1996–97 Indiana Pacers Season
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1996–97 Indiana Pacers Season
The 1996–97 NBA season was the Pacers' 21st season in the National Basketball Association, and 30th season as a franchise. During the off-season, the Pacers acquired Jalen Rose and Reggie Williams from the Denver Nuggets. The Pacers also received the tenth pick in the 1996 NBA draft from the Nuggets, which they used to select Erick Dampier out of Mississippi State. However, after playing just two games for the team, Williams was then traded to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Vincent Askew. Injuries and sluggish play would hamper the Pacers all season long as Rik Smits only played 52 games due to a foot injury, while Derrick McKey only appeared in just 50 games due to a foot injury, and a ruptured Achilles tendon, and Haywoode Workman was lost for the remainder of the season with a knee injury after only playing just four games. The Pacers got off to a slow 3–8 start, then won five straight games, but continued to struggle playing around .500 for the remainder of the seas ...
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Larry Brown (basketball)
Lawrence Harvey Brown (born September 14, 1940) is an American basketball coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach of the Memphis Tigers. Brown is the only coach in basketball history to win both an NCAA national championship (Kansas Jayhawks, 1988) and an NBA title (Detroit Pistons, 2004). He has a 1,275–965 lifetime professional coaching record in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) and is the only coach in NBA history to lead eight teams (differing franchises) to the playoffs. He also won an ABA championship as a player with the Oakland Oaks in the 1968–69 season, and an Olympic Gold Medal in 1964. He is also the only person ever to coach two NBA franchises in the same season ( Spurs and Clippers during the 1991–92 NBA season). Before coaching, Brown played collegiately at the University of North Carolina and professionally in the ABA. Brown was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach on ...
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Rik Smits
Rik Smits (born 23 August 1966), nicknamed "the Dunking Dutchman" is a Dutch former professional basketball player who spent his entire career with the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The center was drafted by the Pacers out of Marist College with the second overall pick in the 1988 NBA draft. An NBA All-Star in 1998, Smits reached the NBA Finals in 2000. Early life and college career Smits was born in Eindhoven. He started playing basketball at age 14 at PSV–Almonte in Eindhoven. Smits left for the United States in 1984, where he played for Marist College for four years. In 1986, Smits led Marist to the ECAC Metro Conference tournament Championship and advanced to play in their first NCAA tournament in school history. In 1987, he led the Red Foxes to 20 wins for the first time in its Division I history and another appearance in the NCAA tournament. Smits briefly appeared in the 1988 film ''Coming to America'' during a scene f ...
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Travis Best
Travis Best (born July 12, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player, who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and in Europe. High school career Best attended Springfield Central High School, starring on teams that amassed a 69–4 record in his three seasons, earning the Lahovich Award as the top player in Western Massachusetts from 1989–91. After his junior season, he was named a second-team Parade All-American. During his senior season, Best scored a state-record 81 points in a single game. With then-sophomore teammate Edgar Padilla, a future UMass standout, Best led his 25–0 team to the 1991 Division I state championship and a No. 15 ranking in the final USA Today Top 25. After earning Gatorade's Massachusetts and New England Player of the Year honors, Best was selected to play in both the McDonald's All-American Game and McDonald's Capital Classic, earning first-team Parade All-American honors and being the only guard chosen for USA Today ...
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Dale Davis (basketball)
Elliott Lydell "Dale" Davis (born March 25, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player who played center and power forward. Davis was drafted by the Indiana Pacers with the 13th pick of the 1991 NBA Draft and spent the first nine years of his career with them. He quickly established himself as the team's starting power forward and was the workhorse of the Pacers' outstanding teams in the mid-1990s. He routinely averaged double-digits in points and near double-digits in rebounds throughout his Pacers career and left the franchise as the team's all-time rebounds leader in their NBA era. (The Pacers were an original member of the American Basketball Association for several years before joining the NBA.) Following the 1999–2000 season, in which Davis was named to the All-Star team and the Pacers made it to the NBA Finals, the organization decided it was time to rebuild with a younger group of players. They traded Davis to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for ...
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Antonio Davis
Antonio Lee Davis (born October 31, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, and New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also played for Panathinaikos B.C. in Greece and Philips Milano in Italy. Davis is also the former president of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA). On October 31, 2012, ESPN announced the hiring of Davis as a studio analyst for NBA broadcasts. He is also currently a co-host/analyst on SiriusXM NBA Radio. College career Davis played college basketball at UTEP under coach Don Haskins from 1986 to 1990. Teaming up with fellow future NBA-All star Tim Hardaway, Davis helped the Miners win 25 games and earn the seventh seed in the 1987 NCAA tournament as they defeated the number ten seed Arizona in overtime by a score of 98–91; they would, however, lose in the second round to Iowa by a score of 84–82. The next year, Davis started 30 ...
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Reggie Miller
Reginald Wayne Miller (born August 24, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who played his entire 18-year National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Indiana Pacers. Miller was known for his precision three-point shooting, especially in pressure situations and most notably against the New York Knicks, for which he earned the nickname "Knick Killer." When he retired, he held the record for most career 3-point field goals made. He is currently fourth on the list behind Stephen Curry, Ray Allen, and James Harden. A five-time All-Star selection, Miller led the league in free throw percentage five times and won a gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics. Miller is widely regarded as the Pacers' greatest player of all time. His 31 was retired by the team in 2006. Currently, he works as an NBA commentator for TNT and college basketball analyst for CBS Sports. Miller was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012 and named ...
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1997 NBA Playoffs
The 1997 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1996–97 season. The tournament concluded with the defending NBA champion and Eastern Conference champion Chicago Bulls defeating the Western Conference champion Utah Jazz 4 games to 2. This was the Bulls' second straight title, and fifth overall (They completed the 3-peat by beating Utah again in 1998). Michael Jordan was named NBA Finals MVP for the fifth time. This was the first Western Conference title for the Jazz in their 23-year history. The Miami Heat's run to the Eastern Conference Finals marked the farthest they had reached in the playoffs up to that point; they did not return until 2005, and won the NBA Finals in 2006. The Minnesota Timberwolves made their playoff debut after failing to win more than 30 games in their first 7 seasons. It was also the first of 7 straight years in which they made the playoffs only to lose in the first round. They were the last of the 1988/ ...
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2000 NBA Finals
The 2000 NBA Finals was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1999–2000 season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Eastern Conference champion Indiana Pacers 4 games to 2. This was the Lakers' first championship in twelve years. Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the series, in arguably one of the best Finals performances in history putting up 38 PPG, 16 rebounds and 2 blocks, his first of three consecutive honors. The series was played under a best-of-seven format, with the Lakers holding home court advantage. The series featured the number one seeds from both conferences. Background Los Angeles Lakers Although the Lakers were one of the more talented teams in the NBA the previous year, they failed to win a single game against the San Antonio Spurs in the 1999 NBA playoffs. Twenty-four days after being swept by th ...
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1999–2000 NBA Season
The 1999–2000 NBA season was the 54th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA championship, beating the Indiana Pacers 4 games to 2 in the 2000 NBA Finals. This would also be Charles Barkley’s final season in the NBA. Notable occurrences *Effective this season, the first game of the NBA regular season begins on either the first Tuesday of November or the last Tuesday of October, and the last game on the third Wednesday of April. The NBA playoffs begin on the third Saturday of April. *The 2000 NBA All-Star Game held in Oakland, California. The West won 137–126. Tim Duncan from the San Antonio Spurs and Shaquille O'Neal from the Los Angeles Lakers shared the game's MVP honors. The Slam Dunk Contest returned after a two-year absence, with Vince Carter winning the title in what is considered to be the best Dunk Contest performance of all time. *Both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers played ...
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LaSalle Thompson
LaSalle Thompson III (born June 23, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player, who spent most of his 15-year career with the Kansas City/Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers. The 6 ft 10 in, 245-pound Thompson spent time at both the center and power forward positions during his playing career. He later served as an assistant coach for the Charlotte Bobcats, during head coach Larry Brown's tenure and for the New York Knicks during head coach Mike Woodson's tenure. Playing career College Nicknamed "Tank", Thompson finished his career at Texas as the school's all-time leader in rebounds with 1,027, despite the fact he played only three years. The record would stand for 21 years until it was broken by James Thomas in 2004. Kansas City/Sacramento Kings Thompson was drafted by the Kings with the fifth overall pick in the 1982 NBA draft, making him the highest Texas player taken until LaMarcus Aldridge was selected second overall in 2006. During the 1984 N ...
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Mark Jackson (basketball)
Mark A. Jackson (born April 1, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player. A point guard from St. John's University, he played for the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, and Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in a career spanning from 1987 to 2004. After retiring from playing basketball, Jackson became a broadcast commentator for ESPN and ABC alongside his former coach Jeff Van Gundy and play-by-play man Mike Breen. He also worked as an analyst for The YES Network's New Jersey Nets games. In 2011 the Golden State Warriors hired Jackson as head coach. He coached the team for three seasons, but was fired in 2014 despite leading the Warriors to consecutive playoff appearances for the first time in over 20 years. On May 17, 2014, Jackson reached a multiyear agreement to return to ESPN as a game analyst. Early life and high school career Mark Jackson grew up in the St. Alb ...
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1996–97 Denver Nuggets Season
The 1996–97 NBA season was the Nuggets' 21st season in the National Basketball Association, and 30th season as a franchise. In the off-season, the Nuggets acquired Mark Jackson and Ricky Pierce from the Indiana Pacers, acquired Šarūnas Marčiulionis from the Sacramento Kings, and signed free agents Ervin Johnson and Eric Murdock, although Murdock was released to free agency in November after just 12 games. However, after a 4–9 start to the season, Bernie Bickerstaff resigned as head coach and was replaced with Dick Motta, where the Nuggets then lost ten straight games, and held a 16–32 record at the All-Star break. At midseason, Jackson was traded back to his former team, the Indiana Pacers, while Pierce was dealt to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for second-year guard Anthony Goldwire. The team also signed free agent and three-point specialist Kenny Smith, who won two championships with the Houston Rockets. As the season drew, the Nuggets still struggled losin ...
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