Pondering Kevin Durant's latest big-time shot on the playoff stage, Lionel Hollins started listing a who's who of NBA greats from days gone by: Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, Sam Jones, John Havlicek, George Mikan, Bob Pettit.
It's Friday night in a dangerous Chicago neighborhood, and a steady stream of teenagers slip inside the gym at Kennicott Park.
A day after his son Richard Pitino agreed to become the next head coach at Minnesota, Rick Pitino proclaimed the 30-year-old up-and-comer “more than ready” for the challenge.
Isiah Thomas is just like the rest of America, catching up on the NCAA tournament on TV whenever he can. There's just one tiny difference.
Indiana was the NCAA's last undefeated men's team in 1976. North Carolina had Michael Jordan and James Worthy while winning the national championship in 1982, a decade before Duke won the tournament on the back of Christian Laettner's buzzer-beating basket.
Not all great NBA players make great NBA executives. With Michael Jordan's Charlotte Bobcats in line to finish this season with perhaps the worst record in NBA history, a list of five executives who dazzled as players and baffled as decision-makers:
Richard Pitino had two options. He could remain part of his father's coaching staff at Louisville and aim at returning to the Final Four next season, or take over a program that hasn't posted a winning record since he was a teenager.
Isiah Thomas arrived at Florida International knowing that he was taking a risk.
Maybe there's a big-name coach out there who can bring out the best in Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks.
