Ralph Sampson to Springfield Mass
Posted: Tue Apr 3, 2012 5:27 am
http://blog.chron.com/ultimaterockets/2 ... e/#4026-11
Former Houston Rockets star Ralph Sampson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Monday.
Sampson was the picked by the Rockets in the first round of the 1983 draft and played four seasons for them. As a rookie, he averaged 21.0 points and 11.1 rebounds and won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. Sampson’s heroics in the 1985 playoffs helped propel the Rockets to an upset of the Los Angeles Lakers. In one of the most memorable moments in playoff history, Sampson’s buzzer beater shocked the Lakers and gave the Rockets a a 114-112 victory.
Also elected were two-time Olympic gold medalist Katrina McClain, four-time NBA champion Jamaal Wilkes, longtime referee Hank Nichols, and the All-American Red Heads, the female version of the Harlem Globetrotters.
Five members of the class had already been announced: Nike co-founder Phil Knight, ABA star Mel Daniels, seven-time NBA All-Star Chet Walker, Olympian Don Barksdale and Lydija Alexeeva, who led the Soviet Union to two Olympic gold medals.
It's a shame that injuries limited his NBA career. But well deserved.
