Ray Williams (basketball)
Thomas Ray Williams (October 14, 1954 – March 22, 2013) was an American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1977 to 1987. Born in Mount Vernon, New York, he was the younger brother of Gus Williams (basketball), Gus Williams, who also played in the NBA. High school and college careers Williams attended Mount Vernon High School and helped lead the school to two New York State basketball championships. After attending San Jacinto College, San Jacinto Junior College, Williams played at the Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball, University of Minnesota from 1975 to 1977. During that time, he averaged 18.9 ppg and 6.6 rpg. NBA career Williams was selected by the New York Knicks in the first round of the 1977 NBA draft (10th pick overall). After a quiet first season, he improved his effectiveness on the court, averaging 20.9 ppg, 5 rpg, and 6.2 apg during his third season (1979–80 NBA season, 1979–80) and becoming t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mount Vernon, New York
Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, immediately to the north of the Borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Mount Vernon had a population of 73,893, making it the 24th-largest municipality in the state and List of U.S. communities with African-American majority populations in 2020#New York, largest African-American majority city in the state. Mount Vernon has 12,898 Jamaicans with Afro-Jamaicans, African and Indo-Jamaicans, Indian descent that had immigrated from their homeland of Jamaica after the country gained its independence from United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Britain on August 6, 1962. Mount Vernon has two major sections. South-side Mount Vernon is more urban, while north-side Mount Vernon is more residential. Mount Vernon's downtown business district is on the city's south side, which includes City Hall, Mount Vernon's ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gus Williams (basketball)
Gus Williams (October 10, 1953 – January 15, 2025) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "The Wizard", he was a two-time NBA All-Star playing for the Seattle SuperSonics, winning an NBA championship in 1979. Williams played college basketball for the USC Trojans and was selected by the Golden State Warriors in the second round of the 1975 NBA draft. He later played for the Warriors, SuperSonics, Washington Bullets and Atlanta Hawks. Early life Williams was born in Mount Vernon, New York. He played high school basketball at Mount Vernon High, where he was selected player of the year in 1971 by the New York State Sportswriters Association. He played college basketball at the University of Southern California, where both he led the Pac-8 in scoring and was named an All-American in 1975. Professional career Williams was selected in the second round of the 1975 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors and in th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Billy Knight
William R. Knight (born June 9, 1952) is an American former professional basketball player and executive. Playing with the Indiana Pacers in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and later the National Basketball Association (NBA), he was both an ABA and NBA All-Star. He played college basketball with the Pittsburgh Panthers, who retired his No. 34. In college, Knight was a consensus second-team All-American in 1974. He began his pro career with the Indiana Pacers, earning ABA All-Rookie First Team honors in 1975. He continued with the Pacers in the NBA, and he also played in the league for the Buffalo Braves, Boston Celtics, Kansas City Kings and San Antonio Spurs. Knight finished his playing career with a season in France. He became an executive with the Pacers and the Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies. He last served as the executive vice president and general manager of the Atlanta Hawks from 2003 to 2008. Early life Knight was born and raised in Braddock, Penn ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Phil Ford (basketball)
Phil Jackson Ford Jr. (born February 9, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He graduated from Rocky Mount Senior High School in 1974, and had an All-American college career with the North Carolina Tar Heels. College career Ford was the first freshman under head basketball coach Dean Smith to start in his first collegiate basketball game. During the season, he averaged 16.4 points and 5.2 assists per game – both of which were UNC freshman records that would stand for more than 20 years. Ford led UNC to a second-place finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season standings, and then to a championship win over NC State in the 1975 ACC tournament. This win broke N.C. State's two-year winning streak as ACC champions. Ford averaged 26 points in the tournament and was named tournament MVP – the first freshman in ACC history to achieve that honor. In his sophomore season, Ford averaged 18.6 points an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Washington Bullets
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]   |
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Julius Erving
Julius Winfield Erving II (born February 22, 1950), commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is an American former professional basketball player. Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Association (ABA), and he was the best-known player in that league when it merged into the National Basketball Association (NBA) after the 1975–1976 season. Erving won three championships, four Most Valuable Player awards and three scoring titles with the ABA's Virginia Squires and New York Nets (now the NBA's Brooklyn Nets) and the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. During his 16 seasons as a player, none of his teams ever missed the postseason. He is the eighth-highest scorer in ABA/NBA history with 30,026 points (NBA and ABA combined). He was well known for slam dunking from the free-throw line in Slam Dunk Contests and was the only player voted Most Valuable Player in both the ABA and the NBA. The basketball slang of being posterized was first coined to describe his moves. In 1980, Erving ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Deron Williams
Deron Michael Williams ( ; born June 26, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball, Illinois Fighting Illini before being drafted third overall in the 2005 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz. A three-time NBA All-Star with the Jazz and Brooklyn Nets, Williams also played for Beşiktaş men's basketball team, Beşiktaş of the Turkish Basketball League during the 2011 NBA lockout, and was a gold medal winner on the United States men's national basketball team, United States national team at the Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men, 2008 and Basketball at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament, 2012 Summer Olympics. Early life Williams was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia. In elementary school and middle school, Williams won two state wrestling championships. In 1993, as an eight-year-old, he won the 67 lb. weight class Texas State championship. Four years later in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons 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 plays its home games at Little Caesars Arena, located in Midtown Detroit. The team was founded as the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, a Semi-professional sports, semi-professional company basketball team based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1937. The club would turn professional in 1941 as a member of the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball League (NBL), where they won two NBL championships (1944 and 1945). The Pistons later joined the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1948. The NBL and BAA merged to become the NBA in 1949, and the Pistons became part of the merged league. In 1957, the franchise moved to Detroit. The Pistons have won three NBA championships: in 1988–89 Detroit Pistons ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1981–82 NBA Season
The 1981–82 NBA season was the 36th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA Championship, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 2 in the 1982 NBA Finals, NBA Finals. Notable occurrences *The regular-season ran until mid to late-April for the first time. *The 1982 NBA All-Star Game was played at the new Brendan Byrne Arena (later the Meadowlands Arena) in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with the East defeating the West 120–118. Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics wins the game's MVP award. This season also marked the New Jersey Nets first season in the new arena. *On March 6, 1982, San Antonio beat Milwaukee 171–166 in three overtime periods to set the record for most points by two teams in a game. The record was broken 1983–84 NBA season, two seasons later. *Magic Johnson secures his second NBA Finals MVP award several months before his 23rd birthday. *The Los Angeles Lakers begin a string of nine consecut ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Maurice Lucas
Maurice Lucas (February 18, 1952 – October 31, 2010) was an American professional basketball player who played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a four-time NBA All-Star and won an NBA championship with the Portland Trail Blazers in 1977. He was named to the ABA All-Time Team. Lucas played college basketball for the Marquette Golden Eagles. He began his pro career with two years in the ABA with the Spirits of St. Louis and Kentucky Colonels. He then played 12 seasons in the NBA with the Trail Blazers, New Jersey Nets, New York Knickerbockers, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, and Seattle SuperSonics. The starting power forward on the Trail Blazers' 1976–77 championship team, he was nicknamed "the Enforcer" because of his primary role on the court, which was best exemplified in Game 2 of the NBA Finals that season. During his career, he organized celebrity sporting events to raise awareness and mone ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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NBA Playoffs
The NBA playoffs is the annual Playoffs, postseason Tournament#Knockout tournaments, tournament of the National Basketball Association (NBA) held to determine the league champion. Since 1949, the four-round, best-of-seven tournament is held after the league's regular season and its preliminary postseason tournament, the NBA play-in tournament. Six teams from each of the two conferences automatically advance to the playoffs based on regular season winning percentage. As of 2021, those teams finishing seven through 10 from each conference compete in the play-in tournament to determine the final two playoff Seed (sports), seeds. The playoffs culminate with the NBA Finals, where both conference champions from the NBA conference finals play each other. Format The top six teams in both the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, ranked by winning percentage, directly advance to the playoffs. Teams ranked seventh through tenth comp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |