100 Interesting Facts About NBA

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1Tim's mother wish

Tim's mother wish

NBA’s Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs sacrificed money and stayed in college for four years instead of going directly to the NBA because, in her last days, his dying mother made him promise to graduate college with a degree.


2. NBA Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing frequently faced racist chants while he played in college. In one game after an orange was thrown at him, the opposing coach borrowed a microphone and threatened to forfeit the game if fans continued to throw objects at Ewing.


3. NBA player Pete Maravich said in an interview when he was 26 that he "didn't want to play in the NBA for 10 years, then die of a heart attack at 40.” He proceeded to have a 10-year NBA career, and then die of a heart attack at 40.


4. Tim Duncan (14 times NBA All-Star) started out as a swimmer and only began playing basketball in ninth grade after Hurricane Hugo destroyed the only Olympic-sized pool in his home St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.


5. The Washington NBA team the "Bullets" changed their name to the "Wizards" because of the notoriously high murder rate in Washington DC at the time.


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6NBA playing

NBA playing

If you are a 7+ foot tall American male between the ages of 20 and 40, there is a 17% chance you currently play for the NBA.


7. Until the shot clock was introduced, some NBA players used to literally sit on the ball to keep their lead and just wait for time to run out.


8. The bird on the Twitter logo is named Larry the Bird, named after Larry Bird of the NBA's Boston Celtics fame


9. In 1978, then-NBA center Clifford Ray saved a dolphin’s life by using his 45-inch hand reach to grab a screw the dolphin had swallowed. He received instruction over the phone from a veterinarian, who told him how to reach up and into the dolphin’s second stomach to extract the screw.


10. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said that the manager of officials of the NBA “wouldn't be able to manage a Dairy Queen.” Dairy Queen was offended by this and invited him to manage a Dairy Queen for a day. Cuban accepted the company’s invitation and worked for a day at a Dairy Queen.


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11Dr. Shaquille O’Neal

Dr. Shaquille O’Neal

Former NBA star, Dr. Shaquille O’Neal, owns 10% of all ‘Five Guys Burgers’ restaurants in the US


12. Coach Stan Van Gundy was fined for saying NBA shouldn’t be playing games on Christmas Day


13. NBA player Steven Adams is the youngest of 18 children. The boys in his family have an average height of 6 feet 9 inches and the girls average at 6 feet. One of his sisters is an Olympic Gold Medalist in shot put.


14. Standing at 7”6’, 19-year-old teen basketball giant Robert Bobroczky is already taller than any current NBA player.


15. Kobe Bryant holds the record for the most missed shots in the NBA


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16Air Jordan shoes

Air Jordan shoes

Michael Jordan was fined $5000 for every game that he wore Air Jordans (as shoes violated NBA league policy). He made an estimated $90 million in 2013, more than any other active or retired athlete, largely from Nike royalties.


17. NBA player Rick Barry led the league seven times in free throw percentage by shooting the ball underhanded. His free throw percentage was 89.99 at the time of his retirement. Despite the effectiveness of his technique, almost no other basketball player has followed it.


18. Michael Jordan said the greatest part of playing for the US Olympic team was "learning the weaknesses" of his teammates for when they returned to the NBA.


19. In the 1986 NBA draft, Len Bias, the #2 pick by the Boston Celtics died of cocaine overdose 2 days after his draft night. He is considered by some sportswriters to be one of the greatest players not to play at the professional level.


20. In 1994, NBA MVP Hakeem Olajuwon released a $35 sneaker instead of endorsing shoes from Nike or Reebok because "How can a poor working mother with three boys buy Nikes or Reeboks that cost $120?...She can't. So kids steal these shoes from stores and from other kids. Sometimes they kill them."


21NBA cheerleader payscale

NBA cheerleader payscale

The average annual salary of a professional NBA cheerleader is $56,000


22. Former NBA Star Elton Brand co-founded a film production company, Gibraltar Films which produced Werner Herzog's "Rescue Dawn". He's also credited as a producer on Rescue Dawn.


23. NBA's all-time leading scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabaar (with 38,387 points) has become an author and prominent historian since retiring from NBA. He is also a cultural ambassador for the USA.


24. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar only made one 3-point shot in his entire 20-year career


25. Within five years of retirement, an estimated 60% of former NBA players are financially broke.

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8 COMMENTS

  1. who says that Tim Duncan was a good player? Pete Maravich was far better than Tim… :/ don’t me or anyone that Tim was good even..

    4

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