Sports Poets Society

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=122269136210027847&set=a.122156325020027847 • Grew up in poverty and without a father figure • Was cut from his high school team for being undersized and not athletic enough • Worked as a janitor at an airport after graduation • Faced major setbacks early in life • Attended Cooke County College in Gainesville, TX, where he averaged 17 points and 13 rebounds but failed out academically • Continued his career at Southeastern Oklahoma State University (NAIA) • Became a 3-time NAIA All-American and twice led the nation in rebounding • Selected in the 2nd round of the 1986 NBA Draft • Went on to win 5 NBA championships • Earned Defensive Player of the Year honors twice • Topped the league in rebounding seven times • Enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame Comments: Rodman's father (Philander) abandoned him nd his mother when he was just a few years old. He served in the Vietnam war as a member of a helicopter crew and eventually stayed in Angel...

https://www.basketballnetwork.net/latest-news/shawn-kemp-admits-dennis-rodman-should-have-won-1996-finals-mvp?fbclid=IwY2xjawI9Q6FleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHY5YfuWrG_CtAdcyG-UFSXwF1uSFLOuIWTq7M026HDf0xxAqNNjWvaZYEA_aem_wpUqCANzF0CfAawBsleE-A Dennis was doing all the silent and dirty work. SHANE GARRY ACEDERA MAR 10, 2025 12:34 PM EDT CHICAGO BULLS 1COMMENT Former Seattle SuperSonics star Shawn Kemp has never been shy in giving Dennis Rodman his flowers for "The Worm's" performance in the 1996 NBA Finals. Kemp has always said that Rodman was the key to the Bulls winning that championship series. However, during a recent interview, Shawn took Dennis's praise to the next level, saying that the power forward should've won the hardware that went to Michael Jordan 's trophy case. "To play against him, he's simply one of the best," Kemp said of the two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year winner. "And what I mean that he is, we played against him in ...

https://www.espn.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/1962/from-the-archives-a-ben-wallace-feature-article ESPN.com Jul 5, 2006, 02:35 PM ET The thought of Ben Wallace in a Chicago uniform makes me think he's following a little in the footsteps of his mentor, former Bull Charles Oakley. I wrote an article about him for HOOP in 2003. His relationship with Oakley, the importance of his deceased mother, and his central role in the making of a championship team are all covered. Keep reading for the full story. Blue Collar Ben The easy way to become an NBA superstar is to score a lot of points.  Detroit’s Ben Wallace has never done things the easy way. by Henry Abbott Ben Wallace does not do flashy things. He does not make game winning shots . In seven years he has made just two three-pointers . Even his dunks tend towards the straightforward . About the only thing he does regularly to draw attention to himself is to unleash the eight-inch afro that too often hides in tightly-packed cornrows . Y...

Although difficult, Big Ben felt it was the right time to leave Motown. ANDREI DE GUZMAN AUG 20, 2024 10:31 PM EDT DETROIT PISTONS START CONVERSATION Ben Wallace established himself as the heart and soul of the Detroit Pistons. From the early to mid-2000s, he wholeheartedly defined the Pistons’ culture and identity — tough, resilient, hard-nosed, blue-collar — which went on to become the foundation of their success and historic 2004 championship win. As the franchise helped him become one of basketball’s inspiring stories from being a little-known undrafted center in 1996, he couldn't be happier to call and embrace Motor City as his home. From all these things he enjoyed and witnessed for himself as the team's cornerstone, everyone expected that he'd remain in Detroit heading to 2006 free agency. But in a shocking turn of events, he opted to bolt his way out, committing instead to the Chicago Bulls. A conflicting basketball divorce Although it was truly difficult, Big Ben...

Image: Ben Wallace won four Defensive Player of the Year  awards during his 16-season NBA career. https://www.skysports.com/nba/news/36226/12400504/ben-wallace-how-the-detroit-pistons-center-went-from-undrafted-to-the-basketball-hall-of-fame As an undrafted, undersized center who averaged less than six points per game for his career , Ben Wallace has nevertheless battled his way into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2021 as one of the best defensive players of his generation By Steve Aschburner for NBA.com  Monday 6 September 2021 13:07, UK  Cases can be made for other NBA drafts as the league’s best ever – the 1984 Michael Jordan and 2003 LeBron James editions spring immediately to mind.  But a documentary that premiered on NBA TV in April and has been in regular rotation since makes an awfully persuasive argument for the talent that rushed through the doors on June 26, 1996. Allen Iverson. Marcus Camby. Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Stephon Marbury. Ray Allen. ...

(Photo: Elsa/Getty Images) https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5797176/2024/09/27/derrick-rose-retirement-nba-bulls-knicks/ By Eric Koreen Sep 27, 2024 It was one of the ugliest off-court moments in recent NBA history . After Derrick Rose was found not liable for the alleged gang rape of his former girlfriend in 2016, jurors took pictures with the former league MVP outside the Los Angeles courthouse. Rose, the longtime Chicago Bull, was free to start his career with the New York Knicks as just a basketball player, a former superstar felled by injuries who was trying to approach his previous heights after repeated recoveries knocked him off his seemingly divined path . That is a story, as sports fans, we have seen before and innately understand . He wouldn’t have to face the pesky distractions of an ongoing case or the incongruous blemish a different verdict would have caused. The verdict made it easier to forget about the case and focus on his career, if you were so inclined. Rose went ...

https://www.nssmag.com/it/sports/38227/derrick-rose-ritiro-nba-basket?fbclid=IwY2xjawFk6PFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHeaUKhj46IHr4rXSyXwdzVc6vzCCVcflWlnL-xjtypDyuM7vJsti6ELo3A_aem_VAHk2o8BVO3IBaP8tTzxyw Il ritiro di un'icona che ha saputo sempre essere se stesso NSS magazine  Sports  - 27 Settembre 2024 Autore -  Andrea Lamperti Nel pomeriggio di ieri Derrick Rose, a una manciata di giorni dal suo 36esimo compleanno, ha annunciato ufficialmente il ritiro dal basket giocato. Poche ore dopo il video criptico apparso sul suo profilo Instagram, che aveva messo in preallarme i quasi due milioni di follower e l’intero mondo NBA, il nativo di Chicago ha affidato a The Athletic le parole di congedo dalla pallacanestro. “Il mio prossimo capitolo mi porterà a inseguire nuovi sogni”, spiega Rose, “e a condividere con gli altri i traguardi che ho raggiunto. Credo che il vero successo sia diventare la persona che sei destinata a essere, e io ora voglio dimostrare al mondo che il mio impatto pu...

https://hikaritakano.co/index.php/transcripts/john-salley John Salley is a 10-year NBA veteran with four championship rings to his credit - two with the Detroit Pistons and one with the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers . He was the first player in NBA history to play on three different championship-winning franchises. John played college ball with Georgia Tech from 1982-86. His playing number, 22, is retired and hanging in the Alexander Memorial Coliseum. He still holds the school’s record for shot blocking. He played with the Detroit Pistons from 1986-92, winning back-to-back World Championships in 1989 and 1990; played with the Miami Heat for three seasons; played 25 games as an expansion draft pick of the Toronto Raptors; and was signed by the Chicago Bulls in February 1996, where he stayed for the rest of the year, winning his third championship ring in the process. Salley was awarded Best Interview in the NBA by the Associated Press for three consecutive years and was ele...