Rafael Stone
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Rafael Stone
Rafael Stone (born June 16, 1972) is the general manager of the Houston Rockets. Early life A Seattle native, Stone is the oldest of three children. He earned an undergraduate degree in African American studies and political science from Williams College in Massachusetts, where he also played Division III basketball for four seasons. After graduating from Stanford Law School, Stone worked as an associate and then as a partner at New York City-based Dewey Ballantine LLP's mergers and acquisitions and capital markets group. Executive career Stone joined the Rockets in 2005 as general counsel and was later promoted to executive vice president of basketball operations while still serving as general counsel. As general counsel, he was responsible for all legal matters related to the franchise and its arena, Toyota Center, including player contracts, trades, business transactions, and concerts. He was named general manager of the Houston Rockets by owner Tilman J. Fertitta on Oc ...
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Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the county seat of King County, the most populous county in Washington. The Seattle metropolitan area's population is 4.02 million, making it the 15th-most populous in the United States. Its growth rate of 21.1% between 2010 and 2020 made it one of the country's fastest-growing large cities. Seattle is situated on an isthmus between Puget Sound, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and Lake Washington. It is the northernmost major city in the United States, located about south of the Canadian border. A gateway for trade with East Asia, the Port of Seattle is the fourth-largest port in North America in terms of container handling . The Seattle area has been inhabited by Native Americans (such as the Duwamish, who had at least 17 villages a ...
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Isaiah Stewart
Isaiah Stewart II (born May 22, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Washington Huskies. Listed at and , he plays the center and power forward positions. Stewart attended McQuaid Jesuit High School in New York in his first two years of high school, after which he transferred to La Lumiere School, a prep school in Indiana. He was a consensus five-star recruit and was ranked among the top players in the 2019 class. Stewart earned McDonald's All-American honors and was named Mr. Basketball USA and Naismith Prep Player of the Year. Early life Stewart was born in Rochester, New York. He grew up boxing and playing soccer. Starting in fifth grade, Stewart focused on basketball, which he was drawn to because of his size and athleticism. He played organized basketball for the first time at age 10, while attending elementary school in Rochester. At age 12, Stewar ...
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Josh Christopher
Joshua Evan Christopher (born December 8, 2001) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Arizona State Sun Devils. He is a , shooting guard. Early life Christopher grew up playing basketball with his older brother, Caleb, in elementary school, middle school and his first two years with Mayfair High School in Lakewood, California, as well as on the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) circuit. In his childhood, he often played against older opponents. As a sophomore at Mayfair, Christopher averaged 25.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3.6 assists per game, leading his team to a 21–8 record. In his junior season, he averaged 25 points per game and won the Division 2AA championship. As a senior, Christopher was joined by Dior Johnson, one of the highest-rated sophomores in the country. He ave ...
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Usman Garuba
Destiny Usman Garuba Alari (born 9 March 2002) is a Spanish professional basketball player for Real Madrid Baloncesto, Real Madrid of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. Listed at , he plays at both the power forward and center (basketball), center positions. Garuba was born in Madrid, Spain to Nigerian parents and joined the youth academy of Real Madrid Baloncesto, Real Madrid at age 11. In 2019, when he was 17 years old, he became the youngest starter in Real Madrid history. In the 2020–21 season, Garuba was named EuroLeague Rising Star and ACB Best Young Player Award, ACB Best Young Player. He earned most valuable player (MVP) honors at the 2016 FIBA U16 European Championship at age 14. In the 2021 NBA draft, he was selected by the Houston Rockets with the 23rd overall pick. Early life and youth career Born in Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, Hospital 12 de Octubre in Madrid, Garuba was raised in the neighborhood of Villaverde Bajo (Madrid) and the municipality o ...
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Jalen Green
Jalen Romande Green (born February 9, 2002) is an American professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a consensus five-star college recruiting, recruit and the best shooting guard in the 2020 class, with ESPN ranking him number one overall. He finished his high school career at Prolific Prep in Napa, California, and he chose to forgo college basketball to join the NBA G League Ignite team in its inaugural season. Green has won three gold medals with the United States at the junior level and was named FIBA Under-17 Basketball World Cup Most Valuable Player, Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2018 FIBA Under-17 Basketball World Cup, 2018 FIBA Under-17 World Cup. Green was selected by the Houston Rockets with the second overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft. He is the third player in the NBA of Filipino descent, following Raymond Townsend and Jordan Clarkson. Early life Green was born in Merced, California. He lived in Liv ...
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2021–22 NBA Season
The 2021–22 NBA season was the 76th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on October 19, 2021, and ended on April 10, 2022. For the first time since the 2018–19 season, the NBA returned to its usual October to April regular season schedule after the previous two seasons were shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 NBA All-Star Game was played at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland on February 20, 2022. The play-in tournament was held on April 12–15, 2022. The 2022 NBA playoffs then began on April 16, and ended on June 16 with the Golden State Warriors defeating the Boston Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals. 75th anniversary promotions On July 7, 2021, the NBA announced that it would commemorate its 75th anniversary throughout the 2021–22 season. A 75th-anniversary diamond jubilee logo is featured in promotions across all NBA properties during the season, including on merchandise, digital and social media, and painted ...
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2021 NBA Draft
The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. The NBA draft returned to Brooklyn after 2020 NBA draft, the previous year's draft was held through videoconferencing at ESPN Studios in Bristol, Connecticut due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the first overall pick, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham. The NBA used a "ceremonial pick" for the late Terrence Clarke, between the 14th and 15th pick of the draft. Draft picks Notable undrafted players These players were not selected in the 2021 NBA draft, but have played at least one game in the NBA. Trades involving draft picks Pre-draft trades Prior to the draft, the following trades were made and resulted in exchanges of draft picks between teams. Draft-night trades Draft-night trades were made after the draft began. These trades are usually not confirmed until the next day ...
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Ja Morant
Temetrius Jamel "Ja" Morant ( ; born August 10, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Murray State Racers, where he was a consensus first-team All-American as a sophomore in 2019. Morant was only lightly recruited by NCAA Division I programs and unranked by recruiting services, despite having been named All-Region Most Valuable Player three times and earning All-State honors at Crestwood High School in Sumter, South Carolina. Nevertheless, he made an immediate impact at Murray State University, earning first-team all-conference honors in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) as a freshman. He had a breakout sophomore season; it saw him win OVC Player of the Year as well as lead the NCAA in assists. As a sophomore, Morant became the first player in NCAA history to average 20-plus points and 10-plus assists per game for a single season. Morant was selected by ...
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Memphis Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference. The Grizzlies play their home games at FedExForum. The Grizzlies are currently the only team in the major professional North American sports leagues based in the city of Memphis, one of 4 professional teams in the state of Tennessee, along with the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League, the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League, and Nashville SC of Major League Soccer all of which play in Nashville, and the only professional basketball team in the state. The team was originally established in Canada as the Vancouver Grizzlies in the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, an expansion team that joined the NBA for the . After the 2000–01 season concluded, the Grizzlies left Vancouver and move ...
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Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers 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 began play as an expansion team in 1970–71 NBA season, 1970, along with the Portland Trail Blazers and Buffalo Braves. Home games were first held at Cleveland Arena from 1970 to 1974, followed by the Richfield Coliseum from 1974 to 1994. Since 1994, the Cavs have played home games at Rocket Arena in downtown Cleveland, which is shared with the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League. Dan Gilbert has owned the team since March 2005. The Cavaliers opened their inaugural season by losing their first 15 games and struggled in their early years, placing no better than sixth in the Eastern Conference during their first five seasons. The team won their first Central Divi ...
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Kevin Porter Jr
Kevin is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; ; ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicised from , an Irish diminutive form.''A Dictionary of First Names''. Oxford University Press (2007) s.v. "Kevin". The feminine version of the name is (anglicised as ''Keeva'' or ''Kweeva''). History Saint Kevin (d. 618) founded Glendalough abbey in the Kingdom of Leinster in 6th-century Ireland. Canonized in 1903, he is one of the patron saints of the Archdiocese of Dublin. Caomhán of Inisheer, the patron saint of Inisheer, Aran Islands, is properly anglicized ''Cavan'' or ''Kevan'', but often also referred to as "Kevin". The name was rarely given before the 20th century. In Ireland an early bearer of the anglicised name was Kevin Izod O'Doherty (1823–1905) a Young Irelander and politician; it gained popularity from the Gaelic revival of the late nineteenth century, with Kevin ...
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NBA Most Improved Player Award
The NBA's Most Improved Player (MIP) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to the player who has shown the most progress during the regular season compared to previous seasons. The winner is selected by a panel of sportswriters throughout the United States and Canada, each of whom casts a vote for first, second and third place selections. Each first-place vote is worth five points; each second-place vote is worth three points, and each third-place vote is worth one point. The player with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award. The criteria for selecting the most improved player was initially open-ended, but the NBA clarified in later years that it was intended for an up-and-coming player who improved dramatically and not a player who made a comeback, distinguishing it from the defunct NBA Comeback Player of the Year Award. Since the 2022–23 NBA season, winners receive the George Mikan Trophy, named after t ...
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