2002 in basketball explained
Championships
World Championship
Professional
Los Angeles Lakers over the New Jersey Nets 4–0. MVP: Tim Duncan (More information can be found at 2002-03 NBA season.)
Panathinaikos over Kinder Bologna 89–83 in the final match.
Los Angeles Sparks over the New York Liberty 2–0. MVP: Lisa Leslie
College
Maryland 64, Indiana 52
University of Memphis
Metropolitan State College of Denver 80, Kentucky Wesleyan College 72
Otterbein College 102, Elizabethtown College 83
University of Connecticut 82, Oklahoma 70
University of Oregon
Cal Poly Pomona 74, Southeastern Oklahoma 62
Oklahoma City 82, Southern Nazarene (Okla.) 73
Awards and honors
Professional
Tim Duncan
Pau Gasol
Ben Wallace
Rick Carlisle, Detroit Pistons
Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks and
Peja Stojaković, Sacramento Kings and Serbia and Montenegro
Sheryl Swoopes, Houston Comets
Sheryl Swoopes, Houston Comets
Tamika Catchings, Indiana Fever
Coco Miller, Washington Mystics
Jennifer Gillom, Phoenix Mercury
Marianne Stanley, Washington Mystics
Lisa Leslie, Los Angeles Sparks
Lisa Leslie, Los Angeles Sparks
Collegiate
- Combined
- Legends of Coaching Award
Denny Crum, Louisville
Jay Williams, Duke
Ben Howland, Pittsburgh
Steve Logan, Cincinnati
Jay Williams, Duke
Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse
T. J. Ford, Texas
Ben Howland, Pittsburgh
- Naismith Outstanding Contribution to Basketball
Don Haskins
Sue Bird, Connecticut
Geno Auriemma, Connecticut
Sue Bird, Connecticut
Sheila Lambert, Baylor
Sue Bird, Connecticut
Swin Cash, UConn
Stacey Dales-Schuman, Oklahoma
Barbara Stevens, Bentley College
Brenda Oldfield, Minnesota
Sue Bird, Connecticut
Sue Bird, Connecticut
- Naismith Outstanding Contribution to Basketball
Billie Moore
Movies
Deaths
- January 6 — Fred Taylor, Hall of Fame coach of the 1960 National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes (born 1924)
- January 7 — Geoff Crompton, American NBA player (born 1955)
- January 18 — Alex Hannum, Hall of Fame pro basketball coach (born 1923)
- January 26 — Milt Ticco, American NBL player (born 1922)
- February 2 — Ed Jucker, American college coach (Cincinnati) (born 1916)
- February 13 — Bob Gerber, American NBL player (born 1916)
- February 21 — Gene Sullivan, American college coach (Loyola (Illinois)) (born 1931)
- March 11 — Al Bonniwell, American NBL player (Akron Firestone Non-Skids) (born 1911)
- March 18 — Don Betourne, American NBL player and coach (Kankakee Gallagher Trojans) (born 1915)
- May 5 — Jimmy Smith, American college All-American (Steubenville) (born 1934)
- June 3 — Cecil Hankins, NBA player (St. Louis Bombers, Boston Celtics) (born 1922)
- June 22 — Bobby Roberts, American college coach (Clemson).[3]
- July 7 — Bison Dele, NBA player (born 1969)
- July 17 — Ubiratan Pereira Maciel, Hall of Fame Brazilian basketball player (born 1944)
- July 27 — Billy McCann, 82, American college coach (Hampden–Sydney, Washington and Lee, Virginia).[4]
- August 8 — Chick Hearn, television and radio announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers (born 1916)
- September 2 — Abe Lemons, American college coach (Oklahoma City, Texas) (born 1922)
- September 7 — Edward Spotovich, American NBL player (born 1916)
- September 14 — Jim Barnes, Former #1 overall NBA draft pick and 1964 Olympic Gold medalist (born 1941)
- September 23 — Jule Rivlin, American NBL player (Akron Goodyear Wingfoots, Toledo Jeeps) and college coach (Marshall) (born 1917)
- December 17 — Bobby Joe Hill, American college national champion at Texas Western (1966) (born 1943)
- December 17 — Hank Luisetti, college basketball player and inventor of the layup; first player to score 50 points in a game (born 1916)
Notes and References
- Web site: Hall of Famers. Basketball Hall of Fame. 12 Oct 2014.
- Web site: Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2002. Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. 12 Oct 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141017183334/http://www.wbhof.com/Class02.html. 17 October 2014. dead. dmy-all.
- Web site: Former Clemson basketball coach Bobby Roberts passes. Clemson Tigers. June 22, 2002. December 29, 2018.
- Web site: Former Virginia Men's Basketball Coach Billy McCann Dies In South Carolina. Virginia Cavaliers. August 1, 2002. January 2, 2019.
