|
Jeff Weltman
Jeff Weltman is an American basketball executive who is the president of basketball operations for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). In 2020, Weltman received one 1st place vote for NBA Executive of the Year. Early life and career Weltman grew up in New York. He was raised by his father, Harry Weltman, and his mother, Arlene. Harry Weltman was a former GM for the now defunct ABA's Spirits of St. Louis in the mid-1970s and for the Cleveland Cavaliers and New Jersey Nets in the mid-1980s. As a teenager, Weltman played pick-up basketball in the South Bronx and Harlem on Saturdays. Weltman played basketball at Oberlin College in Ohio. At the start of Weltman's career, he was hired by the Clippers as a video coordinator in the late 1990s. Weltman then served as the director of player personnel with the LA Clippers, director of basketball administration with the Detroit Pistons, assistant GM with the Denver Nuggets and Milwaukee Bucks and EVP of bas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was established in 1989 as an expansion franchise, and such notable NBA stars as Shaquille O'Neal, Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady, Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis and Nikola Vučević have played for the club throughout its history. , the franchise has played in the NBA playoffs 16 times in 32 seasons, and twice went to the NBA Finals, in 1995 and 2009. Orlando has been the second most successful of the four expansion teams brought into the league in 1988 and 1989 in terms of winning percentage and playoff success, after the Miami Heat. Franchise history 1985–1986: Team creation In September 1985, Orlando businessman Jim L. Hewitt approached Philadelphia 76ers general manager Pat Williams as they met in Texas on his id ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games at Scotiabank Arena, which they share with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team was founded in 1995 as part of the NBA's expansion into Canada, along with the Vancouver Grizzlies. Since the 2001–02 season, the Raptors have been the only Canadian-based team in the league, as the Grizzlies relocated from Vancouver to Memphis, Tennessee. As with most expansion teams, the Raptors struggled in their early years, but after the acquisition of Vince Carter through a draft-day trade in 1998, the franchise set league-attendance records and made the NBA playoffs in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Carter was instrumental in leading the team to their first playoff series win in 2001, where they advanced to the Eastern Conf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2018–19 Orlando Magic Season
The 2018–19 Orlando Magic season was the 30th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). On April 12, 2018, the Magic fired head coach Frank Vogel after the team missed the playoffs. On May 30, Steve Clifford was named as Vogel's replacement. On September 6, owner Richard DeVos died at the age of 92 from complications of an infection. On April 7, 2019, the Magic clinched a playoff spot for the first time since the 2011–12 season, which had also been their most recent winning season. Additionally, they became the Southeast Division champions for the first time since the 2009–10 season. With the Magic clinching a playoff berth, the longest playoff drought in the eastern conference was inherited by the New York Knicks who failed to qualify for the postseason since 2012-13. In the playoffs, the Magic were eliminated by the eventual NBA champion Toronto Raptors in the first round, losing in five games. Draft picks Roster St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melvin Frazier
Melvin Jamon Frazier Jr. (born August 30, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Westchester Knicks of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Tulane Green Wave. Early life Frazier attended L. W. Higgins High School. He played AAU basketball for Team NOLA and Wings Elite, where he was a defensive force but secondary scorer to Marlain Veal. Frazier was ranked the fourth best prospect in Louisiana by The Times-Picayune as a senior. He chose Tulane over offers from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. College career Frazier was coach Ed Conroy's highest-rated recruit but had a relatively quiet freshman season, averaging 5.2 points per game. When Mike Dunleavy Sr. arrived as coach in his sophomore season, he worked to improve Frazier's shooting mechanics and dribbling skills. Frazier averaged 11.5 points per game as a sophomore. He was named AAC player of the week for the first time on November 20, 2017. As a junior, Frazier had 10 games where h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mohamed Bamba
Mohamed Karlakwan Damala Bamba (born May 12, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Texas Longhorns. He was highly regarded by scouts due to his wingspan. He attended Cardigan Mountain School in Canaan, New Hampshire and Westtown School in West Chester, Pennsylvania and was considered one of the top high school prospects for the class of 2017. Early life Bamba was born on May 12, 1998 in Harlem, New York to Lancine Bamba and Aminata Johnson, who both emigrated from the Ivory Coast. Bamba's grandparents were born and brought up in Mali. His older brother, Sidiki Johnson, played college basketball at Arizona, Providence, and Wabash Valley. Another member of his family, estranged brother Ibrahim Johnson, also played college basketball at multiple universities, including both Farmingdale State and Montevallo. Bamba first became interested in basketball at age six ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2018 NBA Draft
The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. It was televised nationally by ESPN. State Farm was the presenting sponsor of the NBA draft for the seventh consecutive year. This draft was the last to use the original weighted lottery system that gave teams near the bottom of the NBA draft better odds at the top three picks of the draft while teams higher up had worse odds in the process; the rule was agreed upon by the NBA on September 28, 2017, but would not be implemented until the 2019 draft. It was also considered the final year where undrafted college underclassmen were forced to begin their professional careers early; on August 8, 2018, the NCAA announced that players who declared for the NBA draft and were not selected would have the opportunity to return to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Clifford
Steven Gerald Clifford (born September 17, 1961) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has previously served as the head coach of the Orlando Magic. Early life Born in Island Falls, Maine, Clifford grew up in Mattawamkeag, Maine, until the third grade, when he moved to Vermont. He played varsity basketball under Gerald Clifford, his father and head coach at North Country Union High School in Newport, Vermont. Clifford attended the University of Maine at Farmington, where he played college basketball for four years. In his final two seasons, he was team captain and was named Best Defensive Player. He graduated with a degree in special education. Coaching career After graduating from college, Clifford became a teacher at Woodland High School in Maine. He also gained his first coaching experience at the school, serving as their head coach for two seasons while leading them to two tournaments ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonathan Isaac
Jonathan Judah Isaac (born October 3, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for one season for the Florida State Seminoles. Isaac was selected sixth overall by the Magic in the 2017 NBA draft. High school career Isaac first attended Barron Collier High School in Naples, Florida during his freshman and sophomore years. In his junior and senior years, he attended the International School of Broward in Hollywood, Florida. However, as a result of wanting to be reclassified as part of the high school class of 2016, Isaac also attended IMG Academy for what was considered to be a postgraduate year in 2016. As a senior in 2016, he averaged 17.6 points per game and 10.0 rebounds per game while leading IMG Academy to a 21–10 overall record. In his high school career, he grew six inches from his freshman year to his senior year, going from a combo guard of sorts to the co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2017 NBA Draft
The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. The draft lottery took place during the playoffs on May 16, 2017. The 53–29 Boston Celtics, who were also the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference and reached the Eastern Conference Finals at the time of the NBA draft lottery, won the #1 pick with pick swapping rights thanks to a previous trade with the Brooklyn Nets, who had the worst record the previous season. The Los Angeles Lakers, who had risked losing their 2017 first round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers, moved up two spots to get the Second overall pick, while Philadelphia moved up to receive the No. 3 pick due to the Sacramento Kings moving up in the draft, which activated pick swapping rights the 76ers had from an earlier trade. On June 19, four days before the NBA draft began, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nikola Vucevic
Nikola () is a given name which, like Nicholas, is a version of the Greek ''Nikolaos'' (Νικόλαος). It is common as a masculine given name in the South Slavic countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia), while in West Slavic countries (Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia) it is primarily found as a feminine given name. There is a wide variety of male diminutives of the name, examples including: Niko, Nikolica, Nidžo, Nikolče, Nikša, Nikica, Nikulitsa, Nino, Kole, Kolyo, Kolyu. The spelling with K, Nikola, reflects romanization of the Cyrillic spelling, while Nicola reflects Italian usage. Statistics *Serbia: male name. 5th most popular in 2011, 1st in 2001, 1st in 1991, 5th in 1981, 9th pre-1940. *Croatia: male name. 32,304 (2011). *Bosnia and Herzegovina: male name. *Bulgaria: male name. * North Macedonia: male name. *Czech Republic: 22,567 females and 740 males (2002). *Poland: female name. *Slovakia: female name. People ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elfrid Payton (basketball)
Elfrid Payton Jr. (born February 22, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA G League. He played college basketball at University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where in 2014 he won the Lefty Driesell Award as the National College Defensive Player of the Year. Payton was drafted with the 10th overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, but was then traded to the Orlando Magic. College career Payton was an unheralded recruit from John Ehret High School in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. He chose to attend Louisiana–Lafayette, and after a promising freshman season in 2011–12, Payton came into his own as a sophomore in 2012–13. He averaged 15.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.4 steals per game and was named first team All- Sun Belt Conference. After his breakout sophomore season, Payton was a late addition to Team USA's U19 World Championships Trials Roster to compete in the 2013 FIBA Under-19 World ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aaron Gordon
Aaron Addison Gordon (born September 16, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one year of college basketball for the University of Arizona before being selected by the Magic with the fourth overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft. Gordon has gained notoriety as one of the all-time greatest competitors in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest; in 2016, he lost a close matchup to Zach LaVine, and in 2020, he narrowly lost to Derrick Jones Jr. High school career Gordon attended Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, California and started on the varsity basketball team for four years, winning two Division II state basketball championships in his sophomore and junior seasons. He led Mitty to its third straight state title game in his senior year, but his team lost in the inaugural Open Division final. As a freshman in 2009–10, Gordon started in 28 of 41 games and averaged 11.8 points, 10.1 rebounds an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Aaron Gordon")