HISTORY IN THE MAKING:
BILL RUSSELL NBA Hall of Famer/ 11-Time NBA Champion
Bill Russell, is a retired basketball legend and icon and NBA Hall of Famer. He is an 11-time NBA Champion of the popular famous and all-time winning franchise of the Boston Celtics. In 2011, former President Barack Obama awarded Russell the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his accomplishments on the court and in the Civil Rights Movement. A five-time NBA MVP and a 12-time All-star, Bill Russell was the cornerstone of the Boston Celtics’ dynasty of the 1960s. In 963 career games, Bill Russell averaged an astonishing 22.5 rebounds per game, helping the Celtics win 11 titles during that time.
SHERYL SWOOPES
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame 4-Time WNBA Champion/won 3 Olympic Gold Medals
Sheryl Swoopes, was the first player to be signed in the WNBA, is a three-time WNBA MVP, and was named one of the league’s Top 15 Players of All Time at the 2011 WNBA All-star Game. Swoopes has won three Olympic gold medals and is one of eleven women’s basketball players to have won an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA Championship, and a WNBA title. She was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. In 2017, she was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. When the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) was first founded in 1996, Swoopes was the first player to be signed. Swoopes played for the Houston Comets and received three MVP awards from the WNBA, and won the WNBA champs four times. She also took home three gold medals at the Olympics in 1996, 2000, and 2004. Affectionately nicknamed the “Michael Jordan of the WNBA,” Swoopes is the first women’s player to have a shoe named after her.
JIM BROWN
Pro Football Hall of Famer Sports Icon
James Nathaniel Brown, is a former American football player, sports analyst and actor. He played as a fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be one of the greatest running backs of all time, as well as one of the greatest players in NFL history.