John Thompson, 1941-2020

Imagine a man who has won 2 NBA Championships as a player, and it's among the least important parts of his legacy.

John Robert Thompson Jr. was born on September 2, 1941 in Washington, D.C. When he was growing up in the 1940s and '50s, it was unusual for a black American to be a Roman Catholic. But his family was, and he attended Archbishop Carroll High School in the District of Columbia. Other notable alumni include basketball players Austin Carr, Johnny Dawkins, and Eddie Jordan, who played on Rutgers' 1976 Final Four team and coached in the NBA.

John Carroll, for whom the school was named, was the 1st Catholic Archbishop in America, appointed to Baltimore in 1789. This was right after he founded the 1st Catholic university in America, Georgetown University. It should not be confused with The Catholic University of America, which is also in Washington.

But Thompson did not attend Georgetown. Instead, after back-to-back undefeated seasons and City Championships in 1959 and 1960, he went to a different Catholic school, Providence College. In 1963, he and Ray Flynn, who later served as Mayor of Boston, led the Friars to the NIT Championship. The following year, they got Providence into their 1st NCAA Tournament.

Upon graduation, Thompson was PC's all-time leader in points, scoring average and field goal percentage, and 2nd in rebounds. The success of the program since 1964 has led to several players surpassing him.

Nevertheless, he was drafted by the Boston Celtics, where he played center and backed up the great Bill Russell. He played 2 seasons, 1964-65 and 1965-66, and the Celtics won the NBA Championship in both seasons.

After the 1966 Finals, the Celtics left him unprotected in the expansion draft, and he was selected by the Chicago Bulls. If he had stuck with the Bulls, basketball history could have been very different. He might have stayed in Chicago, and ended up succeeding Ray Meyer at the city's DePaul University. Or, he might have restored Loyola University to the glory it received when it won the NCAA Tournament in 1963.

*

Instead, he went back to his hometown, and coached at St. Anthony High School. (A few years ago, St. Anthony was merged into Archbishop Carroll.) In 6 seasons, he went 122-28. That got the attention of Georgetown. I don't know if he was the 1st black man to become head coach at a major Catholic university, but his impact was quick: In just 3 years, he took them from 3-23 in the season before he arrived to 12-14, then 13-13, and then 18-10 and the 1975 NCAA Tournament.

In 1979, the Big East Conference was formed, and ESPN began broadcasting. This combination was very beneficial for college basketball, with the Georgetown Hoyas taking on St. John's of New York City, Syracuse of New York State, the University of Pittsburgh, and other high-profile teams.

This might be a good time to answer the question, often used as a taunt by Georgetown's opponents: "What's a Hoya?" Officially, the University says it does not know where the word came from. But, as with Indiana and "Hoosiers," there are theories.

Given the school's Catholic background, studying Greek and Latin was common. The accepted version of the story ties in with that: The Greek hoya means "what" or "such," and the Latin saxa means "rocks." A stone wall then surrounded the Georgetown campus in the west of the District, and so was born the chant of "Hoya Saxa!" or "What Rocks!" (Or "Such Rocks!")

A variant is that the football team's defense was called the Stonewalls, perhaps in reference to the wall around the campus. Although this is retroactively ironic, given the Church's opposition to gay rights and the association of the Stonewall Inn in New York with the movement since 1969.

Thompson led the Hoya basketball team to the Big East Conference's regular-season Championship in 1980, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1996 and 1997. And he led them to win the Big East Conference Tournament in 1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1989. So he won both in 1980, 1984, 1987 and 1989.

Since 1983, the Big East Tournament has been held at Madison Square Garden in New York -- which is the secondary home court of St. John's, their main home court having been Alumni Hall on their campus in Jamaica, Queens. That building is now named Carnesecca Arena, for longtime coach Lou Carnesecca, known as Louie the Sweater for his colorful outerwear.

Likewise, in 1981, the Hoyas had outgrown their on-campus McDonough Gymnasium, and began playing their bigger home games out in the suburbs of Landover, Maryland, at the Capital Centre, home of the NBA's Washington Bullets (now the Washington Wizards) and the NHL's Washington Capitals.

And, compared to Carnesecca's garish sweaters, Thompson was known for a towel that he would drape over his sportsjacket. And that wasn't the only fashion statement at 1980s Georgetown. The team's success led to the navy blue Georgetown vinyl jacket becoming popular Winter outerwear in black communities.

And while wearing a T-shirt under your jersey is illegal in the NBA, and is illegal in the NCAA now, it was legal in the NCAA in the early 1980s. During a particularly cold game in his freshman year of 1981-82, Patrick Ewing wore a T-shirt under his Number 33 jersey, and it caught on with the rest of the team.

Eventually, the rivalry between the Hoyas and the St. John's Redmen -- the name was changed to Red Storm in 1995, to avoid references to exploitation of Native Americans -- reached the point where Chris Mullin of St. John's started wearing a T-shirt under his Number 20 jersey as well.

The battles between the Hoyas and the Redmen packed the Cap Centre and The Garden. In the 1984-85 season, they played each other 4 times. They split the Conference games, each winning on the other's court, with St. John's taking the title. But the Hoyas won the Conference Tournament. Then, in the NCAA Tournament, 3 of the Final Four teams were from the Big East, and Georgetown beat St. John's once more, while Villanova of Philadelphia beat Louisiana State.

But the Hoyas turned out to be underachievers. They got to the Elite Eight in 1980, but failed in the 1st Round in 1981. In 1982, they got all the way to the Final at the Superdome in New Orleans, and were underdogs to North Carolina. They were down by 1 point as the last seconds ticked down, and Fred Brown mistakenly passed the ball to James Worthy, and that was it.

The Hoyas lost in the 2nd Round in 1983, but in 1984, they went all the way, beating the University of Houston in the Final. Thompson had become the 1st black head coach in basketball to win a National Championship. The 1st player he hugged was Fred Brown.

They were expected to repeat as National Champions in 1985, and were a whopping 35-2 going into the Final against Villanova at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. But 'Nova's phenomenal shooting led to the erroneous (but it sure didn't feel like it) title "The Perfect Game," and a 66-64 victory.

It was Ewing's last game. His battles with Mullin, with Worthy, with Akeem Olajuwon of Houston (as Hakeem was then known), with Ralph Sampson of Virginia, and with Len Bias of Maryland became college basketball legend. But he only won the 1 title.

*

Thompson's teams continued to be excellent, winning the league in both the regular season and the tournament, but he never reached another Final Four, getting to the Elite Eight in 1987, 1989 and 1996. And he recruited and coached some of the best players in the country, such as Basketball Hall-of-Famers Ewing, Dikembe Mutombo, Alonzo Mourning and Allen Iverson; plus All-Americans and NBA stars Eric "Sleepy" Floyd, David Wingate, Reggie Williams, Othella Harrington and Jerome Williams.

He also earned a great deal of street cred, not just for being a black man who led black men to victory in a city whose permanent residents (most federal government workers living there are not) are black, to the point where funk bandleader George Clinton called Washington "Chocolate City" or "C.C.," but also for showing just who was the most powerful man in town -- and it wasn't Mayor Marion Barry.

It was believed to be Rayful Edmond III, the man who introduced crack cocaine to the District, and whose, shall we say, employees were connected to over 40 murders. Edmond had been a talented basketball player (though not quite talented enough to make a college team), and so he knew pretty much every hoopster who came into the District, including Mourning and his then-Hoya teammate John Turner.

Thompson got wind of this, and invited Edmond to meet him in his office at McDonough Gym. At first, Thompson asked nicely, to cease all contact with his players. Edmond tried to match Thompson's calmness by informing him that none of his players were involved in illegal activities. Thompson stood up to his full 6-foot-10-inch height, stuck a huge finger in Edmond's face, cursed him out, and told him that he had crossed a line, and said, "I will not allow you to destroy their lives!"

Edmond knew that if he launched any kind of reprisal against Thompson, it would cause more problems than it would solve. He backed down, and stayed away from Thompson's players.

In 1997, as did the Wizards and Capitals, the Hoyas moved into the downtown arena now known as the Capital One Arena, and currently split their home games between that building and McDonough. Thompson's marriage broke up in 1999, and he announced his resignation. Later that year, he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. His longtime assistant Craig Esherick replaced him, but was not very successful.

In 2004, he was fired, and replaced by Thompson's son, John Thompson III. John III had coached Princeton to 3 Ivy League regular-season titles, and led Georgetown to 3 Big East regular-season titles, and also won the Big East Tournament in 2007. He got them to the Final Four that year, but that was the only time he got them past the Sweet 16, and he was fired after the 2017 season -- replaced by Patrick Ewing, 

John III now works with the Wizards. Another son of John Jr., Ronny Thompson, was the head coach at Ball State University in Indiana in the 2006-07 season, and now works for NBA TV.

On September 11, 2001, John Thompson had a place on an airline flight canceled. That flight was American Airlines Flight 77, which took off from Dulles International Airport in the Virginia suburbs of D.C., with an intended destination of Los Angeles, but was hijacked by al-Qaeda terrorists, turned around, and crashed into the Pentagon, with all aboard being killed.

Thompson lived another 19 years, commentating for various networks. He lived long enough to see a statue of himself dedicated inside McDonough Gymnasium.

He died on Sunday, August 30, 2020, at his home in Arlington, Virginia, across the Potomac River from D.C., 3 days short of his 79th birthday. No cause has yet been released, but "a family source" said he'd been in ill health for a while.

Bill Russell: "Very sad to hear of my friend & teammate John Thompson's passing this morning. Our thoughts are with his family & all of the men he brought through #Georgetown & the impact he had on so many lives. He will be greatly missed #RIP my friend"

Magic Johnson: "The world has lost another icon. Hall of Fame Coach John Thompson was a basketball legend, pioneer, advisor, friend and all around incredible man. Coach Thompson had a heart for teaching and helped so many players become men."

Michael Jordan, whose shot won the 1982 NCAA Final for North Carolina over Thompson's Georgetown: "Coach Thompson was truly a great man and a legend in college basketball. He had such a profound impact on his players and was a father figure to so many of them. I admired him and loved him dearly."

Roy Williams, assistant coach to Dean Smith in that 1982 Final, and now head coach at North Carolina: "He was truly a great man who just happened to be a basketball coach, and a great one at that."

Mike Krzyzewski, head coach at Duke University: "He was an incredibly strong person who always put his players first and fought for them at every turn. Repeatedly, I was amazed at his passion for doing what is right, even when unpopular and no one was looking."

Jim Boeheim, head coach at Syracuse and a longtime rival: "We lost a great basketball coach and a great person with the passing of my friend John Thompson."

Dikembe Mutombo: "He was my mentor, great teacher, hero and a father figure to so many us who got the chance to play for him. Under coach Thompson, I learned a lot about the game of basketball but most importantly, I learned how to be a man in society. We will really miss him."

Allen Iverson, repeating the words of his Hall of Fame induction speech: "Thanks For Saving My Life Coach. I’m going to miss you, but I’m sure that you are looking down on us with a big smile. I would give anything just for one more phone call from you only to hear you say, 'Hey MF', then we would talk about everything except basketball......."

Alonzo Mourning, echoing Iverson: "Coach Thompson, saved my life.... continuously motivating and molding me into the man that I am today. With all the lives he touched and inspired, the best way to pay homage to him is by celebrating his life, applauding his legacy; and using our voices and actions to serve others." ⁣

Patrick Ewing: "We will all miss you, Coach Thompson - but we will never forget you."

Michele Norris, ABC News: "John Thompson had a 97% graduation rate for his players at Georgetown. At some point a teacher claimed he was “uneducatable”. He showed her & then he spent a lifetime showing all of us how to lift up athleticism/scholarship/courage/righteousness & victory on and off the court."

On Sunday night, the NBA on TNT crew, which once included him, all wore towels over their right shoulders in Thompson's memory: Ernie Johnson Jr., Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith. Georgetown University also placed a towel over the right shoulder of the statue of their founder, Archbishop John Carroll.

I will let the man who called himself "Big Ace" have the last word: "I told you that I always wanted to be a teacher, not a basketball coach."

Mission accomplished.

Miami's 10 Greatest Athletes

Today, the Mets begin a series away to the Miami Marlins.

Miami's 10 Greatest Athletes

Honorable Mention to Miami Dophins Hall-of-Famers who did not otherwise make the Top 10: Larry Csonka, Larry Little, Nick Buoniconti, Paul Warfield, Jim Langer, Dwight Stephenson, Dan Marino and Jason Taylor. Buoniconti, Warfield and Taylor might have made the Top 10 had they spent their entire careers in Miami.

When The Sporting News listed its 100 Greatest Football Players in 1999, Warfield came in 60th, Little 79th, and Stephenson 84th. When the NFL Network listed its 100 Greatest Players in 2010, only Warfield still made it, at 71st. Well, there was 1 other Dolphin who made both lists, and he made this list, too.

Honorable Mention to Miami Heat Hall-of-Famers who did not otherwise make the Top 10: Shaquille O'Neal, Gary Payton and Ray Allen.

Honorable Mention to Tim Hardaway, who, like Shaq, got his number retired by the Heat.

10. Pavel Bure, right wing, Florida Panthers, 1999-2002. The closest the Panthers come to having a real Hall-of-Famer. The other 4 players in the Hall who played for them played a grand total of 4 seasons.

9. Jeff Conine, 1st base, Florida Marlins, 1993-97 and again 2003-05. "Mr. Marlin" isn't the greatest player they've ever had, but, due to the nature of Marlins' management, their great players don't last very long.

8. Miguel Cabrera, 3rd base, Florida Marlins, 2003-07. While he won a World Series in his rookie year with the Marlins, his greatest individual success has come with the Detroit Tigers.

7. Giancarlo Stanton, right field, Miami Marlins, 2010-17. Of course, if he does for the Yankees what Yankee Fans hope he'll do, what he did for the Marlins will be as forgotten as what Cabrera did.

6. Dan Marino, quarterback, Miami Dolphins, 1983-99. Statistically, he's the best athlete in South Florida history. But he never won a Super Bowl, and only got into 1 -- the 2nd half of that fact being even more of an exposure than the 1st. After all, a quarterback who doesn't get his team to the big game deserves a lot more criticism than does a player at any other position on the football field.

When The Sporting News listed its 100 Greatest Football Players in 1999, he came in 27th. When the NFL Network listed its 100 Greatest Players in 2010, he was promoted to 25th.

5. Chris Bosh, forward, Miami Heat, 2010-17. Clearly the Number 3 man in the "Big Three," he's probably still going to the Hall of Fame.

4. Alonzo Mourning, center, Miami Heat, 1995-2002 and 2005-08. This guy came back from a kidney transplant to help the Heat win their 1st NBA Championship.

3. Bob Griese, quarterback, Miami Dolphins, 1967-80. No, he wasn't as talented as Marino. But he quarterbacked back-to-back Super Bowl winners, 1 of only 7 quarterbacks to do so.

2. LeBron James, forward, Miami Heat, 2010-14. Had he spent his entire career with his talents on South Beach, he'd be an easy Number 1 choice here.

1. Dwyane Wade, guard, Miami Heat, 2003-16, and has now returned to them. Before LeBron, he led the Heat to the 2006 NBA Championship with Shaq and Zo. So he won 3 titles -- and all Miami teams without him, combined, have won just 4.

Top 10 Athletes from Virginia

June 25, 1788: Virginia becomes the 10th State to ratify the Constitution of the United States, thus joining the Union.

Top 10 Athletes from Virginia

You know how we sometimes say about a great athlete, "He's not human!" Well, the greatest athlete from Virginia might not have been human. It might have been a horse: Secretariat, born at The Meadow, a horse farm outside Bowling Green, Caroline County, Virginia. Genuine Risk, who in 1980 became only the 2nd filly to win the Kentucky Derby (and only 1 other has done it since), was born at Catoctin Stud in the Washington suburb of Waterford.

At any rate, in spite of Virginia being a Southern State, basketball dominates this list, not football. And the Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Hampton Roads area dominates, not the suburbs of Washington, D.C., or the State capital of Richmond.

Honorable Mention to Ken Clay of Lynchburg. He was a relief pitcher who helped the Yankees win the 1977 and 1978 World Series.

Honorable Mention to Wendy Gebauer of Reston, and Kim Maslin-Kammerdeiner of Fairfax, both suburbs of Washington, D.C. They were members of the U.S. team that won the 1st Women's World Cup in soccer, in 1991.

Honorable Mention to Ali Krieger of Dumfries, also a D.C. suburb. She was a member of the U.S. team that won the 2015 Women's World Cup.

Honorable Mention to Jonathan Clay Redick of Roanoke -- his parents called him "J" for short, but one of his baby sisters turned it into "J.J." -- who won the James E. Sullivan Memorial Award as the outstanding amateur athlete in America in 2005, as a basketball player at Duke University. While still Duke's all-time leading scorer, and they retired his Number 4, his pro career has been a letdown, although he did reach the 2009 NBA Finals with the Orlando Magic. He will play the 2017-18 season with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Honorable Mention to Andrew Rodriguez of Alexndria. The linebacker for the Army football team overcame a severe back injury to not only play again, but win the 2011 Sullivan Award. He has remained in the U.S. Army, and is unlikely ever to play pro ball, especially since his father, David M. Rodriguez, is a retired 4-star General (and also a former West Point football and baseball player), and all the branches of the armed forces the Army like to train the sons of "flag officers" to be flag officers as well.

Honorable Mention to Pernell Whitaker of Norfolk. "Sweet Pea" boxed his way to a Gold Medal at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. He 1st held a championship, the IBF Lightweight title, in 1989; and last did so, the WBA Super Welterweight title, in 1995.

Honorable Mention to Dwight Stephenson of Hampton. The center helped the University of Alabama win back-to-back National Championships at the University of Alabama. A 5-time Pro Bowler, he helped the Miami Dolphins win the 1982 and 1984 AFC Championships, though they lost the Super Bowl each time. He was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the NFL's 1980 All-Decade Team, and the Miami Dolphin Honor Roll.

Honorable Mention to Ralph Sampson of Harrisonburg. The center led the University of Virginia to the 1980 NIT title and the 1981 NCAA Final Four, winning 3 National Player of the Year awards. They retired his Number 50.

A 4-time All-Star, he was the 1984 NBA Rookie of the Year, MVP of the 1985 All-Star Game, and helped the Houston Rockets win the 1986 Western Conference Final, losing in the Finals. Injuries cut his career short, but he still had enough, college and pro combined (basketball does it that way, even though football doesn't), to be elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Honorable Mention to Dell Curry of Grottoes. A 16-year NBA veteran who got his Number 30 retired by Virginia Tech, and was also a renowned high school baseball player, he will probably be best remembered for being the father of Steph Curry -- Wardell Stephen Curry II. Another son, Seth Curry, also plays in the NBA.

Somewhat Honorable Mention to Burress of Norfolk. He caught 553 passes for 8,499 yards and 64 touchdowns in regular-season play. And that doesn't count the greatest service he could have provided to football: Catching a last-minute touchdown pass from Eli Manning to win Super Bowl XLII for the Giants, and end the New England Cheatriots' bid for 19-0.

What happened to him after that is the stuff of both tragedy and farce. But he's cleaned up his life, and is now an assistant coach with, appropriately enough, the team that plays its home games in the stadium where he wrote his name into history, the Arizona Cardinals.

10. Allen Iverson of Hampton. At 6-foot-1, he is one of the shortest great basketball players ever. A star at Georgetown University in Washington, he became an 11-time NBA All-Star, including winning 2 All-Star Game Most Valuable Player awards. He was a 4-time scoring champion, a 3-time steals leader, and league MVP in 2001, when he led the Philadelphia 76ers to their only Finals appearance since the man at Number 5 on this list led them to their last title.

His Number 3 has been retired by the 76ers, and has been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Clearly, some practice paid off for him.

But he's not the highest-ranking former Georgetown University basketball player on this list. The man at Number 8 on this list is.

9. Grant Hill of Reston. Although born in Dallas while his father Calvin Hill was a running back for the Dallas Cowboys, he great up in the D.C. suburbs, because his father finished his career with the Washington Redskins, and the family stayed there. A member of Duke University's National Championship basketball teams in 1991 and 1992, he got them back into the National Final in 1994. Duke retired his Number 33.

Like his father in his sport, Grant was Rookie of the Year in his, in the NBA in 1995. He was a 7-time All-Star, but injuries and bad luck with his teams' management decisions -- the Detroit Pistons, the Orlando Magic and the Phoenix Suns -- meant that he never got that elusive NBA title. He did, however, win an Olympic Gold Medal in 1996.

He is married to R&B singer Tamia, has done some acting, and is now a minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks. He is eligible for the Basketball Hall of Fame, and, considering that it includes collegiate achievements, he should be in it.

But he is not the highest-ranking Duke University athlete, or even basketball player, on this list. The man at Number 7 is.

8. Alonzo Mourning of Chesapeake. The successor to Patrick Ewing as the great center on the Georgetown University basketball team, he was Big East Conference Player of the Year in 1992. When he was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets, a Reebok commercial imagined all the honors he would receive, including the retirement of his Number 33.

Well, that did happen -- but it was the Miami Heat that retired it, after a career in which the center was a 7-time NBA All-Star, a 2-time Defensive Player of the Year, and a 2006 NBA Champion. He is in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

7. Clarence "Ace" Parker of Portsmouth. When he died in 2013, at the age of 101, he was the oldest living former Major League Baseball player, having played shortstop for Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics in 1937 and '38. But baseball wasn't his best sport: Football was. Ironically, in football, he played for teams named the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees.

He was a star athlete at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, half a century before Mike Krzyzewski's basketball team made that cool. He played baseball, football and basketball there. He finished 6th in the 1936 Heisman Trophy balloting, as a quarterback and safety, and Sammy Baugh was the only quarterback taken ahead of him in the 1937 NFL Draft.

He was a 2-time All-Pro, led the NFL in passing yards in 1938, and in 1940 led it in interceptions -- made, not thrown. He was also named NFL Most Valuable Player in 1940. He was named to the All-AAFC Team in 1946, and probably would have had more honors had his career not been interrupted by World War II, in which he was an officer in the U.S. Navy, well before the man at Number 2 on this list was born. Alas, no team for which he played survived the 1940s, so there is no team around to have retired his Number 7.

He later returned to Durham, managing the Durham Bulls minor-league baseball team, and serving as head baseball coach and assistant football coach at Duke. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the 1st member of any of the 4 major pro sports' Halls of Fame to live to be at least 100 years old. (Amos Alonzo Stagg lived to be 102, but he was in the College Football Hall of Fame, never having worked in pro ball.) He was also elected to the Sports Halls of Fame of both Virginia and North Carolina, and was a charter inductee into the Duke University Sports Hall of Fame in 1975.

6. Willie Lanier of Richmond. One of several players from HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) to play for the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs (Morgan State University in Baltimore -- Buck Buchanan of Grambling State in Louisiana was another), Willie was the greatest linebacker in AFL history, and one of the top NFL linebackers in his era.

A 2-time All-AFL player and a 6-time NFL Pro Bowler (that's 8 All-Star Teams), he arrived too late to play for the Chiefs team that won the 1966 AFL Championship and lost Super Bowl I, but he led the defense that won the 1969 AFL Championship and won Super Bowl IV. He was named to the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame, the NFL's 75th Anniversary All-Time Team, and the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame. The Chiefs retired his Number 63.

5. Moses Malone of Petersburg. In 1974, he became the 1st high school basketball player to jump directly to the pros, signing with the ABA's Utah Stars. He played the ABA's last 2 seasons, then 19 more in the NBA, proving remarkably durable.

He was an ABA All-Star in his rookie season, 1974-75, then an NBA All-Star 12 straight times. He was a 6-time rebounding leader and a 3-time Most Valuable Player: 1979, 1982 and 1983. He got the Houston Rockets into their 1st NBA Finals in 1981.

The Philadelphia 76ers, desperate for a title after some agonizing close calls, made the trade that brought Big Mo in, and he joined with Julius "Dr. J" Erving, Bobby Jones and Andrew Toney to build one of the greatest teams ever. In his Hampton Roads accent, Malone predict a sweep of all 3 Playoff series: "Fo', fo', fo'." It didn't quite work out, as they went 12-1. (The 2002 Los Angeles Lakers went 15-1, and this year's Golden State Warriors topped that with 16-1. Going undefeated has never been done, not even by the old Boston Celtics in the 2-round era.) But they did win the title, with Malone winning the Finals MVP, and the Sixers haven't done it since.

His Number 24 is retired by the Rockets, and his Number 2 (Jones wore 24) by the 76ers. He was named to the Basketball Hall of Fame, and is 1 of 5 players named to both the ABA All-Time Team and the NBA's 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players.

4. Bruce Smith of Norfolk. No Virginia native has ever won the Heisman Trophy. A man named Bruce Smith won it in 1941, but he was a running back at the University of Minnesota. This Bruce Smith might have been better. You know what he did as a defensive end for 19 years in the NFL? As Dennis Hopper said in a Nike commercial, "Bad things, man! I mean bad things!"

He -- not Michael Vick -- is the greatest athlete in Virginia Tech history, winning the 1984 Outland Trophy as the best interior lineman in college football. Playing professionally, mostly with the Buffalo Bills, and toward the end for the Washington Redskins, he was an 11-time Pro Bowler. He starred on the Bills' 4 consecutive AFC Championship teams (but, of course, losing all 4 Super Bowls. And, while the statistic of sacks was not kept by the NFL until 1982 -- it is believed that Deacon Jones is the real all-time leader -- officially, Bruce Smith had more sacks than any player in the League's history: An even 200.

He was named to the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame, the NFL's 1980s and 1990s All-Decade Teams, and the Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame. Virginia Tech does not retire numbers, but the Bills retired his Number 78.

3. Arthur Ashe of Richmond. If we were going by importance, rather than by achievement, he would easily be at Number 1. It was considerable appropriateness that he went to UCLA, the school that also produced the 1st black player in modern baseball, Jackie Robinson; and the 1st 2 players to break the color line in the NFL, Kenny Washington and Woody Strode. He also received coaching from the 1st great Hispanic tennis player, who lived in Los Angeles: Ricardo "Pancho" Gonzales.

He was the 1st black male tennis player to be ranked Number 1 in the world, in 1968. That year, he became the 1st to win the U.S. Open. In 1970, he became the 1st to win the Australian Open. In 1975, he became the 1st to win Wimbledon. (He didn't quite get the "career Grand Slam," getting only as far as the Quarterfinals in the French Open, in 1970 and 1971.)

Althea Gibson was the 1st black person to win the French (in 1956), Wimbledon (1957 and '58) and the U.S. (1957 and '58). And the Williams sisters have won so many titles, it's hard to keep track. But Ashe remains the only black man to win the Australian, the U.S., and Wimbledon. The only one to win any of those, and he won all of them. I checked: Yannick Noah won the French, but none of the others.

Ashe's importance goes beyond what he did to raise the profile and acceptance of black athletes at home. He also helped break down the barriers of apartheid in South Africa. And, due to his own misfortune, he became an advocate for AIDS research.

For this reason, as he was dying in 1992, Sports Illustrated named him its Sportsman of the Year. Early in 1993, after his death, they put him on the cover again -- but it was hardly "The Dreaded SI Cover Jinx," as he was doomed anyway. Nevertheless, ESPN named its annual Award for Courage after him. President Bill Clinton posthumously awarded him the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

2. David Robinson of Manassas. Like his father before him, he entered the U.S. Navy (he was born in Key West, Florida, while his father was stationed there), after growing up in and around D.C. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, and became the greatest basketball ever to play at one of the service academies, sweeping the player of the year awards in 1987. He wanted to serve on a submarine, but at 7 feet even, was way too tall. After serving his 2-year commitment, he was discharged so that he could play pro ball.

A center for the San Antonio Spurs, "The Admiral" (he actually left the Navy with the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade) was a 10-time NBA All-Star, Rookie of the Year in 1990, rebounding leader in 1991, blocked shots leader and Defensive Player of the Year in 1992, scoring leader in 1994, Most Valuable Player in 1995, and, finally having another great player alongside him in Tim Duncan, an NBA Champion in 1999, and retired as an NBA Champion in 2003. That year, Sports Illustrated named him and teammate Tim Duncan as their Sportspeople of the Year. He won Olympic Gold Medals in 1992 (the Dream Team) and 1996.

He was named to the Basketball Hall of Fame, and, while still active and not yet an NBA Champion, to the NBA's 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players. 50 was also his uniform number, which the Spurs retired.

1. Lawrence Taylor of Williamsburg. The town is famous for its roles in the American Revolution and the American Civil War, but L.T. got medieval on a few asses.

The linebacker was an All-American at the University of North Carolina, and they retired his Number 98. He was a 10-time Pro Bowler, the NFL Most Valuable Player in 1986 (a rare feat for a defensive player), and a 2-time Super Bowl winner with the New York Giants. More than that, he was a symbol for defensive players in the 1980s, an era of reckless abandon, which included his runaway cocaine use, and his career-ending leg break of Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann.

He was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the NFL's 75th Anniversary All-Time Team and its 1980s All-Decade Team, and the New York Giants Ring of Honor, with his Number 56 retired. In 1999, The Sporting News named its 100 Greatest Football Players. He came in at Number 4. In 2010, the NFL Network named its 100 Greatest Players. He came in at Number 3. In each case, he was the highest-ranking defensive player.