Do you think that you know everything about the National Basketball Association? See how many of these NBA facts that you already knew.
Here Are 20 Random NBA Facts About Players, Teams, Records, And More:
1) Wilt Chamberlain holds the NBA record for the most rebounds collected in a single game.
Wilt grabbed 55 rebounds during a game against the Boston Celtics on November 24th, 1960. This wasn’t enough to bring his team the win though as they lost 132-129.
2) Kareem Abdul Jabbar holds the record for the most NBA MVP award wins.
Kareem won the award 6 times in his career with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers. In second place with 5 wins each are Bill Russell and Michael Jordan.
3) Michael Jordan holds the record for the most points scored in a single NBA playoffs game.
Michael Jordan dropped 63 points against the Boston Celtics during a game in the 1986 playoffs. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for the Chicago Bulls to win the game as they lost 135-131. The Bulls were also swept by the Celtics.
4) Andrew Bynum is the youngest player in history to make his NBA debut.
Bynum was only 18 years and 6 days old during his first NBA game for the Indiana Pacers. This came during the Pacers victory over the Boston Celtics on March 11th, 2014. Bynum finished the game with 8 points, 10 rebounds, and 1 assist.
5) Don Nelson holds the record for the most coaching wins in NBA history.
Nelson won 1,335 games with the Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, Dallas Mavericks, and the Golden State Warriors. Gregg Popovich currently sits in third place and has a strong chance to break this record. He currently has 1277 career wins and is still coaching.
6) Dennis Rodman holds the record for being the oldest player in NBA history to lead the league in rebounding.
Rodman accomplished this during the 1997–98 season with the Chicago Bulls, when he was 36 years old. He averaged exactly 15 rebounds a game during that season.
7) Jerry West holds the NBA record for the highest point-per-game average during an NBA playoff series.
In the 1965 playoffs, West averaged 46.3 points-per-game against the Baltimore Bullets. West and his Los Angeles Lakers would ultimately lose in the finals to the Boston Celtics.
8) Rick Barry holds the distinction of being the only player in history who has lead the NCAA, NBA, and ABA in scoring.
Since the ABA no longer exists, this is a record that will never be broken.
9) Bill Russell holds the distinction of being the first African American coach in the history of the NBA.
This came after Bill Russell was named the head coach of the Boston Celtics on April 18th, 1966. Russell served as the player-coach for the final years of his career.
10) Steph Curry was the first player in NBA history to be elected most valuable player by a unanimous vote.
This came after Steph Curry won the MVP away for the 2014–15 season. This came after he averaged 30.1 points-per-game during the year.
11) The 1979 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Final between Michigan State and Indiana State is the highest-rated game in the history of televised college basketball.
Magic Johnson led Michigan State to the Championship. This came after they defeated Larry Bird and Indiana State, 75-64. This was the first of many great battles against one another throughout their careers.
12) Dennis Rodman holds the record for the most consecutive years leading the NBA in rebounding.
Rodman was the NBA rebounding leader for seven straight years (from 1991 to 1998).
13) Pau Gasol enrolled in medical school at the University of Barcelona.
Gasol was inspired at a young age to become a doctor after finding out that Magic Johnson had contracted HIV. He eventually decided on basketball as his career choice and went on to win two NBA Championships in his career alongside Kobe Bryant.
14) Kevin Garnett’s mother is a Jehovah’s Witness and because of that, Kevin did not celebrate Christmas or Halloween until he was 19.
This is because Jehovah’s Witnesses do not celebrate most Holidays.
15) As a 5th grader, Kyrie Irving was offered a scholarship to Boston University by Head Coach, Dennis Wolff.
Kyrie’s father, Drederick, had played his college ball at Boston University. Kyrie eventually decided to go to Duke University, where he played for the Blue Devils under Mike Krzyzewski.
16) Tim Duncan was a competitive swimmer prior to pursuing a career in basketball.
Tim Duncan‘s sister was also a competitive swimmer and she even competed in the 1988 Olympics (for the U.S. Virgin Islands).
17) Carmelo Anthony is the U.S Olympic team’s all-time leader in points, rebounds, and games played.
Carmelo has won three Gold medals with Team U.S.A (in 2008, 2012, and 2016).
18) Shaquille O’Neal missed 5,317 free throws during his career
Shaq also made 5,935 free throws for a career average of 52.7%.
19) Shaq only made one three point shot during his NBA career.
He attempted a total of 22 three point shots in his career, which means that his career average is 4.54%.
20) From 2010 to 2019, Lebron was the fourth highest-paid athlete of the entire decade.
According to a report from Forbes, he made around $680 million during the decade. The only athletes that were in front of Lebron were boxer Floyd Mayweather and soccer stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
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