Monday, May 4, 2009

A shoutout to Unc


LeBron James has been tabbed as the Most Valuable Player of the National Basketball Association after a stellar season in which he led the Cleveland Cavaliers to the league's best record.
LeBron gets the award at the tender age of 24, thus becoming the second youngest player ever to win the MVP award.
Does anyone know who the youngest player ever to win the MVP award was?
You probably have to be a true basketball junkie to know that it was Wes Unseld, the Hall of Fame center of the Baltimore/Washington Bullets. Wes won the award in 1969 when he pulled the rare feat of being named the MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season.
Only Wilt Chamberlain pulled that feat before and nobody has done it since.
I still think it's pretty cool. You know why? Because Wes happens to be my uncle.
Although he isn't mentioned as often as other former greats such as Oscar Robertson, Wilt, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and others, Wes' name manages to come back in the mainstream from time to time.
Years ago when rapper P. Diddy wore Wes' Washington Bullets' #41 jersey on television, the sales for his jersey went through the roof.
Whenever a young player throws a great outlet pass to lead the fast break, the television announcer for that particular game always brings up Wes' name. "That looked like a Wes Unseld outlet pass."
Now, thanks to King James, Wes' name will be back in the mainstream for a few days.

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