Malone, Pippen and Dream Team inducted into Hall of Fame
Basketball Betting Lines
08/13/2010 -
Springfield, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Karl Malone and Scottie Pippen highlighted
the 2010 class inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame Friday night.
Malone and Pippen were both members of the original "Dream Team," the 1992
U.S. Olympic squad that easily won a gold medal in Barcelona. That entire
team, along with the 1960 U.S. men's Olympic squad, were also inducted.
Lakers owner Jerry Buss, former NBA players Dennis Johnson and Gus Johnson;
former WNBA star Cynthia Cooper, famed high school coach Bob Hurley Sr., and
Brazilian legend Maciel Ubiratan Pereira were other ones inducted Friday.
Malone was a two-time NBA MVP, 14-time NBA All-Star and two-time Olympic gold
medalist. In addition to the 1992 team, he also played on the 1996 team that
won gold in Atlanta. Last year, his long-time Utah Jazz teammate, John
Stockton, was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
An All-NBA First-Team forward from 1989-99, Malone was named one of the
league's 50 greatest players in 1996 and ranks second on the NBA's all-time
scoring list with 36,928 points. He finished his career with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2003-04.
"I want to thank the NBA this little snotty-nosed kid from Louisiana got an
opportunity to play the game," Malone said. "I hope I did it the way my peers
did it before me. I didn't do anything but try to play hard. I didn't have a
motive. It wasn't about me, never was about me. It's not about me tonight.
It's about a lot of other people."
Pippen, who was the first one inducted, had Hall of Famer and former Bulls
teammate Michael Jordan standing nearby on stage as his presenter Friday
night. Pippen was a seven-time NBA All-Star and a member of six championship
teams with the Chicago Bulls. He also played in the 1996 Olympics, was a
three-time All-NBA First-Team member and was voted to the NBA All-Defensive
First Team from 1992-99. After leaving the Bulls, Pippen played for Houston
in 1998-99 and Portland from 1999-2003.
"For me, idolizing guys like Larry Bird and what he did in the game, has given
me the opportunity to be here today," Pippen said.
The 1992 Olympic team dominated the Barcelona Games, winning all eight of its
games by an average of 43.8 points. Coached by the late Hall of Famer Chuck
Daly, the "Dream Team" was the first team made up primarily of NBA players who
were eligible to compete in international basketball because of the
change of FIBA rules in 1989. Eight players from the team -- Charles
Barkley, Bird, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Jordan, David
Robinson and Stockton -- have already been enshrined into the Hall of Fame.
Malone and Pippen made it 10.
"We want to say thank you to coach because he was the architect that put it
all together," Johnson said of Daly, who passed away in May 2009. "He made
sure we checked our ego at the door. He made sure we were just about playing
with one another and playing for one common goal and that was to bring home
the gold medal."
Before the "Dream Team," there was the 1960 Olympic squad that ran through the
Rome Olympics with an 8-0 record on the way to a gold medal. That squad, with
six members -- including Walt Bellamy, Jerry Lucas, Oscar Robertson and Jerry
West -- enshrined in the Hall, won their games by an average of 42.4 points.
Buss has owned the Lakers since 1979 and the team has captured 10 NBA titles
under his stewardship. During his ownership, the Lakers have also won 17
Western Conference titles and have recorded the most wins and the highest
overall winning percentage in the NBA.
Dennis Johnson, who died in 2007, earned nine straight NBA All-Defensive Team
honors during his 14-year career with Seattle, Phoenix and Boston. He led the
Sonics to the 1979 NBA title, earning Finals MVP honors, and helped the
Celtics to NBA crowns 1984 and '86.
Gus Johnson, who died in 1987, was a five-time NBA All-Star in the late 1960s
and early '70s, and won an ABA championship with Indiana in 1973. He led the
Baltimore Bullets to five playoff appearances in nine seasons, including the
1971 NBA Finals. In 10 NBA seasons, he averaged 17.1 points and 12.7 rebounds.
Cooper won a pair of NCAA women's titles at Southern California and captured
four WNBA crowns with the Houston Comets, earning the Finals MVP honor each
time. She was twice the league's MVP and won an Olympic gold medal in 1988.
Hurley is a New Jersey high school coaching legend, having compiled more than
900 wins as head coach at St. Anthony's in Jersey City since 1972. He has led
the school to 25 state parochial titles, and became only the third person
elected exclusively for their service to high school basketball, joining
Morgan Wootten and Bertha Teague.
Pereira, who died in 2002, is widely considered one of the greatest players
in South American basketball history. A member of three Brazilian Olympic
teams, Ubiratan led his countrymen to the bronze medal at the 1964 Olympic
Games.
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In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.
Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.
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Memphis vs. Ohio State
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