|
1998 NBA All-Star Game
The 1998 NBA All-Star Game was the 48th edition of the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game. The event was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The East won the game 135–114. Besides the NBA All-Star game, there were two other events that occurred in the All-Star Weekend including the Rookies Game and the Three-Point Shootout. Summary Coaches The Western Conference was coached by George Karl from the Seattle SuperSonics and the Eastern Conference was coached by Larry Bird of the Indiana Pacers. Players This would be the All-Star debut of Kobe Bryant, who became the youngest All-Star in NBA history at 19 years of age. It would also be the debut for rookie Tim Duncan. Bryant had a team-high 18 points. Michael Jordan earned MVP honors, scoring 23 points, grabbing six rebounds, and dishing out eight assists. This was Jordan's third MVP award. The game featured four all-stars from the Los Angeles Lakers. This was the first All-Star game to feature both ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Conference (NBA)
The Western Conference is one of two conferences that make up the National Basketball Association (NBA), the other being the Eastern Conference. Both conferences consist of 15 teams organized into three divisions. The Western Conference comprises the Northwest, Pacific, and Southwest Divisions. The current divisional alignment was adopted at the start of the 2004–05 season, when the now Charlotte Hornets began play as the NBA's 30th franchise. This necessitated the move of the New Orleans Pelicans (named New Orleans Hornets at the time) from the Eastern Conference's Central Division to the newly created Southwest Division of the Western Conference. The NBA first started awarding a Western Conference championship trophy during the 2000–01 season, renaming it after Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson in the 2021–22 season. Also in 2021–22, the league began awarding the Earvin "Magic" Johnson Trophy to the Western Conference Finals Most Valuable Player, named afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier professional basketball league in the world. The league is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The NBA was created on August 3, 1949, with the merger of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball League (NBL). The league later adopted the BAA's history and considers its founding on June 6, 1946, as its own. In 1976, the NBA and the American Basketball Association (ABA) ABA–NBA merger, merged, adding four franchises to the NBA. The NBA's regular season runs from October to April, with each team playing 82 games. The NBA playoffs, league's playoff tournament extends into June, culminating with the NBA Finals championship series. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nick Van Exel
Nickey Maxwell Van Exel (born November 27, 1971) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who last served as an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Van Exel played for six NBA teams from 1993 through 2006. He was an NBA All-Star with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1998. Van Exel played college basketball for the Cincinnati Bearcats, earning third-team All-American honors as a senior in 1993. He was selected by the Lakers in the second round of the 1993 NBA draft. In his first season, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. Early life and education Van Exel was raised primarily by his mother, Joyce. He attended St. Joseph High School, a private high school in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He played from 1987 to 1989 and scored 1,282 points, including 772 as a senior. He led the WISAA (private schools) state tournament in scoring as a junior and senior when his team lost in the finals both years. He was named to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center who played for six teams over his 19-year career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and is a four-time List of NBA champions, NBA champion. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greatest basketball players and centers of all time. After playing college basketball for the LSU Tigers men's basketball, LSU Tigers, O'Neal was selected by the Orlando Magic with the List of first overall NBA draft picks, first overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft. He quickly became one of the best centers in the league, winning NBA Rookie of the Year in 1992–93 NBA season, 1992–93 and leading his team to the 1995 NBA Finals. After four years with the Magic, O'Neal signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers. They won Three-peat, three consecutive c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Capital One Arena, in the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. an arena they share with the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Georgetown University men's basketball team. The team is owned by Ted Leonsis through Monumental Sports & Entertainment. The franchise was established in 1961 as the Chicago Packers in Chicago, Illinois; they were renamed the Chicago Zephyrs in the following season. In 1963, they moved to Baltimore, Maryland, and became the Baltimore Bullets, taking the name from a previous team of the same name. In 1973, the team moved to the Washington metropolitan area and changed its name first to the Capital Bullets, then the following season to Washington Bullets. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2001–02 NBA Season
The 2001–02 NBA season was the 56th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning their third straight championship, beating the New Jersey Nets 4–0 in the 2002 NBA Finals. Notable occurrences * Kwame Brown became the first high school player to be drafted first overall when the Washington Wizards drafted him in the 2001 NBA draft. * The Grizzlies relocated from Vancouver, British Columbia to Memphis, Tennessee. They played their first three seasons at The Pyramid in Memphis. * The 2002 NBA All-Star Game was held at First Union Center in Philadelphia. Kobe Bryant of the Lakers took MVP honors amidst boos from the Philadelphia fans following a 135–120 victory by the West. Philadelphia was originally slated to host the 1999 All-Star Game but was awarded the 2002 game instead due to the 1999 lockout. * Prior to the start of the season, NBA and Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan, then part-owner of the Wash ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference. The Lakers play their home games at Crypto.com Arena, an arena they share with the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Lakers are one of the most successful teams in the history of the NBA with 17 championships, the second most in the league behind the Boston Celtics. The franchise began in 1946 as the Detroit Gems of the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball League (NBL). After one season, a new ownership relocated the team to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and renamed the team as the ''Minneapolis Lakers''. The Lakers won the 1948 NBL championship before joining the rival Basketball Association ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tim Duncan
Timothy Theodore Duncan (born April 25, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 19-year career with the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Big Fundamental", he is widely considered the greatest Power forward (basketball), power forward of all time and one of the greatest players in NBA history, and was San Antonio Spurs#1997–2016: The Tim Duncan era, a central contributor to the franchise's success during the 2000s and 2010s. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020 and named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021. Born and raised on Saint Croix in the United States Virgin Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Duncan initially aspired to be a competitive swimmer, but took up basketball at 14 after Hurricane Hugo destroyed the island's only Olympic-sized pool. In high school, he play ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential basketball players of all time, Bryant won five NBA Finals, NBA championships and was an 18-time NBA All-Star, All-Star, four-time NBA All-Star Game Kobe Bryant Most Valuable Player, All-Star MVP, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, 12-time member of the NBA All-Defensive Team, All-Defensive Team, the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), two-time Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award, NBA Finals MVP, and two-time List of NBA annual scoring leaders, scoring champion. He ranks fourth in List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders, league all-time regular season and List of NBA career p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference. The team was founded in 1967 as an original member of the American Basketball Association (ABA) and became a member of the NBA in 1976 as a result of the ABA–NBA merger. They play their home games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The team is named after the state of Indiana's history with the Indianapolis 500's Indianapolis 500 pace cars, pace cars and with the harness racing industry. The Pacers have won three championships, in 1970 ABA Playoffs, 1970, 1972 ABA Playoffs, 1972, and 1973 ABA Playoffs, 1973, all in the ABA. They also reached the ABA Finals in 1969 ABA Playoffs, 1969 and 1975 ABA Playoffs, 1975, and have also appeared in the NBA Finals in 2000 NBA Finals, 2000 and 2025 NBA Finals, 2025. The team has also won nine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larry Bird
Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend" Bird is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He is the only person in NBA history to be named NBA Rookie of the Year Award, Rookie of the Year, NBA Most Valuable Player Award, Most Valuable Player, Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award, Finals MVP, 1982 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star MVP, NBA Coach of the Year Award, Coach of the Year, and NBA Executive of the Year Award, Executive of the Year. Growing up in French Lick, Indiana, Bird was a local basketball star. Highly college recruiting, recruited, he initially signed to play college basketball for coach Bob Knight of the Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball, Indiana Hoosiers. However, Bird dropped out after one month and returned to French Lick and attended a local colle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
