Ladies and Gentleman, Classic NBA in color.

Perhaps the most iconic image in basketball history is that of Wilt Chamberlain after scoring 100 points. Here is what Wilt would have looked like in color.

Has there a been better rivalry in NBA history than Larry Bird and his Celtics versus Magic Johnson and his Lakers? I doubt it. Here is Magic grabbing a rebound over Larry Legend and looking to run the floor.

George Gervin, a true swingman, never let not winning a championship get in the way of a decorated career racking up multiple scoring titles, multiple all-star appearances and many All-NBA First Team awards.

Julius Erving pioneered the above-the-rim style of play which is popular today, but he was more than just a dunker. Dr J also has an NBA ring and an NBA MVP award to his name. This polished shot of Dr J looks more like a transition screen from NBA 2Ksomething but I can’t recall the Indiana Pacers being a classic team in the game.

Fred Brown goes under the radar as far as NBA greats go, but Brown was an NBA All-Star and NBA Champion. The Seattle SuperSonics have retired his number 32 jersey. Here Brown takes it hard to the hoop against the Phoenix Suns.

The game has seen many great bigs. Before Shaq, Howard, Olajuwon, Yao, and Ewing there was Bill Russell. The legend garnered just a lazy 11 rings and 5 league MVP awards. Russell has plenty of reasons to smile.

Willis Reed is a man with a long list of NBA accomplishments but none greater than having Whoopi Goldberg wear his jersey in the movie Eddie. Here Willis looks for a way to get past ‘Wilt the Stilt’.

Bill Walton. With a career marred by injury Bill found himself sitting on the sidelines quite a bit. Maybe it was there here found his knack for colorful commentary?

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Artis Gilmore. This hard working big man found himself manning up against the other great bigs of the league, but that didn’t stop him from being a multiple All-star, multiple Defensive First Team award winner and even winning an ABA championship.

But perhaps the greatest image ever seen in the NBA is that of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar mid skyhook. With a career highlight and awards list as long as Kareem is tall, it is no wonder the man then known as Lew Alcindor found himself encased in an exhibit in the movie Baseketball. That skyhook was beautiful.

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Into Fantasy NFL? Check out 2013-14 NFL Fantasy Football Rankings: Late-August Update

More HOOPS here.

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Reggie Lewis guarding Drazen Petrovic — two NBA stars lost too early.

Anyone who was a fan of the NBA in the early-1990s remembers all too well the immense talent and heart-breaking loss of Boston Celtics star Reggie Lewis. The quietly spoken, 6’7″ Lewis emerged from the shadow of Celtics superstars Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish to become the indisputable leader of the storied franchise.

Then tragedy struck.

20 years ago this week, Lewis collapsed and died of heart failure, whilst training at Brandeis University. It is hard to believe that two decades have already passed since Lewis’ rising star was stopped so abruptly and cruelly.

Comcast Sportsnet tonight is premiering a one-hour special documentary entitled Remember Reggie. This will no doubt be a touching tribute to the life and career of Lewis.

Many will speak not only of Lewis’ mild-mannered personality as one of the true “good guys”, but also of his amazing abilities on the court as one of the true rising stars of the game. You will hear much mention of the 1991 game where he blocked Michael Jordan four times. You will hear about how he rose to prominence on the Celtics as Bird was on the tail end of his career.

However the statistical line which sums it up for me is this from Jackie MacMullan’s fine piece at ESPNBoston.com (read it in full):

By the time he died, he was one of six players who, from 1988-93, posted at least 7,500 points, 1,500 rebounds, 1,000 assists and 500 steals. The other five – Charles Barkley,Clyde Drexler, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone and Chris Mullin – are all Hall of Famers.

We definitely lost one of the great ones. How good could he have become? We will never know. However, in losing both Lewis and Drazen Petrovic within less than two months of each other, the game of basketball was truly the lesser.

To paraphrase the lamentations of Lewis’ childhood friend Muggsy Bogues, we don’t know how long we’ve got on this planet, so let’s all appreciate it.

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Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander with Dwight Howard — a face that shows nothing but glee.

The Boston Celtics newest signings, Keith Bogans, Marshon Brooks and Kris Humphries look overjoyed to be joining the squad that basically is Rajon Rondo and bones.

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