11 NBA players have been born in Akron, a city with a population of 300,000 at its peak, but is now down to 200,000.
Of those 11 players, two have made the Basketball Hall of Fame (Nate Thurmond and Gus Johnson), one is a Hall of Fame lock (Lebron) and another was the first unanimous NBA MVP who will likely make the Hall of Fame (Curry).
That's pretty incredible.
Racine has less than 100,000 and has had at least 4 NBA players. Gary Cole went to school in Racine - not sure if he was born there.
So I guess it isn't that unusual.
For a better comparison, Milwaukee has had about 15 NBA players.
Quote from: brandx on June 21, 2016, 04:36:37 PM
Racine has less than 100,000 and has had at least 4 NBA players. Gary Cole went to school in Racine - not sure if he was born there.
So I guess it isn't that unusual.
For a better comparison, Milwaukee has had about 15 NBA players.
But Racine has no one in the HOF. I was speaking more about the quality.
Quote from: The Sultan of Sunshine on June 21, 2016, 04:12:44 PM
11 NBA players have been born in Akron, a city with a population of 300,000 at its peak, but is now down to 200,000.
Of those 11 players, two have made the Basketball Hall of Fame (Nate Thurmond and Gus Johnson), one is a Hall of Fame lock (Lebron) and another was the first unanimous NBA MVP who will likely make the Hall of Fame (Curry).
That's pretty incredible.
That is pretty incredible.
I had heard of this point more than once...as my next door neighbor of 20 yrs (he died last year) was the former fire chief of Akron and he would often regale me with stories of all things Akron (rubber factories, the soap box derby, firestone CC, etc) and all their famous residents (add Thurman Munson, James Harrison, Ara Parsegian, and Mike Vrabel, in sports).