On April 16, 2003, arguably the greatest player to ever step
foot on a basketball court retired for the third and final time.
After 15 seasons in the league and six NBA championships, Michael Jordan walked off the hardwood floor for the last
time.
Kevin Joseph Aloysius "Chuck" Connors
(April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992)
Chuck Connors was an actor, writer, and professional
basketball and baseball player. He is one of only 13
athletes in the history of American professional sports
to have played in both Major League Baseball (Brooklyn
Dodgers 1949, Chicago Cubs, 1951) and the National
Basketball Association (Boston Celtics 1947–48). With
a 40-year film and television career, he is best known for
his five-year role as Lucas McCain in the highly rated
ABC series The Rifleman (1958–63)
Connors died on November 10, 1992, at Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 71 of lung
cancer.
Bill Walton (above) is a retired basketball star,who had been with
the Portland Trail Blazers, and is now a broadcaster in the sport.
He was born in La Mesa CA. Walton led the Trail Blazers to an
NBA championship in 1977, earning the NBA Finals MVP (Most
Valuable Player Award) that season.
CAMILLE
BOHANNON
Singer Tony Bennett (Anthony Dominick Benedetto) is
95 today.
Tony Bennett has won 19 Grammy Awards (including a Lifetime Achievement Award, presented in 2001) and two Primetime
Emmy Awards, and was named an NEA Jazz Master and a
Kennedy Center Honoree. Bennett has sold over 50 million
records worldwide.
In February 2021, it was revealed that Bennett was diagnosed
with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016. Due to the slow progression
of his illness, he has continued to record, tour, and perform.
(1944 – 2021)
PORTLAND, Ore (KATU. — The Portland Trail Blazers
are mourning the loss of one of their original players.
Stan McKenzie was selected by Portland in the 1970
expansion draft and spent two years with the franchise.
He’s the only player to appear in all 164 games for the
Blazers during the team’s first two seasons. He holds
a more-than-50-year record for the most free throws
attempted in one quarter.
He died July 21 after a brief illness, .
