1.
NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award
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The National Basketball Association All-Star Game Most Valuable Player is an annual National Basketball Association award given to the player voted best of the annual All-Star Game. The award was established in 1953 when NBA officials decided to designate an MVP for each years game, the league also re-honored players from the previous two All-Star Games. Ed Macauley and Paul Arizin were selected as the 1951 and 1952 MVP winners respectively, the voting is conducted by a panel of media members, who cast their vote after the conclusion of the game. The player with the most votes or ties for the most votes wins the award, no All-Star Game MVP was named in 1999 since the game was canceled due to the leagues lockout. As of 2017, the most recent recipient is New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis, bob Pettit and Kobe Bryant are the only two players to win the All-Star Game MVP four times. James first All-Star MVP in 2006 made him the youngest to have won the award at the age of 21 years,1 month. Kyrie Irving, winner of the 2014 All-Star Game MVP, is the second-youngest at 21 years,10 months, theyre notable as being the two youngest to win the award, both as Cleveland Cavaliers. Four of the games had joint winners—Elgin Baylor and Pettit in 1959, John Stockton and Malone in 1993, ONeal and Tim Duncan in 2000, ONeal became the first player in All-Star history to share two MVP awards. The Los Angeles Lakers have had eleven winners while the Boston Celtics have had eight, Duncan of the U. S. Virgin Islands and Irving of Australia are the only winners not born in the United States. Both Duncan and Irving are American citizens, but are considered international players by the NBA because they were not born in one of the fifty states or Washington, D. C. No player trained entirely outside the U. S. has won the award, bob Pettit and Russell Westbrook are the only players to win consecutive awards. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has the distinction of playing in the most All-Star Games without winning the All-Star Game MVP, NBA Most Valuable Player Award Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award List of NBA All-Stars General Specific
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Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award
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The Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1969 NBA Finals. The award is decided by a panel of nine media members, the person with the highest votes wins the award. In at least one NBA Finals, fans balloting on NBA. com accounted for the tenth vote, the award was originally a black trophy with a gold basketball-shaped sphere at the top, similar to the Larry OBrien Trophy, until a new trophy was introduced in 2005. Since its inception, the award has given to 30 different players. Michael Jordan is a record six-time award winner, magic Johnson, Shaquille ONeal, Tim Duncan and LeBron James won the award three times in their careers. Jordan and ONeal are the players to win the award in three consecutive seasons. Johnson is the only ever to win the award, as well as the youngest at 20 years old. Andre Iguodala is the winner to have not started every game in the series. Jerry West, the first ever awardee, is the person to win the award while being on the losing team in the NBA Finals. Willis Reed, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Hakeem Olajuwon, Olajuwon, Bryant, and James have won the award in two consecutive seasons. Abdul-Jabbar and James are the players to win the award for two different teams. Olajuwon of Nigeria, who became a naturalized U. S. citizen in 1993, Tony Parker of France, cedric Maxwell is the only Finals MVP winner eligible for the Hall of Fame who has not been voted in. NBA Most Valuable Player Award NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award General Specific
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NBA Coach of the Year Award
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The National Basketball Associations Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1962–63 NBA season. The winner receives the Red Auerbach Trophy, which is named in honor of the coach who led the Boston Celtics to nine NBA Championships from 1956 to 1966. The winner is selected at the end of regular season by a panel of sportswriters from the United States and Canada, each of whom casts a vote for first, second and third place selections. Each first-place vote is five points, each second-place vote is worth three points, and each third-place vote is worth one point. The person with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, since its inception, the award has been given to 40 different coaches. The most recent award winner is Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich, Don Nelson and Pat Riley have each won the award three times, while Hubie Brown, Bill Fitch, Cotton Fitzsimmons and Gene Shue have each won it twice. No coach has won consecutive Coach of the Year awards, Riley is the only coach to be named Coach of the Year with three different franchises. Larry Bird is the recipient to have also been named MVP as a player. Tom Heinsohn, Bill Sharman, and Lenny Wilkens are the recipients to have been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as both player and coach. Johnny Kerr is the person to win the award with a losing record. Kerr was honored because he had guided the Bulls to the NBA Playoffs in their first season in the league, only five recipients also coached the team that won the championship the same season, Red Auerbach, Red Holzman, Bill Sharman, Phil Jackson, and Gregg Popovich. Popovich is the only NBA Coach of the Year recipient to win the championship in the season twice. Assistant coach Luke Walton served as head coach for the other 43 games for the Warriors, receiving one second-place vote. National Basketball Association portal General Specific
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NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award
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The NBAs Defensive Player of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1982–83 NBA season to the best defensive player of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel of 124 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada, each of whom casts a vote for first, second and third place selections. Each first-place vote is five points, second-place voted are worth three points, and a third-place vote is worth one. The player with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, since its inception, the award has been given to 20 different players. Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace have each won the award a record four times, dwight Howard is the only player to ever win the award in three consecutive seasons. Sidney Moncrief, Mark Eaton, Dennis Rodman, Hakeem Olajuwon, Alonzo Mourning, the most recent award recipient is Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs. Although five of the first six winners were perimeter players, the award has traditionally given to big men who rebound. Only seven perimeter players have been honored, Moncrief, Alvin Robertson, Michael Cooper, Michael Jordan, Gary Payton, Ron Artest, Payton is the only point guard to have won. In Olajuwons case, he is the one to have also won the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award. On four occasions, the Defensive Player of the Year recipient was not voted to the NBA All-Defensive First Team in the same year, Robertson in 1986, Mutombo, Tyson Chandler, and Marc Gasol were instead named to the second team. Whereas the Defensive Player of the Year is voted on by the media, no player trained completely outside the U. S. has won this award. Out of the three winners born outside the U. S. Mutombo and Olajuwon both played U. S. college basketball, and Gasol played U. S. high school basketball
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J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award
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The award is named in honor of James Walter Kennedy, the second commissioner of the NBA. The winner is selected by the Pro Basketball Writers Association, the PBWA represents writers for newspapers, magazines and internet services who cover the NBA on a regular basis. Members of the PBWA nominate players for the award, and then a vote is taken by approximately 150 PBWA members, the person with the highest point total wins the award. The award is given to a person who made a substantial charitable contribution. For instance, Kevin Garnett received the award in 2006 after donating $1.2 million toward the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, since its inception, the award has been given to 34 different people. Only one season had joint winners—Michael Cooper and Rory Sparrow in the 1985–86 season, mutombo is also the only player to win the award twice. Frank Layden and Joe OToole were the only non-players to win the award, Layden, the 1983–84 award recipient, was the head coach for the Utah Jazz, while OToole, the 1994–95 award recipient, was the athletic trainer for the Atlanta Hawks. National Basketball Association portal General Specific
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NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award
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A panel of sportswriters and broadcasters from throughout the United States and Canada votes on the recipient. Each judge casts a vote for first, second and third place selections, each first-place vote is worth five points, each second-place vote is worth three points, and each third-place vote is worth one point. The player with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, to be eligible for the award, a player must come off the bench in more games than he starts. Since its inception, the award has given to 26 different players. The most recent recipient is Jamal Crawford, who has won the three times. Kevin McHale, Ricky Pierce and Detlef Schrempf have each won the two times. Bobby Jones was the winner of the award for the 1982–83 NBA season. McHale and Bill Walton are the only Hall of Famers who have won the award, manu Ginóbili, Schrempf, Leandro Barbosa, Toni Kukoč and Ben Gordon are the only award winners not born in the United States. Gordon was the first player to win the award as a rookie, of the five foreign-born winners, three were trained completely outside the U. S. namely Ginóbili, Barbosa and Kukoč. National Basketball Association portal General Specific
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NBA Sportsmanship Award
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It is directly analogous to the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award, which has been awarded by the NBAs sister league, the WNBA, with neither award demanding excellence of play. Every year, each of the 30 NBA teams nominates one of its players to compete for this award, from these nominees, one player from each NBA division are selected by a panel as the divisional Sportsmanship Award winners. Grant Hill has won the three times, the most in NBA history. Jason Kidd and Mike Conley are the other two players to have won it multiple times, each having done so twice. National Basketball Association portal General Specific
8.
James Harden
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James Edward Harden Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association. Harden played college basketball for Arizona State, where he was named a consensus All-American, Harden was selected with the third overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder. In 2012, he was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year with the Thunder, Harden was traded to Houston prior to the 2012–13 NBA season. Upon joining the Rockets, Harden became one of the NBAs most prolific scorers and earned recognition as the best shooting guard in the NBA, as well as one of the top overall players in the league. He has earned All-Star nods five times, and has earned All-NBA Team honors three times as well – once to the All-NBA third team and twice to the All-NBA first team. In 2015, Harden was awarded the first National Basketball Players Association MVP Award, Harden is a two-time member of the United States national basketball team, winning gold medals in both the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2014 FIBA World Cup. Harden attended Artesia High School in Lakewood, California, in his sophomore year, he averaged 13.2 points as Artesia went 28–5. He improved his stats to 18.8 points,7.7 boards and 3.5 assists in his season and led Artesia to the California state title. Artesia repeated as champions in Hardens final year after going 33–2. Harden had similar stats as during the season,18.8 points,7.9 rebounds. He was named a McDonalds All-American, and also earned second-team Parade All-American honors and he also helped his AAU team, Pump-N-Run Elite, to the 2006 Las Vegas Adidas Super 64 championship. Harden had 34 points in the victory over a DC Assault team which included Michael Beasley, Nolan Smith, in the game against Houston Hoops, played on the same day, Harden had 33 points. In the final, Pump-N-Run Elite beat Kevin Loves Southern California All-Stars, entering Hardens freshman campaign, Arizona State was picked to finish ninth in the Pac-10 Conference. Behind Hardens 17.8 points,5.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game and they were considered a bubble team for the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Left out of the NCAA tournament, they were selected to the 2008 NIT field and defeated Alabama State, after his freshman year, Harden was named first team All-Pac-10 and was named to the conference all-freshman team. Harden was also named first team All-District by the NABC and the USBWA, entering his sophomore year, Harden appeared on many pre-season All-American lists and appeared on the cover of the Sports Illustrated college basketball preview issue. He was named to the Wooden Award preseason watch list, on November 30,2008, Harden scored a career-high 40 points in an 88–58 victory over UTEP. Harden finished his campaign with averages of 20.1 points,5.6 rebounds
9.
Houston Rockets
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The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association, as a club of the leagues Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its games at the Toyota Center, located in downtown Houston. The Rockets have won two NBA championships and four Western Conference titles, the team was established as the San Diego Rockets, an expansion team originally based in San Diego, in 1967. In 1971, the Rockets moved to Houston, the Rockets won only 15 games in their debut season as a franchise in 1967. In the 1968 NBA draft, the Rockets, picking first overall, selected power forward Elvin Hayes, the Rockets did not finish a season with a winning record until the 1976–77 season, when they traded for center Moses Malone. Malone went on to win the NBA Most Valuable Player award twice and he also led the Rockets to the NBA Finals in 1981 where they were defeated in six games by the Boston Celtics, led by Larry Bird and future Rockets coach Kevin McHale. In 1984, the Rockets drafted center Hakeem Olajuwon, who would be paired with 7 feet 4 inches Ralph Sampson, nicknamed the Twin Towers, they led the team to the 1986 NBA Finals—the second NBA Finals appearance in franchise history—where Houston was again defeated by the Boston Celtics. The Rockets continued to reach the playoffs throughout the 1980s, Rudy Tomjanovich took over as head coach midway through the 1991–92 season, ushering in the most successful period in franchise history. Olajuwon-led Rockets went to the 1994 NBA Finals and won franchises first championship against Patrick Ewing, Houston became the lowest-seeded team in NBA history to win the title. After Yaos early retirement in 2011, the Rockets entered a period of rebuilding, the acquisition of franchise player James Harden in 2012 has launched the Rockets back into championship contention in the mid-2010s. The Rockets, under general manager Daryl Morey, are notable for popularizing the use of advanced statistical analytics in player acquisitions and style of play. The Rockets were founded in 1967 in San Diego by Robert Breitbard, Breitbard brought in Jack McMahon, then coach of the Cincinnati Royals, to serve as the Rockets coach and general manager. The Rockets lost 67 games in their season, which was an NBA record for losses in a season at the time. Because of the low performance and attendance, Breitbard looked to sell the team, and in 1971, Texas Sports Investments bought the franchise for $5.6 million, and moved the team to Houston. The franchise became the first NBA team in Texas, and the nickname Rockets took on greater relevance after the move. It was also around this time that the Rockets would unveil their classic yellow and red logo, winter left soon after, being fired in January 1973 following a ten-game losing streak, and was replaced by Johnny Egan. Egan led the Rockets back to the playoffs in 1975, where the franchise also managed to win their first round against the New York Knicks, subsequently losing to the veteran Boston Celtics in 5 games
10.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is an American retired professional basketball player who played 20 seasons in the National Basketball Association for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. During his career as a center, Abdul-Jabbar was a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player, 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 as an assistant coach, Abdul-Jabbar twice was voted NBA Finals MVP, in 1996, he was honored as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. NBA coach Pat Riley and players Isiah Thomas and Julius Erving have called him the greatest basketball player of all time, drafted by the one-season-old Bucks franchise in the 1969 NBA draft with the first overall pick, Alcindor spent six seasons in Milwaukee. After winning his first NBA championship in 1971, he adopted the Muslim name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at age 24, using his trademark skyhook shot, he established himself as one of the leagues top scorers. In 1975, he was traded to the Lakers, with whom he played the last 14 seasons of his career, Abdul-Jabbars contributions were a key component in the Showtime era of Lakers basketball. Over his 20-year NBA career his team succeeded in making the playoffs 18 times and past the 1st round in 14 of them and he remains the all-time leading scorer in the NBA, and is ranked 3rd all-time in both rebounds and blocks. In 2007, ESPN voted him the greatest center of all time, in 2008, they named him the greatest player in basketball history. Abdul-Jabbar has also been an actor, a coach. In 2012, he was selected by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be a U. S. global cultural ambassador, in 2016, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama. Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr. was born in New York City, the child of Cora Lillian, a department store price checker. At birth, he weighed 12 pounds 11 ounces and was 22 1⁄2 inches long and he was raised as a Roman Catholic and attended Power Memorial Academy, a Catholic high school in Manhattan. From an early age, Lew Alcindor began his record-breaking basketball accomplishments and this earned him a nickname—The tower from Power. His 2,067 total points were a New York City high school record, the team won the national high school boys basketball championship when Alcindor was in 11th grade, and was runner-up his senior year. Alcindor played on the UCLA freshman team only because the rule was in effect. In his first college game, Lew set a UCLA single game record with 56 points, in 1967 and 1968, he also won USBWA College Player of the Year which later became the Oscar Robertson Trophy. Alcindor became the player to win the Helms Foundation Player of the Year award three times. The 1965–66 UCLA Bruin team was the preseason #1, but on November 27,1965, the freshman team led by Alcindor defeated the varsity team 75–60 in the first game in the new Pauley Pavilion
11.
Bill Russell
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William Felton Bill Russell is an American retired professional basketball player. Russell played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association from 1956 to 1969, a five-time NBA Most Valuable Player and a twelve-time All-Star, he was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty, winning eleven NBA championships during his thirteen-year career. Along with Henri Richard of the National Hockey Leagues Montreal Canadiens, before his professional career, Russell led the University of San Francisco to two consecutive NCAA championships. He also won a medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics as captain of the U. S. national basketball team. Russell is widely considered one of the best players in NBA history and he was listed as between 6 ft 9 in and 6 ft 10 in, and his shot-blocking and man-to-man defense were major reasons for the Celtics success. He also inspired his teammates to elevate their own defensive play, Russell was equally notable for his rebounding abilities. He led the NBA in rebounds four times, had a dozen consecutive seasons of 1,000 or more rebounds and he is one of just two NBA players to have grabbed more than 50 rebounds in a game. Though never the point of the Celtics offense, Russell also scored 14,522 career points. Playing in the wake of pioneers like Earl Lloyd, Chuck Cooper and he also served a three-season stint as player-coach for the Celtics, becoming the first African American NBA coach. For his accomplishments in the Civil Rights Movement on and off the court, Russell is one of only seven players in history to win an NCAA Championship, an NBA Championship, and an Olympic gold medal. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, in 2007 he was enshrined in the FIBA Hall of Fame. In Russells honor the NBA renamed the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player trophy in 2009, Bill Russell was born to Charles Russell and Katie Russell in West Monroe, Louisiana. Like almost all towns and cities of that time, West Monroe was a highly segregated place. Once, Russells father was refused service at a gas station until the staff had taken care of all the white customers. When his father attempted to leave and find a different station, at another time, Russells mother was walking outside in a fancy dress when a policeman accosted her. He told her to go home and remove the dress, which he described as white womans clothing, while there the family fell into poverty, and Russell spent his childhood living in a series of public housing projects. Charles Russell is described as a stern, hard man who was initially a janitor in a paper factory, being closer to his mother Katie than to his father, Russell received a major emotional blow when she suddenly died when he was 12. His father gave up his job and became a steel worker to be closer to his semi-orphaned children
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Michael Jordan
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Michael Jeffrey Jordan, also known by his initials, MJ, is an American retired professional basketball player, businessman, and principal owner and chairman of the Charlotte Hornets. Jordan played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association for the Chicago Bulls and his biography on the NBA website states, By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time. Jordan was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation and was considered instrumental in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s, Jordan played three seasons for coach Dean Smith at the University of North Carolina. As a freshman, he was a member of the Tar Heels national championship team in 1982, Jordan joined the Bulls in 1984 as the third overall draft pick. He quickly emerged as a star, entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring. His leaping ability, demonstrated by performing slam dunks from the throw line in slam dunk contests, earned him the nicknames Air Jordan. He also gained a reputation for being one of the best defensive players in basketball, in 1991, he won his first NBA championship with the Bulls, and followed that achievement with titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a three-peat. Jordan retired for a time in January 1999, but returned for two more NBA seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the Wizards. Among his numerous accomplishments, Jordan holds the NBA records for highest career regular season scoring average and highest career playoff scoring average. In 1999, he was named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN and he became a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2015. Jordan is also known for his product endorsements and he fueled the success of Nikes Air Jordan sneakers, which were introduced in 1985 and remain popular today. Jordan also starred in the 1996 feature film Space Jam as himself, in 2006, he became part-owner and head of basketball operations for the then-Charlotte Bobcats, buying a controlling interest in 2010. In 2015, Jordan became the first billionaire NBA player in history as a result of the increase in value of NBA franchises and he is the third richest African American, behind Oprah Winfrey and Robert F. Smith. Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Deloris, who worked in banking and his family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, when he was a toddler. Jordan is the fourth of five children and he has two older brothers, Larry Jordan and James R. Jordan, Jr. one older sister, Deloris, and a younger sister, Roslyn. Jordans brother James retired in 2006 as the Command Sergeant Major of the 35th Signal Brigade of the XVIII Airborne Corps in the U. S. Army. Jordan attended Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, where he highlighted his athletic career by playing basketball, baseball and he tried out for the varsity basketball team during his sophomore year, but at 511, he was deemed too short to play at that level. His taller friend, Harvest Leroy Smith, was the only sophomore to make the team, motivated to prove his worth, Jordan became the star of Laneys junior varsity squad, and tallied several 40-point games
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