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Curated playlist

NBA players with retired numbers

  • Clyde DrexlerClyde Drexler couldn't make his high school basketball team as a sophomore. He later reached the Hall of Fame twice.
  • Dirk NowitzkiDirk Nowitzki hit a winning Finals basket while carrying a 101-degree fever.
  • 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.
  • Pau GasolPau Gasol first wanted to be a doctor and cure AIDS. Magic Johnson's 1991 announcement changed the boy's plans.
  • Tim DuncanTim Duncan was a swimmer until a hurricane destroyed his island's only Olympic-sized pool.
  • Manu GinóbiliManu Ginóbili was picked 57th in the NBA draft and still reached the Hall of Fame.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Scottie PippenScottie Pippen got no college scholarship offers, yet he ended up with six championship rings.
  • Tony ParkerTony Parker was nearly sent home from a Spurs camp after 10 minutes. A highlight tape won him a second chance.
  • 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.
  • Moses MaloneMoses Malone predicted his 76ers would sweep the playoffs, and they went 12-1.
  • Shaquille O'NealShaquille O'Neal twice broke steel backboard supports with his dunks. The NBA then redesigned its equipment.
  • 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.
  • Wilt ChamberlainNo camera filmed Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points in one game. Only a radio broadcast of the fourth quarter survived.
  • John StocktonJazz fans greeted John Stockton's 1984 draft pick with stunned silence.
  • 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.
  • Steve NashIn grade eight, Steve Nash told his mother he would become an NBA star.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Kareem Abdul-JabbarKareem Abdul-Jabbar broke Wilt Chamberlain's career scoring record with a skyhook over a 7-foot-4 defender.
  • Rick BarryRick Barry is the only player to lead the NCAA, ABA and NBA in scoring in a season each.
  • Dražen PetrovićDražen Petrović scored 112 points in one professional basketball game in 1985. He made all 22 of his free throws.
  • 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.
  • Peja StojakovićPeja Stojaković once scored his team's first 20 points before a teammate touched the ball. It was an NBA first.
  • Vlade DivacVlade Divac was traded for a teenage Kobe Bryant. The Lakers center had arrived from Yugoslavia speaking no English.

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