HARDWOOD HEROES The average NBA career lasts less than five seasons The competition is fierce and many players know they are only one injury or a bad season away from being out of a job That’s what makes some of these wacky trivia tales so interesting It takes persistence luck and sometimes unusual paths to make it to the NBA Just ask this group of hardwood heroes (cid:18918)(cid:18918)(cid:18918) NEVER GIVE UP Charles Barkley was cut from his high school basketball team as a sophomore Sir Charles overcame that early failure and went on to be selected in the first round of the NBA draft He played 16 seasons was an 11-time NBA
All-Star Game selection and won two Olympic gold medals Charles Barkley (cid:18918)(cid:18918)(cid:18918) GLOBETROTTING TO THE NBA Wilt Chamberlain ranks as one of the greatest players in the history of the NBA His 31,419 points 13 trips to the All-Star Game and two NBA titles are proof of that But
Chamberlain wasn’t an instant star in the NBA He got his professional start playing for the Harlem Globetrotters The goofy squad of entertainers that travels the world playing trick ball signed Chamberlain while he was in college Reports say Chamberlain was paid about 50,000 for his one season with the team Wilt Chamberlain
