Chicago Basketball: A Rich History
The Shot: The biggest moment in Chicago basketball history took place in Salt Lake City.
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Key moments in Chicago basketball history:
1907-1909 - The University of Chicago is named National Champion three straight years (there was no tournament) in which they went a cumulative 55-4.
1942 - Ray Meyer takes over as head coach at DePaul University. He would coach them for the next 42 seasons, amassing a 724-354 career record. DePaul finished with a winning record in 37 of those 42 seasons, and reached the Final Four twice.
1945 - Led by Tournament MVP and future Hall-of-Famer George Mikan, DePaul wins the NIT Tournament with a 71-54 victory over Bowling Green in the final.
1946 - The Chicago Stags are one of the NBA's original 11 teams, finishing the regular season with the Western Division's best record (39-22). They would lose to the Philadelphia Warriors four games to one in the Finals. The team played in Chicago Stadium and folded after four seasons in the league. Max Zaslofsky led the team in scoring for all four seasons.
1961 - The Chicago Packers join the NBA for the 1961-62 season. They changed their name to the Zephyrs a year later, and moved to Baltimore a year after that, changing their name to the Bullets.
1963 - Loyola of Chicago defeats Cincinnati 60-58 in overtime to win the National Championship. All five starters for Loyola played the entire game (45 minutes), and they took 39 more shots than their opponent.
1966 - The Chicago Bulls join the NBA and make the playoffs in their first season.
1984 - With the third pick in the draft, the Chicago Bulls select Michael Jordan of the University of North Carolina. Jordan would finish his career as the Bulls all-time leader in points, rebounds, assists and steals.
1988 - Jordan wins his first MVP award for the 1987-88 season. He would go on to win the award four more times. In February of '88, Jordan wins his second straight Slam Dunk title over Dominique Wilkins at Chicago Stadium, and then wins the All-Star Game MVP the next day.
1991 - The Bulls win their first NBA Championship with a 4-1 series victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
1993 - After the Bulls' third straight championship, Jordan retires.
1995 - Jordan returns for the final 10 games of the regular season. The Bulls fall four games to two to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
1996 - The Bulls record the best regular season record (72-10) in the history of the NBA. They would cruise through the playoffs for their 4th NBA championship.
1998 - After the Bulls second three-peat, Jordan retires again.
1998 - The Chicago Condors join the ABL. The league suspends operations 12 games into its third (Chicago's first) season.
| Monarchs
center Yolanda Griffith |
| "Chicago had an
ABL team that I was a part of and this is great that the WNBA will be in Chicago.
They finally got a team. There should have been one there a long time ago. Chicago
is a great place and will support women's basketball. I hope everyone there who
has not yet gotten a chance to enjoy WNBA basketball now gets the chance to do
so." -Sept. 19, 2005 |
Dominique Canty - The Comets' point guard was born in Chicago and attended Whitney Young High School.
Tamika Catchings - The All-WNBA Second Teamer and former Naismith National Player of the Year spent her first two years of high school in Lincolshire.
Yolanda Griffith - The All-WNBA star attended George Washington Carver High School, and also played two seasons with Chicago's ABL franchise.
Tangela Smith - The Sting forward hails from the Windy City.
Angelina Williams - The Mercury rookie attended George Washington High School.
NBA Stars from Chicago:
Michael Finley (Spurs) - Proviso East HS (Maywood)
Kevin Garnett (Timberwolves) - Farragut Academy (Senior year only)
Corey Maggette (Clippers) - Fenwick HS (Oak Park)
Shawn Marion (Suns) - Born in Chicago
Quentin Richardson (Knicks) - Whitney Young HS & DePaul University
Bobby Simmons (Bucks) - Simeon HS & DePaul University
Dwyane Wade (Heat) - Richards HS (Oak Lawn)
Antoine Walker (Heat) - Mt. Carmel HS
NBA Legends from Chicago:
Mark Aguirre - Austin HS, Westinghouse Vocational HS & DePaul University (All-time leading scorer)
Mo Cheeks (current Sixers coach) - Du Sable HS
Terry Cummings - Carver HS & DePaul University
Tim Hardaway - Carver HS
Dan Issel - Batavia HS
Eddie Johnson - Westinghouse Vocational HS
Red Kerr - Tilden Technical School
George Mikan - Joliet Catholic HS, Quigley Prep HS & DePaul University
Isiah Thomas - St. Joseph's HS