100 Interesting Facts About NBA

The drunk driver who killed NBA star Malik Sealy was arrested twice more for drunk driving after the fatal crash.

52. NBA players do not tend to come from poverty. Contrary to stereotype, "Growing up in a wealthier neighborhood is a major, positive predictor of reaching the N.B.A." Black NBA players are about 30% less likely to have an unwed or teenage mother.

53. The Boston Celtics have won slightly more than one out of every four NBA Championships, making them the most successful sports franchise in North American history.

54. Only 0.03% of high school basketball players make it to the NBA, and only 0.003% play at that level for longer than 4 years.

55. NBA star Bill Laimbeer came from a very wealthy family. Before he got a raise, the basketball player claimed: "I'm the only player in the NBA who makes less money than his father".

Until 1966, the NBA had Territorial Draft Picks. A team could forgo its first round pick and take any player within 50 miles of its location. They included Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson.

57. In 1977, NBA player Kermit Washington punched opponent Tomjanovich so hard that he needed facial reconstruction surgery. The damage was so bad that Tomjanovich tasted spinal fluid leaking into his mouth and the bone structure of his face detached from his skull.

58. North Korea wanted to be paid in wheat for allowing a 7'8½" (2.35m) tall Ri Myung-Hun to play in the NBA.

59. The first non-white player in the NBA was Wataru Misaka an Asian American from Utah.

60. LeBron and MJ are the only players to win a regular-season MVP, NBA Finals MVP, and an Olympic gold medal in the same year.

In 1948, before the NBA had any black players, the Harlem Globetrotters beat the NBA Champion Lakers in a straight up game.

62. NBA player Michael Kidd-Gilchrist watches the Lion King once a week because he used to watch it every day with his father until he was 3 years old when his father was shot and killed.

63. Only 3 white guys have won NBA MVP in the last 30 years

64. If five or more NBA players on a team die or become dismembered, the league enacts a "disaster draft" which allows the affected team to select five new players from any team in the NBA. Each team owner is permitted to protect only five of their players during the disaster draft.

65. No NBA player has ever worn #69 while playing professionally.

In the 1977 NBA Draft, the New Orleans Jazz selected Lusia Harris, but she was pregnant at the time & declined to attend training camp. She remains the only woman ever officially drafted into the NBA.

67. There are two statues in Beijing, China in the image of former NBA pro-Stephon Marbury. There's also a Stephon Marbury museum, a Chinese musical about his life, and a Chinese movie soon to be released.

68. There is data that suggests that the more 3 Pointers an NBA player takes, the more likely he is to go broke.

69. Former NBA star Dennis Rodman claims he is the oldest of ~46 children. His father says it's "only" ~29.

70. Pat Riley, former NBA player and now NBA executive with the Miami Heat, trademarked the word "Three-Peat" in 1988. When the Chicago Bulls won three straight championships in the 1990s, he was paid $300,000 dollars in royalties.

There is not one openly gay athlete in the NFL, NBA, MLB, or NHL. The only openly gay professional athlete plays Rugby

72. Magic Johnson was so good at every position that he won an NBA title playing at polar opposite positions a center in his rookie year and then as a point guard later in his career.

73. After Magic Johnson was diagnosed with HIV, many NBA players claimed he shouldn't play because there could be a risk of contamination if he had an open wound

74. Spectators in Sacramento's new solar powered NBA stadium can use an app to adjust the temperature at their own seat.

75. An NBA player had to retire because he fell asleep with a pack of ice on his knee