Curated playlist
20th-century American sportsmen
- Clyde DrexlerClyde Drexler couldn't make his high school basketball team as a sophomore. He later reached the Hall of Fame twice.
- Kobe BryantKobe Bryant scored 81 points against Toronto in 2006, the second-highest NBA game total ever.
- Elvin HayesElvin Hayes scored 39 points and ended UCLA's 47-game winning streak in 1968. He held Lew Alcindor to 15 points.
- Jerry WestThe NBA logo is a silhouette of Jerry West, and he was never paid for it.
- Karl MaloneKarl Malone played 193 playoff games without winning a championship. That is more than any player without a ring.
- Tim DuncanTim Duncan was a swimmer until a hurricane destroyed his island's only Olympic-sized pool.
- Larry BirdLarry Bird asked who would finish second at the first Three-Point Shootout, then won it.
- Patrick EwingPatrick Ewing crossed North Carolina off his list after seeing a nearby Ku Klux Klan rally. He chose Georgetown.
- Tom BradyTom Brady was once drafted by the Montreal Expos as a catcher. He chose football at Michigan instead.
- Hakeem OlajuwonHakeem Olajuwon did not touch a basketball until he was 15. The Nigerian goalkeeper later won an NBA title.
- Isiah ThomasIsiah Thomas scored 25 points in one Finals quarter on a badly sprained ankle. It was a 1988 NBA Finals record.
- Bill RussellBill Russell won eleven NBA championships in thirteen seasons. No team has matched that record since.
- Chuck Cooper (basketball)The Celtics owner ignored other teams and drafted Chuck Cooper anyway. He was the first African American drafted.
- Chuck DalyChuck Daly was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame twice. The second came after his death, for the Dream Team.
- Charles BarkleyCharles Barkley became the shortest player ever to lead the NBA in rebounding.
- Scottie PippenScottie Pippen got no college scholarship offers, yet he ended up with six championship rings.
- Magic JohnsonMagic Johnson told the world he had HIV from the free throw line in 1991. He was 32 and a five-time NBA champion.
- Chris BoshBlood clots ended Chris Bosh's NBA career after two straight championships with Miami.
- Dave CowensDave Cowens won 1973 NBA MVP at six feet nine, short for a center. He beat out Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the award.
- Norm DruckerNorm Drucker is the only referee ever to eject Wilt Chamberlain from an NBA game. It happened on January 3, 1962.
- John StocktonJazz fans greeted John Stockton's 1984 draft pick with stunned silence.
- Paul TagliabueTwo days after September 11, 2001, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue canceled that weekend's games.
- Landon DonovanLandon Donovan scored in the dying seconds to beat Algeria at the 2010 World Cup.
- Bob CousyBob Cousy broke his right hand falling out of a tree, and it helped make him ambidextrous.
- George GervinGeorge Gervin won a 1978 NBA scoring title by seven-hundredths of a point. He scored 63 to edge David Thompson.
- Chauncey BillupsChauncey Billups went from a draft bust to NBA Finals MVP. The Pistons guard led a 2004 upset of the Lakers.
- Dolph SchayesDolph Schayes played almost a full season with his right arm in a cast. He learned to shoot left-handed instead.
- Walt FrazierWalt Frazier had 36 points and 19 assists in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals. Willis Reed played two minutes.
- Lou FerrignoLou Ferrigno built his first weights from a broomstick and pails of cement. He later played the Hulk.
- Kareem Abdul-JabbarKareem Abdul-Jabbar broke Wilt Chamberlain's career scoring record with a skyhook over a 7-foot-4 defender.
- Phil JacksonPhil Jackson convinced Michael Jordan to trust his teammates. In 1991 the Bulls swept the Pistons and won the title.
- Rick BarryRick Barry is the only player to lead the NCAA, ABA and NBA in scoring in a season each.
- Artis GilmoreArtis Gilmore played 670 straight pro basketball games without missing one. He entered the Hall of Fame in 2011.
- Christian LaettnerChristian Laettner topped an ESPN fan poll as college basketball's most hated player.
- Ossie SchectmanOssie Schectman scored the first basket in what became the NBA. He did it for the Knicks in Toronto on November 1, 1946.
- George HalasGeorge Halas skipped the SS Eastland in 1915 because he was running late. The ship capsized, killing 844 passengers.
- George MikanThe NBA widened its foul lane to slow down one player, George Mikan. The rule was formally dubbed "The Mikan Rule."
- Gregg PopovichScientists named a columbine gene POPOVICH after Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. It regulates spur development.
- Pete MaravichPete Maravich played 658 NBA games with no left coronary artery. An autopsy found it missing from birth.
- Red AuerbachBoston restaurants once banned cigar smoking for everyone except Red Auerbach.
- Wat MisakaWat Misaka played for the New York Knicks in 1947, then quit basketball to become an engineer.
- Andrei KirilenkoAndrei Kirilenko's nickname, AK-47, came from the city where the rifle was first made. He was born there in 1981.
- Charley RosenCharley Rosen went from Bronx schoolyards to coaching beside Phil Jackson. He also wrote more than two dozen books.
- Damon JonesDamon Jones hit an overtime shot in 2006 that won Cleveland a playoff series.
- Earl LloydEarl Lloyd became the first Black player in an NBA game on Halloween night, 1950. He scored six points.
- Harold Hunter (basketball)Harold Hunter became the first African American to sign with an NBA team, then was cut weeks later.
- Julius ErvingA judge ordered Julius Erving back to the Virginia Squires after he had signed with Atlanta.
- Don KingDon King, the American boxing promoter born on the 20th of August 1931, once received a blunt verdict on his career from a man he had promoted. Mike Tyson said of him: "He did more bad to black fighters than any white promoter ever in the…