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Curated category

21st-century African-American sportsmen

  • Kevin DurantKevin Durant was born on the 29th of September 1988 in Washington, D.C., and grew up dreaming of one day playing for his favorite team, the Toronto Raptors…
  • Dwyane WadeDwyane Wade grew up on the South Side of Chicago, where he described his early childhood as "trying." His mother, JoLinda, struggled with drug addiction and…
  • LeBron JamesLeBron Raymonde James Sr. was born on the 30th of December 1984, at Cleveland Clinic Akron General, to a 16-year-old mother named Gloria Marie James.
  • Clyde DrexlerClyde Austin Drexler was born on the 22nd of June 1962 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He grew up in the South Park area of Houston, Texas.
  • Kobe BryantKobe Bean Bryant scored 81 points on the 22nd of January, 2006, the second-highest total in a single NBA game in the history of the sport.
  • Elvin HayesElvin Ernest Hayes scored 39 points and held Lew Alcindor to just 15 in front of 52,693 fans at the Houston Astrodome on the 20th of January, 1968.
  • Karl MaloneKarl Anthony Malone grew up on a farm in Summerfield, Louisiana, the youngest of nine children raised by a single mother named Shirley.
  • Isiah ThomasIsiah Lord Thomas III grew up on the West Side of Chicago, the youngest of nine children, in a household that would eventually be without his father.
  • Scottie PippenScottie Maurice Pippen Sr. was born on the 25th of September 1965, in Hamburg, Arkansas, to Ethel and Preston Pippen. His father worked at a paper mill while…
  • Magic JohnsonMagic Johnson stood at the free throw line on the 7th of November 1991 and told the world he had HIV. He was 32 years old, five-time NBA champion, and…
  • Chris BoshChristopher Wesson Bosh was born on the 24th of March 1984 in Dallas, Texas. He grew up in Hutchins, a suburb where his father played pick-up games at a…
  • Klay ThompsonKlay Alexander Thompson was born on the 8th of February 1990, the son of Mychal Thompson, the first overall pick of the 1978 NBA draft.
  • Kyrie IrvingKyrie Andrew Irving entered the world on the 23rd of March 1992, in Melbourne, Australia. His parents were American expatriates named Drederick and Elizabeth…
  • George GervinGeorge Gervin scored 63 points in a single regular-season game while protecting a scoring title by the slimmest margin in NBA history: seven-hundredths of a…
  • Big Three (Miami Heat)LeBron James entered the National Basketball Association as the first pick in the 2003 NBA draft. He came directly from St. Vincent, St.
  • Chauncey BillupsChauncey Ray Billups was born on the 25th of September, 1976 in Denver, Colorado. He grew up in a city that would later become his professional home base for…
  • Walt FrazierWalt Frazier posted 36 points, 19 assists, and six steals in the seventh game of the 1970 NBA Finals, while his teammate Willis Reed limped through just two…
  • Kareem Abdul-JabbarOn the road against Utah on the 5th of April 1984, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar caught a pass from Magic Johnson and rose into his skyhook from 15 feet.
  • Damon JonesDamon Jones once told anyone who would listen that he was "the best shooter in the world." Not one of the best. Not among the best. The best.
  • Earl LloydEarl Francis Lloyd was born in Alexandria, Virginia on the 3rd of April 1928. His father worked in the coal industry while his mother stayed home to raise…
  • Joakim NoahJoakim Simon Noah entered the world on the 25th of February 1985, in Manhattan, New York. His father was Yannick Noah, a French singer and former tennis…
  • Cam Ward (American football)Cam Ward, born on the 25th of May 2002 in the West Columbia-Angleton area of Texas, arrived at his first college with no recruiting stars, no national…