The best in the game share why they love basketball, and speak about the players they grew up emulating, late nights practicing in the driveway, and how basketball provided a refuge from the realities of life.

The debate over eligibility and "one and done" started well before John Calipari and the University of Kentucky - Spencer Haywood was one of the first to challenge the rules.

The Master takes on his next challenge: trading in MJ, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman for the glitz and glamour of LA and his next pair of superstars: Shaq and Kobe. The results are a dynasty arguably as great as the one he constructed with the Bulls.

When LBJ took his talents to South Beach, some thought it was a foregone conclusion that the Miami Heat would easily walk away with a championship. "The Big 3" quickly learned that each championship would need to be battled and earned on the court.

The role of analytics in the contemporary game.

The ball, the common denominator, the object of a shared feeling is held, passed to and from, caressed, embraced, twirled, hugged, whispered to, and even kissed as the final act of an expression of shared emotion.