Wilt Chamberlain is a former NBA player with the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers. He played the center position from 1959-1973 and is one of the greatest NBA players of all time. Chamberlain is the only player to score 100 points in a single NBA game or average more than 40 and 50 points in a season.
Note: This is 8-bit character #6 of the 13 greatest NBA players of all time.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Lew Alcindor) is a former NBA player with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers, from 1969-1989. Known for his legendary skyhook, he played the center position and is one of the greatest NBA players of all time. Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, with 38,387 points.
Note: This is 8-bit character #5 of the 13 greatest NBA players of all time.
Bill Russell is a former NBA player with the Boston Celtics from 1956-1969. He played the center position and is one of the greatest NBA players of all time. Russell was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty that won 11 NBA Championships during his 13-year career.
Note: This is 8-bit character #4 of the 13 greatest NBA players of all time.
An American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He won three Super Bowls in four years with the New England Patriots. Brady helped set the record for the longest consecutive win streak in NFL history with 21 straight wins over two seasons (2003-04). In 2007, he led the Patriots to the NFL’s first undefeated 16-game regular season.
Note: Today Brady and the Patriots face the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI, a rematch of 2008’s Super Bowl XLII upset. It will be Brady’s fifth Super Bowl.
A retired American football wide receiver. He is generally regarded as the greatest wide receiver of all time and one of the greatest players in National Football League (NFL) history. He is the all-time leader in most major statistical categories for wide receivers. He won three Super Bowl rings with the San Francisco 49ers.
A former tennis player who won eight Grand Slam singles titles during his career. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Lendl became a U.S. citizen in 1992. Lendl’s game relied particularly on strength and heavy topspin from the baseline and helped usher in the modern era of “power tennis.” He’s one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
Note: This is 8-bit tennis character #5 of 5 for Australian Open week.
An American former tennis player who won seven Grand Slam singles titles during his career. He is best remembered for his shot-making artistry and for his confrontational on-court behavior that frequently landed him in trouble with umpires and tennis authorities. “You cannot be serious!” He’s one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
Note: This is 8-bit tennis character #4 of 5 for Australian Open week.
An American former tennis player who won eight Grand Slam singles titles. In 1974, Connors became the second male in the open era to win three or more Grand Slam singles titles in a calendar year (Rod Laver being the first in 1969). Connors won more than 100 singles titles during his career. He’s one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
Note: This is 8-bit tennis character #2 of 5 for Australian Open week.
An Australian former tennis player who holds the record for career titles, and was the top-ranked player for seven consecutive years, from 1964 to 1970. Laver is the only tennis player to have twice won the Grand Slam, first as an amateur in 1962 and second as a professional in 1969. He’s one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
Note: This is 8-bit tennis character #1 of 5 for Australian Open week.
An iconic college football coach who was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions from 1966 through 2011. JoePa holds the record for the most victories by an FBS football coach with 409 and coached five undefeated teams. He was fired on November 9, 2011 by Penn State trustees in the wake of the horrific Jerry Sandusky scandal.
Joe Paterno has always reminded me of my late Italian grandfather and, as a Penn State alum and former State College resident, I occasionally saw this humble man around town. It is difficult to understand how a man who stressed moral character didn’t act beyond his legal obligations when the well-being of a child was at stake. Sad times.
Best known by his nickname Pelé, this man is the greatest soccer player of all time. In his native Brazil, he is hailed as a national hero. In addition to his contributions to the game of football, he is known for his support of policies to improve the social conditions of the poor. Celebrated as “The King of Football,” he was born on this day in 1940.
A retired American boxer. Iron Mike is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles. He also spent years in prison for rape, bit off part of Evander Holyfield’s ear during a fight, declared bankruptcy and is generally nuts. He is slowly fading into Bolivian.
A Puerto Rican professional baseball player and humanitarian. He was born on this day in 1934. He played his entire 18-year career with Major League Baseball’s Pittsburgh Pirates (1955-72) and was the first Latin American player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He died in a plane crash in 1972, while delivering aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.
Magic Johnson is an NBA great who played point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers. He won five NBA championships with the Lakers during the 1980s, but retired abruptly in 1991 after contracting HIV. His friendship and rivalry with Larry Bird, whom he faced in the 1979 NCAA finals and three NBA championship series, is widely celebrated. Johnson was born on this day in 1959.
Note: This is 8-bit character #3 of the 13 greatest NBA players of all time.
Larry Bird is one of the greatest NBA players of all time. He started at forward for 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics, spearheading one of the NBA’s most formidable frontcourts that won three NBA championships during the 1980s. His friendship and rivalry with Magic Johnson, whom he faced in the 1979 NCAA finals and three NBA championship series, is widely celebrated.
Note: This is 8-bit character #2 of the 13 greatest NBA players of all time.
George Herman Ruth, Jr. (AKA “the Bambino” and “the Sultan of Swat”) was a Major League Baseball player from 1914-1935. He is one of the most famous sports heroes in American culture and is considered the greatest baseball player ever. He spent his career with the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox and set numerous MLB records.
The first athlete to be named an All-Star in two major American sports (baseball and football). He won the Heisman Trophy in 1985 and became a household name in 1989-90 through Nike’s “Bo Knows” advertising campaign. He was also the most unstoppable athlete in video game history (see “Tecmo Bo” in Tecmo Super Bowl for Nintendo).
Born in Kentucky as Cassius Clay, this cultural icon was one of the greatest heavyweight championship boxers of all time. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
Air Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time. He won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls and holds the NBA record for highest career scoring average (among many statistical feats).
In my childhood bedroom, Jordan’s “Soaring” poster is still on the wall.
Björn Borg – No. 328
A Swedish former tennis player who won 11 Grand Slam singles titles between 1974 and 1981 and then retired from the game at the age of 26. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles. Borg was the first “rock star” of professional tennis and was one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
This is 8-bit tennis character #3 of 5 for Australian Open week. Also, I commend those who are blacking out their sites today for the SOPA strike. I hope you all share this video and complain to your elected officials about Internet censorship bills like SOPA and PIPA.