35 Greatest McDonald’s All American Players List
The McDonald’s All American Games unveiled its list of 35 of the Greatest McDonald’s All Americans, released in celebration of the 35thAnniversary of the McDonald’s All American High School Boys Basketball Game and in an effort to honor all the elite athletes that have participated in the Games over its history.
The 35 of the Greatest McDonald’s All Americans list is comprised of some of the top names in basketball history, and features past and present Olympics, NBA and NCAA stars, including: Earvin “Magic” Johnson (McDonald’s All American class of 1977), Clark Kellogg (1979), Ralph Sampson (1979), Isiah Thomas (1979), Dominique Wilkins (1979), James Worthy (1979), Sam Perkins (1980), Glenn “Doc” Rivers (1980), Patrick Ewing (1981), Michael Jordan (1981), Chris Mullin (1981), Kenny Smith (1983), Danny Manning (1984), Larry Johnson (1987), Christian Laettner (1988), Alonzo Mourning (1988), Bobby Hurley (1989), Shaquille O’Neal (1989), Grant Hill (1990), Glenn Robinson (1991), Jason Kidd (1992), Jerry Stackhouse (1993), Vince Carter (1995), Kevin Garnett (1995), Paul Pierce (1995), Kobe Bryant (1996), Jay Williams (1999), Carmelo Anthony (2002), Amare Stoudemire (2002), LeBron James (2003), Chris Paul (2003), Dwight Howard (2004), Tyler Hansbrough (2005), Kevin Durant (2006) and Derrick Rose (2007).
“This list of great McDonald’s All Americans recognizes 35 years of basketball excellence,” said Douglas Freeland, director of the McDonald’s All American Games. “These players are a veritable ‘who’s who’ of basketball’s modern era.” Read more
NBA Launched Sale of NBA All-Star 2012 Packages for Orlando
Fans, Groups, Businesses Can Get VIP Treatment through NBA Events
Special “experience” ticket and hospitality packages for February’s NBA All- Star 2012 in Orlando are available starting at www.NBA-Events.com and through QuintEvents, an Official Hospitality Provider for the 2012 NBA All-Star Game.
NBA All-Star 2012 is set for Friday, February 24 through Sunday, February 26 at The Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. The weekend culminates with the 61st annual NBA All-Star Game and includes the Friday night NBA Rising Stars Challenge and NBA All-Star Saturday Night presented by State Farm.
The VIP-type access was introduced successfully to the public last year at NBA All-Star 2011. The NBA Events program is unique because all tickets, hotel accommodations, hospitality, amenities and experiences (some packages include a post- All-Star game experience in which the fans get to go on the court after the All-Star Game) are purchased directly from and are available only through the NBA. This guarantees fans a secure transaction. Packages, available at several price levels, are customizable according to the needs of the buyer. Read more
Panini America New Roster of NBA-Licensed 2011-12 Trading Card Products
Panini America will celebrate the NBA’s return with a completely overhauled roster of products for the 2011-12 season engineered to appeal equally to casual fans and hardcore collectors alike.
Panini America will tip off the new NBA collecting season with a late-February hobby release of 2012 Preferred Basketball, a new high-end addition that will deliver three autographs and one six- or eight-swatch memorabilia booklet card in every pack and will retail for $200.
Preferred will be followed by the triumphant return of the venerable Hoops brand (March), a collecting landmark that ignited the basketball collecting craze with a history-making debut in 1989-90. With a $1 retail pack price, Hoops will appeal to a broad fan base and will also include autographed buybacks of original 1989-90 Hoops cards. Panini also will release a hobby-specific version of Hoops ($2 a pack and $72 a box) that will feature 29 inserts, autographed copies of original 1989-90 Hoops cards and two autographs per box. Read more
The Solution to the NBA Lockout is a New Four-Man Basketball League
4BallUSA.com is seeking to start a new four-man professional basketball league. Two physicians, both amateur basketball players, came up with the idea because of the NBA Lockout while they were working on a life-saving medical patent. A new basketball league with patent pending protection could break the NBA’s monopoly-like control over professional basketball in the USA.
NBA players are huge. The average height in the NBA is 6′ 7″. Players have been as tall as 7′ 7″. These giant men crowd the court and slow down the game.
More room for basketball players during basketball games would open up the game for the “run and gun” style of basketball, making basketball more exciting. Read more
NBA Player Close to Finalizing Terms to Play in Premier Basketball League
With the intense climate around the impending NBA lock-out this upcoming season, one independent league in America has risen to the top on NBA player recruitment.
The Chicago based Premier Basketball League is close to finalizing its first contract with a current NBA player and his representatives. Although the details for the first contract have not been made public yet during the negotiations phase, the PBL’s leadership is already in talks with other agents for several key players of the NBA. The contracts come on the heels of a successful “Locked-Out Draft” held by the PBL earlier this summer.
“Basketball is a tradition in America and around the world. We wanted to make sure that even in these tough lock-out times, the stars from one league have an opportunity to reach their fans through a league that isn’t stuck in contract negotiations,” commented Brij M. Desai, Premier Basketball League President and CEO. Read more