Greatest ever
Exactly what you'd expect. Players and teams
If you haven’t already, take a moment to send good thoughts Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s way. The greatest player college basketball’s ever seen announced yesterday that he has cancer.
Kareem’s prognosis for his rare form of leukemia is good. Doctors told the 62-year-old legend that he has “a very good chance to live your life out and not have to make any drastic changes to your lifestyle.”
And that’s good news. To echo this post from Bruins Nation, get better big fella.
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Perhaps no team captured our attention the last 25 years like the 1990 Runnin’ Rebs. Maybe the Fab Five or a handful of others come close.
But for sheer larger-than-life value, I go with Tark’s team.
Maybe that’s why I got a little tingle reading this story about the Rebels’ reunion.
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The best part about Michael Jordan’s induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is everyone wants to reflect on Jordan’s career. And as a guy who can’t get enough hoops history and topics to argue about, it’s a dream.
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Michael Jordan being inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame surprises no one. In fact, the announcement was months ago.
But MJ selecting David Thompson, the original ACC high flyer and dunk king, was a surprise. Jordan could’ve gone with Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen or Dean Smith -- Smith seemed like the odds-on favorite – not the greatest player in N.C. State history.
But his Airness did just that. And it makes perfect sense. After all, Jordan is a guy with a sense of history.
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Everyone knows John Wooden is the greatest coach who ever lived. But Sporting News made it official.
UCLA’s legendary coach was honored during a luncheon Tuesday, where a packed room toasted him – and that mind-boggling run of 10 NCAA tournament titles in 12 seasons (still the most remarkable run in all of sports).
The rest of Sporting News’ list of the 50 greatest coaches – selected by a panel of 118 Hall of Famers, championship coaches and other experts – was kind to college hoops as well. Nine more coaches (two women’s coaches) were honored, most of the people you’d expect.
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The next few days will ultimately determine Tyler Hansbrough’s college basketball legacy.
Accolades aren’t the issue for the North Carolina senior. Few players can match being national and ACC player of the year, a consensus first-team All-American three times (and second-team as a freshman) and the career scoring leader at UNC and in the ACC.
Hansbrough’s been the face of college basketball for nearly three years, as the best player on one of the sport’s most storied programs. He’s led the Heels in scoring and rebounding for four years, the only player to ever do so. UNC’s won nearly 85 percent of its games – 122-22 in the last four years – a mark only a few players in NCAA history can surpass.
He’ll surely go down as one of the best players of his era, perhaps even of the last decade. But without an NCAA tournament title, will Hansbrough’s legacy be remembered as really good, but not elite?
Does Hansbrough need a trophy to be considered an all-time great?
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Everyone loves rankings. Whether it’s the AP, coaches, the nation’s top colleges, weekend box office results or the best Donkey Kong player ever, people love ‘em.
Especially when it comes to sports rankings.
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Now that ESPN announced Oscar Robertson as No. 2 on their 25 Greatest Players in College Basketball, there’s no doubt Lew Alcindor’s No 1.
Was there ever any doubt?
And while I’ll disagree with their final list a bit, it seems strange to think that no player from the last 20 years was higher than 12 on ESPN’s list. There were only five from the last 25. Is the modern game lacking those elite players?
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This one’s the ideal post for arguing among hoops fans. Except when you get to the top – then there’s little room for debate.
Just like in football, ESPN is counting down the 25 greatest players in college basketball history. (Click here for videos.) And it’s a loaded list.
The fun part about these lists is everyone has their version.
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