USA Dream Team 2008 Olympics

NBA Dream Team 2007 Rosters
15 - Carmelo Anthony - F - Denver Nuggets / Syracuse
4 - Chauncey Billups - G - Detroit Pistons / Colorado
10 - Kobe Bryant - G - Los Angeles Lakers / Lower Merion H.S.
14 - Tyson Chandler - C - New Orleans Hornets / Dominguez H.S.
11 - Dwight Howard - F/C - Orlando Magic / Atlanta Academy
6 - LeBron James - F - Cleveland Cavaliers / St.Vincent Mary H.S.
5 - Jason Kidd - G - New Jersey Nets / California
13 - Mike Miller - G - Memphis Grizzlies / Florida
9 - Tayshaun Prince - F - Detroit Pistons / University of Kentucky
8 - Michael Redd - G - Milwaukee Bucks / Ohio State
12 - Amare Stoudemire - C - Phoenix Suns / Cypress Creek H.S.
7 - Deron Williams - G - Utah Jazz / Illinois

Managing Director: Jerry Colangelo
Head Coach: Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University (N.C.)
Assistant Coach: Jim Boeheim, Syracuse University (N.Y.)
Assistant Coach: Mike D'Antoni, Phoenix Suns
Assistant Coach: Nate McMillan, Portland Trail Blazers
Director of Scouting: Rudy Tomjanovich
Director of International Player Personnel: Tony Ronzone

Can You Handle This?

LeBron Raymone James (born December 30, 1984(1984-12-30)) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association. Commonly nicknamed "King James" and "The Chosen One", the Akron, Ohio-born James was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA star while still in high school, and was named Ohio's "Mr. Basketball" three times. At the age of 18, he was selected with the first overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Cavaliers.

Before his NBA debut, James signed an unprecedented US$90 million shoe contract with Nike. He has since set numerous youngest player records. In his first season, he received the NBA Rookie of the Year Award and in the following three seasons received All-NBA and All-Star honors. He led the Cavaliers to back-to-back playoff appearances in 2006 and 2007; the latter year the team advanced to the Conference Finals for the first time since 1992 and the NBA Finals for the first time in Cleveland's history.

James is listed as a small forward, but can also play point guard and shooting guard. This versatility has led to his unofficial classification as a "point forward". James was a member of the United States men's national basketball team that won the bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, and he finished second in the league Most Valuable Player balloting in 2006.


Player profile

James has established himself as a legitimate triple-double threat and has averaged 26.7 points, 6.4 assists and 6.7 rebounds per game for his career. As of the 2006-07 season, he has recorded twelve triple-doubles in his career, with ten in the regular season and two in the postseason. On offense, James utilizes his quickness, size, and strength to get past defenders. When penetrating to the basket James exhibits exceptional body control, adjusting his shot in mid-air according to the defense, allowing him to absorb contact and finish at the basket.In the 2005-06 season, he led the league in completed traditional three point plays. He is a solid rebounder who regularly ranks among the league leaders in rebounds for the small forward position. His overall skill sets and on-court play has led to many comparisons to NBA legends Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan.

Although James exhibits exceptional offensive ability, he has yet to be featured on the NBA All-Defensive Team and has struggled with his free throw shooting — he averaged a subpar .698 free throw accuracy in the 2006-07 season.

Personal life

James has two children with his high school sweetheart, Savannah Brinson. The first, named LeBron James Jr., was born on October 6, 2004. The second, Bryce Maximus James, was born on Thursday, June 14, 2007.During his sophomore year, he was named First Team-All State as a wide receiver, and in his junior year he helped lead St. Vincent - St. Mary High School to the state semifinals in football. As a freshman playing basketball, James wore jersey number 32 before adopting his current number 23 as a tribute to his role model, Michael Jordan.

Despite being compared to players such as Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, and Magic Johnson, James considers Penny Hardaway as the player whose talents are most similar to his. "Penny sees the whole floor and can score," James said. "He's still one of my favorite players of all-time."

James has stated he wants to be the first billionaire athlete and a global icon. He has a number of endorsement contracts with Nike, Sprite, Powerade, bubblicious, and Upper Deck. With Nike LeBron has released six signature shoe styles. He has acted in a series of commercials called "The LeBrons" also produced by Nike.

During the 2007 NBA Playoffs, James drew criticism when he declined to sign a petition started by his teammate, Ira Newble, regarding the Chinese government's involvement in the ongoing conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan.

On July 11, 2007, James along with comedian Jimmy Kimmel, hosted the 2007 ESPY Awards. The show aired on July 15, 2007. LeBron was nominated for three ESPYs. His nominations were for Best Male Athlete, Best NBA Player (winner), and for Best Record Breaking Performance. The Record Breaking performance was when he scored 48 points in Game 5 of the 2007 NBA Eastern Conference Finals.

Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bean Bryant (born August 23, 1978(1978-08-23)) is an American All-Star shooting guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA) who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. Bryant is the only son of former Philadelphia 76ers player and former Los Angeles Sparks head coach Joe "Jellybean" Bryant. Bryant rose to national prominence in 1996 when he became the first guard in league history to be drafted out of high school. Bryant and then-teammate Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002. Since O'Neal's departure following the 2004 season, Bryant has become the cornerstone of the Lakers' franchise, and was the NBA leading scorer during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons.

In 2003, Bryant made headlines when he was accused of sexual assault. The charges were dropped after Bryant's accuser declined to testify, and the two sides ultimately settled the matter outside of criminal court.

Player profile

Bryant is a shooting guard who plays small forward on some occasions. He is considered one of the most complete players in the NBA,[18] and has been elected to every All-NBA Team from 1999 on and featured in the last nine NBA All-Star games. Bryant was a vital part of the three most recent Lakers' championships. He is a prolific scorer, averaging 24.6 points per game for his career, along with 4.5 assists, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game. He is known for his ability to create shots for himself, and is an adept outside shooter, sharing the single-game NBA record for three pointers made with twelve. Aside from this, he is also a standout defender having made the All-Defensive 1st or 2nd Team 7 of the last 8 seasons.

Private life

In November 1999, 21 year old Bryant met 17 year old Vanessa Laine while she was working as a background dancer on the Tha Eastsidaz music video G'd Up. Bryant was in the building working on his debut musical album, which was never released. The two began dating and became engaged just six months later in May 2000, while Laine was still a senior at Marina High School in Huntington Beach, California. To avoid media scrutiny, she finished high school through independent study. According to Vanessa's cousin Laila Laine, there was no prenuptial agreement. Vanessa said Kobe "loved her too much for one". They married on April 18, 2001 in Dana Point, California. Neither Bryant's parents, his two sisters, longtime advisor and agent Arn Tellem, nor Bryant's Laker teammates attended. Bryant's parents were opposed to the marriage for a number of reasons. Reportedly Bryant's parents had problems with him marrying so young, especially to a woman who was not African-American. This disagreement resulted in an estrangement period of over two years, during which Kobe Bryant did not have any contact with his parents.

The Bryants' first child, a daughter named Natalia Diamante Bryant, was born on January 19, 2003. The birth of Natalia influenced Bryant to reconcile his differences with his parents. Vanessa Bryant suffered a miscarriage due to an ectopic pregnancy in the Spring of 2005. In the Fall of 2005 the Bryants announced that they were expecting their second child. Their second daughter, Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant, was born on May 1, 2006. Interestingly, Gianna was born 6 minutes ahead of former teammate Shaquille O'Neal's daughter Me'arah Sanaa, who was born in Florida.

Mr. Fundamentals

Timothy "Tim" Theodore Duncan (born April 25, 1976 in Christiansted, St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands) is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 6'11" (2.11 m), 260-pound (118 kg) power forward is a four-time NBA champion, a three-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, and the current captain of the Spurs. He has also won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award twice, and was voted into nine All-Star games, ten All-NBA teams, and ten All-Defensive teams. With the United States national team however, Duncan has enjoyed limited success. Between 1999 and 2004, he played in 40 internationals, but after the 2004 Summer Olympics, he expressed doubts over continuing his international career.

Duncan did not play competitive basketball until ninth grade. He played his college basketball at Wake Forest University, where he completed his degree in psychology with honors. His strong performances for the college team attracted the attention of basketball scouts. When he entered the 1997 NBA Draft, he was drafted by the Spurs as the number one pick. He soon earned the nickname "The Big Fundamental", due to his use of basic fundamental basketball moves to great effect. His list of accomplishments and leadership in the Spurs' NBA title runs in 1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007 have led basketball experts to consider him to be one of the greatest power forwards in history. Off the court, Duncan is known for his quiet and unassuming ways, as well as his active philanthropy. He created the Tim Duncan Foundation to raise general health awareness and fund education
and youth sports in various parts of the United States.

Beat me:
In his basketball career, Duncan has collected a number of individual and team honors, including being a two-time MVP (2002, 2003), four-time NBA champion (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007) and three-time NBA Finals MVP (1999, 2003, 2005). As a college player, he was named ACC Male Athlete of the Year, won the John
R. Wooden Award and was named Naismith College Player of the Year (all 1997). In his debut year in the NBA (1998), he was voted Rookie of the Year and elected into the All-NBA Rookie Team, made the first of nine NBA All-Star Teams (eight First Team nominations), ten All-NBA Teams (nine First Team nominations), and ten All-Defensive Teams (seven First Team nominations).With these impressive performances, Duncan is one of only four players to receive All-NBA First Team honors in each of his first eight seasons (1998-2005), along with Hall of Famers Bob Pettit (ten seasons), Larry Bird (nine seasons), and Oscar Robertson (nine seasons), and is notably the only player in NBA history to receive All-NBA and All-Defensive honors in his first nine
seasons (1998-2006).

Duncan was also named by the Association for Professional Basketball Research as one of "100 Greatest Professional Basketball Players of The 20th Century", being the youngest player on that list. In the 2001-02 season, he won the IBM Player Award and The Sporting News (TSN) MVP Award, becoming the third player to ever win the NBA MVP, IBM Player and TSN Player Awards in the same season. In 2003, Duncan was ranked 55th by Slam Magazine in their list of the "Top 75 NBA players of All Time". On February 18, 2006, he was named one of the Next 10 Greatest Players on the tenth anniversary of the release of the NBA's 50th
Anniversary All-Time Team by the TNT broadcasting crew.

Steve Nash (Mr.MVP)

Steven John Nash, OBC (born February 7, 1974), is a Canadian professional basketball player who currently plays point guard for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was named NBA Most Valuable Player in 2005 and 2006. Nash had an outstanding high school basketball career, but garnered no attention from US college recruiters as he played in Canada. He was eventually picked up by Santa Clara University head coach Dick Davey, and soon after began his NBA career with the Phoenix Suns; however, his impact in the two years of his first stint was minimal. He was traded to the Dallas Mavericks in 1998, and by his third season with the Mavericks, he had established himself as one of the top point guards in the league. In 2001, he was voted into his first All-Star game and earned his first All-NBA selection. Together with Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley, Nash took the Mavericks to the Western Conference Finals the following season. Nash became a free agent after the 2003-04 NBA season and signed with the Phoenix Suns. He was instrumental in dramatically transforming the fortunes of the Suns, leading them to an NBA-best 62-20 win-loss record as well as into the Western Conference Finals. For his efforts, he was named the league MVP for both the 2004-05 and 2005-06 NBA seasons. Now into his third season with the Suns, Nash continues to be the pivot of one of the league's most potent offensive teams.

Achievements:

Most Valuable Player 2005

In 2005, Nash edged Shaquille O'Neal of the Miami Heat to win the NBA MVP award. Nash became the first Canadian and the second foreign-born player (after Hakeem Olajuwon) to earn the honor. He is the first MVP who did not lead his team in scoring since Dave Cowens in 1972-73. Nash is just the third point guard ever to be named MVP — along with Magic Johnson and Bob Cousy — and only the sixth guard (Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, and Allen Iverson being the others). Nash was the first white player to win the award since Larry Bird in 1986 and remains the lowest-drafted NBA player ever to win MVP honors.

Most Valuable Player 2006: Nash wins again

The MVP award was awarded by the NBA on May 7, 2006 to Steve Nash for the second year in a row. The official announcement came only a day after the Phoenix Suns (playing against the Lakers) became the eighth team in NBA history to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a best-of-seven playoff series.

Nash is only the second point guard, along with Magic Johnson, to win the MVP award multiple times and also the third guard in NBA history to earn back-to-back MVPs joining Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. Only eight other NBA players have won back-to-back MVP awards: Magic Johnson, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Tim Duncan. Former player and Hall Of Famer Bill Russell showed his admiration of Nash after criticism rained down on the two consecutive MVPs given to him and a potential third that would have vaulted him into legendary status. Russell stated: "I think, on the world stage, he's one of our great athletes in all sports," Russell said. "I'm a big fan. The two MVPs he got, he deserved. Part of the reason that he's so good and so effective is that the guys like playing with him. He creates an atmosphere where they win games."[14] However, on a dissenting note, analyst Bill Simmons of ESPN.com, stated "Steve Nash's back-to-back trophies transformed the award into what it is now: a popularity contest."

Freak History

Dr. James Naismith is known world-wide as the inventor of basketball. He was born in 1861 in Ramsay township, near Almonte, Ontario, Canada. The concept of basketball was born from Naismith's school days in the area where he played a simple child's game known as duck-on-a-rock outside his one-room schoolhouse. The game involved attempting to knock a "duck" off the top of a large rock by tossing another rock at it. Naismith went on to attend McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

After serving as McGill's Athletic Director, James Naismith moved on to the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA in 1891, where the sport of basketball was born. In Springfield, Naismith was faced with the problem of finding a sport that was suitable for play inside during the Massachusetts winter for the students at the School for Christian Workers. Naismith wanted to create a game of skill for the students instead of one that relied solely on strength. He needed a game that could be played indoors in a relatively small space. The first game was played with a soccer ball and two peach baskets used as goals.

James Naismith devised a set of thirteen rules of basketball:

1. The ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands.
2. The ball may be batted in any direction with one or both hands, but never with the fist.
3. A player cannot run with the ball. The player must throw it from the spot on which he catches it, allowance to be made for a man running at good speed.
4. The ball must be held in or between the hands. The arms or body must not be used for holding it.
5. No shouldering, holding, pushing, striking or tripping in any way of an opponent. The first infringement of this rule by any person shall count as a foul; the second shall disqualify him until the next goal is made or, if there was evident intent to injure the person, for the whole of the game. No substitution shall be allowed.
6. A foul is striking at the ball with the fist, violations of Rules 3 and 4 and such as described in Rule 5.
7. If either side make three consecutive fouls it shall count as a goal for the opponents (consecutive means without the opponents in the meantime making a foul).
8. Goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from the ground into the basket and stays there, providing those defending the goal do not touch or disturb the goal. If the ball rests on the edge and the opponents move the basket, it shall count as a goal.
9. When the ball goes out of bounds, it shall be thrown into the field and played by the first person touching it. In case of dispute the umpire shall throw it straight into the field. The thrower-in is allowed five seconds. If he holds it longer, it shall go to the opponent. If any side persists in delaying the game, the umpire shall call a foul on them.
10. The umpire shall be judge of the men and shall note the fouls and notify the referee when three consecutive fouls have been made. He shall have the power to disqualify men according to Rule 5.
11. The referee shall be the judge of the ball and decide when it is in play in bounds, to which side it belongs, and shall keep the time. He shall decide when a goal has been made and keep account of the goals with any other duties that are usually performed by a referee.
12. The time shall be two 15-minute halves with five minutes' rest between.
13. The side making the most goals in that time shall be declared the winners.

In addition to the creation of the basketball, James Naismith graduated as a medical doctor, primarily interested in sports physiology and what we would today call sports science and as Presbyterian minister, with a keen interest in philosophy and clean living. Naismith watched his sport, basketball, introduced in many nations by the YMCA movement as early as 1893. Basketball was introduced at the Berlin Olympics in 1936. Today basketball has grown to become one of the world's most popular sports.

The Greatest Player of All-Time

Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963) is a retired American Professional basketball player. Widely considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time, he became one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation and was instrumental in popularizing the NBA (National Basketball Association) around the world in the 1980s and 1990s.

After a standout career at the University of North Carolina, Jordan joined the NBA's Chicago Bulls in 1984. He quickly emerged as one of the stars of the league, entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring. His leaping ability, illustrated by performing slam dunks from the foul line at Slam Dunk Contest, earned him the nicknames "Air Jordan" and "His Airness." He also gained a reputation as one of the best defensive players in basketball. In 1991, he won his first NBA championship with the Bulls, and followed that with titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a “three-peat”. Though Jordan abruptly left the NBA in October 1993 to pursue a career in baseball, he rejoined the Bulls in 1995 and led them to three additional championships (1996, 1997, and 1998). His 1995–96 Bulls team won an NBA-record 72 regular-season games. Jordan retired for a second time in 1999, but he returned for two more NBA seasons as a member of the Washington Wizards from 2001 to 2003.

Jordan's individual accolades and accomplishments include five NBA MVP (Most Valuable Player) awards, ten All-NBA First Team designations, nine All-Defensive First Team honors, fourteen NBA All-Star Game appearances and three All-Star MVPs, ten scoring titles, three steals titles, six NBA Finals MVP Awards, and the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. He holds the NBA record for highest career regular season scoring average with 30.1 points per game, as well as averaging a record 33.4 points per game in the playoffs. In 1999, he was named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN, and was second to Babe Ruth on the Associated Press's list of athletes of the century.

Jordan is also noted for his product endorsements. He fueled the success of Nike’s Air Jordan sneakers, which were introduced in 1985 and remain popular today. Jordan also starred in the 1996 feature film Space Jam. He is currently a part-owner and Managing Member of Basketball Operations of the Charlotte Bobcats, which reside in his home state of North Carolina.