Hank Finkel • C • 7-0/240 🏀Born on 4/20 🏀Worked as a sandblaster after dropping out of high school 🏀Discovered by a college scout while at a Dairy Queen 🏀Dayton’s all-time single season and career scoring average leader 🏀1974 NBA Champ

No. 4 Tom No. 5 Dick

Jerry Sloan is the 4th winningest coach in NBA history, but his HOF almost never happened. After retiring as a player, he took the HC position at Evansville, his alma mater. He withdrew from the role 5 days later. That same season, the team and coaching staff would perish in a tragic plane crash.

🛩️One of the gnarliest injuries in NBA History was Jim “Bad News” Barnes getting hurled 50ft in the air by a jet engine. This definitely wasn’t a flop.

This 1960 program for a Warriors-Hawks game manages to be racist, sexist, and completely inexplicable all at once. A 3-level scorer so to speak.

Before the Laker Girls, there were the Minneapolis Lakerettes. Dancers earned $5 a game, and practiced at star dancer Debbie Libby’s mom’s house

Mike Bratz's number hangs in the United Center rafters

Pistons guard Marcus Sasser has a cool grandpa. John Barber only played in 5 NBA games, but he is the only collegiate player in history to have three 100 point games. His career high is 188, which is still the all-time NCAA record. He’s still alive and kicking at age 98.

Only 4 players have ever achieved a triple-double in their playoff debuts. They are Magic Johnson, LeBron James, Nikola Jokić, and…you guessed it. Buffalo, NY legend Johnny McCarthy

Cameron’s pops played on one of the notoriously awful post-MJ Bulls teams. That season saw Dickey Simpkins and Randy Brown pull regular starter minutes. Yikes!

🔴Today is Johnny Red Kerr Day in Chicago! Johnny coached the Bulls in their inaugural season, becoming the first coach in any pro sport to lead an expansion team to the playoffs. Johnny was the voice of the Bulls for over 30 years, where he became the victim of MJ’s iconic pre-game chalk ritual

Jack Sikma was the first player to attempt what is now known as a “hairstyle”

Frank Selvy holds the all-time D1 record with 100 points in a single game. He did this on "Frank Selvy Night" - held by Furman to honor his historic scoring season. It was also the first basketball game to be aired live in South Carolina. 2 of those points included a half-court heave 🔥🔥🔥

"Marriage License" by Norman Rockwell Rockwell used Boston Celtic end-of-bencher Mo Mahoney and his wife as the inspiration for this painting. It's unclear if the cat has any basketball ties

The Short Player is Doomed! University of San Francisco center Don Lofgran on the cover of Basketball magazine in 1950. Don was 6 feet, 5 inches

Portland Indians center Noble Jorgensen, taking a little time to pause and reflect in the penalty box

Tom McMillen later went on to be a U.S. House Representative with some interesting friends

Remembering the time Steve Stipanovich accidentally shot himself and blamed it on a basketball player-hating cowboy

Bob Cousy for Kent Cigarettes: The story behind that “scientists and educators” line: Kent handed out free cigarettes at a convention, then had reps ask departing attendees (amongst whom were scientists and educators) what brand of cigarettes they had on them. The birth of analytics!

Owner Spotlight: John Sbarbaro Bootlegger, mob attorney, and funeral home owner who founded the Chicago Atomics in 1946 The mascot was changed to the Stags during preseason due to growing public opinion that dropping atomic bombs on other countries might not, in fact, be worth celebrating