Curated playlist
All-American college men's basketball players
- Kevin DurantKevin Durant wore number 35 to honor his murdered youth coach. Charles Craig was 35 when he died.
- Dwyane WadeDwyane Wade's sister tricked him into a car ride at age eight. She said movies but took him to live with their father.
- Clyde DrexlerClyde Drexler couldn't make his high school basketball team as a sophomore. He later reached the Hall of Fame twice.
- 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.
- Stephen CurryVirginia Tech offered Stephen Curry only a walk-on spot. He later became the NBA's all-time three-point leader.
- Larry BirdLarry Bird asked who would finish second at the first Three-Point Shootout, then won it.
- Kawhi LeonardKawhi Leonard's Game 7 shot bounced off the rim four times before it fell.
- Patrick EwingPatrick Ewing crossed North Carolina off his list after seeing a nearby Ku Klux Klan rally. He chose Georgetown.
- 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.
- Kevin LoveKevin Love grabbed 31 rebounds in one game in November 2010. It set a Timberwolves record.
- Michael JordanMichael Jordan was cut from his high school varsity team as a sophomore for being too short.
- Charles BarkleyCharles Barkley became the shortest player ever to lead the NBA in rebounding.
- Jalen BrunsonJalen Brunson spent part of his childhood inside NBA locker rooms. When his father Rick played for the New York Knicks, Tom Thibodeau worked there as an assistant coach. Years later Thibodeau became Jalen's head coach, and the boy from…
- Karl-Anthony TownsKarl-Anthony Towns scored 62 points for the Minnesota Timberwolves on the 22nd of January 2024, and his team still lost 128-125 to the Charlotte Hornets. Forty-four of those points came in the first half. Both totals were Timberwolves…
- 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.
- Shaquille O'NealShaquille O'Neal twice broke steel backboard supports with his dunks. The NBA then redesigned its equipment.
- Andrew WigginsAndrew Wiggins shattered a glass backboard at age 14. He later went first in the 2014 NBA draft.
- Wilt ChamberlainNo camera filmed Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points in one game. Only a radio broadcast of the fourth quarter survived.
- Bob CousyBob Cousy broke his right hand falling out of a tree, and it helped make him ambidextrous.
- Chauncey BillupsChauncey Billups went from a draft bust to NBA Finals MVP. The Pistons guard led a 2004 upset of the Lakers.
- Dan IsselDan Issel did not start on his high school basketball team until junior year.
- Dikembe MutomboDikembe Mutombo came to Georgetown to become a doctor, not a basketball star. A coach changed those plans entirely.
- Kareem Abdul-JabbarKareem Abdul-Jabbar broke Wilt Chamberlain's career scoring record with a skyhook over a 7-foot-4 defender.
- George MikanThe NBA widened its foul lane to slow down one player, George Mikan. The rule was formally dubbed "The Mikan Rule."
- Rick BarryRick Barry is the only player to lead the NCAA, ABA and NBA in scoring in a season each.
- Andrew BogutAndrew Bogut was cut from a junior state team at fifteen. He became the first Australian picked first in the NBA draft.
- Artis GilmoreArtis Gilmore played 670 straight pro basketball games without missing one. He entered the Hall of Fame in 2011.
- Ben SimmonsBen Simmons went first overall in the 2016 NBA draft without ever playing in the NCAA tournament.
- 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.
- Julius ErvingA judge ordered Julius Erving back to the Virginia Squires after he had signed with Atlanta.
- Pete MaravichPete Maravich played 658 NBA games with no left coronary artery. An autopsy found it missing from birth.
- Detlef SchrempfDetlef Schrempf won the NBA Sixth Man Award twice as the league's best reserve.
- Joakim NoahPresident Obama called Joakim Noah's shot the ugliest he had ever seen.