Andrew Bynum

Andrew Lee Bynum (born October 27, 1987 in Plainsboro, New Jersey) is an American professional basketball  player who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association  (NBA). He was drafted 10th overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2005.Bynum became the youngest player ever to play an NBA game later that year, breaking Jermaine O'Neal's record. Amidst the 2007–08 season, he suffered an injury on his left kneecap  and eventually missed the rest of the season and all of the playoffs. He made a successful return at the beginning of the 2008–09 season. In January 2009, however, he suffered another injury, this time to his right knee. He was able to come back before the playoffs started and was part of the Lakers squad that won the 2009 NBA championship. In the 2010 post-season, Bynum played in every single playoff game with a torn meniscus and strained Achilles tendon and the Lakers repeated as NBA champions against the Boston Celtics.

Lamar Odom

Lamar Joseph Odom (born November 6, 1979) is an American professional basketball forward with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association.

Odom was featured in Pro Skater Rob Dyrdek's MTV show Fantasy Factory, and is planning to invest in an L.A. restaurant with Dyrdek. He also made a cameo appearance in the music video for "We Made It" by Busta Rhymes and Linkin Park. Odom also has his own music and film production company, Rich Soil Entertainment.  He appeared in a Taco Bell commercial with Charles Barkley during Super Bowl XLIV. Additionally, Odom made a cameo on the second season of the hit HBO show Entourage. Odom and his wife, Khloe Kardashian, were guests at the wedding of basketball player Carmelo Anthony and entertainer La La Vazquez on 10 July 2010 at Cipriani's in New York City.

Odom is noted for being a professional athlete with a significant fondness for candy. Wrigley made a replica of the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy out of candy in celebration of the Lakers' victory in the 2009 Finals, and Odom's name is featured on the base. Odom has three children, Destiny (1998), Lamar Jr. (2002)[19], and Jayden (born December 15, 2005), with his ex-girlfriend Liza Morales.[6] On 29 June 2006, Odom's 6½-month-old infant son Jayden died from SIDS while sleeping in his crib in New York In September 2009, it was reported that Odom was engaged to reality television personality Khloé Kardashian. Odom and Kardashian were married on Sunday, 27 September 2009.

Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Kiyan Anthony (born May 29, 1984), nicknamed "Melo", is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Denver Nuggets in the National Basketball Association  (NBA). After a successful high school career at Towson Catholic High School and Oak Hill Academy, Anthony attended Syracuse University for college where he led the Orangemen to their first National Championship in 2003. He earned the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award and was named the Most Valuable Player of NCAA East Regional. After one season at Syracuse University, Anthony left college to enter the 2003 NBA Draft, where he was selected as the third pick by the Nuggets.

Since entering the NBA, Anthony has emerged as one of the most well-known and popular players in the league. He was named to the All-Rookie team, to the All-Star team three times and to the All-NBA team four times. Anthony has led the Nuggets to two division titles and to the playoffs every season since his rookie year. In 2009, he helped the Nuggets advance to the Conference Finals for the first time since 1985. As a member of the USA national team, Anthony won a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics and a gold medal at the 2008 Olympics.

Anthony plays the small forward position though he is also capable of playing power forward. His scoring prowess is considered his best asset with his ability to take over any game on the offensive end; he shares the single-game NBA record for mosts points in one quarter with thirty-three.  On offense, Anthony is recognized for being a prolific scorer with a variety of crafty offensive moves. Listed at 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) and 228 pounds (103 kg), he has strength and quickness to be an immediate and consistent scoring threat in the post.[96]  He also likes creating space from his defenders which allows him to step into his jump shot or put the ball on the floor and drive to the basket and get to the free throw line.  Anthony is often known for being one of the premier clutch performers in the NBA; during the 2005–06 season, Anthony made five game-winning shots in the last five seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime.  Dave McMenamin, a staff writer for ESPN, wrote "If you were going to choose one player to challenge Bryant  for his title of Mr. Clutch, it would have to be Anthony." Despite being a prolific scorer, he has been criticized for his defense and has never been named to the NBA All-Defensive Team.

David Lee

David Lee (born April 29, 1983) is an American  professional basketball power forward and center for the Golden State Warriors.

 

Early years

Lee was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He was a highly touted player at Chaminade College Preparatory School in Creve Coeur, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Naturally left-handed, Lee became essentially ambidextrous when he broke his arm and learned to play right-handed. Before playing for the University of Florida, Lee was a McDonald's All American and won the 2001 Slam Dunk competition

 

Golden State Warriors (2010–present)

Lee became an unrestricted free agent in the 2010 off-season. On July 9, he was signed and traded to the Golden State Warriors in a deal that involved Anthony Randolph, Kelenna Azubuike, Ronny Turiaf and a future second-round pick traded to the Knicks. The deal is worth $80 million for over 6 years.

Trevor Ariza

Trevor Anthony Ariza (born June 30, 1985 in Miami, Florida) is an American basketball  player in the National Basketball Association  who plays for the New Orleans Hornets. Primarily a small forward, he is listed at 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) tall and 210 pounds.

Ariza attended Westchester High School in Los Angeles, California, where as a junior he combined with teammates and fellow future NBA players Hassan Adams, Brandon Heath, and Bobby Brown to lead the Comets to the California State championship.After one season at UCLA Ariza declared for the NBA draft was a second round choice (43rd overall) of the New York Knicks in 2004.

Shaquille O'Neal

Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal (born in Newark, New Jersey, USA, March 6, 1972, age 38 years), often abbreviated as Shaq, is one of the NBA basketball players of the most dominant. O'Neal played for the Orlando Magic first, then moved to Los Angeles Lakers, where he found glory by embracing 3 times NBA champion title. By the 2004-05 season, he moved to the Miami Heat and NBA champion grabbed a title, then moved to the Phoenix Suns, and for the 2009-10 season he moved to the Cleveland Cavaliers. With a height of 2.16 m, weight 150 kg, and the shoe 22 (USA shoe size), Shaq is known for his physical size. Shaq has a few nicknames such as "the Diesel", "The Big Aristotle", "MDE (Most Dominant Ever)", "Superman", and last julukannnya after obtaining his doctoral degree, "Doctor Shaq"

Throughout his career, O'Neal established himself as a formidable low post presence, putting up career averages of 24.1 points on .581 field goal accuracy, 11.0 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game (as of April 2010).  At 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m), 325 lb (147 kg; 23.2 st) and U.S. shoe size 23,he is famous for his physical stature. His physical frame gives him a power advantage over most opponents. O'Neal's "drop step", (called the "Black Tornado" by O'Neal) in which he posts up a defender, turns around and, using his elbows for leverage, powers past him for a very high-percentage slam dunk, has proven an extremely effective offensive weapon, though it has been limited in recent years. In addition, O'Neal frequently uses a
right-handed jump hook shot to score near the basket. The ability to dunk frequently contributes to his career field goal accuracy of .581, the second highest field goal percentage of all time. Opposing teams often use up many fouls on O'Neal, limiting the playing time of their own big men. O'Neal's imposing physical presence inside the paint has caused dramatic changes in many teams' offensive and defensive strategies that can be seen over the course of his career. O'Neal's primary weakness is his free-throw shooting. His career average is 52.7%. He once missed all 11 free throws in a game against the Seattle SuperSonics on December 8, 2000, a record. In hope of exploiting O'Neal's poor foul shooting, opponents often commit intentional fouls against him, a tactic known as "Hack-a-Shaq". O'Neal is the fourth-ranked player all-time in free throws taken,having attempted 11,121 free-throws in 1,170 games through the 09–10 season. On December 25, 2008, O'Neal missed his 5,000th free throw, becoming the second player in NBA history to do so along with Wilt Chamberlain.



On his own half of the hardwood, O'Neal is considered to be a capable defender, and he was named three times to the All-NBA Second Defensive Team. His presence serves to intimidate opposing players shooting near the basket, and he has averaged 2.3 blocked shots per game over the course of his career. O'Neal is generally liked by the media for his playful tone in interviews. He has been called "The Big Aristotle and Hobo Master", a name that was self-given, for his composure and insights during these interviews. O'Neal has several nicknames, many of which have been given by the media. Some of these nicknames are "Shaq", "The Diesel", "Shaq Fu", "The Big Aristotle", "The Big Daddy", "Superman", "The Big Agave", "The Big Cactus", "The Big Shaqtus", "The Big Galactus", "Wilt Chamberneezy", "The Big Baryshnikov", "The Real Deal", "Dr. Shaq" (after earning his MBA), "The Big Shamrock", "The Big Leprechaun", "Shaqovic." and more recently "The Big Conductor".During the 2000 Screen Actors Guild strike, O'Neal performed in a commercial for Disney. O'Neal was fined by the union for crossing the picket line.O'Neal's humorous and sometimes incendiary comments fueled the Los Angeles Lakers' long standing rivalry with the Sacramento Kings; O'Neal frequently referred to the Sacramento team as the "Queens." During the 2002 victory parade, O'Neal declared that Sacramento will never be the capital of California, after the Lakers beat the Kings in a tough seven game series enroute to completing a three-peat of championship titles. He also received media flak for mocking Chinese people when interviewed about newcomer center Yao Ming. O'Neal told a reporter, "you tell Yao Ming, ching chong yang, wah, ah so." O'Neal later said it was locker-room humor and he meant no offense. Yao believed that O'Neal was joking, but he said a lot of Asians wouldn't see the humor.Yao joked, "Chinese is hard to learn. I had trouble with it when I was little."During the 2005 NBA playoffs, O'Neal lamented of his poor play due to injury as being comparable to Erick Dampier, a Dallas Mavericks center who had failed to score a single point in one of their recent games. The quip inspired countless citations and references by announcers during those playoffs, though Dampier himself offered little response to the insult. The two would meet in the 2006 NBA Finals.O'Neal is very vocal with the media, and often jabs at former Laker teammate Kobe Bryant. In the summer of 2005, when asked about Kobe, he responded, "I'm sorry, who?" and continued to pretend that he did not know who Kobe was until well into the 2005–2006 season.

O'Neal has also appeared in many other shows such as Saturday Night Live and in 2007 hosted Shaq's Big Challenge, a reality show on ABC where he challenged Florida kids to lose weight and stay in shape.
When the Lakers faced the Miami Heat on January 16, 2006, O'Neal and Kobe Bryant made headlines by engaging in handshakes and hugs before the game, an event that was believed to signify the end of the so-called "Shaq–Kobe feud" that had festered since the center left Los Angeles. O'Neal was quoted as saying that he accepted the advice of NBA legend Bill Russell to make peace with Bryant. However, on June 22, 2008, O'Neal freestyled a diss rap about Bryant in a New York club. While rapping, O'Neal blamed Kobe for his divorce from his wife Shaunie and claims to have received a vasectomy, as part of a rhyme. He also taunted Bryant for not being able to win a championship without him. O'Neal led the audience to mockingly chant several times "Kobe, tell me how my ass tastes." O'Neal justified his act by saying "I was freestyling. That's all. It was all done in fun. Nothing serious whatsoever. That is what MCs do. They freestyle when called upon. I'm totally cool with Kobe. No issue at all." Although even other exponents of hip hop, such as Snoop Dogg, Nas and Cory Gunz, agreed with O'Neal, Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio expressed his intention to relieve O'Neal of his Maricopa County sheriff posse badge, due to "use of a racially derogatory word and other foul language". The quote from his song was "it's like a white boy trying to be more nigga than me."[

Allen Iverson

 

Ezail Allen Iverson (born in Hampton, Virginia, United States June 7, 1975, age 35 years), nicknamed AI and The Answer, is a professional basketball player the United States who now plays for the Philadelphia 76ers. 

He is one player that acts as the All-Star point / shooting guard. In the past 10 years, when he was 31 years old, he was regarded as one of the best guards of his generation and one of the leading scorer in NBA history. In 2003, Iverson rank 53rd on SLAM Magazine as one of the Top 75 NBA players of all time.

From the beginning of Iverson is a ball player who can be equated with living legend Isiah Thomas. Speed and accuracy of shot 2 digits are the mainstay of this player. He never made a living legend, Michael Jordan nearly fell off with the "killer crossover"of his. Top of Iverson's career was when defending the 76ers and entered into the 2000 NBA Finals against the LA Lakers. He could carry his team stole one game from Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant's game-exactly 1 before the next was wiped out by the LA Lakers.

However, the egos of Iverson is what makes his career began to fade. Following from the 76ers, he was in-trade to the Denver Nuggets to ditandemkan with young stars, Carmelo Anthony. Instead of rings champion who won, but the commotion among the players who got the Nuggets, in addition to failing to perform. After the Nuggets, Iverson in-trade to the Detroit Pistons, Chauncey Billups exchanged with-that just makes the Nuggets got to be one team to be reckoned with. In the Pistons, he was throwing a tantrum with malingering, and skip the exercise because it does not become the primary choice in the team. Iverson era Pistons in fact that even sag and win-lose record of negative (more to lose than win.) Having had time to become free agents and recruited by the Memphis Grizzlies, before finally terminated his contract, he finally returned to his old club, the Philadelphia 76ers.

Paul Pierce

Paul Anthony Pierce (born in Oakland, California, October 13, 1977, age 33 years), nicknamed The Truth,  is an American professional basketball player in NBA basketball group, the Boston Celtics. He received his award All-America First Team in the early years of his career in Kansas, and has been a player since the beginning of each season selected by the Celtics as the 10th overall selection in NBA Draft 1998. He also won the award 6 times All-Star and bringing Boston to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2002, before discontinued New Jersey Nets. After going through the regular season the 2007-08 season, the Celtics into the NBA Finals end and managed to become champion. Pierce was elected to the NBA Finals MVP 2008 in his first NBA Finals.

 

Tracy Mcgrady

Tracy Lamar McGrady, Jr.., (born May 24, 1979, in Bartow, Florida) is an American professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons. He is a shooting guard, but cans Also play as a small forward.

 

Entering the league after Graduating from high school, McGrady eventually Became a seven-time All-Star. He led the league in scoring in 2003 and 2004. He has Also Played for the Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets and New York Knicks. McGrady was Ranked on SLAM Magazine's "Top 75 Players of All-Time " in 2003. McGrady's style of play has been compared to That of George Gervin.

 

 

 

 McGrady has four children-Daughters Layla Clarice, Laycee Aloe, and sons Laymen Lamar, Layden-with his wife CleRenda Harris, whom he dated for 10 years Had. Their first son was born on December 27, 2005 During a 82-74 loss against the Utah Jazz in the which McGrady left During halftime to see his girlfriend going into labor. [19] The couple were the resource persons married on September 12, 2006 in Mexico. McGrady and Vince Carter are third cousins; McGrady learned That his grandmother and Carter's grandmother were the resource persons cousins at a family reunion while he was still in high school and Carter Played at the University of North Carolina. The two Played together with the Toronto Raptors for two years before McGrady left for free agency. After McGrady left, he and Carter Feud Had a short-but this was resolved in a short period of time. Tracy's younger brother, Chancellor "Chance" McGrady, Played for the 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Runner-Up Memphis Tigers basketball team. In 2008, McGrady was criticized for his comments on the All-Star game being held in New Orleans, only 3 years removed from the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. McGrady publicly questioned the quality of public safety and protection of NBA players.

 

Ray Allen

Full Name : Walter Ray Allen
Born         : Merced California, July 20, 1975

Walter Ray Allen (born July 20, 1975), referred to as Ray Allen, is an American professional basketball  player who is currently playing for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association. He has played professionally for the Milwaukee Bucks, Seattle SuperSonics, and the Boston Celtics; and collegiately for the University of Connecticut Huskies.  One of the most accurate 3-point and free throw shooters in NBA history, he is a nine-time NBA All-Star and won an Olympic gold medal as a member of the 2000 United States Men's Basketball Team. Allen has acted in two films, including a co-starring role in the 1998 Spike Lee film He Got Game.

Ray Allen was picked by the University of Conneciticut to play there as a point guard. He did a great job as a point guard earning the All-American status his sophomore year which is a huge honor for any future NBA star. He also had many other honors to come in his junior year he was in the top ten running for the Naismith Player of the Year Award. Which is one of the best honors. His Junior year he was the leading contender for the Collegiate Player of the Year Award also.

He was the only UConn player, in UConn history to every score over the 1,000 point mark, in his sophomore year. He was the leading scorer for the Huskies and was nailing three pointers from all over he 118 of his 273 attempted shots. In college as a junior he was on fire. In the University games in 1995 he lead his huskies to the gold medal against Japan who did not put up an easy fight. His team and himself had been rocking the world with their undeafted record of 7-0. He was shooting 61.6% from the field and finished with a 15.6 scoring average for the United States. He decided after his great performance for the Huskies that he would enter the 1996 NBA draft.

Kevin Garnet

Full Name : Kevin Maurice Garnett
Born         : Greenville, Sout Carolina. may 19, 1976

Kevin Maurice Garnett (born May 19, 1976) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays power forward for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association  (NBA). After a high school basketball career at Farragut Career Academy which included winning a national player of the year award,  he skipped college and entered the NBA Draft. He was selected with the 5th overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves and became the first NBA player drafted directly out of high school  in 20 years.

Garnett made an immediate impact with the Minnesota Timberwolves leading them to eight-consecutive playoff appearances. In 2004, Garnett led the Timberwolves to the Western Conference Finals and was voted Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the 2003–04 season. In the 2000 Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal as a member of the USA men's national basketball team. Since his second season in the league, Garnett has been named to every All-Star Game, which includes winning the All-Star MVP award in 2003. He was awarded the regular season's NBA Defensive Player of the Year in the 2007–08 season and has been a nine-time member of the All-NBA Teams selection and a ten-time member of the All-Defensive Teams selection. Garnett currently holds several all-time Timberwolves franchise records.

After spending 12 seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Garnett went to the Boston Celtics in a blockbuster trade. In his first year with the Celtics, he helped them win their 17th title, and the Celtics' first NBA championship since 1986.

Dwight Howard

Full Name : Dwight David Howard
Born         : Atlanta, December 8, 1985

Dwight David Howard (born December 8, 1985) is an American basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association  (NBA). Howard, who usually plays center but can also play power forward, had an outstanding high school career at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy. He chose to forgo college and entered the 2004 NBA Draft, and was selected first overall by the Magic. A four-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA team selection, three-time All-Defensive member, and two-time Defensive Player of the Year, Howard has been ranked consistently as one of the best in the league in rebounds, blocks, field goal percentage and free throw attempts, and has set numerous franchise and league records. He has led the Magic to three division titles and one conference title, and he was the winner of the 2008 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. In the 2008 Olympics, he was the starting center for Team USA, which went on to win the gold medal.

Before he was drafted in 2004, Howard said that he wanted to use his NBA career and Christian faith to "raise the name of God within the league and throughout the world". In November 2009, he was named one of the 10 finalists for the Jefferson Awards for Public Service, which awards athletes for their charitable work.

Howard is considered the "franchise player" of the Magic.  He is the NBA's leading rebounder (also leading the league in 2007–08 and 2008–09); to illustrate, in a game against the Golden State Warriors on January 10, 2007, his 25 rebounds for the Magic outnumbered the total number of boards grabbed by the starting five of the Warriors  Howard's rebounding is in part facilitated by his extraordinary athleticism; his vertical leap is estimated at almost 40 inches, rare for a player of his size (6'11", 265 pounds) He demonstrated this skill memorably in the 2007 Slam Dunk Contest during the NBA All-Star Weekend, during which he completed an alley oop dunk from teammate Jameer Nelson and slapped a sticker onto the backboard which reached 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m). The sticker showed an image of his own smiling face with a handwritten "All things through Christ Phil: 4:13," a paraphrase of Philippians 4:13. As of April 2010, Howard's career average of 12.7 rebounds per game (in the regular season) ranks 13th in NBA history. The center has also remained largely injury-free in his NBA career, playing in 351 consecutive games before missing his first game

Howard's abilities and powerful physique have drawn attention from fellow NBA All-Stars. Tim Duncan once remarked in 2007: "[Howard] is so developed... He has so much promise and I am glad that I will be out of the league when he is peaking."Kevin Garnett echoed those sentiments: "[Howard] is a freak of nature, man... I was nowhere near that physically talented. I wasn't that gifted, as far as body and physical presence."Subsequent to a game in the 2009 NBA Playoffs, Philadelphia 76ers swingman Andre Iguodala said: "It's like he can guard two guys at once. He can guard his guy and the guy coming off the pick-and-roll, which is almost impossible to do... If he gets any more athletic or jumps any higher, they're going to have to change the rules." As early as December 2007, ESPN writer David Thorpe declared Howard to be the most dominant center in the NBA.

While many sports pundits have been rating Howard as one of the top young prospects in the NBA since 2006, Howard has some weaknesses in his game. Offensively, his shooting range remains limited; he is also mistake-prone, having led the NBA in total number of turnovers in the 2006–07 season.Like many centers, he has a low free throw conversion percentage. As a result, he is often a target of the Hack-a-Shaq defense and is annually among the league leaders in free throw attempts. During the 2007–08 regular season, Howard led the NBA with 897 free throw attempts while shooting only 59% from the free throw line.Also in that season, outside of layups and dunks, his shooting percentage was only 31.6%.[21] In the 2008–09 season, he led the NBA again with 849 free throw attempts and in 2009–10, he was second in the NBA with 816.

Pau Gasol

Full Name : Pau Gasol i Sàez
Born          : Catalan Julu 6, 1980

Gasol is very athletic and quick for a 7-footer (213 cm), and primarily plays the power forward and center positions. He has often been compared to fellow European players Toni Kukoč and Dirk Nowitzki, holding career averages of 18.8 points and 9.0 rebounds.

 

He is a refined scorer in the post and midrange; his overall game is near-ambidextrous and makes it difficult for opposing teams to defend. Gasol uses a variety of midrange jumpers, hook shots, up-and-under moves, and shot fakes to score very efficiently. 

In addition, his foot speed relative to his size allows him to run the fast break and finish effectively. He is also a skilled passer for a big man, earning 3.2 assists per game over his career. Defensively, he is an above-average shot blocker with a career average of 1.7 blocks per game. Before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2007–08 season, he had played exclusively with the Memphis Grizzlies from 2001–2008. When he was traded to the Lakers, he maintained the same number on his jersey, still playing with the number 16. In his career, Gasol has never been ejected.[ Gasol scored his 10,000th point in a game against the Jazz on the 2nd of January 2009.[38]  He finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in the win.