1996–97 Cleveland Cavaliers Season
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1996–97 Cleveland Cavaliers Season
The 1996–97 NBA season was the 27th season for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the National Basketball Association. In the 1996 NBA draft, the Cavaliers selected Ukrainian center Vitaly Potapenko out of Wright State University with the twelfth overall pick, and Lithuanian center Zydrunas Ilgauskas with the 20th overall pick; however, Ilgauskas would miss the entire regular season due to a broken bone in his right foot. During the off-season, the team signed free agent Mark West. The Cavaliers started the regular season by winning nine of their first twelve games, but after a 21–10 start, they lost six straight games in January while losing 11 of their next 14 games. The team played above .500 basketball for the entire season, holding a 25–22 record at the All-Star break, but started to struggle down the stretch, losing 10 of their 16 games in March. On the final day of the regular season on April 20, 1997, the Cavaliers faced off against the Washington Bullets at the Gund ...
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Mike Fratello
Michael Robert Fratello (born February 24, 1947), nicknamed "the Czar", is an American sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional basketball coach. He is currently a part-time Color commentator, analyst for FanDuel Sports Network Ohio for the Cleveland Cavaliers and a part-time color commentator for FanDuel Sports Network SoCal for the Los Angeles Clippers. Fratello previously coached the Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA), served as NBA on NBC, NBC's lead analyst, as YES Network's color commentator/studio analyst for the Brooklyn Nets, as a commentator/studio analyst for NBA TV and for NBA on TNT, nationally televised games on TNT (American TV network), TNT and was also the head coach of the Ukraine national basketball team. Fratello is among the winningest head coaches in NBA history, ranking respectively 18th and 19th in List of National Basketball Association head coaches with 400 games c ...
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Eastern Conference (NBA)
The Eastern Conference is one of two conferences that make up the National Basketball Association (NBA), the other being the Western Conference. Both conferences consist of 15 teams organized into three divisions. The Eastern Conference comprises the Atlantic, Central, and Southeast Divisions. The current divisional alignment was adopted at the start of the 2004–05 season, when the now Charlotte Hornets began play as the NBA's 30th franchise. This necessitated the move of the New Orleans Pelicans from the Eastern Conference's Central Division to the newly created Southwest Division of the Western Conference. The NBA first started awarding an Eastern Conference championship trophy during the 2000–01 season, renaming it after Hall of Famer Bob Cousy in the 2021–22 season. Also in 2021–22, the league began awarding the Larry Bird Trophy to the Eastern Conference Finals Most Valuable Player, named after Hall of Famer Larry Bird. 2024–25 standings Notes ...
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1997–98 Boston Celtics Season
The 1997–98 NBA season was the 52nd season for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association. The Celtics received the third overall pick in the 1997 NBA draft, and selected point guard Chauncey Billups from the University of Colorado, and also selected shooting guard Ron Mercer from the University of Kentucky with the sixth overall pick. Despite finishing with the league's second worst record the previous season, the Celtics were back in the headlines after hiring University of Kentucky head coach Rick Pitino as their new coach. During the off-season, the team signed free agent Chris Mills, but then traded him to the New York Knicks in exchange for second-year forward Walter McCarty in October, and also signed second-year center Travis Knight, Andrew DeClercq, Bruce Bowen and Tyus Edney. Pitino's Celtics career had an auspicious beginning on opening night when the Celtics defeated Michael Jordan, and the 5-time defending NBA champion Chicago Bulls, 92–85 at th ...
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1997–98 Milwaukee Bucks Season
The 1997–98 NBA season was the 30th season for the Milwaukee Bucks in the National Basketball Association. During the off-season, the Bucks acquired All-Star guard Terrell Brandon and Tyrone Hill from the Cleveland Cavaliers in a three-team trade. The team also received the tenth overall pick in the 1997 NBA draft, and selected power forward Danny Fortson from the University of Cincinnati, but soon traded him to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Ervin Johnson, signed free agent Michael Curry, and re-signed former Bucks star and sixth man Ricky Pierce in December. After an 11–8 start to the regular season, the Bucks slipped under .500, but then posted a six-game winning streak between January and February, and held a 24–23 record at the All-Star break. However, with Glenn Robinson out for the remainder of the season due to a knee injury after 56 games, while Brandon only played just 50 games due to an ankle injury, and Hill only appeared in 57 games due to a knee inj ...
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Bob Sura
Robert Sura Jr. (born March 25, 1973) is an American World Series of Poker player and former professional basketball player who played ten seasons for five different teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA). At , , he played as a shooting guard and point guard. In his retirement from basketball, Sura has competed professionally several World Series of Poker tournaments. In 2024, Sura made it to the Day 3 Main Event, the furthest he had advanced in six previous events. Early life and college career Born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Robert Sura played in high school at G.A.R. Memorial. He had a high game of 69 while leading G.A.R. to a streak of 86 consecutive league victories. After high school, Sura played basketball for Florida State University, playing on the same team as fellow NBA players Charlie Ward and Sam Cassell. Sura holds the all-time scoring record at Florida State with 2,130 points. Sura was named the ACC Rookie of the Year his freshman year at Fl ...
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Danny Ferry
Daniel John Willard Ferry (born October 17, 1966) is an American executive and former professional basketball player who played the forward position. Considered one of the most celebrated basketball players in the United States from the high school graduating class of 1985, Ferry chose to attend Duke University. Ferry led the Duke Blue Devils to three Final Four appearances while setting many school records and earning several national player of the year awards. In 2002, Ferry was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) 50th Anniversary men's basketball team honoring the fifty greatest players in conference history. Drafted into the NBA in 1989 as the second overall pick, Ferry played one season for Italian league's Il Messaggero (now Virtus Roma) after refusing to play for the Los Angeles Clippers. He went on to spend the majority of his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he played from 1990 to 2000. In the NBA, Ferry was a role player known for his three-point s ...
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Bobby Phills
Bobby Ray Phills II (December 20, 1969 – January 12, 2000) was an American professional basketball player. He played shooting guard and small forward for the National Basketball Association's Cleveland Cavaliers and Charlotte Hornets. A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Phills attended Baton Rouge's Southern University. He was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha. He was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1991 NBA draft (45th overall). After being cut in December 1991 without playing a game for the Bucks, Phills had a stint with the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and was named to the All-Rookie Team in 1992. He was signed by the Cavaliers and rejoined the NBA late in the 1991–92 season. Over his nine-year career, he averaged 11.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game. He was known as a defensive stopper,
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Tyrone Hill
Tyrone Hill (born March 19, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player and former assistant coach for the National Basketball Association's Atlanta Hawks. Hill spent four years playing collegiately at Xavier University, in his last season averaging 20.2 points and 12.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 58.1% from the field. The Golden State Warriors selected him with the eleventh pick of the 1990 NBA draft. After three years in Golden State, Hill was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the summer of 1993. On November 25, 1994, Hill scored 25 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, and recorded seven assists while leading the Cavaliers to a 96–94 win over the Washington Bullets. Playing under Mike Fratello, Hill earned an All-Star Game appearance in 1995. He set Cleveland's single-season franchise record by shooting a career-best 60.0% from the field (and ranked second in the NBA). Hill was sent to the Milwaukee Bucks in a 1997 three-team deal involving notably Terrell ...
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Chris Mills (basketball)
Christopher Lemonte Mills (born January 25, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player who played ten seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). High school Chris Mills attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, from 1986 to 1988. At 6 ft 7 in, he was the starting center for each of his three years playing varsity basketball there. In 1987 and 1988, he was awarded the City 4-A Player of the Year Award, as well as Mr. Basketball for the state of California. He was a 1988 McDonald's All-American in basketball. El Camino Real High School basketball coach, Mike McNulty said of Chris Mills, "He's one of the three best players ever to come out of Los Angeles—he's gotta be right there with John Williams and Marques Johnson." Taft High School basketball coach, Jim Woodard, echoed these sentiments when he said, "I've been watching city basketball for 33 years. Mills is the best I've ever seen. He can do it all." College Mills graduated from Univers ...
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Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania state border. Cleveland is the most populous city on Lake Erie, the list of cities in Ohio, second-most populous city in Ohio, and the List of United States cities by population, 53rd-most populous city in the U.S. with a population of 372,624 in 2020. The city anchors the Greater Cleveland, Cleveland metropolitan area, the Metropolitan statistical area, 33rd-largest in the U.S. at 2.18 million residents, as well as the larger Cleveland–Akron, Ohio, Akron–Canton, Ohio, Canton combined statistical area with 3.63 million residents. Cleveland was founded in 1796 near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River as part of the Connecticut Western Reserve in modern-day Northeast Ohio by General Moses Clea ...
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1997 NBA All-Star Game
The 1997 NBA All-Star Game was the 47th edition of the All-Star Game and commemorated the 50th anniversary of NBA. The game was played on February 9, 1997, at Gund Arena (now known as Rocket Arena) in Cleveland. The winner of the MVP award was Glen Rice of the Charlotte Hornets who played 25 minutes and scored 26 points while breaking two records in the process, 20 points in the third quarter and 24 points in the second half. Rice's 20 points in the period broke Hal Greer's record (19), set in 1968. Rice's 24 points in a half surpassed the previous mark of 23, owned by Wilt Chamberlain and Tom Chambers. Michael Jordan's 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists were the first and until the 2011 NBA All-Star Game the only triple-double in NBA All-Star Game history; LeBron James (2011), Dwyane Wade (2012), and Kevin Durant (2017) have also achieved this. Five players (Charles Barkley, Alonzo Mourning, Patrick Ewing, Clyde Drexler, Shaquille O'Neal) who were voted or selected for ...
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Terrell Brandon
Thomas Terrell Brandon (born May 20, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player. He played for three teams during his 11-year career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A two-time All-Star, Brandon was a key starter on three NBA franchises before a series of injuries ultimately forced him to play his last game at 31 years old. Early life and education Brandon was born in Portland, Oregon and attended Grant High School, where he led his team to the 1988 Class AAA Oregon high-school basketball championship, being named Oregon high school player of the year. As a child, he suffered from chronic foot deformation. College career Brandon attended the University of Oregon, leading his team to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) in 1989–90 as a sophomore. He then went on to hold several school records: career- and single-season scoring average, assists in a single game (13), single-season steals (twice), and single-game steals (eight). Brandon earned t ...
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