Lisa Deshaun Leslie-Lockwood (born July 7, 1972, in Gardena, California) is a former American professional women's basketball player in the WNBA. She is a three-time WNBA MVP and a four-time Olympic gold medal winner. The number seven pick in the 1997 inaugural WNBA draft, she followed a superb career at the University of Southern California with seven WNBA All-Star appearances and two WNBA championships over the course of eleven seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks, before retiring in 2009.[1] Leslie, a 6'5" center, is the first player to dunk in a WNBA game. She was considered a pioneer and cornerstone of the league during her WNBA career.
Hamilton played college basketball at the University of Connecticut from 1996–99. He was named the 1999 NCAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Player after UConn's run to that year's national title. Hamilton was the 7th pick overall in the 1999 NBA draft and played for the Washington Wizards for his first three seasons as a professional. Hamilton, Hubert Davis and Bobby Simmons were then traded to the Detroit Pistons for Jerry Stackhouse, Brian Cardinal and Ratko Varda. Since the trade, Hamilton has become one of the NBA's top shooting guards, and helped the Pistons win the NBA Championship in 2004. Also, Hamilton was the leading scorer on the team. After fracturing his nose three times in the 2003–2004 season, Hamilton began wearing a protective mask. He has continued to wear the mask since it has become a symbol of strength. Hamilton says, "It's like my Superman cape."[1]
Candace Parker,est née le 19 avril 1986 à St. Louis dans le Missouri, est une joueuse de basket-ball américaine, évoluant au poste d'ailière.
Candace Nicole Parker (born April 19, 1986 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an All-American basketball player for the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks and is also the younger sister of NBA player Anthony Parker. She was drafted to the team from Tennessee in 2008. She may be best known for being the first woman to dunk in an NCAA tournament game and the first woman to dunk twice in a college game —she set both milestones as a redshirt freshman on March 19, 2006. She also became only the second player to dunk in a WNBA game on June 22, 2008.[1][2][3] A versatile player, she is mainly a forward, but was listed on Tennessee's roster as a forward, center, and guard.[4] She was a starter on the Lady Vols basketball team, winners of the 2007 and 2008 NCAA championships. Candace won the 2009 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice award as the favorite female athlete in the sports category.
Awards and Honors Big East Player of the Year (2003, 2004) Wade Trophy Winner (2003) Naismith Award (2003, 2004) Nancy Lieberman Award (2003, 2004) NCAA National Championship (2002,2003,2004) NCAA Tournament MVP (2003, 2004) WNBA Rookie of the Year (2004) All-WNBA First Team (2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) All-WNBA Second Team (2005) WNBA All-Star (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009) WNBA Championship (2007, 2009) WNBA Most Valuable Player (2009) WNBA Finals MVP (2009)
Stockton was born in Spokane, Washington to Clementine Frei and Jack Stockton. He attended grade school at St. Aloysius and moved on to high school at Gonzaga Prep, graduating in 1980. He then played college basketball for Gonzaga University in his hometown where he averaged 20.9 points per game while shooting 57% from the field in his senior year. His grandfather, Houston Stockton had also been a well known athlete at Gonzaga. John Stockton was selected by the Utah Jazz with the 16th overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft. [edit]NBA career
John Stockton averaged a career double-double, with 13.1 points and 10.5 assists per game. He holds the NBA's record for most career assists (15,806) by a margin of more than 4,000, as well as the record for most career steals (3,265). He had five of the top six assists seasons in NBA history (the other belonging to Isiah Thomas). He holds the NBA record for the most seasons, games, and consecutive games played with one team, and is third in total games played, behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Robert Parish. He missed only 22 games during his career, 18 of them in one season. He played in 34 games where he tallied 20 or more assists. Stockton appeared in 10 All-Star games, and was named co-MVP of the game in 1993 with Jazz teammate Karl Malone, which was held in Salt Lake City, Utah. He played with the 1992 and 1996 US Olympic basketball teams, known as Dream Team I and III, the first Olympic squads to feature NBA players, keeping the game ball from both Gold Medal games. He was selected to the All-NBA First Team twice, the All-NBA Second Team six times, the All-NBA Third Team three times, and the NBA All-Defensive Second Team five times. He was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history in 1996. Stockton's career highlight came in Game 6 of the 1997 Western Conference Finals. Stockton scored the last 9 points for the Jazz, including a buzzer-beating 3-point shot over the Houston Rockets' Charles Barkley, to send the Jazz to the first of its two consecutive NBA Finals appearances. In both of these appearances, Stockton's Jazz teams were defeated by the Chicago Bulls. For many years, he and Malone were the Jazz's 1-2 punch. The two played a record 1,412 regular-season games together as teammates. Many of Stockton's assists resulted from passes to Malone. Stockton earned the "old school" tag for his physical play (surveys of athletes and fans alike often judged him among the toughest players in the NBA, usually just behind teammate Karl Malone); his uniform "short shorts" (he was the most recent notable NBA player to wear them, preferring the style after the rest of the league had adopted today's baggier look); his simple dress off the court, which contrasted with many of his NBA contemporaries; and his reserved demeanor. On May 2, 2003, Stockton announced his retirement with a released statement instead of the customary news conference. The Jazz later held a retirement ceremony for him, in which Salt Lake City renamed the street in front of the Energy Solutions Arena (formerly known as the Delta Center), where the Jazz play, John Stockton Drive.[5] His number-12 jersey was retired by the Jazz during a game on November 22, 2004. A statue of Stockton can be seen in front of the Energy Solutions Arena; an accompanying statue of Karl Malone was placed nearby on March 23, 2006. The Malone and Stockton statues stand on a bronze plaque commemorating their achievements together. Stockton was announced as a member of the 2009 class of inductees to the Basketball Hall of Fame on April 6, 2009; he was formally inducted on September 11. Along with Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Dominique Wilkins, Elgin Baylor, Reggie Miller, Pete Maravich, and his teammate Karl Malone, John Stockton is considered to be one of the best players never to have won an NBA championship.
Yugoslavia Bodiroga first started playing structured basketball at the age of 13. He enrolled in Zrenjanin's Mašinac (Servo Mihalj) basketball section, under supervision of local basketball enthusiast Rade Prvulov. At the age of fifteen, he sprung up to 2.05m, and was quickly incorporated into the first team squad, coached by Miodrag Sija Nikolić, a former OKK Beograd and SFR Yugoslav national team player in the 1960s. His domestic career took off when, at 17, he was noticed by Krešimir Ćosić at a friendly youth tournament that featured Mašinac and KK Zadar among others, where Bodiroga scored 32 points in a game that pitted two teams. Ćosić then brought Bodiroga for a week-long basketball camp in Zadar and eventually persuaded Bodiroga's family to allow their son to move away to Zadar. In the meantime Bodiroga signed a pre-contract with KK Vojvodina so that when he finally went to Zadar in autumn 1989 he wasn't right away eligible for the first team, meaning that he first worked with coach Josip Pino Grdović in the club's youth sections while simultaneously attending high school. Afer a year he was allowed to be moved into the full squad, then under head coach Slavko Trninić.[6] After just one season in the first team, Bodiroga's stay on the Dalmatian coast came to a premature end when the conflict that pitted Croats and Serbs against each other inflamed in May–June 1991. The country was breaking up, war was about to start raging, and basketball quickly became an afterthought. Being a player from Serbia in a Croatian city was becoming increasingly uncomfortable for Dejan, so his mentor Ćosić (coaching AEK Athens at the time) tried to persuade Bodiroga to follow suit. [edit]Italy Trials were arranged with AEK and Olympiakos, with both clubs offering a contract, on the condition that Bodiroga naturalized as a Greek citizen. He refused and ended in Italy instead, joining a Pallacanestro Trieste emerging team, coached by Bogdan Tanjević and financially backed by the Stefanel clothing empire. In Trieste, Bodiroga first captured the attention of the wider basketball public. Shortly after his arrival in the summer of 1992, he made an impact, averaging 21.3 points per game over 30 league matches and leading his team to the playoffs. There, however, they were quickly disposed of in the second round by the more experienced Pallacanestro Cantù. He had another stellar season for Trieste in 1993/94, this time leading his team deeper into the playoffs. In the semifinals game 3 against Scavolini Pesaro, Carlton Myers' buzzer beater clinched a 2-1 series victory for Pesaro. Trieste also reached the Korac Cup final, where they surrendered to PAOK Thessaloniki, who starred Zoran Savic, Walter Berry and Bane Prelevic. After that season, Stefanel changed its backing to Olimpia Milano, sparking an exodus of Trieste players and coaches to Lombardy (coach Tanjević, Bodiroga, Gregor Fučka, Alessandro De Pol, Davide Cantarello and Ferdinando Gentile). Bodiroga's leading role remained unchanged however, as he developed into an all-around player. In 1994/95, Olimpia reached the Korac Cup final, with players that also reached it the previous year in Trieste. However, they lost to ALBA Berlin, coached by Svetislav Pešić, who would later play a big role in Bodiroga's career. On the home front, the team made it to the playoff semi-finals but lost 3-2 to the eventual champions, Virtus Bologna, led by another Serbian superstar, Predrag Danilović. The two Serbs turned the series into a personal duel, with Danilović's experience prevailing in the end. The summer of 1995 was an important milestone for Bodiroga. He became part of the great Yugoslavia squad that was making its comeback after years of international exile. The team was loaded with stars like Aleksandar Djordjevic, Vlade Divac, Zarko Paspalj, Danilović and Savić. Together, they won the gold in one of the most spectacular finals in Eurobasket history against a Lithuanian national team that featured the likes of Arvydas Sabonis, Šarūnas Marčiulionis and Rimas Kurtinaitis. That same summer, Bodiroga was drafted by the Sacramento Kings in the 1995 NBA Draft (second round, #51 overall). One year later, the Kings selected his younger countryman Peja Stojakovic. However, unlike Stojaković, Bodiroga declined the offer to play in the NBA, choosing instead to remain in Europe. In 1995-96, Bodiroga won his first trophy in Milan, but the Korac Cup was again lost, this time to Efes Pilsen Istanbul. In the league, Bodiroga led the way with 23.3 points per game in 32 regular season matches. During the playoffs, they beat Virtus 3-1 in the semi-finals (Danilovic left for the Miami Heat in the summer), and Teamsystem Bologna led by Myers, Djordjevic and Alessandro Frosini. By now an established international, Bodiroga took his place in the Yugoslav national team for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and he brought home a silver medal, with Dream Team 2 winning the gold. [edit]Spain For the 1996-97, Bodiroga joined Real Madrid after an offer of $1 million per season, and teaming up with coach Zeljko Obradovic, whom he knew well from his national team stints. The squad also featured veteran Joe Arlauckas as well as established internationals Alberto Herreros and Mikhail Mikhailov. In the Spanish ACB League finals, they faced an FC Barcelona team that boasted Djordjevic, Jerrod Mustaf and Artūras Karnišovas. Barcelona prevailed 3-2, winning the deciding 5th game 82-69 away, as Madrid settled with the European Cup trophy. On the national basketball front, Yugoslavia rolled over the competition with considerable ease en route to another European gold in 1997, with Bodiroga again playing an integral role. In the group stages, the Serbs faced the Croatian national team, in the first meeting in basketball between the two nations since the breakup of the old Yugoslavia. The game carried all kinds of political tension and was a low-scoring affair, with Djordjevic winning it for Yugoslavia with a dramatic 3-pointer at the end. In Bodiroga's next and final season with Real Madrid, (and without Obradovic, who had moved to Benetton Treviso) there were no improvements, as the team was ousted in the league's semifinals by TDK Manresa. He did achieve League MVP honours for the 1997-98 season. That summer's national team duty was happier, as it brought another World Championship title for Yugoslavia, the first for Bodiroga. Now 25, Bodiroga was, together with Djordjevic (who suffered knee problems and played few minutes) and Zeljko Rebraca, one of the team leaders. [edit]Greece The same summer of 1998 also saw Bodiroga move to the Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos, where club chairman Pavlos Giannakopoulos began assembling a team to conquer Europe. As such, Bodiroga was the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle that already included Dino Radja, Fragiskos Alvertis and coach Slobodan Subotic. The Greens won the Greek Championship, but the FIBA Champions' Cup ended in a disappointing note, leading to the departures of Radja and Subotic, with the latter's replacement being old acquaintance Obradovic, who brought along Rebraca from Treviso. After such an investment, Panathinaikos captured both the 1999–2000 Greek Championship and the Euroleague trophies, the latter coming in a final versus Maccabi Tel Aviv. In 2001, Panathinaikos again won the Greek Championship and also reached the Suproleague final in Paris. A year later, Bodiroga was named the Euroleague Final Four MVP, as the Greeks beat hosts Kinder Bologna, and their star player Manu Ginóbili 89-83. In the international front, Bodiroga, as the team's undisputed leader, helped Yugoslavia win the 2001 European Championship in Turkey and the 2002 FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis. In this competition, the national side defeated Team USA in the quarterfinals and the Argentine national team in the final, in overtime. [edit]Back to Spain In the summer of 2002, Bodiroga returned to the Spanish league's FC Barcelona, which was managed by Svetislav Pesic and had players like Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Gregor Fučka and Juan Carlos Navarro. He won the Euroleague with Barça (the first time the team achieved this), and also added two domestic league titles with them. [edit]Finishing up back in Italy In 2005-06, Bodiroga came back to the Italian League, this time with Virtus Roma, re-joining coach Pešić, as the team played in the ULEB Cup. After getting eliminated from European contention in the round of 16 and losing the Italian Cup final (83-85) to Carpisa Napoli, Virtus finished the season in 6th place with a 22-12 record in the national league. Bodiroga finished the year with a 15.7 points-per-game regular season scoring average. The playoff first round pitted Roma against favorites Mens Sana Basket. After dropping the first game, Bodiroga dominated the series in a 3-1 victory. Incidentally, the 2006-07 season's playoffs, both teams played again, with the exact opposite outcome. After the fourth and final game, Bodiroga announced his retirement from professional basketball on 8 June 2007. Bodiroga was the General Manager for the Virtus Roma. In June 2009 he left the club.
Although he was passed over in the draft, Starks worked his way into the NBA after stints in the Continental Basketball Association and the World Basketball League. He was eventually signed by the Golden State Warriors in 1988, but left in 1990 to try out for the New York Knicks. In one practice, he tried to dunk on Knicks center Patrick Ewing. Ewing threw him down and Starks twisted his knee. The team was not allowed to release him unless it healed by the end of December. When it did not heal by that time, the Knicks could not release Starks, and thus kept him. As a result, Starks has on many occasions referred to Ewing as his saving grace. He eventually became the starting shooting guard, becoming a key player on the team and playing eight seasons in New York from 1990 to 1998. Starks was a posterchild for the Knicks' physical play during that era, along with teammates Anthony Mason and Charles Oakley. Starks was a participant in the 1992 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. Starks was at the center of one of the most famous plays in Knicks history, which has now become known as "The Dunk". During a 1993 playoffs series against the Chicago Bulls, a series that the Knicks lost, Starks was in the right corner of the court being closely guarded by B.J. Armstrong. Ewing came to set a screen for Starks, who faked to the left like he was going to use the pick, and then fiercely drove along the baseline and dunked over Horace Grant and Michael Jordan with his left hand. One of the low points of Starks's career came in the 1994 NBA Finals against the Houston Rockets. In the closing seconds of Game 3 and the Knicks trailing by 3, Starks was fouled by Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon while attempting a three-pointer. At the time, however, the NBA only allowed two free throws during a foul on a three-point shot. Starks made both, but the Rockets won the game 93–89 (the league would change the rule to allow three free throws the next season). Starks and the Knicks then watched[2] their home court host the New York Rangers first Stanley Cup celebration in 54 years, with their 3–2 win over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. It served as an inspiration[2] for the Knicks to recover to take a 3–2 series lead going into Game 6. However, in the final seconds of Game 6, Olajuwon blocked Starks's last-second three-point attempt to give Houston an 86–84 victory. In Game 7, Starks had one of the worst games of his career, shooting 2-for-18 from the field, including 0-for-10 in the fourth quarter. The Rockets went on to win the game and the championship, denying New York from having both NBA and NHL championships in the same year. In 1995, Knicks coach Pat Riley left the Knicks for the Miami Heat after a dispute with then-General Manager Dave Checketts. The Knicks later hired Don Nelson, resurrecting the tensions from Starks's first year with Golden State. But Nelson was fired in the middle of his first season, and replaced with Assistant Coach Jeff Van Gundy. With the addition of Allan Houston in 1996, Starks became a mentor as Houston took his spot in the starting lineup. Starks continued to be a steady contributor off the bench that season, and in 1997 he received the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award. Two years later, Starks was traded back to the Warriors, along with Chris Mills and Terry Cummings, for Latrell Sprewell.
