The Heat forced Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals by defeating the Celtics in Boston (111-103). After a sluggish Game 5 Jimmy Butler led all scorers with 47 points in 46 minutes of play.
The 32-year-old year old small forward gave a comment postgame that is usual to him. “We knew we were going to win this one. And we’re going to win the next one too,” Butler said, per Keith Smith.
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What makes a great championship team? And what makes one better than the other? These are the questions we tackled when putting together our list of the 75 best NBA teams of all time list, which is featured in our SLAM Presents top 75 NBA Teams of All Time special issue.
At this point in the list, we’re getting into dynasty territory. Clutch moments and high-pressure situations were the norm for these squads, many of whom won multiple championships over a three to five year period. Different.
From iconic three-peats to historic dubs, here’s our picks for No. 32-22:
Coach: Gregg Popovich
Record: 59-23
Roster: Brent Barry, Bruce Bowen, Devin Brown, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Dion Glover, Robert Horry, Linton Johnson, Sean Marks, Tony Massenburg, Nazr Mohammed, Rasho Nesterovic, Tony Parker, Glenn Robinson, Malik Rose, Beno Udrih, Mike Wilks
The Spurs and Pistons came into the season having split the previous two NBA championships, and both upset higher-seeded opponents (the Suns and Heat, respectively) in the Conference Finals that spring. That set up a title bout that made up for a relative lack of star power with heavyweight intensity and dominant D. Five of seven Finals games ended with the losing team not breaking 80 points. The series ended with Tim Duncan securing his third ring.
Coach: Red Auerbach
Record: 59-21
Roster: John Havlicek, Tom Heinsohn, KC Jones, Sam Jones, Jim Loscutoff, Clyde Lovellette, Johnny McCarthy, Willie Naulls, Frank Ramsey, Bill Russell, Tom Sanders, Larry Siegfried
Yawn, another title run, but at least Boston got a new Finals opponent to break up the monotony. The San Francisco Warriors tried to play immovable object to the Celtics’ unstoppable force, and in Wilt Chamberlain, the Dubs at least had the firepower. But Boston had the balance, experience and pedigree: John Havlicek and Sam Jones led the offense, and Bill Russell did his usual work, dominating defensively and on the glass to lead Boston to its seventh championship in eight tries.
Coach: Red Holzman
Record: 60-22
Roster: Dick Barnett, Nate Bowman, Bill Bradley, Dave DeBusschere, Walt Frazier, Bill Hosket, Don May, Willis Reed, Mike Riordan, Cazzie Russell, Dave Stallworth, John Warren
When a new decade brought an end to the Celtics’ dominance, the Knicks asserted themselves as the class of the League. Behind MVP Willis Reed’s 21.7 ppg and 13.9 rpg and Walt Frazier’s stylish 20.9 points and 8.2 dimes per, New York rolled to the League’s best record and a Finals meeting with the Lakers. What followed was a seven-game classic against West, Wilt and Baylor, best remembered for Reed’s Game 7 effort on a bum leg that inspired his teammates to victory.
Coach: Paul Westhead, Pat Riley
Record: 57-25
Roster: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jim Brewer, Michael Cooper, Clay Johnson, Magic Johnson,Eddie Jordan, Mitch Kupchak, Mark Landsberger, Bob McAdoo, Mike McGee, Kevin McKenna, Norm Nixon, Kurt Rambis, Jamaal Wilkes
Pat Riley was second choice. When Paul Westhead was fired (at Magic Johnson’s urging) 11 games into the ’81-82 season, Lakers owner Jerry Buss named Jerry West head coach. Only West didn’t want it, so Riley—the former player turned broadcaster turned inexperienced assistant—got the gig. Duly motivated, Magic, Kareem and Jamaal Wilkes led L.A. back to the Finals, where they bounced the Sixers in six. Showtime was in effect, and one of the greatest coaching careers was born.
Coach: Phil Jackson
Record: 58-24
Roster: Kobe Bryant, Joe Crispin, Derek Fisher, Rick Fox, Devean George, Robert Horry, Lindsey Hunter, Mark Madsen, Jelani McCoy, Stanislav Medvedenko, Shaquille O’Neal, Mike Penberthy, Mitch Richmond, Brian Shaw, Samaki Walker
The third title of the Shaq-Kobe axis didn’t come easily. That Western Finals series with Sacramento was brutal, and there were those who thought the Lakers shouldn’t have won it. But they did, and then L.A. dusted Jersey in the Finals, behind another overpowering performance from O’Neal. The dynamic duo was again tremendous, while Derek Fisher provided stability at the point, and supporting players like Rick Fox and Robert Horry stepped up when needed.
Coach: Gregg Popovich
Record: 58-24
Roster: Brent Barry, Matt Bonner, Bruce Bowen, Jackie Butler, Tim Duncan, Francisco Elson, Melvin Ely, Michael Finley, Manu Ginobili, Robert Horry, Fabricio Oberto, Tony Parker, Beno Udrih, Jacque Vaughn, James White, Eric Williams
These Spurs scored when they needed to, and they moved the ball like no one else. But the real strength of the team was on defense, where San Antonio could stifle rivals, just like it did Cleveland in the Finals sweep. Tim Duncan was a no-frills frontcourt star, with point guard Tony Parker’s creativity and Manu Ginobili’s flair and passion the keys to the team’s success. Role players like Bruce Bowen and Michael Finley helped complete a pure team.
Coach: Bill Fitch
Record: 62-20
Roster: Tiny Archibald, Larry Bird, ML Carr, Terry Duerod, Eric Fernsten, Chris Ford, Gerald Henderson, Wayne Kreklow, Cedric Maxwell, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Rick Robey
After Magic Johnson got his title in 1980, it was Larry Bird’s turn. He and the Celtics waged a year-long battle with the Sixers that culminated with a seven-game Eastern Finals series that featured three big Boston comebacks. Kevin McHale and Robert Parish were interior forces, while Tiny Archibald, Chris Ford and Cedric Maxwell patrolled the perimeter. The Rockets were tough in the Finals, but they weren’t tough enough to stop the Celtics machine.
Coach: Chuck Daly
Record: 59-23
Roster: Mark Aguirre, William Bedford, Joe Dumars, James Edwards, Dave Greenwood, Scott Hastings, Gerald Henderson, Vinnie Johnson, Stan Kimbrough, Bill Laimbeer, Ralph Lewis, Dennis Rodman, John Salley, Isiah Thomas
The Bad Boys went back-to-back with the same formula that won their first title: ferocious defense, timely offense and a Mean Streets attitude. Isiah Thomas smiled a lot, but he was a killer. Joe Dumars quietly piled up the points. Bill Laimbeer made no friends inside. Dennis Rodman rebounded and defended like a dervish. Mark Aguirre scored in many ways. James Edwards was a force in the post. And nobody wanted to mess with John Salley.
Coach: Phil Jackson
Record: 65-17
Roster: Trevor Ariza, Shannon Brown, Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum, Jordan Farmar, Derek Fisher, Pau Gasol, DJ Mbenga, Chris Mihm, Adam Morrison, Lamar Odom, Josh Powell, Vladimir Radmanovic, Sasha Vujacic, Luke Walton, Sun Yue
The first of back-to-back titles was Kobe Bryant’s initial one as undisputed leader of the Lakers and redemption for the Mamba. A year after losing in the Finals to ancestral rival Boston, the Lakers piled up 65 wins—third most in franchise history—with Bryant leading the way but receiving plenty of help from Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum inside. The anticipated Finals matchup with Cleveland and LeBron James didn’t happen, so L.A. whipped Orlando instead.
Coach: Doc Rivers
Record: 66-16
Roster: Ray Allen, Tony Allen, PJ Brown, Sam Cassell, Glen Davis, Kevin Garnett, Eddie House, Kendrick Perkins, Paul Pierce, Scot Pollard, James Posey, Leon Powe, Gabe Pruitt, Rajon Rondo, Brian Scalabrine
Depending on how you define it, the Super Team era started in Boston in the summer of ’07, when future Hall of Famers Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined Paul Pierce to give the Celtics their best team in (at least) 20 years. Behind Pierce’s scoring, Allen’s shooting and KG’s two-way play, the Cs posted an NBA-high 66 wins and bounced LeBron and the Cavs en route to the Finals, where they renewed their rivalry with the Lakers. Not long after, they hung banner No. 17.
Coach: Phil Jackson
Record: 57-25
Roster: BJ Armstrong, Ricky Blanton, Bill Cartwright, Joe Courtney, Jo Jo English, Horace Grant, Michael Jordan, Stacey King, Rodney McCray, Ed Nealy, John Paxson, Will Perdue, Scottie Pippen, Trent Tucker, Darrell Walker, Corey Williams, Scott Williams
The Lakers and Pistons had taken some of the magic out of title repeats by the time the Bulls
won their second straight, but no team since the Celtics’ ’60s dynasty had won three in a row. The Bulls felt like making history. The formula by now was familiar: Jordan averaged League-
highs in points (32.6) and steals (2.8), Scottie Pippen was a terror at both ends and Chicago made the big plays when it mattered, edging Barkley and the Suns in the Finals to seal the threepeat.
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Warriors! Come out and plaayyyy!
Wow. The Golden State Warriors are back in the NBA Finals for the sixth time in eight years after their 120-110 series-clinching win over the Dallas Mavericks.
🗣 Warriors!
A look from inside the arena as the @warriors accept the Oscar Robertson Trophy! #DubNation pic.twitter.com/KuOKSHPmUL
— NBA (@NBA) May 27, 2022
The win is sweeter when you remember where the Warriors were after their 2019 NBA Finals loss to the Toronto Raptors.
A lottery finish in 2020 and a play-in tournament flameout in 2021 wasn’t enough to stop the Warriors’ core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green from dreaming of coming back to the FInals again. The Dubs (53-29) finished the regular-season with the third-seed in the Western Conference playoffs. The 2021-22 campaign was highlighted by Curry becoming the all-time king in long-range shooting and Thompson’s long-awaited return.
To get to this point, the Warriors beat the Nuggets in a gentlemen sweep, outlasted the Grizzlies in six games, and beat the Mavericks in five games.
“This is a blessing,” Curry said. “Obviously, this is a team effort with what Draymond said, for us to be out the mix the last two years. To be where we belong back in the Finals — this is special.”
“Everything about it is special. . We know this isn’t the ultimate goal, but we have to celebrate this cause of all we went through these last three years.”
THEY’RE BACK!!! (via @SportsCenter) pic.twitter.com/2VkJClrPLg
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 27, 2022
Game 6 Thompson (32 points on eight made threes) made an early appearance to help the Warriors close out the Mavericks on Thursday’s Game. The five-time All-Star scored 19 points on five triples, giving Golden State a 17-point lead on this dagger-three that Thompson celebrated with a Curry-like shimmy.
Klay hitting the shimmy got me LITTTTT (via @NBAonTNT) pic.twitter.com/KSCf8NuMX0
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 27, 2022
In the second-half, Golden State grew their lead to as many as 25 points after Curry (15 points, nine assists) knocked down a floater. Luka Doncic (28 points, nine rebounds, six dimes) then woke up from his sleepy start and scored 15 points in the third frame, helping to engineer a 15-4 run that cut the deficit to eight points powered by back-to-back triples from Luka Magic.
Luka 🪄 with 15 points in the 3Q pic.twitter.com/NJVAPVSzm3
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) May 27, 2022
However, that’s as close as Dallas would get. The Warriors scored five straight points to bring the lead back to 15, and the Golden State Big 3 of Curry, Green (17 points, six rebounds, nine assists, including seven in the fourth), and Thompson scored 15 points to close Game 6 out, with Curry and Thompson knocking down consecutive three-pointe to build a 16-point lead with 2:02 left in the game.
“You’re going to make me emotional, man,” Thompson said, smiling from corner to corner. “It’s hard to put in words — I dreamt of this day. There were some dog days, and to be here, I’m so thankful for our squad they started the season so incredibly well, allowed us to finish out strong, and we are four wins away from a championship.”
With the WCF series wrapped up, Curry became the first-ever Magic Johnson Trophy winner. The Warriors await the winner of the Heat-Celtics series, the Celtics lead the series 3-2. Golden State will host Game 1 of the FInals when they begin on June 2.
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Stephen Curry picked up some shiny new hardware after the Golden State Warriors closed the Western Conference Finals on Thursday, beating the Mavericks 120-11.
The Baby-Faced Assassin is the first-ever winner of the Magic Johnson Trophy, the NBA’s newest postseason awarded earlier this month.
Stephen Curry is the first-ever recipient of the Earvin “Magic” Johnson Trophy awarded to the Western Conference Finals MVP! #DubNation pic.twitter.com/OmZ13l0LQS
— NBA (@NBA) May 27, 2022
Curry won the award after averaging 23.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game.
“This is a blessing,” Curry said. “Obviously, this is a team effort with what Draymond said, for us to be out the mix the last two years. To be where we belong back in the Finals — this is special.”
“Everything about it is special. . We know this isn’t the ultimate goal, but we have to celebrate this cause of all we went through these last three years. “
“This is special… we know this isn’t the ultimate goal but we have to celebrate this”
Stephen Curry accepts the FIRST EVER Earvin “Magic” Johnson Trophy awarded to the Western Conference Finals MVP. pic.twitter.com/5vCYlLxrcQ
— NBA (@NBA) May 27, 2022
Curry is now 6-0 in conference finals and will be making his six NBA Finals appearances in eight years. The two-time MVP has won three titles with the Warriors, last winning the whole thing in 2018 to end the final chapter of the Warriors-Cavaliers rivalry.
Steph really don’t care 😭😭😭 (via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/atPHeBVf9M
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 27, 2022
The No. 3 seed Warriors will meet the winner of the Miami-Boston Eastern Conference Finals. No. 2 seed Boston is currently up 3-2 heading into Friday’s Game 6 in Boston.
Although Boston and Golden State split their regular-season series, Golden State (53-29) owns the superior regular-season record. They will therefore hold home-court advantage when the Finals begin on June 2.
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When Dorian Finney-Smith entered the NBA out of Florida six years ago, the Dallas Mavericks wing heeded the advice he was given that he could “make a lot of money” if he could consistently hit the easiest shot in the League, the corner three.
Since signing with the Mavs as an undrafted agent in 2016, Finney-Smith has grown to be a strong 3-and-D specialist, with the corner three being his signature shot. The former Florida Gator has former teammate Wesley Matthews to thank for his jumper becoming a lethal strength.
“I was already playing into the corner my rookie year, and once I realized how many corner threes I was going to get, I just worked on it,” Finney-Smith told BasketballNews.com. “Wesley Matthews was a good vet for me. He was always telling me that I needed to get that (corner three) shot down pat if I wanted to be on the court,”
“And I did!”
Finney-Smith’s accuracy as a shooter has gone up every season thanks to his dogged work ethic. As a rookie, he shot 29.3 percent from beyond the arc. Now, Finney-Smith is knocking triples down at a career-high 39.5 percent clip. He’s also hit 46.1 percent of his corner three-pointer attempts, a vast improvement from the 26.3 percent clip he shot as a rookie.
Finney-Smith is smoking the nylon during the Mavs run to the Western Conference Finals, shooting 52.5 percent from the corner.
“I had the confidence that I could shoot. I shot the ball well in college; it just ain’t translated the first couple of years in the NBA,” Finney-Smith said.
He credits his development into a plus shooter to not only Matthews, but teammates like Maxi Kleber, Dwight Powell, and Luka Doncic, who Finney-Smith says watched him put the work in often enough to trust him when it matters late in the game.
“Repetition builds confidence,” Finney-Smith explained. “Also, I think my teammates seeing how hard I worked, it also built confidence in them. The ones who have been here with me throughout this journey — like Maxi [Kleber], Dwight [Powell], Luka [Doncic] — I think they see the work I put in, and that also gives them confidence to give the ball to me in late-game situations.
“Guys see the work you put in; they can tell if you’ve been in the gym or if you been BSing, and I built confidence with those guys, especially Luka, to pass me the ball in those clutch situations. They have trust in me, even when I miss it.”
Along the way, Finney-Smith earned the trust of the Mavericks front office, who awarded the former undrafted wing with a four-year contract, reportedly with $55 million for all his hard work and being pivotal in numerous regular-season and playoff wins.
During the 2021-22 campaign, Finney-Smith averaged a career-best 11.0 points on 3.2 attempted threes per game, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game on 47.1 percent shooting from the field. Finney-Smith joined Kleber and Jason Terry as the only players in Mavs history to make at least eight three-pointers in a game.
The Mavericks’ season is still alive after they blew the Warriors out in Game 4, extending their season for at least one more game while attempting to become the first team in NBA playoff history to come back from a 3-0 deficit. Golden State hosts Thursday’s Game 5 of the WCF series.
Should the Warriors win, Golden State will be making their sixth NBA Finals trip since 2015.
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Two things are true when it comes to the offseason plans of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Collin Sexton. Cleveland wants to extend Sexton; the other is Sexton will be a restricted free agent.
Where the Cavs front office and Sexton may disagree is the amount of money Young Bull will make. According to NBA insider Michael Scott of the Hoopshype podcast, the Cavs want to retain Sexton, and Sexton will be demanding “starting guard money.”
“The Cavaliers want to retain Collin Sexton,” NBA insider Michael Scotto said on the HoopsHype podcast. “He’s going to demand starting guard money, I’m told.
“There are some teams who will be in the market for a point guard this summer, including the New York Knicks and Washington Wizards, who would have to acquire Sexton in a sign-and-trade if they want to get him. Last season, no restricted free agent signed an offer sheet, and players such as Cavaliers forward Lauri Markkanen switched teams via sign-and-trade.”
Sexton led the Cavs in scoring in 2020-21 (24.1 points per game) and 2021-22 (16.0 points per game) before he suffered a season-ending torn meniscus in his left knee 11 games into the season.
Should Cleveland decide to extend Sexton, he will be joining a team with a new pecking order after Darius Garland, and Jarrett Allen broke out and earned All-Star nominations. With Allen, Garland, and Evan Mobley as their franchise cornerstones, the Cavs (44-38) earned a spot in the Play-In Tournament thanks to their identity as a top-five ranked defense.
The Cavs also acquired Caris LeVert at the trade deadline. Both Sexton and LeVert play the same position. If Sexton returns, the Cavs will be facing a question of who starts and who comes off the bench. Both guards have experience playing a reduced role, with Sexton embracing the Cavs and asking him to take fewer shots for the team’s benefit. LeVert went from key weapon to coming off the bench to playing second-fiddle in his short time in Indiana.
The experience the two have in different roles will help make whatever transition Coach J.B. Bickerstaff will make. The main question will be if Cleveland wants to pay Sexton when they have a logjam at guard and will also need to prepare for extension talks when Garland becomes eligible in 2023. The other question will be does Cleveland believe they will repeat their success with Sexton next to Garland, LeVert, Allen, and Mobley.
Regardless, Cleveland has a bright future with Bickerstaff and GM Koby Altman at the top of the helm and Garland’s rise as the team’s face combined with the rapid development of All-Rookie center Mobley.
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Historian Claude Johnson has spent more than two decades researching and honoring the history of some of the game’s more revolutionary pioneers. Following the racial integration of professional leagues in the 1950s, dozens of African American teams, which were often called “fives,” were founded. In his new book, THE BLACK FIVES: THE EPIC STORY OF BASKETBALL’S FORGOTTEN ERA, Johnson rewrites our own understanding about the true history of the game, while spotlighting those who helped revolutionize basketball as we know it today.
From the visionaries to the managers and all of those who helped blaze a trail while battling discrimination, the Black Fives helped strengthen and uplift their communities during Jim Crow.
Below is an excerpt from Johnson’s new book, which you can purchase here:
CHAPTER 26
“TRUE WORLD CHAMPIONS”
FEBRUARY 19, 1937, was a big night in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. That’s because the Oshkosh All-Stars, a local all-White basketball team, were on the eve of playing in a “World Series of Basketball” that would put the small city and the state of Wisconsin on the national professional hardwood stage.
Their opponents were the all-Black New York Renaissance Big Five. One would think that in the Midwest, during the Great Depression, and during Jim Crow, that the appearance of an African American team in an all-White town would be of concern. But actually, the Rens were universally considered the champions of basketball, and Wisconsin residents were some of the country’s most passionate basketball fans. So they eagerly welcomed the visitors.
Wisconsin was not new to interracial basketball. The Renaissance Five had begun visiting Wisconsin in 1934. That year the Milwaukee Raynors, an all-Black club, barnstormed the state from their home base of Milwaukee. The Milwaukee Colored Panthers were also popular, and the all-Black Chicago Crusaders toured through Wisconsin during the mid-1930s.
Formed in 1931, the Oshkosh All-Stars had played the Rens for the first time in February 1936 in a two-game series. The games drew so many specta tors that local promoter and Oshkosh team manager Lon Darling decided to do it again in 1937. This time the two squads staged a five-game series to be played in Oshkosh, Racine, Green Bay, Ripon, and Madison. Darling declared that the winner of the series, which the papers dubbed the “World Series Of Basketball,” would be considered the world’s champions of basketball.
“It was a money-maker,” recalled former Renaissance Five star and future Basketball Hall of Fame member John Isaacs. Each venue saw huge attendance, and in local newspapers, race as a point of difference was rarely mentioned. It seemed to matter only as a descriptive term. Prejudice was, if not trumped, at least mitigated by love of the game. According to Isaacs, on this trip the Rens were able to stay in hotels and eat at restaurants like everyone else. “We had trouble when we first started with all these white All-Americans, and when we first started playing them, damn near every night we had to knock one or two of them out,” said the Rens travel secretary and road manager, Eric Illidge, many years later. “For two or three years straight, two or three jaws were broken,” he continued. “Every night, every GAME we played, we had a fight, not with the customers but with the players themselves—they couldn’t stand us beating them,” said Illidge, whose only concern was keeping the score down so they would get invited back. “I had two fighters on the team, they broke about four or five different jaws, Pop Gates and Wee Willie Smith” he explained. “And we kept doing it until everybody respected us.” Illidge had no regrets. “My job with the Renaissance was easy and I’ll tell you why, we had the best team at that time in basketball,” he said. “We was the biggest drawing card in basketball.” His duties included making sure players would “leave on time, be at the game on time, check the gate receipts, collect the money, give them their lunch money, in fact, I took care of all the business.” Yet, Illidge was always prepared for inevitable trouble. Often, the cash accumulated so fast that he had to wire it back to Harlem using Western Union, unless it was close to payday. “All this goddamn money in my pocket,” Illidge said. “One time in Louisville some guy came and grabbed me and tried to take my money off of me, but, he was so scared,” Illidge laughed. “I had my pistol in my pocket, and I stuck it in his jaw, and he flew!”
While the Rens faced all kinds of challenges on the road, none were as bad as what happened to the New York Harlemites, an African American barnstorming squad based in St. Louis. While driving toward Chester, Mon tana, on February 6, 1936, for a scheduled game, they encountered a blizzard. Their car broke down and “the entire party was forced to get out and walk to a farm house three miles away,” according to the Fort Benton River Press. “The lowest reading of the thermometer was approximately 42 degrees below zero” that week, the paper reported. They were rushed to nearby Shelby for medical attention treatment of “frozen faces, feet and hands.” They continued playing on schedule into March, when it was reported that the players, whose frostbite injuries had “necessitated their playing with their hands taped, are again able to play without bandages.” About 260 people showed for the game, which the Harlemites won, 44-43, and “the colored artists performed perfectly despite the loss of their classy forward who died at Shelby when gangrene set into his hands after they were frozen near there during the recent blizzards.”1 The twenty-six-year-old professional basketball player, Benson Hall, had lost his life after being sent home “because his mother back in St. Louis refused to let them amputate parts of his body,” according to the daughter of Donnie Goins, one of his teammates.
Getting back to the Rens, just in case, their team bus, a custom-made REO Speed Wagon, had two potbelly stoves on board for heat. These also served to dry their sweat-soaked woolen uniforms when it was too cold to let them air-dry with the windows open. “The bus was your home, when you come to think of it,” said Isaacs in 1986. “The hard part wasn’t the playing, it was the traveling.”3 Still, according to Isaacs, the Rens’ game strategy was always the same. “Get ten points as quickly as you could, because those were the ten points the refs were gonna take away.”
Meanwhile, the Oshkosh All-Stars were trying to build a case to join the National Basketball League, a proposed new circuit of teams from the Midwest representing both large and small companies, from the Akron Firestones and Akron Goodyears to the Indianapolis Kautskys and Richmond King Clothiers. This league was still only just an idea at the time. The All-Stars lost that 1937 series with the Rens, three games to two, but Bob Douglas agreed to a return engagement, a two-game series in March 1937.
Ever the shrewd promoter, Darling declared that those two extra games would extend their previous “World Series” to seven games. In other words, if the All-Stars won both, they would be the new world champions, instead of the Rens. The All-Stars managed to pull it off, and the following season the NBL added Oshkosh as a founding member.
Beyond delighting Wisconsinites, the series between the All-Stars and the Rens served a purpose for basketball fans around the country: It helped to determine which top-notch team was truly the best. For a long time, any team (like Will Madden’s Incorporators) could claim they were “world champions,” and often the public was understandably confused. Behind the scenes, promot
ers took notice. A team’s won-loss record might speak for itself. But no hard stats could prove the greatness of a barnstorming team without a doubt. Which was why Edward W. Cochrane, a Chicago Herald-American sports editor, came up with the idea for a World Championship of Professional Basketball. “At the time there were no less than a score of professional basketball teams, all advertising themselves as world’s champions,” Cochrane remembered in 1941. The annual tournament was born “out of the chaos of these conflict ing claims,” he said. So, they decided to settle the chaos once and for all. The clear-sighted inclusion by the Herald-American of all-Black teams from the outset gave legitimacy to the tournament as well as to pro basketball itself. Twelve teams were invited to the inaugural tournament in 1939, the best pro teams in the country, including the New York Rens, Oshkosh All-Stars, Harlem Globe Trotters, and New York Celtics. It tipped off on March 26, at the 132nd Regiment Armory in Chicago, a cavernous drill hall, where eight thousand fans saw the Rens defeat the New York Yankees 30–21. The follow ing day, the Rens took down the Globe Trotters, 27–23 at Chicago Coliseum, a historic structure that had been the site of six Republican National Conven tions and the home of the Chicago Blackhawks early in their existence. Bob Douglas and his Renaissance Five had made it to the final, which was played on March 29 against their familiar rivals, the Oshkosh All Stars. New York triumphed, 34–25, making headlines across the country. But when champi onship jackets were awarded to the players, star guard John Isaacs famously borrowed a razor blade from a teammate and carefully removed the stitches that attached the word colored off of the back of his, so that it read, simply, world champions.
John William Isaacs, aka “Boy Wonder,” a bruising, powerfully built six-foot, three-inch, 190-pound guard, was a star player from East Harlem. He led his Textile High School squad to the 1934–5 Public School Athletic League championship, with a defeat of New York City powerhouse and defending PSAL champion DeWitt Clinton High School. Following a successful 1935–6 season, Textile lost in the city PSAL playoffs when Isaacs, being twenty years old, was ruled ineligible to play in high school.”4
Being ineligible had its perks. Isaacs played games with the St. Peter Claver Penguins, a Brooklyn-based “colored” team that featured Puggy Bell, a future pro teammate, and in the fall of 1936, he appeared with the New York Collegians, another all-Black squad.5 These brief stints not only proved that Isaacs could play at the next level, they also caught the eye of Bob Douglas.
Excerpt from the new book THE BLACK FIVES: THE EPIC STORY OF BASKETBALL’S FORGOTTEN ERA by Claude Johnson published by Abrams Press
Text copyright © 2022 Claude Johnson
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It’s a journey whose steps began long ago.
A marathon that’s still being run.
A mountain that’s still being scaled.
But the grind continues. There’s no turning back now. Too much ground has been covered, and there’s still much more left.
Women basketball players. Women who hoop. Ballers. Athletes on a quest to prove to the world that they are just as skilled, just as competitive, just as worthy of investment as other athletes. There are many who set the table, paved the way and took the hits to make others sit up and take notice.
Women like Dawn Staley. Long before she started her own dynasty as head coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks, she was part of one of the greatest sports dynasties ever: the USA Women’s National Basketball Team.
The team claimed its seventh consecutive gold medal at last summer’s Tokyo Olympics, their 55th consecutive Olympic victory since the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The WNT is a hoops dynasty reigning and holding court for more than 25 years.
Staley won three Olympic gold medals with Team USA as a player and then another as head coach in 2020. Her literal blood, sweat and tears helped lay the groundwork for today’s athletes. But she wasn’t alone.
Team USA teammates like Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes were there, too, helping kick down the door and show the competitive nature of female athletes—both on and off the court.
Swoopes chartered new territory by being the first woman to have a Nike basketball signature shoe, the Air Swoopes, in 1996. The Air Swoopes showed that female ballers could sell athletic footwear, too. She was also the first player to be signed in the WNBA in 1997. The three-time League MVP and Hall of Famer has won three Olympic gold medals and is one of only 11 women basketball players to have won an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA Championship, a FIBA World Cup Gold and a WNBA title.
Leslie, a three-time WNBA MVP and a four-time Olympic gold medal winner, raised the bar, becoming the first player to dunk in a WNBA game and paving the way years later for Brittney Griner to thrill fans with her own high-flying dunks. Leslie is also charting a new course for female basketball players. In 2019, she joined Ice Cube’s BIG3 professional basketball league and is currently the head coach for the Triplets team, whom she led to the 2019 BIG3 Championship in just her first year at the helm.
Breaking barriers, inspiring generations, silencing the naysayers—in the words from Nike’s 2020 Dream Crazier commercial: “It’s only crazy until you do it.”
Another early barrier breaker was Tamikia Catchings, one of the most decorated and legendary female basketball players of all time. Catchings won a WNBA championship, regular season MVP, Finals MVP and is a 5x Defensive Player of the Year winner. Add to that four Olympic gold medals, a plethora of other awards and honors and you can see why the Hall of Famer and former president of the Player’s Association is a trailblazing icon for young female athletes everywhere. She’s also helmed a team as both VP of Basketball Operations and General Manager, showing that women are about more than Xs and Os when it comes to sports.
The baton was picked up by future Hall of Famers Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore. Bird, considered to be one of the greatest players in WNBA history, is a four-time WNBA champion with the Seattle Storm. She’s won a historic five Olympic gold medals. With three other athletes, she recently co-founded the digital production platform TOGETHXR, which uplifts women in all sports.
Taurasi, her Olympic teammate, is often called the GOAT of the WNBA. The League’s all-time leading scorer, on June 27, 2021, she became the first player to surpass 9,000 points. Taurasi is one of 11 women to win an Olympic Gold medal, an NCAA Championship, a FIBA World Cup Gold and a WNBA championship.
Moore is a 4x WNBA champion and Olympic gold medalist who is considered one of the greatest winners in women’s basketball history, with championships that span across the League, college and EuroLeague. Off the court, Moore walked the walk by taking a hiatus from the League in 2019 to focus on reform in the American justice system. Before 2020 heightened the country’s concern for social justice, Moore was already at work, helping set the stage for the social and political activism rising among women athletes. Their activism has extended from racial injustice and voting inequalities to rights of LGQBTIA citizens and pay and health inequities.
With examples of the aforementioned and many more, a new generation has arrived on the scene to keep pushing the sport forward. That includes the Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson, the League’s 2020 MVP, who won her first Olympic gold medal last summer in Tokyo. She’s also a key player in the W’s push for social justice and reform as a member of the Social Justice Council and spends time encouraging and uplifting young girls through her foundation, which advocates for bullying prevention and educating about dyslexia.
Two-time WNBA champion Jewell Loyd of the Seattle Storm, Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier and the Washington Mystics’ Elena Delle Donne are other examples of the newest generation of women basketball players carrying the torch into the future.
As we honor the past and celebrate the present, let’s take a look to the future of the women’s game. It is indeed bright—almost blinding—as one thinks of what’s on the horizon. There are so many ways in which the women’s game can be brought up to the level of the men’s game, and I’m not talking about the level of play.
Personally, I see a female head coach of an NBA team, sooner rather than later. Leslie has already proven it can be done on a smaller scale with the BIG3. Why can’t men in the pros listen to, learn from and win championships with a female coach? Also on the horizon, and definitely long overdue, is expansion of the WNBA from 12 teams to more, and what many are advocating for—Summer League and a Developmental League, much like those in the NBA. Twelve teams and 144 spots is simply not enough for all of the talented, athletic women coming out of our country’s high schools and colleges. They need the same opportunities to hone their skills and play alongside some of the best of the best. This can only happen with expansion, investment and commitment on behalf of the League, fans and businesses.
I also see a future where there is equal coverage of the WNBA and NBA drafts. Sports pundits, writers, columnists, photographers of all races and genders will be sent to cover WNBA games as a regular beat, not just for the moment because it’s the “it thing” to do. They’ll be present to capture the WNBA draft as a major event just like the NBA’s. Covering female ballers won’t be an afterthought, it will be a given.
There’ll be more women-owned sports conglomerates like Bird’s TOGETHXR, pushing female athletes, stories, passions and projects forward into the minds and hearts of all. When a new SLAM cover featuring A’ja Wilson or Sabrina Ionescu drops, it’ll go viral, just like a new Kevin Durant cover would.
I see a future where support—financial and otherwise—will be equal. From facilities to funding to amenities to pay (for the pros), things will be a lot closer to equal than they are now, regardless of the level. It’s all long overdue.
Nike said as much in its 2020 ad, “One Day We Won’t Need This.”
“One day, we won’t need this day. We won’t need a day to celebrate how far we’ve come. We won’t need a day to prove we’re just as fast or strong or skilled; We won’t need a day to relive the comebacks, the firsts, or the titles we’ve won. We won’t need a day to rally behind the ones fighting to change the rules. One day we won’t need this day at all. Because one day, this day, will be our every day.”
Let’s make it happen. In fact, let’s just do it.
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The future of college basketball has arrived. SLAM’s 2022 High School Boys All Americans are an elite group of certified bucket-getters who are already making serious waves on the court.
From Amari Bailey to Naismith Player of the Year Dariq Whitehead, here’s who we’ve selected to our SLAM All American roster:
6-5, SG
Sierra Canyon High School (Chatsworth, CA)
UCLA
His time is now. Moving from Chicago to the bright lights of Sierra Canyon in Los Angeles, Amari Bailey has been a staple for the Trailblazers in his four years with the program. A state champion, gold medalist, McDonald’s All American—there’s not much else for Bailey to achieve. That is, until he goes across town to UCLA’s campus, where he will look to elevate the excellence of Mick Cronin’s program in the hills.
6-10, C
Wilbraham & Monson (MA) Academy
Duke
Modern day basketball loves Kyle Filipowski. Whether you need a bucket, a dime from the top of the key or a defensive stop, the big man can do all of the above and more. Son of former Parade All American and Long Beach State center Rebecca (Hagerdon) Filipowski, Kyle was born into basketball, like his brother Matt, who will play for Harvard in the fall. Kyle will head to Durham to form a frightening frontcourt duo with Dereck Lively.
6-4, SG
IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL)
Baylor
He’s one of one. Keyonte George is a crafty guard who can score on all three levels at will. Just ask those who he gave buckets to at the 2021 FIBA 3×3 U18 World Cup tournament en route to a gold medal. He’ll be heading to Baylor this fall to join Scott Drew’s squad with the hopes of raising a different type of gold next spring.
7-1, C
Westtown School (West Chester, PA)
Duke
Seven-footers shouldn’t move like this. Then again, basketball runs through Dereck Lively’s blood. His mother, Kathy Drysdale, was a 1,000-point scorer at Penn State University. His hooper genes helped him go from a 7-year-old hesitant to play basketball to one of the top prospects in his class. After an outstanding high school career, he’ll be the anchor down low for a new era of Duke basketball post-Coach K. Housing a winner’s heart, Lively is sure to make some noise with the Blue Devils.
6-4, SG
North Little Rock (AR) High School
Arkansas
Hometown legends live forever. Nick Smith Jr will be no exception to this rule, as the Arkansas born-and-raised hooper will join Eric Musselman’s squad at the University of Arkansas in the fall. Smith Jr has had a prolific senior year, capturing the 6A Arkansas State Championship, being named a McDonald’s All American and winning the 2022 Jordan Brand Classic MVP, along with many others. Simply put, this kid will give opposing teams nightmares for years to come.
6-6, SF
Montverde (FL) Academy
Duke
Watch your head. Newark’s Dariq Whitehead is an uber-athletic wing destined to break his family’s football traditions. All of his older siblings played football, and his brother Tahir has played 10 years in the NFL. However, at 13 years old, Dariq made the difficult decision to attend Montverde Academy and commit to basketball full-time. Since then, he’s won two national championships and was named the 2022 Naismith HS Player of the Year and the 2022 McDonald’s All American Game MVP. Whitehead will look to continue his winning ways at Duke this fall.
Read here to find out who was selected to our SLAM 2022 Girls All American roster.
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SLAM’s 2022 High School All Americans don’t got next, they got right now. On the girl’s side, this talented group of female ballers are already winning championship titles, snagging FIBA gold metals and making their impact known on, and off the court, from the booth to the classroom.
Meet this elite group of high school standouts who are continuing the elevate the women’s game.
6-2, SF
Montverde Academy (Montverde, FL)
Texas A&M
A unique talent. Just because Janiah Barker’s one of the biggest people on the court, don’t expect her to stay in the post. The dynamic two-time FIBA gold medalist can do it all between the lines. Her elite game was on full display when she led Montverde Academy to the GEICO Nationals championship this past April. Barker is heading down to Texas A&M to join Joni Taylor’s first year in the Lone Star State.
6-7, C
Grandview High School (Aurora, CO)
Stanford
Towering over the competition, Lauren Betts, the near-consensus No. 1 overall prospect of her class, has a list of accomplishments that far outgrew her frame. Two-time FIBA gold medalist, state champion, two-time Gatorade Colorado Player of the Year—the list goes on. She’ll join a loaded Stanford roster in the fall, teaming up with fellow Colorado hoopers Francesca Belibi and Ashten Prechtel.
5-10, PG
Long Island Lutheran High School (Brookville, NY)
Arizona
Never doubt New York basketball. Bronx-born Paris Clark has been balling for the Lady Crusaders at Long Island Lutheran, earning herself national recognition. McDonald’s All American, an invite to the Jordan Brand Classic, New York’s Gatorade Player of the Year—you name it, Clark’s done it. But don’t let her reserved personality fool you, she’s one hell of a player. Clark’s taking that New York swag to Arizona, joined by fellow SLAM All-American Maya Nnaji.
5-10, G
Sprayberry High School (Marietta, GA)
LSU
Poetry in both arenas. Not only is Flau’jae Johnson a rapper who’s accumulated over 3.7 million views on YouTube and signed a distribution deal with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, she’s also a poetic hooper. Earning MVP at the Jordan Brand Classic, she proved to those who know her for her music that she’s more than just a rapper. Johnson is now headed to LSU to join Kim Mulkey’s ascending squad.
6-4, PF
Hopkins High School (Minnetonka, MN)
Arizona
A dual-threat on and off the court, Maya Nnaji is an aspiring doctor currently enrolled in Arizona’s Accelerated Pathway to Medical Education and a trustee in the Nnaji Family Foundation, which builds basketball courts and educational hubs across Nigeria. However, don’t let Nnaji’s off-the-court kindness fool you—she’ll cross you over eight different ways and leave you in the wind. A three-time state champion in high school, Nnaji will be headed to Arizona to continue adding to her otherworldly résumé.
5-11, PG
Sidwell Friends School (Washington, DC)
UCLA
A natural-born phenom. Kiki Rice has brought winning wherever she goes. She’s a two-time state champion in soccer, a two-time FIBA gold medalist and has racked up countless individual awards in basketball, including both the Gatorade and Naismith National Player of the Year awards. Looking to compete for a national championship all four years of college, she chose to attend UCLA this fall. Can the California-born bucket do just that? It wouldn’t be wise to bet against her.
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