Who opted out due to injury The 1997 NBA All-Star Game, who currently serves as a color commentator for Houston Rockets home games?
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1997 NBA All-Star Game The 1997 NBA All-Star Game was the 47th edition of the All-Star Game and commemorated the 50th anniversary of NBA. The game was played on February 9, 1997, at Gund Arena (now known as Quicken Loans Arena) in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The winner of the MVP award was Glen Rice of the Charlotte Hornets who played 25 minutes and scored 26 points while breaking two records in the process, 20 points in the third quarter and 24 points in the second half. Rice's 20 points in the period broke Hal Greer's record (19), set in 1968. Rice's 24 points in a half surpassed the previous mark of 23, owned by Wilt Chamberlain and Tom Chambers. Michael Jordan's 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists were the first and, until the 2011 NBA All-Star Game, the only triple-double in NBA All-Star Game history (LeBron James (2011), Dwyane Wade (2012), and Kevin Durant (2017) have also achieved this). Five players (Charles Barkley, Alonzo Mourning, Patrick Ewing, Clyde Drexler, Shaquille O’Neal) who were voted or selected for the team opted out due to injury, opening the doors for the annually neglected and the new stars—Joe Dumars, Detlef Schrempf, Chris Webber, Chris Gatling and 20-year-old second-year man Kevin Garnett took their spots.
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Clyde Drexler Clyde Austin "The Glide" Drexler (born June 22, 1962) is an American retired professional basketball swingman. During his career, he was a ten-time All-Star, and named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. Drexler won an Olympic gold medal in 1992 as part of the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team ("The Dream Team") and an NBA Championship in 1995 with the Houston Rockets. He is a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (being inducted 2004 for his individual career, and in 2010 as a member of the "Dream Team") He currently serves as a color commentator for Houston Rockets home games.
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1996–97 NBA season The 1996–97 NBA season was the 51st season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league used this season to mark its 50th anniversary, which included the unveiling of the league's list of its 50 greatest players. This particular season featured what has since been acknowledged as one of the most talented rookie-classes, featuring the debuts of Allen Iverson, Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Jermaine O'Neal, Ben Wallace and Stephon Marbury. The season ended with the Chicago Bulls defeating the Utah Jazz 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals to win the franchise's 5th championship.
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Elvin Hayes Elvin Ernest Hayes (born November 17, 1945) is an American retired professional basketball player and radio analyst for his alma-mater Houston Cougars. He is a member of the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team, and an inductee in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
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1997–98 Miami Heat season The 1997–98 NBA season was the tenth season for the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association. In the offseason, the Heat signed free agent Eric Murdock and acquired Duane Causwell from the Sacramento Kings. Despite Alonzo Mourning missing the first 22 games of the season due to an offseason knee injury, the Heat continued to play strong basketball as backup center Isaac Austin played string coming off the bench. Jamal Mashburn was also injured only playing just 48 games due to a thumb injury. Mourning would eventually return as Austin was traded at midseason to the Los Angeles Clippers for Brent Barry, as the Heat posted a 13–2 record in February. The Heat finished first place in the Atlantic Division with a 55–27 record. Tim Hardaway was the only member of the team to be selected for the 1998 NBA All-Star Game.
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Desmond Mason Desmond Tremaine Mason (born October 11, 1977) is a retired American professional basketball player. He was designated as a shooting guard and small forward. Mason has also found success as an artist, working in a variety of media. Currently, he is an NBA Analyst and Sports radio co-host for The Franchise, a sports talk station in Oklahoma City.
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Jon Barry Jon Alan Barry (born July 25, 1969) is an American former basketball player and current television analyst for ABC and ESPN.
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1952 NBA All-Star Game The 1952 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game played on February 11, 1952, at Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, home of the Boston Celtics. The game was the second edition of the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game and was played during the 1951–52 NBA season. The Eastern All-Stars team defeated the Western All-Stars team 108–91. This was the East's second successive win over the West. Philadelphia Warriors' Paul Arizin, who led the East with 26 points, was named as the All-Star Game Most Valuable Player.
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John Kruk John Martin Kruk (born February 9, 1961) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and outfielder, and baseball analyst. Kruk played in Major League Baseball for the San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies, and Chicago White Sox from 1986 through 1995. During his career, he was a three-time MLB All-Star. After retiring as a player, he became a baseball analyst for ESPN. He is now a color commentator for Phillies' games on Comcast SportsNet.
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1997–98 Cleveland Cavaliers season The 1997–98 NBA season was the 28th season of the National Basketball Association in Cleveland, Ohio. In the offseason, the Cavaliers acquired All-Star forward Shawn Kemp from the Seattle SuperSonics in a three-team trade, and Wesley Person from the Phoenix Suns in another three-team trade. The Cavs went on a ten-game winning streak early into the season, and finished 5th in the Central Division with a 47–35 record, qualifying for the playoffs after a one-year absence. Kemp led the team in scoring and rebounding and was selected for the 1998 NBA All-Star Game, which would be his sixth and final All-Star appearance. Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Brevin Knight were both selected to the All-Rookie First Team, while Derek Anderson and Cedric Henderson both made the All-Rookie Second Team. However, the Cavaliers would lose in four games in the Eastern Conference first round of the playoffs to the Indiana Pacers, and they would not make it back to the postseason until 2006.
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1996–97 Los Angeles Lakers season The 1996–97 NBA season was the Los Angeles Lakers' 49th season in the National Basketball Association, and 37th in the city of Los Angeles. During the offseason, the Lakers signed free agent All-Star center Shaquille O'Neal to a seven-year, $120 million deal, and acquired high school star Kobe Bryant from the Charlotte Hornets, who selected him with the 13th pick in the 1996 NBA draft. Other offseason acquisitions included signing former Lakers guard Byron Scott, and free agents Jerome Kersey and Sean Rooks. In January, they traded Cedric Ceballos back to the Phoenix Suns for Robert Horry, who won championships with the Houston Rockets. O'Neal finished fourth in the league in scoring averaging 26.2 points per game, but only played just 51 games due to a knee injury.
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Jay Williams (basketball) Jason David Williams (born September 10, 1981) is an American former basketball player and current college basketball analyst. He played college basketball for the Duke University Blue Devils and professionally for the Chicago Bulls in the NBA. He last signed with the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League, but was waived by the Toros on December 30, 2006 due to lingering physical effects from a 2003 motorcycle accident. Although he had been known as Jason, he asked to be called Jay on joining the Bulls in 2002, to avoid confusion with two other players in the NBA at the time, Jason Williams and Jayson Williams.
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Harold Miner Harold David Miner (born May 5, 1971) is a retired American professional basketball player and two-time champion of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Slam Dunk Contest. He attended college at the University of Southern California (USC) and was a star player on that school's men's basketball team. He left school in 1992 to pursue his professional career, and played in the NBA for the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers. Despite the comparisons to Michael Jordan, Miner's NBA career only lasted four years.
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1996–97 Philadelphia 76ers season The 1996–97 NBA season was the 76ers 48th season in the National Basketball Association, and 34th season in Philadelphia. After two seasons at Georgetown, point guard Allen Iverson was selected first overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1996 NBA draft. Iverson quickly established himself as one of the premier point guards in the NBA averaging 23.5 points per game. He was named 1997 Rookie of the Year and was a member of the NBA All-Rookie First Team. During the offseason, the Sixers acquired Don MacLean from the Denver Nuggets and signed free agents Mark Davis, Lucious Harris and Michael Cage. The Sixers played around .500 in November with a 7–8 start to the season. However, they struggled and lost 23 of their next 24 games, including 11 and 13-game losing streaks posted respectively. The Sixers lost ten of their final eleven games, and finished sixth in the Atlantic Division with a 22–60 record.
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Malik Allen Malik Omar Allen (born June 27, 1978) is a retired American professional basketball player, currently serving as an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
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Tim Donaghy Tim Donaghy ( ; born January 7, 1967) is a former professional basketball referee who worked in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 13 seasons from 1994 to 2007. During his career in the NBA, Donaghy officiated in 772 regular season games and 20 playoff games.
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Patrick Ewing Patrick Aloysius Ewing (born August 5, 1962) is a Jamaican-American retired Hall of Fame basketball player and current head coach of the Georgetown Hoyas.. He played most of his career with the NBA's New York Knicks as their starting center and played briefly with the Seattle SuperSonics and Orlando Magic.
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NBA All-Star Legends Game The NBA All-Star Legends Game (also called the Legends Classic) was an NBA Legends game from 1984 to 1993 that featured retired players. It was held during the NBA All-Star Weekend and consisted of two teams, East and West. The NBA cancelled the NBA Legends Classic after 1994 due to the players' frequent injuries from the game in part due to the large range in fitness levels among younger and older alumni. The Shooting Stars Competition and Rising Stars Challenge are largely considered its replacements.
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Ralph Sampson Ralph Lee Sampson Jr. (born July 7, 1960) is an American retired basketball player. A 7-foot-4 phenom, three-time College Player of the Year, and first selection in the 1983 NBA draft, Sampson brought heavy expectations with him to the National Basketball Association (NBA). The NBA Rookie of the Year, Sampson averaged 20.7 points and 10.9 rebounds for his first three seasons with the Houston Rockets before injuries began to take their toll. Three knee surgeries later he retired as a four-time All-Star, an NBA Rookie of the Year, and an NBA All-Star Game MVP (). One of his many career highlights was a buzzer-beating shot to dethrone the Los Angeles Lakers as Western Conference champions in 1986, derailing their hopes for coveted back-to-back NBA titles, and sending the Rockets to their second NBA Finals in the team's history.
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Jim McIlvaine James Michael McIlvaine (born July 30, 1972) is a retired American professional basketball player who spent seven seasons in the National Basketball Association with the Washington Bullets, Seattle SuperSonics and New Jersey Nets. The 7-foot-1 shot-blocking specialist never made a major impact in the NBA, and is perhaps best remembered for the fall-out that occurred after he signed with the Seattle SuperSonics in 1996.
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Thurl Bailey Thurl Lee Bailey (born 7 April 1961) is an American retired professional basketball player whose NBA career spanned from 1983 to 1999 with the Utah Jazz and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Bailey has been a broadcast analyst for the Utah Jazz and the University of Utah— in addition to work as an inspirational speaker, singer, songwriter, and film actor.
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1984–85 Houston Rockets season The 1984–85 Houston Rockets season saw the Rockets draft Akeem Olajuwon. He was selected to play in the 1985 NBA All-Star Game.