is one of the dominant scoring big men of his era, and Lillard will likely go down as the franchise's all-time best. The Blazers are haunted by history and a compulsion to live in the anguish of what could've been, but there is also a beauty to their all-time five. It represents who they are, and forever, what they might've been.

-- Young

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Sacramento Kings

G: Oscar Robertson G: Tiny Archibald F: Peja Stojakovic F: Chris Webber C: Jerry Lucas

A Hall of Fame backcourt of Robertson and Archibald knocks Kings great Mitch Richmond out of one of the two guard spots. Lucas, another Hall of Famer, averaged 19.6 points and 19.1 rebounds in six seasons with the Cincinnati Royals. He gets the center position.

For the forwards, we look at two Kings from the early 2000s, when Sacramento was a perennial playoff team. Stojakovic is still the franchise's leader in 3-pointers made, and Webber averaged 23.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks in 377 career games in Sacramento.

It feels weird not to have DeMarcus Cousins on the all-time Kings squad, but when you look back at the franchise's history -- which dates back to the Rochester Royals and their first year in the NBA in 1949 -- it becomes clearer why he doesn't make the cut.

-- Lopez

San Antonio Spurs

G: Tony Parker G: Manu Ginobili F: George Gervin F: Tim Duncan C: David Robinson

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It took about as long as the average Gregg Popovich sideline interview to come up with this squad. These were all easy decisions, considering each player's combination of greatness and longevity with the Spurs. (Kawhi Leonard would have been in strong consideration if not for the lack of the latter.)

Duncan and Robinson are on the short list of MVPs who played their entire careers for one franchise. Ginobili and Parker were essential parts of a dynasty. Gervin was a must-see superstar whose presence made sure that pro basketball stuck in small-market San Antonio.

-- MacMahon

Seattle SuperSonics

G: Gary Payton G: Gus Williams F: Detlef Schrempf F: Shawn Kemp C: Jack Sikma

Payton, Kemp and Sikma, the three players to make at least five All-Star appearances in Sonics uniforms, are the three certain selections here. At the other guard spot, there are strong cases for Fred Brown (who's second in career scoring) and Ray Allen (a four-time All-Star in Seattle), but Gus Williams' key role in the Sonics' 1979 championship and pair of All-NBA picks give him the nod.

Spencer Haywood reached greater heights and Rashard Lewis had more longevity, but with the last spot I'm going with Schrempf, whose versatile and efficient game was ahead of its time in the 1990s.

-- Kevin Pelton

Utah Jazz

G: John Stockton G: Pete Maravich F: Adrian Dantley F: Karl Malone C: Rudy Gobert

The Jazz's arena is located at the intersection of Stockton and Malone, with statues of the legends prominently featured out front, so we figured those guys should make the cut. Dantley was a historically elite scorer for the Jazz, averaging 29.6 points on 56.2% shooting and winning a pair of NBA scoring titles during his seven-season tenure in Utah.

Gobert gets the nod over fellow dominant defensive anchor Mark Eaton because he's a far superior offensive player and rebounder. It was difficult not to include Darrell Griffith, aka "Dr. Dunkenstein," but Pistol Pete was too productive (25.7 points and 5.7 assists per game) with the New Orleans Jazz to be left out. Source - ESPN

#nba

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blackkudos · 4 years

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Dennis Rodman

Dennis Keith Rodman (born May 13, 1961) is an American retired professional basketball player. Rodman played for the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, and Dallas Mavericks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was nicknamed "the Worm" and is famous for his fierce defensive and rebounding abilities.

Rodman played at the small forward position in his early years before becoming a power forward. He earned NBA All-Defensive First Team honors seven times and won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award twice. He also led the NBA in rebounds per game for a record seven consecutive years and won five NBA championships. His biography at NBA.com states that he is "arguably the best rebounding forward in NBA history". On April 1, 2011, the Pistons retired Rodman's No. 10 jersey, and he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame later that year.

Rodman experienced an unhappy childhood and was shy and introverted in his early years. After aborting a suicide attempt in 1993, he reinvented himself as a "bad boy" and became notorious for numerous controversial antics. He repeatedly dyed his hair in artificial colors, had many piercings and tattoos, and regularly disrupted games by clashing with opposing players and officials. He famously wore a wedding dress to promote his 1996 autobiography Bad As I Wanna Be. Rodman pursued a high-profile affair with singer Madonna and was briefly married to actress Carmen Electra. Rodman also attracted international attention for his visits to North Korea and his subsequent befriending of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2013.

In addition to being a retired professional basketball player, Rodman is a retired part-time professional wrestler and actor. He was a member of the nWo and fought alongside Hulk Hogan at two Bash at the Beach events. In professional wrestling, Rodman was the first ever winner of the Celebrity Championship Wrestling tournament. He had his own TV show, The Rodman World Tour, and had lead roles in the action films Double Team (1997) and Simon Sez (1999). Both films were critically panned, with the former earning Rodman a triple Razzie Award. He appeared in several reality TV series and was the winner of the $222,000 main prize of the 2004 edition of Celebrity Mole.

Early life and college career

Rodman was born in Trenton, New Jersey, the son of Shirley and Philander Rodman, Jr., an Air Force enlisted member, who later fought in the Vietnam War. When he was young, his father left his family, eventually settling in the Philippines. Rodman has many brothers and sisters: according to his father, he has either 26 or 28 siblings on his father's side. However, Rodman himself has stated that he is the oldest of a total of 47 children.

After his father left, Shirley took many odd jobs to support the family, up to four at the same time. In his 1996 biography Bad As I Wanna Be, he expresses his feelings for his father: "I haven't seen my father in more than 30 years, so what's there to miss ... I just look at it like this: Some man brought me into this world. That doesn't mean I have a father". He would not meet his father again until 2012.

Rodman and his two sisters, Debra and Kim, grew up in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas, at the time one of the most impoverished areas of the city. Rodman was so attached to his mother that he refused to move when she sent him to a nursery when he was four years old. According to Rodman, his mom was more interested in his two sisters, who were both considered more talented than he was in basketball, and made him a laughing stock whenever he tagged along with them. He felt generally "overwhelmed" by the all-female household. Debra and Kim would go on to become All-Americans at Louisiana Tech and Stephen F. Austin, respectively. Debra won two national titles with the Lady Techsters.

While attending South Oak Cliff High School, Rodman was a gym class student of future Texas A&M basketball coach Gary Blair. Blair coached Rodman's sisters Debra and Kim, winning three state championships. However, Rodman was not considered an athletic standout. According to Rodman, he was "unable to hit a layup" and was listed in the high school basketball teams, but was either benched or cut from the squads. Measuring only 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) as a freshman in high school, he also failed to make the football teams and was "totally devastated". After finishing school, Rodman worked as an overnight janitor at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. He then experienced a sudden growth spurt from 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) to 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) and decided to try basketball again, despite becoming even more withdrawn because he felt odd in his own body.

A family friend tipped off the head coach of Cooke County College (now North Central Texas College) in Gainesville, Texas. In his single semester there, he averaged 17.6 points and 13.3 rebounds, before flunking out due to poor academic performance. After his short stint in Gainesville, he transferred to Southeastern Oklahoma State University, an NAIA school. There, Rodman was a three-time NAIA All-American and led the NAIA in rebounding twice (1985, 1986). In three seasons there (1983–1986), he averaged 25.7 points and 15.7 rebounds, led the NAIA in rebounding twice and registered a .637 field goal percentage. At the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, a pre-draft camp for NBA hopefuls, he won Most Valuable Player honors and caught the attention of the Detroit Pistons.

During college Rodman worked at a summer youth basketball camp, where he befriended camper Byrne Rich, who was shy and withdrawn due to a hunting accident in which he mistakenly shot and killed his best friend. The two became almost inseparable and formed a close bond. Rich invited Rodman to his rural Oklahoma home; at first, Rodman was not well-received by the Riches because he was black. But the Riches were so grateful to him for bringing their son out of his shell that they were able to set aside their prejudices. Although Rodman had severe family and personal issues himself, he "adopted" the Riches as his own in 1982 and went from the city life to "driving a tractor and messing with cows". Though Rodman credited the Riches as his "surrogate family" that helped him through college, as of 2013 he had stopped communicating with the Rich family for reasons unknown to them.

Professional basketball career

Detroit Pistons1986–1989

Rodman made himself eligible for the 1986 NBA draft. He was drafted by the Detroit Pistons as the third pick in the second round (27th overall), joining the rugged team of coach Chuck Daly that was called "Bad Boys" for their hard-nosed approach to basketball. The squad featured Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars at the guard positions, Adrian Dantley and Sidney Green at forward, and center Bill Laimbeer. Bench players who played more than 15 minutes per game were sixth man Vinnie Johnson and the backup forwards Rick Mahorn and John Salley. Rodman fit well into this ensemble, providing 6.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and some tough defense in 15.0 minutes of playing time per game.

Winning 52 games, the Pistons comfortably entered the 1987 playoffs. They swept the Washington Bullets and soundly beat the Atlanta Hawks in five games, but bowed out in seven matches against the archrival Boston Celtics in what was called one of the physically and mentally toughest series ever. Rodman feuded with Celtics guard Dennis Johnson and taunted Johnson in the closing seconds when he waved his right hand over his own head. When the Celtics took Game Seven, Johnson went back at Rodman in the last moments of the game and mimicked his taunting gesture.

After the loss, Rodman made headlines by directly accusing Celtics star Larry Bird of being overrated because he was white: "Larry Bird is overrated in a lot of areas. ... Why does he get so much publicity? Because he's white. You never hear about a black player being the greatest". Although teammate Thomas supported him, he endured harsh criticism, but avoided being called a racist because, according to him, his own girlfriend Anicka "Annie" Bakes was white.

In the following 1987–88 season, Rodman steadily improved his stats, averaging 11.6 points and 8.7 rebounds and starting in 32 of 82 regular season games. The Pistons fought their way into the 1988 NBA Finals, and took a 3–2 lead, but lost in seven games against the Los Angeles Lakers. In Game Six, the Pistons were down by one point with eight seconds to go; Dumars missed a shot, and Rodman just fell short of an offensive rebound and a putback which could have won the title. In Game Seven, L.A. led by 15 points in the fourth quarter, but Rodman's defense helped cut down the lead to six with 3:52 minutes to go and to two with one minute to go. But then, he fouled Magic Johnson, who hit a free throw, missed an ill-advised shot with 39 seconds to go, and the Pistons never recovered. In that year, he and his girlfriend Annie had a daughter they named Alexis.

Rodman remained a bench player during the 1988–89 season, averaging 9.0 points and 9.4 rebounds in 27 minutes, yet providing such effective defense that he was voted into the All-Defensive Team, the first of eight times in his career. He also began seeing more playing time after Adrian Dantley was traded at midseason to Dallas for Mark Aguirre. In that season, the Pistons finally vanquished their playoffs bane by sweeping the Boston Celtics, then winning in six games versus the Chicago Bulls—including scoring champion Michael Jordan—and easily defeating the Lakers 4–0 in the 1989 NBA Finals. Although he was hampered by back spasms, Rodman dominated the boards, grabbing 19 rebounds in Game 3 and providing tough interior defense.

1989–1993

In the 1989–90 season, Detroit lost perennial defensive forward Rick Mahorn when he was taken by the Minnesota Timberwolves in that year's expansion draft and ended up on the Philadelphia 76ers when the Pistons could not reacquire him. It was feared that the loss of Mahorn – average in talent, but high on hustle and widely considered a vital cog of the "Bad Boys" teams – would diminish the Pistons' spirit, but Rodman seamlessly took over his role. He went on to win his first big individual accolade. Averaging 8.8 points and 9.7 rebounds while starting in the last 43 regular season games, he established himself as the best defensive player in the game; during this period, the Pistons won 59 games, and Rodman was lauded by the NBA "for his defense and rebounding skills, which were unparalleled in the league". For his feats, he won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award; he also connected on a .595 field goal percentage, best in the league. In the 1990 playoffs, the Pistons beat the Bulls again, and in the 1990 NBA Finals, Detroit met the Portland Trail Blazers. Rodman suffered from an injured ankle and was often replaced by Mark Aguirre, but even without his defensive hustle, Detroit beat Portland in five games and claimed their second title.

During the 1990–91 season, Rodman finally established himself as the starting small forward of the Pistons. He played such strong defense that the NBA stated he "could shut down any opposing player, from point guard to center". After coming off the bench for most of his earlier years, he finally started in 77 of the 82 regular season games, averaged 8.2 points and 12.5 rebounds and won his second Defensive Player of the Year Award. In the 1991 playoffs, however, the Pistons were swept by the championship-winning Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals.

It was in the 1991–92 season where Rodman made a remarkable leap in his rebounding, collecting an astounding 18.7 rebounds per game (1,530 in total), winning his first of seven consecutive rebounding crowns, along with scoring 9.8 points per game, and making his first All-NBA Team. His 1,530 rebounds (the most since Wilt Chamberlain's 1,572 in the 1971–1972 season) have never been surpassed since then; the best mark not set by Rodman is by Kevin Willis, who grabbed 1,258 boards that same season. Willis lamented that Rodman had an advantage in winning the rebounding title with his lack of offensive responsibilities. In a March 1992 game, Rodman totaled a career high 34 rebounds. However, the aging Pistons were eliminated by the up-and-coming New York Knicks in the first round of the 1992 playoffs.

Rodman experienced a tough loss when coach Chuck Daly, whom he had admired as a surrogate father, resigned in May; Rodman skipped the preseason camp and was fined $68,000. The following 1992–93 season was even more tumultuous. Rodman and Annie Bakes, the mother of his daughter Alexis, were divorcing after a short marriage, an experience which left him traumatized. The Pistons won only 40 games and missed the 1993 playoffs entirely. One night in February 1993, Rodman was found asleep in his car with a loaded rifle. Four years later in his biography As Bad As I Wanna Be, he confessed having thought about suicide and described that night as an epiphany: "I decided that instead [of killing myself] I was gonna kill the impostor that was leading Dennis Rodman to a place he didn't want to go ... So I just said, 'I'm going to live my life the way I want to live it and be happy doing it.' At that moment I tamed [sic] my whole life around. I killed the person I didn't want to be." The book was later adapted for a TV movie Bad As I Wanna Be: The Dennis Rodman Story. Although he had three years and $11.8 million remaining on his contract, Rodman demanded a trade. On October 1, 1993, the Pistons dealt him to the San Antonio Spurs.

San Antonio Spurs

In the 1993–94 season, Rodman joined a Spurs team that was built around perennial All-Star center David Robinson, with a supporting cast of forwards Dale Ellis, Willie Anderson and guard Vinny Del Negro. On the hardwood, Rodman now was played as a power forward and won his third straight rebounding title, averaging 17.3 boards per game, along with another All-Defensive Team call-up. Living up to his promise of killing the "shy imposter" and "being himself" instead, Rodman began to show first signs of unconventional behavior: before the first game, he shaved his hair and dyed it blonde, which was followed up by stints with red, purple, blue hair and a look inspired from the film Demolition Man. During the season, he headbutted Stacey King and John Stockton, refused to leave the hardwood once after being ejected, and had a highly publicized two-month affair with Madonna. The only player to whom Rodman related was reserve center Jack Haley, who earned his trust by not being shocked after a visit to a gay bar. However, despite a 55-win season, Rodman and the Spurs did not survive the first round of the 1994 playoffs and bowed out against the Utah Jazz in four games.

In the following 1994–95 season, Rodman clashed with the Spurs front office. He was suspended for the first three games, took a leave of absence on November 11, and was suspended again on December 7. He finally returned on December 10 after missing 19 games. After joining the team, he suffered a shoulder separation in a motorcycle accident, limiting his season to 49 games. Normally, he would not have qualified for any season records for missing so many games, but by grabbing 823 rebounds, he just surpassed the 800-rebound limit for listing players and won his fourth straight rebounding title by averaging 16.8 boards per game and made the All-NBA Team. In the 1995 playoffs, the 62-win Spurs with reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Award winner Robinson entered the Western Conference Finals and were considered favorites against the reigning champions Houston Rockets who had only won 47 games. It was thought that Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon would have a hard time asserting himself versus Robinson and Rodman, who had both been voted into the NBA All-Defensive Teams. However, neither Robinson nor Rodman, who had disrupted a playoff game against the Lakers by sitting down on the court, could stop Olajuwon, who averaged 35.3 points against the elite defensive Spurs frontcourt, and helped eliminate the Spurs in six games.

Rodman admitted his frequent transgressions, but asserted that he lived his own life and thus a more honest life than most other people:

I just took the chance to be my own man ... I just said: "If you don't like it, kiss my ass." ... Most people around the country, or around the world, are basically working people who want to be free, who want to be themselves. They look at me and see someone trying to do that ... I'm the guy who's showing people, hey, it's all right to be different. And I think they feel: "Let's go and see this guy entertain us."

Chicago Bulls

Prior to the 1995–96 season, Rodman was traded to the Chicago Bulls of perennial scoring champion Michael Jordan for center Will Perdue to fill a large void at power forward left by Horace Grant, who left the Bulls prior to the 1994–95 season. Given Rodman could not use the 10 jersey as the Bulls had retired it for Bob Love, and the NBA denied him the reversion 01, Rodman instead picked the number 91, whose digits add up to 10. Although the trade for the already 34-year-old and volatile Rodman was considered a gamble at that time, the power forward quickly adapted to his new environment, helped by the fact that his best friend Jack Haley was also traded to the Bulls. Under coach Phil Jackson, he averaged 5.5 points and 14.9 rebounds per game, winning yet another rebounding title, and was part of the great Bulls team that won 72 of 82 regular season games, an NBA record at the time. About playing next to the iconic Jordan and co-star Scottie Pippen, Rodman said:

On the court, me and Michael are pretty calm and we can handle conversation. But as far as our lives go, I think he is moving in one direction and I'm going in the other. I mean, he's goin' north, I'm goin' south. And then you've got Scottie Pippen right in the middle. He's sort of the equator.

Although struggling with calf problems early in the season, Rodman grabbed 20 or more rebounds 11 times and had his first triple-double against the Philadelphia 76ers on January 16, 1996 scoring 10 points and adding 21 rebounds and 10 assists; by playing his trademark tough defense, he joined Jordan and Pippen in the All-NBA Defense First Team. Ever controversial, Rodman made negative headlines after a head butt of referee Ted Bernhardt during a game in New Jersey on March 16, 1996; he was suspended for six games and fined $20,000, a punishment that was criticized as too lenient by the local press.

In the 1996 playoffs, Rodman scored 7.5 points and grabbed 13.7 rebounds per game and had a large part in the six-game victory against the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 NBA Finals: in Game Two at home in the Bulls' United Center, he grabbed 20 rebounds, among them a record-tying 11 offensive boards, and in Game Six, again at the United Center, the power forward secured 19 rebounds and again 11 offensive boards, scored five points in a decisive 12–2 Bulls run, unnerved opposing power forward Shawn Kemp and caused Seattle coach George Karl to say: "As you evaluate the series, Dennis Rodman won two basketball games. We controlled Dennis Rodman for four games. But Game 2 and tonight, he was the reason they were successful." His two games with 11 offensive rebounds each tied the NBA Finals record of Elvin Hayes.

In the 1996–97 season, Rodman won his sixth rebounding title in a row with 16.7 boards per game, along with 5.7 points per game, but failed to rank another All-Defensive Team call-up. However, he made more headlines for his notorious behavior. On January 15, 1997, he was involved in an incident during a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. After tripping over cameraman Eugene Amos, Rodman kicked Amos in the groin. Though he was not assessed a technical foul at the time, he ultimately paid Amos a $200,000 settlement, and the league suspended Rodman for 11 games without pay. Thus, he effectively lost $1 million. Missing another three games to suspensions, often getting technical fouls early in games and missing an additional 13 matches due to knee problems, Rodman was not as effective in the 1997 playoffs, in which the Bulls reached the 1997 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz. He struggled to slow down Jazz power forward Karl Malone, but did his share to complete the six-game Bulls victory.

The regular season of the 1997–98 season ended with Rodman winning his seventh consecutive rebounding title with 15.0 boards per game, along with 4.7 points per game. He grabbed 20 or more rebounds 11 times, among them a 29-board outburst against the Atlanta Hawks and 15 offensive boards (along with ten defensive) versus the Los Angeles Clippers. Led by the aging Jordan and Rodman (respectively 35 and 37 years old), the Bulls reached the 1998 NBA Finals, again versus the Jazz. After playing strong defense on Malone in the first three games, he caused major consternation when he left his team prior to Game Four to go wrestling with Hulk Hogan. He was fined $20,000, but it was not even ten percent of what he earned with this stint. However, Rodman's on-court performance remained top-notch, again shutting down Malone in Game Four until the latter scored 39 points in a Jazz Game Five win, bringing the series to 3–2 from the Bulls perspective. In Game Six, Jordan hit the decisive basket after a memorable drive on Jazz forward Bryon Russell, the Bulls won their third title in a row and Rodman his fifth ring.

Rodman garnered as much publicity for his public antics. He dated Madonna and claimed she tried to conceive a child with him. Shortly after, Rodman famously wore a wedding dress to promote his autobiography Bad As I Wanna Be, claiming that he was bisexual and that he was marrying himself.

Twilight years

After the 1997–98 season, the Bulls started a massive rebuilding phase, largely at the behest of then-general manager Jerry Krause. Head coach Phil Jackson and several members of the team left via free agency or retirement, including Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Steve Kerr, and Jud Buechler. Rodman was released by the Bulls on January 21, 1999, before the start of the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season. With his sister acting as his agent at the time, Rodman joined the Los Angeles Lakers, for a pro-rated salary for the remainder of the 1998–1999 season. With the Lakers he only played in 23 games and was released.

In the 1999–2000 season, the then-38-year-old power forward was signed by the Dallas Mavericks, meaning that Rodman returned to the place where he grew up. Dallas had won 10 of 13 before his arrival, but went just 4–9 until he was waived by the Mavericks. He played 12 games, received six technical fouls, was ejected twice, and served a one-game suspension. Despite averaging 14.3 rebounds per game, above his career average of 13.1, Rodman alienated the franchise with his erratic behavior and did not provide leadership to a team trying to qualify for their first playoffs in 10 years. Dallas guard Steve Nash commented that Rodman "never wanted to be [a Maverick]" and therefore was unmotivated.

Post-NBA career

After his NBA career, Rodman took a long break from basketball and concentrated on his film career and on wrestling.

After a longer hiatus, Rodman returned to play basketball for the Long Beach Jam of the newly formed American Basketball Association during the 2003–04 season, with hopes of being called up to the NBA midseason. While he did not get that wish that season, he did help the Jam win the ABA championship in their inaugural season. He also played in Mexico, with Fuerza Regia in 2004. In the following 2004–05 season, he signed with the ABA's Orange County Crush and the following season with the league's Tijuana Dragons. In November 2005, he played one match for Torpan Pojat of the Finland's basketball league, Korisliiga.

The return to the NBA never materialized, but on January 26, 2006, it was announced that Rodman had signed a one-game "experiment" deal for the UK basketball team Brighton Bears of the British Basketball League to play Guildford Heat on January 28 and went on to play three games for the Bears. In spring 2006, he played two exhibition games in the Philippines along with NBA ex-stars Darryl Dawkins, Kevin Willis, Calvin Murphy, Otis Birdsong and Alex English. On April 27, they defeated a team of former Philippine Basketball Association stars in Mandaue City, Cebu and Rodman scored five points and grabbed 18 rebounds. On May 1, 2006, Rodman's team played their second game and lost to the Philippine national basketball team 110–102 at the Araneta Coliseum, where he scored three points and recorded 16 rebounds.

On April 4, 2011, it was announced that Rodman would be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

NBA career statistics

Regular seasonPlayoffs

Awards, records, and achievements

Legacy in basketball

From the beginning of his career Rodman was known for his defensive hustle, which was later accompanied by his rebounding prowess. In Detroit, he was mainly played as a small forward, and his usual assignment was to neutralize the opponent's best player; Rodman was so versatile that he could guard centers, forwards, or guards equally well and won two NBA Defensive Player of the Year Awards. From 1991 on, he established himself as one of the best rebounders of all time, averaging at least 15 rebounds per game in six of the next seven years. Playing power forward as member of the Spurs and the Bulls, he had a historical outburst in the 1996 NBA Finals: he twice snared 11 offensive rebounds, equalling an all-time NBA record. In addition, he had a career-high 34-rebound game on March 4, 1992. Rodman's rebounding prowess with Detroit and San Antonio was also aided by his decreased attention to defensive positioning and helping teammates on defense. Daly said Rodman was selfish about rebounding, but deemed him a hard worker and coachable. Rodman's defensive intensity returned while with Chicago.

On offense, Rodman's output was mediocre. He averaged 11.6 points per game in his second season, but his average steadily dropped: in the three championship seasons with the Bulls, he averaged five points per game and connected on less than half of his field goal attempts. His free throw shooting (lifetime average: .584) was considered a big liability: on December 29, 1997, Bubba Wells of the Dallas Mavericks committed six intentional fouls against him in only three minutes, setting the record for the fastest foul out in NBA history. The intention was to force him to attempt free throws, which in theory would mean frequent misses and easy ball possession without giving up too many points. However, this plan backfired, as Rodman hit 9 of the 12 attempts. This was Dallas coach Don Nelson's early version of what would later develop into the famous "Hack-a-Shaq" method that would be implemented against Shaquille O'Neal, Dwight Howard, and other poor free throw shooters.

In 14 NBA seasons, Rodman played in 911 games, scored 6,683 points, and grabbed 11,954 rebounds, translating to 7.3 points and 13.1 rebounds per game in only 31.7 minutes played per game. NBA.com lauds Rodman as "arguably the best rebounding forward in NBA history and one of the most recognized athletes in the world" but adds "enigmatic and individualistic, Rodman has caught the public eye for his ever-changing hair color, tattoos and, unorthodox lifestyle". On the hardwood, he was recognized as one of the most successful defensive players ever, winning the NBA championship five times in six NBA Finals appearances (1989, 1990, 1996–1998; only loss 1988), being crowned NBA Defensive Player of the Year twice (1990–1991) and making seven NBA All-Defensive First Teams (1989–1993, 1995–1996) and NBA All-Defensive Second Teams (1994). He additionally made two All-NBA Third Teams (1992, 1995), two NBA All-Star Teams (1990, 1992) and won seven straight rebounding crowns (1992–1998) and finally led the league once in field goal percentage (1989).

Rodman was recognized as the prototype bizarre player, stunning basketball fans with his artificial hair colors, numerous tattoos and body piercings, multiple verbal and physical assaults on officials, frequent ejections, and his tumultuous private life. He was ranked No. 48 on the 2009 revision of SLAM Magazine's Top 50 Players of All-Time. Metta World Peace played one year with the 91 jersey number in homage to Rodman, who he described as a player who he liked "on the court as a hustler, not when he kicked the cameraman."

Non-basketball awards

World Humanitarian Special Award, 2015. For his contributions into helping create peace and trying to unite North Korea and the USA.

Professional wrestling career

World Championship Wrestling (1997–1999)

Rodman took up his hobby of professional wrestling seriously and appeared on the edition of March 10 of Monday Nitro with his friend Hollywood Hulk Hogan in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). At the March 1997 Uncensored event, he appeared as a member of the nWo. His first match was at the July 1997 Bash at the Beach event, where he teamed with Hogan in a loss to Lex Luger and The Giant. At the August 1997 Road Wild event, Rodman appeared as the Impostor Sting hitting Luger with a baseball bat to help Hogan win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.

After the 1997–98 season, where Rodman and the Chicago Bulls defeated Karl Malone and the Utah Jazz in the 1998 NBA Finals, Rodman and Malone squared off again, this time in a tag team match at the July 1998 Bash at the Beach event. He fought alongside Hulk Hogan, and Malone tagged along with Diamond Dallas Page. In a poorly received match, the two power forwards exchanged "rudimentary headlocks, slams and clotheslines" for 23 minutes. Rodman bested Malone again as he and Hogan picked up the win.

Rodman returned to WCW in 1999 and feuded with Randy Savage. This culminated in a match at Road Wild which Rodman lost.

i-Generation Superstars of Wrestling and retirement (2000)

On July 30, 2000, Rodman competed on the i-Generation Superstars of Wrestling Rodman Down Under pay-per-view event. He fought against i-Generation champion Curt Hennig in an Australian Outback match; Hennig won the match by disqualification. Following the match, Rodman refrained from wrestling at the top level and retired.

Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling (2008)

Rodman came out of retirement to appear as a contestant on Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling, broadcast on CMT. Rodman was the winner of the series, defeating other challengers such as Butterbean and Dustin Diamond.

Championships and accomplishments

Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling

Celebrity Championship Wrestling tournament

Media appearances

In 1996, Rodman had his own MTV reality talk show called The Rodman World Tour, which featured him in a series of odd-ball situations. That same year, Rodman had two appearances in releases by rock band Pearl Jam. A Polaroid picture of Rodman's eyeball is on the cover of the album No Code, and "Black, Red, Yellow", B-side of its lead single "Hail, Hail", was written about Rodman and has him contribute a voice message.

A year later, he made his feature film debut in the action film Double Team alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme and Mickey Rourke. The film was critically panned and his performance earned him three Golden Raspberry Awards: Worst New Star, Worst Supporting Actor and Worst Screen Couple (shared with Van Damme). Rodman starred in Simon Sez, a 1999 action/comedy and co-starred with Tom Berenger in a 2000 action film about skydiving titled Cutaway. In 1998, he joined the cast of the syndicated TV show Special Ops Force, playing 'Deke' Reynolds, a flamboyant but skilled ex-Army helo pilot and demolitions expert.

In 2005, Rodman became the first man to pose naked for PETA's advertisement campaign "Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur". That same year, Rodman traveled to Finland, at first, he was present at Sonkajärvi in July in a wife-carrying contest. However, he resigned from the contest due to health problems. Also in 2005, Rodman published his second autobiography, I Should Be Dead By Now; he promoted the book by sitting in a coffin.

Rodman became Commissioner of the Lingerie Football League in 2005.

Since his initial entry into acting, he has appeared in few acting roles outside of playing himself. Rodman has made an appearance in an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun playing the character of himself, except being a fellow alien with the Solomon family. He voiced an animated version of himself in the Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror XVI".

Rodman has also appeared in several reality shows: in January 2006, Rodman appeared on the fourth version of Celebrity Big Brother in the UK, and on July 26, 2006, in the UK series Love Island as a houseguest contracted to stay for a week. Finally, he appeared on the show Celebrity Mole on ABC. He wound up winning the $222,000 grand prize.

In 2008, Rodman joined as a spokesman for a sports website OPENSports.com, the brainchild of Mike Levy, founder and former CEO of CBS Sportsline.com. Rodman also writes a blog and occasionally answers members' questions for OPEN Sports.

In 2009, he appeared as a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice. Throughout the season, each celebrity raised money for a charity of their choice; Rodman selected the Court Appointed Special Advocates of New Orleans. He was the fifth contestant eliminated, on March 29, 2009.

In 2013, he appeared again as a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice. He raised $20,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and was the sixth contestant eliminated, on April 7, 2013.

In March 2013, Rodman arrived at the Vatican City during voting in the papal conclave for the selection of a new pope. The trip was organized by an Irish gambling company.

In July 2013, Rodman joined Premier Brands to launch and promote Bad Boy Vodka.

Rodman's visits to North Korea were depicted in the 2015 documentary film Dennis Rodman's Big Bang in Pyongyang.

In 2017, Rodman was featured on the alternative R&B/hip-hop duo Mansionz self-titled album Mansionz. He provides vocals on the single "Dennis Rodman" and uncredited vocals on "i'm thinking about horses".

Personal life

Family

Rodman married his first wife Annie Bakes in September 1992. They began dating in 1987, and their daughter Alexis Caitlyn was born in 1988. Their relationship was marred by infidelites and accusations of abuse. They divorced after 82 days.

On November 14, 1998, Rodman married model Carmen Electra at the Little Chapel of the Flowers in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nine days later, Rodman filed for an annulment claiming he was of "unsound mind" when they married. They reconciled, but Electra filed for divorce in April 1999. She later stated that it was an "occupational hazard" to be Rodman's girlfriend".

In 1999, Rodman met Michelle Moyer, with whom he had a son, Dennis Jr. ("D. J.", born April 25, 2001) and a daughter, Trinity. Moyer and Rodman married in 2003 on his 42nd birthday. Michelle Rodman filed for divorce in 2004, although the couple spent several years attempting to reconcile. The marriage was officially dissolved in 2012, when Michelle again petitioned the court to grant a divorce. It was reported that Rodman owed $860,376 in child and spousal support.

Rodman's son D. J. started playing college basketball for Washington State in 2019. His daughter, Trinity, signed to play for the Cougars women's soccer team starting in 2020.

Alcohol issues

Rodman entered an outpatient rehab center in Florida in May 2008. In May 2009, his behavior on Celebrity Apprentice led to an intervention which included Phil Jackson as well as Rodman's family and other friends. Rodman initially refused to enter rehabilitation because he wanted to attend the Celebrity Apprentice reunion show. In 2009, Rodman agreed to appear on the third season of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. Rodman remained a patient at the Pasadena Recovery Center for the 21-day treatment cycle. A week after completion he entered a sober-living facility in the Hollywood Hills, which was filmed for the second season of Sober House. During episode seven of Sober House, Rodman was shown being reunited with his mother Shirley, from whom he had been estranged for seven years. During this same visit Shirley also met Rodman's two children for the first time. On January 10, 2010, on the same day that Celebrity Rehab premiered, Rodman was removed from an Orange County, California restaurant for disruptive behavior. In March 2012, Rodman's financial advisor said, "In all honesty, Dennis, although a very sweet person, is an alcoholic. His sickness impacts his ability to get work."

On January 15, 2014, Rodman again entered a rehabilitation facility to seek treatment for alcohol abuse. This came on the heels of a well-publicized trip to North Korea where his agent, Darren Prince, reported he had been drinking heavily and to an extent "that none of us had seen before."

Legal troubles

Rodman has settled several lawsuits out of court for alleged sexual assault.

In August 1999, Rodman was arrested for public drunkenness and spent the night in jail after he got into an altercation at Woody's Wharf in Newport Beach, California. The charges were eventually dropped.

On November 5, 1999, Rodman and his then-wife, Carmen Electra, were charged with misdemeanor battery after police were notified of a domestic disturbance. Each posted a bail worth $2,500 and were released with a temporary restraining order placed on them. The charges were dropped the next month.

In December 1999, Rodman was arrested for drunk driving and driving without a valid driver's license. In July 2000, Rodman pleaded guilty to both charges and was ordered to pay $2,000 in fines as well as attend a three-month treatment program.

In 2002, he was arrested for interfering with police investigating a code violation at a restaurant he owned; the charges were eventually dropped. After settling down in Newport Beach, California, the police appeared over 70 times at his home because of loud parties. In early 2003, Rodman was arrested and charged with domestic violence at his home in Newport Beach for allegedly assaulting his then-fiancée.

In April 2004, Rodman pleaded nolo contendere to drunk driving in Las Vegas. He was fined $1,000 and ordered to serve 30 days of home detention. On April 30, 2008, Rodman was arrested following a domestic violence incident at a Los Angeles hotel. On June 24, 2008, he pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor spousal battery charges. He received three years of probation and was ordered to undergo one year of domestic violence counseling as well as 45 hours of community service, which were to involve some physical labor activities.

On November 21, 2016, Rodman was charged with causing a hit and run accident, lying to police, and driving without a license following an incident on Interstate 5 near Santa Ana, California, in July. In February 2017, Rodman pleaded guilty to the charges. He was sentenced to three years of probation and 30 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay restitution and donate $500 to the Victim Witness Emergency Fund.

In January 2018, Rodman was arrested for driving under the influence in Newport Beach. He pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges and received three years of probation.

In May 2019, the Los Angeles Times reported that Newport Beach yoga studio owner Ali Shah accused Rodman of helping steal over $3,500 worth of items from the studio's reception area, including a 400-pound decorative geode. Rodman disputed the account, claiming the owner told him "Dennis, get anything you want." No charges had been filed at the time of reporting.

On October 18, 2019, Rodman was charged with misdemeanor battery after slapping a man at the Buddha Sky Bar in Delray Beach, Florida.

Politics

On July 24, 2015, Rodman publicly endorsed Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. That same month, Rodman sent out an endorsement tweet, stating, "Donald Trump has been a great friend for many years. We don't need another politician, we need a businessman like Mr. Trump! Trump 2016." Rodman and then U.S. Presidential hopeful Trump had previously appeared together on Celebrity Apprentice.

North Korea visits

On February 26, 2013, Rodman made a trip to North Korea with Vice Media correspondent Ryan Duffy to host basketball exhibitions. He met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Rodman and his travel party were the first Americans to meet Kim. He later said that Kim was "a friend for life" and suggested that President Barack Obama "pick up the phone and call" Kim, since the two leaders were basketball fans. On May 7, after reading an article in The Seattle Times, Rodman sent out a tweet asking Kim to release American prisoner Kenneth Bae, who had been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea. Kim released Bae the following year.

In July 2013, Rodman told Sports Illustrated: "My mission is to break the ice between hostile countries. Why it's been left to me to smooth things over, I don't know. Dennis Rodman, of all people. Keeping us safe is really not my job; it's the black guy's [Obama's] job. But I'll tell you this: If I don't finish in the top three for the next Nobel Peace Prize, something's seriously wrong." On September 3, 2013, Rodman flew to Pyongyang for another meeting with Kim Jong-un. He said that Kim has a daughter named Kim Ju-ae, and that he is a "great dad". He also noted that he planned to train the North Korean national basketball team. He stated that he is "trying to open Obama's and everyone's minds" and encouraged Obama to reach out to Kim Jong-un.

In December 2013, Rodman announced that he would visit North Korea again. He also said that he has plans to take a number of former NBA players with him for an exhibition basketball tour. According to Rory Scott, a spokesman for the exhibitions' sponsoring organization, Rodman planned to visit December 18–21 and train the North Korean team in preparation for January games. The games were scheduled for January 8 (Kim Jong-un's birthday) and January 10, 2014. Included on the U.S. exhibition team were Kenny Anderson, Cliff Robinson, Vin Baker, Craig Hodges, Doug Christie, Sleepy Floyd, Charles D. Smith, and four streetballers. Rodman departed from Beijing on January 6. Among his entourage was Irish media personality Matt Cooper, who had interviewed Rodman a number of times on the radio.

Rodman made comments on January 7, 2014 during a CNN interview implying that Kenneth Bae was at fault for his imprisonment. The remarks were widely reported in other media outlets and provoked a storm of criticism. Two days later, Rodman apologized for his comments, saying that he had been drinking and under pressure. He added that he "should know better than to make political statements". Some members of Congress, the NBA, and human rights groups suggested that Rodman had become a public relations stunt for the North Korean government. On May 2, 2016, Kenneth Bae credited Rodman with his early release. He said that Rodman's rant raised awareness of his case and that he wanted to thank him for his expedited release.

The Department of the Treasury is reportedly investigating whether Rodman broke the law by bringing Kim Jong-un thousands of dollars in luxury gifts on his 2014 trip to North Korea.

On June 13, 2017, Rodman returned to North Korea on what was initially described as a sports-related visit to the country. "My purpose is to go over there and try to see if I can keep bringing sports to North Korea," he said. He added that he hoped to accomplish "something that's pretty positive" during the visit. He met with national Olympic athletes and basketball players, viewed a men's basketball practice, and visited a state-run orphanage. He was not able to meet with Kim Jong Un, but met instead with the nation's Minister of Sports and gave him several gifts for Kim Jong Un, including two signed basketball jerseys, two soap sets, and a copy of Donald Trump's 1987 book The Art of the Deal. Other gifts believed to be intended for the leader's daughter included a Where's Waldo? book and a jigsaw puzzle of a mermaid.

Rodman posted a video on Twitter that was recorded before he left for the visit in which he and his agent describe the mission of the trip. "He's going to try to bring peace between both nations," said Rodman's agent Chris Volo, referring to the strained relations between North Korea and the United States. Rodman added, "That's the main reason why we're going. We're trying to bring everything together. If not, at least we tried." The visit was sponsored by the cryptocurrency company PotCoin.

Rodman's "hoops diplomacy" inspired the 20th Century Fox comedy Diplomats. Tim Story and Peter Chernin are set to produce the film, while Jonathan Abrams is reportedly writing the script.

Rodman visited North Korea again in June 2018. "I'm just happy to be a part of" the 2018 North Korea–United States summit, he said, "because I think I deserve it."

Presidential involvement suggested

The Washington Post raised the question of whether President Donald Trump sent Rodman on his 2017 visit to negotiate the release of several American prisoners of North Korea or to open a back channel for diplomatic communications. The U.S. State Department, White House officials, and Rodman all denied any official government involvement in the visit. Rodman, who publicly endorsed Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, is a self-described longtime friend of the president and, as the article put it, "Trump and Kim's only mutual acquaintance." The Washington Post article stated, "Multiple people involved in unofficial talks with North Korea say that the Trump administration has been making overtures toward the Kim regime, including trying to set up a secret back channel to the North Korean leader using 'an associate of Trump's' rather than the usual lineup of North Korea experts and former officials who talk to Pyongyang's representatives."

When asked if he had spoken with Trump about the visit, Rodman replied, "Well, I'm pretty sure he's pretty much happy with the fact that I'm over here trying to accomplish something that we both need." Rodman publicly presented a copy of Trump's book, "The Art of the Deal" to North Korean officials, as a personal gift for Kim Jong Un. In a Twitter video posted by Rodman, his agent Chris Volo said, "He's the only person on the planet that has the uniqueness, the unbelievable privilege of being friends with President Trump and Marshal Kim Jong Un." Rodman went on to say in the video that he wanted to bring peace and "open doors between both countries."

Otto Warmbier, an American student held captive in North Korea for 17 months, was released to U.S. officials the same day as Rodman's visit to North Korea. Despite the timeline of the two events, the U.S. State Department, The White House, and Rodman all flatly denied any diplomatic connection or coordination between Rodman's visit and the U.S. government. The U.S. State Department said the release of Warmbier was negotiated and secured by high level U.S. diplomats including Joseph Yun, the State Department's special envoy on North Korea. Warmbier, who was in a nonresponsive coma throughout much of his imprisonment in North Korea, died days after being returned to his family in the U.S.

In an emotional interview with Michael Strahan of "Good Morning America", Rodman expressed sorrow for the death of Warmbier and said, "I was just so happy to see the kid released. Later that day, that's when we found out he was ill. No one knew that." He added that he wished to give "all the prayer and love" to the Warmbier family and had contacted them and hoped to meet with them personally.

Rodman's agent, Chris Volo, told ABC News that before they left for the 2017 trip, he had asked North Korean officials to release Warmbier as a symbol of good faith for any future sports-relations visits. "I asked on behalf of Dennis for his release three times," Volo said.

In December 2017, Columbia University professor of neurobiology Joseph Terwilliger, who has accompanied Rodman to North Korea, argued that "While I don't suspect that very many Americans would have chosen him to be an emissary or international goodwill ambassador, Dennis has had a long friendship with Mr. Trump and has also developed a very cordial friendship with Mr. Kim. In this tense climate, as we stand at a perilous crossing, Mr. Rodman's unique position as a friend to the leaders of both U.S. and North Korea could provide a much-needed bridge to help resolve the current nuclear standoff.

#05/13

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