Sports Poets Society

https://alumni.web.baylor.edu/person/2013/vinnie-johnson Brooklyn native Vinnie Johnson remains one of Baylor's greatest basketball players of all time. A two-time NBA champion with the Detroit Pistons , his hard work and dedication to the people of Detroit has remained long after he completed his career as a professional athlete. Vinnie left his mark on the Baylor record books, averaging 24.1 points per game from 1977-79 . The two-time All-American and All-SWC player holds the Baylor record for most points scored in a game and is a member of the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame. A top-10 NBA draft pick dubbed “the Microwave” for his ability to heat up fast, Vinnie helped the Pistons win it all in 1989 and again in 1990. When his playing days were over, Vinnie was determined to return the love that had been given him by the people of Detroit. He opened a business in inner city Detroit's Empowerment Zone to help improve the lives of those in the community. As CEO of Piston Autom...

https://www2.baylor.edu/baylorproud/2021/03/vinnie-johnson-builds-success-from-baylor-to-the-nba-to-business/ March 4, 2021 // Posted In Alumni , Athletics The stories of “boom to bust” for college and pro athletes after their playing careers end are legion. Vinnie Johnson , Baylor Class of 1980, is not one of those. Johnson — a two-time all-American at Baylor, one of the greatest sixth men in NBA history, and our pick as the greatest Baylor alum in NBA history — has found even more success in the business world after his retirement from professional basketball. The Brooklyn native first came to Waco to play for nearby McLennan Community College in 1975, transferring to Baylor two years later and posting two of the all-time great scoring efforts in Baylor men’s basketball history. Johnson left Baylor as both the single-season (25.2) and career (24.1) record-holder for points-per-game — both records that stand to this day. Drafted No. 7 overall by the Seattle Supersonics in the 1979 N...

https://mclennanathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2014-15/releases/20150129otd7j1 January 29, 2015 Former McLennan Community College basketball standout guard Vinnie Johnson was one of three inductees named to the 2015 NJCAA Men's Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame class released today. Best known for his role as the sixth man on Detroit's 'Bad Boys' Pistons team, Vinnie Johnson was one of the best bench players of his era. Earning the nickname 'Microwave' for his ability to heat up quickly and score a flurry points in a short period of time, Johnson was the Pistons' unsung hero during their 1989 and 1990 championship runs. Prior to his days in Detroit, Johnson made a name for himself as a versatile player at McLennan. Beginning his career with the Highlanders in 1975, Johnson quickly established himself as one of the best two-year players in the nation and earned NJCAA Honorable Mention All-America honors as a freshman . Johnson took his production to the...

https://roonation.org/vinnie-johnson-the-baylor-bears-and-ac-basketball/ By Marc Parrish May 13, 2021 Baylor Bears men’s basketball finds itself in the Final Four this weekend against Houston. If you had to point to a single date for the resurgence of Baylor basketball, you’d probably have to go with November 24, 1978. Still smarting from a 50-20 thumping by Austin College men’s basketball in 1920, Baylor invited Austin College to open the 1978-79 Bears season at the old Heart O’ Texas Coliseum in Waco . Bob Mason’s pesky little NAIA squad put up all the fight they could, but were no match for a Baylor team that would later notch wins against teams like Eddie Sutton’s Arkansas Razorbacks . That Arkansas team almost made the 1979 Final Four, losing in the regional finals by 2 points to Larry Bird & Indiana State. The 1979 NCAA Championship game between Bird and Magic Johnson (Michigan State) is a tournament classic. The star of that Baylor team was Vinnie “Microwave” Johnson. By th...

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) https://www.basketballhistory.org/dennis-rodman/ By Ben Donahue @NFLTales He was known as “the Worm,” “Country,” “Demolition Man,” and “Dennis the Menace.” There was also the multi-colored hair, the copious tattoos, and the wedding gown and makeup when he dressed in drag. Dennis Rodman also became a five-time NBA champion, one of the best defenders in league history, and is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Rodman overcame a tumultuous youth and shy demeanor to become a notorious cult figure on the hardwood and beyond. This is the story of Dennis Rodman. Late Bloomer Dennis Keith Rodman was born on May 13, 1961, in Trenton, New Jersey. Not long after his birth, Rodman’s father, Philander, who was in the Air Force, left for the Vietnam War. Philander then relocated to the Philippines to start a new family. Rodman was only three at the time, and he recalls that his dad simply did not come home one day. With his father out ...