Sports People

Fred Lynn was born on 3 February 1952 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is an actor, known for Fantasy Island (1977), MLB's Greatest Games on MLB Network (2011) and Monday Night Baseball (1976). He has been married to Natalie Cole since 7 October 1986. He was previously married to Diane Minkle.

Eric Barone, also known as ConcernedApe, is an independent game developer celebrated for creating the critically acclaimed farming simulation game Stardew Valley (2016). Born on December 3, 1987 in Los Angeles, California and raised in Auburn, Washington, Barone graduated from the University of Washington Tacoma in 2011 with a degree in computer science. Barone began developing Stardew Valley (2016) as a personal project to improve his programming skills. Over the course of four years, Barone single-handedly designed, coded, animated, wrote, and composed the game's music. The game launched in 2016 and became a global success, selling over 30 million copies by 2024.

In addition to Stardew Valley (2016), Barone announced his next project, Haunted Chocolatier, in 2021. The game will feature a chocolatier theme with a greater focus on combat while maintaining his signature pixel-art style. Beyond gaming, Barone has contributed to music albums, collaborated on a Stardew Valley (2016) board game, and even animated a music video. His dedication to creating immersive experiences and his independent approach have solidified his status as a leading figure in indie game development.

David Ortiz was born on 18 November 1975 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He is a producer and actor, known for Patriots Day (2016), Nere and American Masters (1985). He has been married to Tiffany Brick since 16 November 2002. They have three children.

Tom Brady was born on August 3, 1977 in San Mateo, California, to Galynn Patricia (Johnson) and Thomas Edward Brady, who owns a financial planning business. His father is of Irish descent and his mother is of Norwegian-Swedish and Polish ancestry. He attended Junipero Serra High School, the same high school which produced Barry Bonds of the SF Giants. He attended the University of Michigan from 1995 to 1999. He was a backup to Brian Griese when the Wolverines went 12-0 and won the national championship in 1997. Brady shared the starting quarterback job with Drew Henson in 1998 and 1999, but managed to compile a 20-5 record over those two years, including a 2-0 record in bowl games. The New England Patriots made him a sixth round draft choice in 2000, the 199th player selected overall in the draft. He spent 2000 as a fourth string quarterback behind Drew Bledsoe, John Friesz and Michael Bishop. In 2001, Brady was elevated to second string quarterback behind Bledsoe as training camp broke. The fortunes for both Brady and the Patriots changed forever on September 23, 2001, as Bledsoe was hit hard by New York Jet linebacker "Mo Lewis", suffering a near life-threatening injury. Brady replaced Bledsoe in the contest, and has started every Patriot game at quarterback since. Bledsoe was never able to regain his starting job, as Brady led the Patriots on an 11-3 run to close the 2001 regular season, then led the Patriots through the playoffs and an improbable 20-17 win over the St. Louis Rams, a 14-point favorite, in Super Bowl XXXVI. After an ordinary 2002 season, Brady skippered the Patriots to one of the greatest seasons in NFL history in 2003. The Patriots began the season 2-2, then won every remaining regular season and playoff game, capped off by a 32-29 win over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII. Brady followed that up with a second consecutive Super Bowl appearance in 2004, as the Patriots once again went 14-2 in the regular season and defeated the Philadelphia Eagles, 24-21 in Super Bowl XXXIX. Brady is 9-0 all-time in the playoffs in his career following Super Bowl XXXIX. In the first two Super Bowls he has played in, Brady was named the Super Bowl MVP, becoming one of only four players in NFL history to win this award more than once. Brady is 48-14 as a starting Patriot quarterback going into the 2005 season. His poise as well as his penchant for playing with incredible cool and precision in big games is drawing comparisons with the great Joe Montana, former SF 49ers quarterback.

Brady is married to model Gisele Bündchen, and the couple has two children. His brother-in-law is baseball player Kevin Youkilis, who is married to Tom's sister, Julie.

Robert James Gronkowski (born May 14, 1989), nicknamed "Gronk", is an American football tight end who played majority of his professional career for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He is a three-time Super Bowl champion (XLIX, LI, LIII), a five-time Pro Bowl selection, and a four-time First Team All-Pro selection, and was selected in the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team and NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.

Considered by many to be the greatest hockey player of all time, Bobby Orr revolutionized professional hockey. In his years with the Boston Bruins, he epitomized grace and elegance in the way he played and such was his talent that it remains difficult, if not impossible, to quantify his impact on the sport. But for all of the superlatives heard in all of the retrospectives, and for all of the awe still generated by the recorded images so expertly captured by WSBK-TV in Boston, perhaps Orr's greatest legacy was in the inspiration he provided to those thousands of youngsters across New England who filled ice rinks and outdoor skating ponds in the years of the Big, Bad Bruins.

Phil Esposito is a Canadian broadcaster, and former professional ice hockey executive, coach and player. A member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, he played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Black Hawks, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers Hockey Team. He is considered one of the greatest players of all time, and is the older brother of fellow Hall-of-Famer Tony Esposito, a goaltender.

After retiring as a player, Esposito served as head coach and general manager of the New York Rangers Hockey Team before co-founding the Tampa Bay Lightning. He was the principal studio analyst for the NHL on Fox 1995-1998. He served as Tampa Bay's radio commentator.

In 2017, Esposito was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.

The term Dynasty might have never applied to Basketball had it not been for Bill Russell. In the History of professional sports there has never been an athlete who has more accolades or championships, in other words Bill Russell was not only a champion, but he was perhaps the definition of a champion. Russell did not create the first basketball dynasty, but to date, through Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, Bill Russell has one more championship than any other basketball player.

Bill Russell was born in Monroe, Louisiana in 1934, to Katie and Charlie Louis Russell. . At the age of 9 he moved to Oakland. While in Oakland he was very poor but became a skillful basketball player. At 18 he went to college, at San Francisco, where he won two NCAA Championships in 1955 and 1956. In 1956 Bill Russell entered the NBA draft. He was drafted second overall, by the St. Louis Hawks, but was traded to the Boston Celtics for Ed Macauley, in a deal spearheaded by Red Auerbach, the coach of the Boston Celtics. Macauley was part of a solid offensive unit with Bob Cousy and Bill Sharman, but the team had a missing piece to the puzzle.

As America would soon find out Bill Russell would be that missing piece. Although Bill Russell played less than 50 games, due to the fact he has won a gold medal for basketball in the Olympics, in his first NBA season he definitely made his presence felt. Russell brought an aspect to basketball that had rarely been explored before: defense. Bill Russell knew that basketball was not so much scoring, but keeping your opponent from scoring as well. Bill Russell viewed basketball as a science, and played the game with an analytical view as well as with an emotional intensity.

Russell played the game psychologically as well, defending his various opponents so well that many times he made those he defended feel like they could not score a basket. This intensity not only paid off in the Olympics, and in college, but it would have an immediate impact in the NBA. Bill Russell would lead the Boston Celtics to 9 straight NBA titles, many times over vaunted rivals the Philadelphia Warriors, and later the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Los Angeles Lakers. Russell would lead these teams over some other among the greatest of all time, including Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Hal Greer, and his most famous rival Wilt Chamberlain.

While Russell was rewriting Boston sports history he faced immense racism from the most devout Celtics fan. His home was accosted on a few occasions, and he heard he would not get MVP because he was black from a reporter. Still yet Russell was without a doubt one of the finest players of his day. In the long line of dominance the Boston Celtics would exercise over the NBA the most legendary years were in his final years. In 1966 Wilt Chamberlain was traded from the Golden State warriors to his new hometown Philadelphia 76ers. For the first time in the Bill Russell- Wilt Chamberlain rivalry Chamberlain could not say he did not have the team to beat the Celtics, although many contend that the Celtics were evenly match if not inferior in talent to their many rivals. The Philadelphia 76ers did beat the Boston Celtics in 1967, but in 1966 and 1968 the Celtics, not quite to the level of the Sixers.

But in 1968 it was truly Russell that beat the Sixers, as he was not the heart and soul on the court, but was now it's head coach, which he became in 1967 after legend Red Auerbach retired. He would not let his defeat in 1967 keep him down. He would return and defeat the Sixers in 1968, in a hotly contested Conference Final series, and easily defeat the Lakers in the Finals. At the end of the season Wilt Chamberlain was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, taking Chamberlain to the other arch-rival of the Boston Celtics. In 1969 most of the fabled Celtics had long been gone or had recently retired. Only Russell remained of the fabled Boston Celtics, except for the emerging superstar John Havlichek, and aging star Sam Jones. Russell now had the daunting task of taking a bottom seed to defeat some of the best teams of all time, including a newly revamped Philadelphia after the Chamberlain trade, who they beat, and the New York Knickerbockers, led by Willis Reed, Walt Bellamy, and Walt Frazier, who they beat in 6, and set the match for the Los Angeles Lakers, which now had Chamberlain.

Chamberlain, as well as Jerry West and Elgin Baylor always fell short to the Celtics. This year, alongside Gail Goodrich and Happy Hairston, and a very deep bench, which included future Laker's Coach Pat Riley the Lakers looked to beat the Celtics for the first time in the Finals. After taking the first two at home the Lakers returned to the Boston Garden to lose the next two. The Celtics then lost to Los Angeles in the Forum in Game 5, and the Celtics returned to the Boston Garden in game 6 and won that contest. Game Seven in the Finals was one of the most legendary ever played in the history of American sports. First Laker's owner Jack Kent Cooke had filled the rafters with purple and yellow balloons balloons and intended to drop them after the Lakers won. When word of this got back to Bill Russell, he told his teammates something to the affect of "We're going to have to do something about that." Also at the end of the game Wilt Chamberlain was taken out of the game by unpopular coach Butch van Breda Kolff. An explanation van Breda Kolff gave to Chamberlain was "we're doing fine without you." Without Chamberlain and an injured Jerry West, it was not enough to defeat the Celtics, who won by only two points.

Russell later said Chamberlain was week, and should have demanded to go back into the game. The two who were previous friends were now very distant. Russell knew that he had won, but he wanted to win over Chamberlain, and did not. No matter the game went to seven games when it should have been much shorter. The Celtics who were supposedly way past their prime were led by Bill Russell to their eleventh championship, they were only the third team to repeat a championship, the first were the Minneapolis Lakers, and the second were the Boston Celtics. Russell was truly nothing short of a champion.

Since his historic victory Russell has been active in broadcasting for NBA games, and occasionally coaching, including the Seattle Supersonics in the 1970s and the Sacramento Kings in the 1980s. He was not ready for the coaching job, and did an all around bad job, sadly enough. He is a best-selling author and thirty years after he won he remained a recognizable face and a legend. Until Michael Jordan he was almost unanimously acclaimed as the greatest player of all time, and some still think he is. But without Bill Russell there is no doubt the Boston Celtics would not be the rock-solid professional sports team they have become in their legendary run of championships.

Jo Jo White was born on 16 November 1946 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for The Game Plan (2007), Inside Moves (1980) and The 1976 NBA Finals (1976). He was married to Deborah Dixon and Estelle Bowser. He died on 16 January 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Larry Bird graduated from Springs Valley High School in French Lick, Indiana in 1974. He attended Indiana University briefly, then transferred to Indiana State University in Terre Haute. He then embarked on an outstanding basketball career, establishing himself as one of the best shooting forwards in the history of the game. The Boston Celtics made him their first round selection in 1978 (the sixth pick overall), but Bird had another year of eligibility left and decided to play one more year at ISU. He led the Sycamores to the 1979 NCAA Title Game versus Michigan State that year, and his battle in that game with MSU's Magic Johnson touched off the best basketball rivalry of the 1980s. Bird joined the Celtics in the fall of 1979 and played with them his entire career. He led the Celtics to five NBA Finals appearances, winning championships in 1981, 1984 and 1986. Bird won three straight league MVPs (1984-86), two NBA Finals MVPs (1984, 86), NBA Rookie of the Year (1980), and was selected as a first team NBA all star nine times. Back injuries forced him to retire in 1992, and his number 33 was promptly retired by the Celtics.

He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. in 1998.

Danny Ainge was one of the best basketball players in the history of Brigham Young University (BYU). He won the Wooden Award as the college player of the year in 1981, but seemed intent on pursuing baseball as a career. He joined the Toronto Blue Jays minor league organization, but after batting only .220 over several seasons, he joined the Boston Celtics of the NBA. He was involved in the NBA Finals 4 times ('84, '86, '92, '93) and played with Boston, Sacramento, Portland, and Phoenix, winning two championships in the process, and averaging 11 points per game over a career, with a career high of 17.9ppg in 1989-90. He later became a coach for Portland and Phoenix, and is now the Executive Director of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics (2003).

Julian Edelman was born on 22 May 1986 in Redwood City, California, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for 80 for Brady (2023), Ballers (2015) and Almost Friday TV (2022).

Bill Belichick was born on 16 April 1952 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. He is an actor, known for Rescue Me (2004), Coach with Bill Belichick (2024) and College GameDay (1986). He was previously married to Deborah Clarke.

Curt Schilling was born on 14 November 1966 in Anchorage, Alaska, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Million Dollar Arm (2014), Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (2012) and Arli$$ (1996). He has been married to Shonda Schilling since 7 November 1992. They have four children.

Patrice Bergeron was born on 24 July 1985 in Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec, Canada. He is an actor, known for NHL 15 (2014), NHL on ESPN (1980) and Behind the B (2013).

Lou Gehrig is remembered as baseball's "Iron Horse" and used to own the major league record for the 2,130 consecutive games that he played for the New York Yankees between 1925 and 1939, where he had a .340 career batting average, making him one of the greatest hitters of all time. Henry Louis Gehrig was born in the Yorkville section of Manhattan, New York City on June 19, 1903. His parents, Heinrich and Christina Gehrig, were German immigrants. Of their four children, Lou was the only one who survived to adulthood. Growing up as a mama's boy, Lou lived with his parents until he married at the age of 30. Lou attended New York public schools, including the High School of Commerce, where he excelled in baseball, football and swimming. In his senior year, Lou's school won New York's public school baseball championship. They played Chicago's best high school team at Wrigley Field in 1920. The game was a portrait of what was to come: with the bases loaded and two outs in the 9th inning, Lou crushed a 3-2 pitch over the right field to win the game. To fulfill his parents' dream, Lou enrolled at New York's Columbia University in 1922. Because he had briefly played for a professional baseball club the preceding summer, Lou was barred from athletic competitions at Columbia for a year. After sitting out the year, Lou started on the college's baseball and football squads, earning him the nickname "Columbia Lou." When his father lost his job and his mother fell ill, Lou decided to leave college for a professional baseball career. In June 1923, the New York Yankees signed him to a minor league contract. He was assigned to the team's Hartford, Connecticut, farm club where he played for two seasons. Lou was then inserted into the Yankee lineup on June 1, 1925 substituting for their regular first baseman, Wally Pipp. For the next 14 years, Lou did not miss a single game. Even though Lou made an immediate impression in the majors, leading the American League with 20 triples in his second season, it was in 1927 that this six-foot, 210-pound left-hander blossomed as a slugger. He challenged teammate Babe Ruth for the league's home run title. By the end of the season, Lou had hit 47 home runs to Babe Ruth's 60, earning second place. That year, Lou hit .373 and set a major league record by racking up 175 RBIs. Not surprisingly, Lou was voted the league's Most Valuable Player. He also helped the Yankees to win the 1927 World Series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. True to his form, Lou had almost decided to sit out the entire series to stay by his ill mother's side. For the next 13 consecutive seasons, Lou knocked more than 100 home runs, and slugged 46 home runs with 184 RBIs in 1931. On June 3, 1932, Lou hit four home runs in one game against the Philadelphia Athletics, setting another major league record. In 1933, Lou married Eleanor Twitchell, who helped him withstand the rigors of professional baseball. On the eve of his 2,000th consecutive game in 1938, Eleanor suggested that Lou was getting compulsive about the streak and advised him to end his career at 1,999 games. Despite his wife's good intentions, Lou would not be deterred and appeared there and at 130 more games. During 1939 spring training Lou began to experience weakness and problems with coordination. On May 2, 1939, Lou's consecutive game streak finally ended when he removed himself from the team. Suspecting something more than his training was making him feel worn out, Lou entered the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota for health tests and on June 19, 1939, his 36th birthday, Lou was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a rare incurable muscular disorder which causes the muscular motor functions to degenerate, resulting in atrophying muscles, which in turn can lead to paralysis and ultimately death. New York mayor Fiorello LaGuardia named Lou the city's parole commissioner upon his retirement from baseball in 1939, a job he held until his declining health confided him to his bed in early 1941. Lou Gehrig finally passed away from ALS on June 2, 1941 at the age of 37. His universal renown was so great that amyotrophic lateral sclerosis later became known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

Most of Babe Ruth's records have been broken. In 1961, not only did Roger Maris break The Babe's 34-year-old record for most home runs in a season with 61* (2001), but Maris' teammate on the '61 Yankees, pitcher Whitey Ford broke the Babe's 43-year-old record for most scoreless innings pitched in a World Series when the Yankees dispatched the Reds that year in the postseason. (When asked how it felt to have beat the Babe's "other" record, Whitey responded, "It was a bad year for the Babe".)

Though Barry Bonds now holds the record for most home runs in a season (73), most home runs in a career (762), highest slugging percentage, most intentional walks, etc., The Babe still must be considered the greatest player who ever graced the game. In addition to his record 12 home run titles, his 13 slugging titles, his six R.B.I. titles, and his solo batting title (.378 in 1924; The Babe placed in the top five hitters in terms of batting average eight times, including a career high of .393 in 1923, when Harry Heilmann hit .403), The Babe won 18, 23 and 24 games as a left-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in 1915, 1916 and 1917, and won the American League E.R.A. title in '16. He set his first home run title in 1918, another year the Sox won the World Series, as a part-time position player and part-time pitcher, notching up 11 homers and nine wins. George Herman Ruth likely will remain the sole player in major league baseball history to win batting, home run, R.B.I., slugging *and* E.R.A. titles, plus eat a dozen hot dogs and drink the better part of a keg of bootleg "needle" beer before suiting up for a game.

From 1914 to 1919, The Babe played for the Boston Red Sox, with whom he appeared on three World's Championship teams. Sold to the New York Yankees by Red Sox owner and theatrical impresario Harry Frazee, he led the-then no pennant American League franchise in Gotham to seven A.L. pennants and four World Series titles from 1920-1934. He played out his string with the Boston Braves in 1935; even a washed-up Babe was still able to pole three circuit clouts in one game before calling it quits after 28 games and six in that last season. The following year, he was one of the inaugural inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Yes, the Babe was mighty, and he did prevail more often than naught except over one opponent: Father Time.

The Babe ended his 22 years in the Big Leagues with 2,873 hits good for a career batting average of .342, 714 home runs, 2,217 R.B.I.s, and 2,174 runs scored in 2,503 games. (From his debut in 1914 through the 1918 season, when he was making his transition to becoming a full time position player, Ruth only appeared in 261 ball games as he was considered the top left-handed pitcher in the American League.) In the record books, Ty Cobb scored more runs and Hank Aaron hit more homers and racked up more R.B.I.s (Interestingly, Hammerin' Hank and The Babe ended their careers with the exact same number of runs scored.), but they played in far more games than the The Babe, with 3,035 and 3,298 games, respectively. Among modern players, Rickey Henderson, who surpassed Cobb's record for runs after 25 years in The Show, played in 3,081 games, and Barry Bonds appeared in almost 3,000 games.

No player ever had the impact, both on and off the field, as did the charismatic Babe. When he died of cancer in 1948, the New York Times headline read, "Babe Ruth/Idol of Millions of Boys/Dead".

Mickey Charles Mantle was born in Spavinaw, Oklahoma, on October 20, 1931, the son of a minor-league player who never made it to the big leagues and named him after Major Leaguer Mickey Cochrane. Mickey's father and grandfather -- who also never made it to the majors -- taught him how to play baseball, but more importantly also taught him how to be a switch-hitter.

Mickey grew up during the Great Depression, which hit Oklahoma especially hard. Times were so tough that the only way to play sports as a kid was to play with friends; there were no organized leagues around back then. It was while playing baseball with his friends that Mickey's astonishing talent for the game made itself evident. When he got into high school he played baseball, basketball and football and excelled at all three. Some thought that he would become a football player when he grew up, but Mickey had known what he wanted to be since the age of five: a baseball player, and nothing else. A devastating knee injury almost ruined his chances of getting into that -- or any other -- sport, and would be the beginning of the knee problems that would plague him throughout his career.

He was drafted into the minors at age 18, and while in the Yankee farm system his astounding talent was so obvious that he was jumped from the Class C division directly to the Yankee team itself. When he got there he was given #6, because Yankee management thought he would be the next "superstar" and in line with the other Yankee greats: Babe Ruth (#3), Lou Gehrig (#4), Joe DiMaggio (#5). Mick didn't do well, however, and was sent back down to the minors. After a couple of lackluster games he told his dad he was going to quit, but after giving it some thought he decided to stick with it and soon began to hit again. He was recalled back to the Yankee team (and given #7 this time), and that was when the Mickey Mantle of legend was born. He started in right field before DiMaggio left. During the 1951 World Series Mickey stepped into a water drain in the outfield, a serious injury that affected his playing from that point on.

In his 18-year career he set (and broke) numerous records and, as he himself has said, if he had taken better care of himself -- most of his home runs were hit while he was injured -- he would have broken every record in the book. Even his injuries and his penchant for hard drinking were no match for his mind-boggling talent -- he once hit a home run with one arm, and has admitted that many of his homers were hit while he was not only injured but drunk and / or hung over. In his later years he came to regret the chances he had and missed because of his drinking and partying. He even made a public service message to the kids who idolized him, recounting the kinds of things he had done and the mistakes he had made, and telling them, "Don't be like me." It's doubtful if there ever can be anyone like him; someone like Mickey Mantle comes along only once in a lifetime. He died August 13, 1995 at the age of 63.

Without a doubt the most famous baseball player ever to come out of North Dakota, Maris was a talent who was judged unfairly throughout his career because of one glorious season. He came up in the pros with the Cleveland Indians, and was soon dealt to the Kansas City Athletics, but it was his third team, the greatest of them all, the New York Yankees, where he would find fame, infamy and controversy. Sure, Maris nipped Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs by one in 1961, but what most casual baseball fans don't know is that he also won the American League Most Valuable Player award in 1960, and he was arguably the best right fielder in New York Yankee history, so he was far from a one-year wonder. In 1961 when both he and his more popular teammate Mickey Mantle made the assault on the Babe's record, fans (and Yankee management) preferred Mantle to the reserved Maris to break the mark. When injuries prevented Mantle from reaching the record, Maris did so with the weight of not only the acerbic New York media on him, but the nation as well. Although the media coverage nearly drove him to a nervous breakdown, Maris did tie and break the mark, however was unfairly maligned with an asterisk besides his record because he had taken eight more games to break Ruth's record. This was the decree of then baseball Commissioner Ford Frick, who was Ruth's ghostwriter and one of his best friends. Maris would never really recover from the media onslaught after his record as injuries and perhaps the pressure from the media and fans took a toll on him. He finished his career with the St. Louis Cardinals, and as a regular helped them to a world championship and two National League pennants in the late 1960s. It would take years for Maris to get his due from the press and the fans, and fortunately for him, it happened before he died of cancer in 1985.

Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York on February 17, 1963. He was the fourth of five children born to James and Deloris. James Jordan was a mechanic and Deloris Jordan was a bank teller. Soon after Michael's birth, James and Deloris felt that the streets of Brooklyn were unsafe to raise a family, so they moved the family to Wilmington, North Carolina.

As a youngster, Michael immediately became interested in sports. However, it was baseball not basketball that was his first love. He would play catch in the yard with his father, who loved baseball. He soon started to play basketball to try and follow in the footsteps of his older brother, Larry, whom he idolized growing up.

At Laney High School, as a sophomore, he decided to try out for the varsity team but was cut because he was raw and undersized. The following summer, he grew four inches and practiced tirelessly. The hard work paid off as he averaged 25 points per game in his last two years and was selected to the McDonald's All-American Team as a senior.

Following high school, he earned a basketball scholarship from North Carolina University where he would play under legendary coach Dean Smith. In his first year, he was named ACC Freshman of the Year. He would help lead the Tarheels to the 1982 NCAA Championship, making the game-winning shot.

After winning the Naismith College Player of the Year award in 1984, Jordan decided to leave North Carolina to enter the NBA draft. Although he decided to leave college early, he would later return to the university in 1986 to complete his degree in geography.

In the 1984 NBA draft, he was selected with the third overall pick by the Chicago Bulls. As a rookie for the Bulls, he made an immediate impact, averaging an amazing 28.2 points a game, including six games where he scored 40+ points. He was selected to the NBA All-Star Game and named Rookie of the Year. This would just be the beginning of a career filled with awards and accolades. In the upcoming years, he would go on to win five regular season MVP awards, six NBA championships, six NBA finals MVP awards, three All-Star game MVP awards, and a defensive player of the year award.

In 1993, tragedy struck Jordan's seemingly perfect life. On July 23, 1993, his father, James, was murdered off Interstate 95 in North Carolina. Two locals had robbed him, shot him in the chest and threw his body in a swamp.

Three months later on October 6, 1993, following a run of three consecutive NBA championships, Jordan announced his retirement from basketball citing that "he no longer had the desire to play." Now "retired" at age 33, it was uncertain what Jordan would do next. Would he take a year off out of the public eye to grieve and then come back to the Bulls? Would he go out and look for a white collar job in the field of geography, his college major? Or would he take up a completely different hobby like golf?

In early 1994, Jordan decided to take up a new hobby alright. However, it wasn't golf. It was baseball. Despite not playing baseball since high school some 13 years ago, he signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox in 1994. He played one unspectacular season for the Double-A Birmingham Barons.

On March 18, 1995, Jordan, a man of few words since his retirement, sent two important words to media sources everywhere: "I'm Back". He celebrated his return to the NBA by doing what he always did best: winning. Although the Bulls would lose in the playoffs to the Orlando Magic, it was obvious that Jordan was still the same superstar player. He would go on to lead the Bulls to three more consecutive NBA championships and etch his place in the history as the "NBA's greatest player of all-time".

On January 13, 1999, Jordan re-announced his retirement, saying that "he was 99.9 percent sure that he would never play again". Soon after, Jordan became part owner of the Washington Wizards.

Near the start of the 2001-02 season, there were hints that Jordan may try another comeback to the NBA. On September 25, 2001, Jordan confirmed those rumors, announcing that he would once again return to the NBA as a member of the Wizards. His two seasons in Washington were mediocre at best. His statistics were solid and he showed some flashes of his old self but he could not lead the Wizards to the playoffs and missed several games due to injury. He retired for good following the 2002-03 season and was subsequently dismissed as president of the Washington Wizards.

In June 2006, he became part owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. Later that year, he filed for divorce from Juanita, his wife of 17 years. They have three children together.

Charles Barkley is an American retired professional basketball player who is an analyst on Inside the NBA (1988).

Barkley established himself as one of the National Basketball Association's most dominant power forwards. An All-American power forward at Auburn University, he was drafted as a junior by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 5th pick of the 1984 NBA draft. He was selected to the All-NBA First Team five times, the All-NBA Second Team five times, and once to the All-NBA Third Team. He earned eleven NBA All-Star Game appearances and was named the All-Star MVP in 1991. In 1993 with the Phoenix Suns, he was voted the league's Most Valuable Player, and during the NBA's 50th anniversary, named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. He competed in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games and won two gold medals as a member of the United States' "Dream Team". Barkley is a two-time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, being inducted in 2006 for his individual career, and in 2010 as a member of the "Dream Team".

Charles Barkley was popular with the fans and media and made the NBA's All-Interview Team for his last 13 seasons in the league. He was frequently involved in on- and off-court fights and sometimes stirred national controversy, in 1993 when he declared that sports figures should not be considered role models. Though shorter than the typical power forward, Barkley used his strength and aggressiveness to become one of the NBA's most dominant rebounders. He was a versatile player who had the ability to score, create plays, and defend. In 2000, he retired as the fourth player in NBA history to achieve 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists.

Since retiring as a player, Barkley has had a successful career as an NBA analyst. He works with Turner Network Television (TNT) alongside of Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson as a studio pundit for its coverage of NBA games. Barkley has written several books and has shown an interest in politics. In October 2008, he announced that he would run for Governor of Alabama in 2014, but he changed his mind.

Magic Johnson was born on 14 August 1959 in Lansing, Michigan, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Obsessed (2009), Christmas at Pee-wee's Playhouse (1988) and Hair Show (2004). He has been married to Cookie Johnson since 14 September 1991. They have two children.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is an American retired professional basketball player who played 20 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. During his career as a center, Abdul-Jabbar was a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), a record 19-time NBA All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA selection, and an 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team member. A member of six NBA championship teams as a player and two more as an assistant coach, Abdul-Jabbar twice was voted NBA Finals MVP. In 1996, he was honored as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History.

In 1975, he was traded to the Lakers, with whom he played the final 14 seasons of his career and won five additional NBA championships. Abdul-Jabbar's contributions were a key component in the "Showtime" era of Lakers basketball. Over his 20-year NBA career, his teams succeeded in making the playoffs 18 times and got past the first round 14 times; his teams reached the NBA Finals on 10 occasions.

At the time of his retirement at age 42 in 1989, Abdul-Jabbar was the NBA's all-time leader in points scored (38,387), games played (1,560), minutes played (57,446), field goals made (15,837), field goal attempts (28,307), blocked shots (3,189), defensive rebounds (9,394), career wins (1,074), and personal fouls (4,657). In 2007, ESPN voted him the greatest center of all time, in 2008, they named him the "greatest player in college basketball history", and in 2016, they named him the second best player in NBA history (behind Michael Jordan). Abdul-Jabbar has also been an actor, a basketball coach, and a best-selling author.

Muhammad Ali beat more champions and top contenders than any heavyweight champion in history. He defeated heavyweight kings Sonny Liston (twice), Floyd Patterson (twice), Ernie Terrell, Jimmy Ellis, Ken Norton (twice), Joe Frazier (twice), George Foreman and Leon Spinks. He defeated light-heavyweight champs Archie Moore and Bob Foster. Ali defeated European heavyweight champions Henry Cooper, Karl Mildenberger, Jürgen Blin, Joe Bugner, Richard Dunn, Jean-Pierre Coopman and Alfredo Evangelista. He defeated British and Commonwealth king Brian London. All of Ali's defeats were by heavyweight champions: Frazier, Norton, Spinks, Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick. Ali also beat undefeated fighters Sonny Banks (12-0), Billy Daniels (16-0), 'Rudi Lubbers' (21-0) and George Foreman (40-0).

John McEnroe is a former professional American tennis player, born in Wiesbaden, West Germany in 1959.

Breaking many records, McEnroe is regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, though he is perhaps equally, if not more known, for his losses of temper on the court. His outbursts became so infamous that he titled his 2002 autobiography "You cannot be serious" after his most-known phrase, and observed in the book as he got older that: "There were times I felt like an old circus act, in a show that was attracting less and less interest. "

Since retiring from the sport, McEnroe has worked as a commentator, and often parodied his own public persona, playing fictional versions of himself in commercials, and movies including You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008), Anger Management (2003) and Jack and Jill (2011).

McEnroe was formerly married to actress Tatum O'Neal from 1986 to 1994, and is presently married to singer Patty Smyth.