2011 NBA All-Star Game
The 2011 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game that was played on February 20, 2011, during the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2010–11 season. It was the 60th edition of the NBA All-Star Game, and was played at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, home of the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Western Conference defeated the Eastern Conference, 148–143. Kobe Bryant was named the All-Star Game Most Valuable Player.


2011 NBA All-Star Game
The Clippers and Lakers were both awarded the All-Star Game in an announcement by commissioner David Stern on June 9, 2009. This was the second time that the Staples Center had hosted the All-Star Game; the arena had previously hosted the event in 2004. This will be the fifth time that Los Angeles had hosted the All-Star Game; before Staples Center opened in 1999, the city had previously hosted the event in 1963, 1972, and 1983. Rihanna, Kanye West and Drake were the halftime performers, while Keri Hilson, Lenny Kravitz and Bruno Mars were the entertainment for pre-show festivities.


2011 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Game, Coaches
The coaches for the All-Star Game are the head coaches of the teams with the best winning percentage in each conference through the games of February 6, two weeks before the All-Star Game. However, an NBA rule also prohibits a coach from being selected for consecutive All-Star Games, even if his team again holds the conference's best record. Because George Karl and Stan Van Gundy coached in the 2010 All-Star Game, they were not eligible for selection.


2011 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Game, Coaches
The coach for the Western Conference team was San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich. This was the second time Popovich was selected to be an All-Star coach, after previous selection in 2005. The coach for the Eastern Conference team was Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers. This was the second time Rivers was selected to be an All-Star coach, after previously being selected in 2008.


2011 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Game, Players
The rosters for the All-Star Game are chosen in two ways. The starters were chosen via a fan ballot. Two guards, two forwards and one center who receive the highest vote were named the All-Star starters. The reserves were chosen by votes among the NBA head coaches in their respective conferences. The coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players. The reserves consists of two guards, two forwards, one center and two players regardless of position. If a player were unable to participate due to injury, the commissioner would select a replacement.


2011 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Game, Players
Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers topped the All-Star Ballots with 2,380,016 votes, which earned him a starting position in the Western Conference team. Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul and Yao Ming completed the Western Conference starting position. Anthony, Duncan and Bryant are all starters for the previous year's Western Conference team. The Western Conference reserves feature 3 first-time selections, rookie Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, and Russell Westbrook. Griffin became the first rookie since Yao Ming to play in the All-Star game.


2011 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Game, Players
The Eastern Conference leading vote-getter was Dwight Howard with 2,099,204 votes. LeBron James, Derrick Rose, Amar'e Stoudemire and Dwyane Wade completed the Eastern Conference starting position. Howard, Miami Heat teammates James and Wade all started for the East in the previous year's game. The Eastern Conference reserves includes 4 Celtics: Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo. Al Horford, Rondo and Rose were selected to the All-Star game for the second times.


2011 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Game, Players
Yao missed the game due to injury; he was replaced by NBA commissioner David Stern with Love. Western Conference coach Gregg Popovich selected Tim Duncan to replace Yao in the starting lineup.


2011 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Game, Roster
Yao Ming was unable to participate due to injury. Kevin Love was named Yao Ming's replacement by NBA commissioner David Stern. Gregg Popovich selected Tim Duncan to start in place of Yao.


2011 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Game, Game
Kobe Bryant, selected to his 13th straight All-Star game after becoming the leading vote-getter, had 37 points, 14 rebounds, and three steals and won his fourth All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, tying Hall of Famer Bob Pettit for the most All-Star MVP awards. LeBron James had the second triple-double in All-Star Game history with 29 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists. Blake Griffin is the first rookie to play in the All-Star since Yao Ming in 2003.


2011 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Weekend, T-Mobile Rookie Challenge
The T-Mobile Rookie Challenge featured a team of standout first-year players ('Rookies') against a team of standout second-year players ('Sophomores'). The game was divided into two twenty-minute halves, similar to college basketball. The participating players were chosen by voting among the league's assistant coaches. The Rookie team included five of the top ten picks from the 2010 NBA Draft: DeMarcus Cousins, Derrick Favors, Wesley Johnson, Greg Monroe and John Wall. 2009 first overall pick Blake Griffin, who missed the 2009–10 season due to injury, was also selected to the rookie team. The Sophomores team featured six players from the previous Rookie Challenge game: DeJuan Blair, Stephen Curry, Tyreke Evans, Taj Gibson, James Harden and Brandon Jennings. However, Evans was later replaced by Harden due to injury.


2011 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Weekend, T-Mobile Rookie Challenge
The head coaches for the Rookies and Sophomores teams were the lead assistants from the All-Star Game coaching staffs, Mike Budenholzer from the San Antonio Spurs and Lawrence Frank from the Boston Celtics. They were assisted by two All-Stars and two veterans who served as assistant coaches: Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire, Steve Kerr and Kevin McHale. Budenholzer, McHale and Stoudemire coached the Rookie team while Frank, Anthony and Kerr coached the Sophomore team.


2011 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Weekend, T-Mobile Rookie Challenge
Tyreke Evans was unable to participate due to injury. James Harden was named Tyreke Evans' replacement.


2011 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Weekend, T-Mobile Rookie Challenge
The Rookies defeated the Sophomores 148–140, extending their winning streak to two games. Rookie's John Wall, who scored 12 points and notched a record 22 assists, was named MVP. He is joined by his former Kentucky teammate DeMarcus Cousins, who scored a game-high 33 points and had 14 rebounds. James Harden, who was born in LA, led the Sophomores with 30 points and DeJuan Blair had 28 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Rookie's Blake Griffin, who also participated in the Slam Dunk contest and the All-Star game, only played 13 minutes and had 14 points. Both teams started the first half strong; the Rookies only had a 2-point advantage at halftime. The game remained close in the second half and the Rookies eventually came out with a victory.


2011 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Weekend, Sprite Slam Dunk Contest
On January 5, 2011, the four contestants for the dunk contest were announced. Blake Griffin, JaVale McGee, Serge Ibaka, and Brandon Jennings were all chosen to participate. On January 20, it was announced that DeMar DeRozan would replace Jennings due to his foot injury. For this edition, the contestants were also provided with a 'dunk coach': Griffin was mentored by Kenny Smith, McGee was paired with Chris Webber, Ibaka was mentored by teammate Kevin Durant, and DeRozan paired up with Darryl Dawkins as his mentor.


2011 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Weekend, Sprite Slam Dunk Contest
During the first round, McGee made two perfect score dunks, including a dunk that had him dunk three basketballs at once, sending him to the finals. Griffin, who scored a total of 95 points in the first round, also entered the finals. In the second round, McGee and Griffin each made their two dunks, but Griffin won with 68% of the fans votes after he dunked over the hood of a car, with an assist by Baron Davis.


2011 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Weekend, Sprite Slam Dunk Contest
Unable to participate due to injury. DeMar DeRozan was named as a replacement for Brandon Jennings.


2011 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Weekend, Foot Locker Three-Point Contest
The Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout featured six players: defending champion Paul Pierce returned to defend his title, competing against Celtics teammate Ray Allen, Kevin Durant, Daniel Gibson, James Jones, and Dorell Wright.Jones won the contest with a score of 20 points in the final round, ahead of Pierce with 18 and Allen who scored 15.


2011 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Weekend, Taco Bell Skills Challenge
The Taco Bell Skills Challenge was contested by five players. Chris Paul, a three-time contestant, have been automatically selected to participate. He went against Stephen Curry, Derrick Rose, John Wall, and Russell Westbrook, who were voted in by the fans from a pool of 8 candidates. In this contest, the contestants had to complete an "obstacle course" consisting of dribbling, passing and shooting stations. The contestant who finished the course with the fastest time wins the contest. All contestants had to comply with basic NBA ball-handling rules while completing the course. Curry won the event with 28.2 seconds in the final round against Westbrook who finished with 44.2 seconds.


2011 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Weekend, BBVA Celebrity All-Star Game
The BBVA Celebrity All-Star Game featured two teams composed of retired NBA and WNBA players, actors, comedians, singers, celebrities, and others. The game was divided into four eight-minute quarters. The head coaches were NBA Hall of Famers Bill Walton and Magic Johnson. Their assistants were comedians Ty Burrell and Jason Alexander. Each team featured fake "general managers" who simulated to have chosen the team.


2011 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star Weekend, BBVA Celebrity All-Star Game
The game's MVP was chosen by voting of the audience through text messaging. At the end of the game, Justin Bieber was announced the MVP. Bieber scored eight points (3–11 FG), and had two rebounds and four assists. NBA legend Chris Mullin said of Bieber, "He's got a nice little game... but more importantly, he's got great passion. It looked like he loves the game."


2011 NBA All-Star Game, D-League All-Star, D-League All-Star Game
The Eastern Conference All-Stars defeated the Western Conference All-Stars 115–108 in the game held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Courtney Sims of the Iowa Energy won the All-Star MVP honors by scoring 25 points on 10/13 field goal shooting.


2011 NBA All-Star Game, D-League All-Star, D-League All-Star Game
Dexter Pittman did not participate due to injury. Scottie Reynolds was named as Pittman's replacement. Cedric Jackson, Marcus Landry and Jerel McNeal were named as replacements for Dowdell, Johnson and Shakur. Zabian Dowdell, Trey Johnson and Mustafa Shakur were currently called up by the Phoenix Suns, Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards, respectively.


2011 NBA All-Star Game, D-League All-Star, D-League Dream Factory Friday Night, Slam Dunk Contest
For the second straight year, Dar Tucker won the D-League Dream Factory Slam Dunk Contest, beating Chris Johnson in the finals. In the final round, Tucker got the assist from Bakersfield Jam's Jeremy Wise then dunked over New Mexico teammate Shane Edwards for the score of 50.


2011 NBA All-Star Game, D-League All-Star, D-League Dream Factory Friday Night, Slam Dunk Contest
Latavious Williams did not participate due to injury. Derrick Byars was named as Williams' replacement.


2011 NBA All-Star Game, D-League All-Star, D-League Dream Factory Friday Night, Three-Point Shootout
Booker Woodfox won the NBA D-League Dream Factory Three-Point Shootout, defeating Scottie Reynolds 16–7 in the final round. Woodfox advanced to finals after defeating Marcus Landry 20–17 in the tie-breaker shootoff (both players were tied at 16 at the end of the first round).


2011 NBA Development League draft
The 2011 NBA Development League Draft was the 11th of the National Basketball Association Development League (NBDL). The draft was held on November 3, 2011 before the 2011–12 season. In this draft, all 16 of the league's teams took turns selecting eligible players. Jamaal Tinsley was the first overall draft pick by the Los Angeles D-Fenders.


2011 NBA Finals
The 2011 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2010–11 season. The Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks defeated the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat in six games to win their first NBA championship. The series was held from May 31 to June 12, 2011. Mavericks forward and German player Dirk Nowitzki was named the Finals MVP, becoming the second European to win the award after Tony Parker (2007) and the first German player to do so. The series was a rematch of the 2006 NBA Finals, which the Heat had won in six games to win their first NBA championship.


2011 NBA Finals
Going into the series, the Heat were heavy favorites with their newly acquired superstars LeBron James and Chris Bosh along with returning superstar Dwyane Wade.


2011 NBA Finals
The Dallas Mavericks became the first team in NBA history since the institution of the 2–3–2 format to enter Game 3 tied at one, lose Game 3 and still win the Finals. The previous 11 times this occurred, the Game 3 winner went on to win the series. The Mavericks also became just the 7th team, and the first since 1988, to come back and win the Finals after being down in the series two or more separate times (one game to none, and later two games to one). The previous six times this happened, the Finals ended in seven games; Dallas became the first team in NBA history to do it in six games.


2011 NBA Finals, Background
Both the Mavericks and Heat made their second appearance in the NBA Finals, the first for both teams being the 2006 NBA Finals. This Finals marked a rematch of those 2006 Finals, won by Miami in six games, after the Mavericks were up 2–0.


2011 NBA Finals, Background
It was also the first time since 2006 that neither the Los Angeles Lakers nor the San Antonio Spurs represented the Western Conference in the Finals and only the second time since 1998, and also the thirteenth consecutive NBA Finals to feature a Western Conference champion from either the states of California or Texas.


2011 NBA Finals, Background
This was the first finals since 1999 not to feature Kobe Bryant (2000–2002, 2004, 2008–2010), Shaquille O'Neal (2000–2002, 2004, 2006) or Tim Duncan (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007).


2011 NBA Finals, Background
The Mavericks' appearance also meant that three of North America's four major professional sports championships were played in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex in a span of eight months, with the 2010 World Series and Super Bowl XLV both occurring in nearby Arlington.


2011 NBA Finals, Background
The Heat had home-court advantage by virtue of a better regular-season record than the Mavericks. This was only the second time that the Eastern Conference had home-court advantage during the Finals since the end of the Michael Jordan era in 1998. It also marks the first time since 1995 that the Eastern Conference team lost in the Finals despite having home-court advantage.


2011 NBA Finals, Background
The 2011 series marked the first time a Finals match (Game 1) was played in the month of May since 1986.


2011 NBA Finals, Background
Among the players from both teams, only Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry of Dallas, and Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem of Miami, appeared in the 2006 series with the same team. Heat center Erick Dampier played for the Mavericks in 2006. Aside from Dampier, Caron Butler, Juwan Howard, and Shawn Marion are the only other players who have played for both the Mavericks and Heat.


2011 NBA Finals, Background
Eddie House, Žydrūnas Ilgauskas, LeBron James (James would reach the finals every year from 2011 to 2018, with both the Heat and the Cavaliers), and Jason Kidd have appeared in the Finals with different teams, with House (as a member of Boston's 2008 championship team), Wade and Haslem winning a championship ring. Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle won a championship as a reserve for Boston's 1986 championship team making him only the eleventh person in NBA history to win a Finals as both a player and a coach.


2011 NBA Finals, Background, Regular-season series
The Dallas Mavericks won both games in the regular season.


2011 NBA Finals, Game Summaries, Game 1
Game 1 was the first NBA Finals game to be held in the month of May since 1986. The Heat made only 28.6 percent of their shots during the first quarter, and this low scoring percentage early on left the Mavs with an 8-point lead early into the 3rd quarter. The Heat changed course from this point on, outscoring the Mavs 22–10 and taking a 65–61 lead going into the 4th quarter. Mavs power forward Dirk Nowitzki injured his finger within the last four minutes of the game, but remained in play, wearing a splint to support the torn tendon. Despite having a below-average performance early in the game, Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade and small forward LeBron James collaborated on both defensive and offensive ends of the court in the fourth quarter, leading the Heat to win Game 1 over the Mavs 92–84.


2011 NBA Finals, Game Summaries, Game 2
The Mavs' 15-point comeback was the biggest in an NBA Finals game since the 24-point comeback the Celtics made against the Lakers in Game 4 of the 2008 NBA Finals. Dirk Nowitzki hit a 3 with 26.7 seconds left to give the Mavericks a 93–90 lead. However, Mario Chalmers tied it with a 3 of his own with 24.5 seconds left when Jason Terry left him wide open. After Jason Kidd ran the clock down, Nowitzki then made a driving layup with his injured left hand with 3.6 seconds left.


2011 NBA Finals, Game Summaries, Game 2
The Heat had no timeouts left, and Dwyane Wade's potential game-winning 3 hit the back rim at the buzzer as he fell to the ground in an attempt to draw a foul on Nowitzki. The Mavs' win broke the Heat's 9-game home winning streak in the playoffs, costing them a chance to tie the 1996 Bulls' mark of 10 straight. This was the second straight Finals with a 1–1 split after two games, after five straight years with one team leading 2–0 (2005–09).


2011 NBA Finals, Game Summaries, Game 3
The Heat led most of the game, but the Mavericks fought back from a 14-point deficit. With 39.6 seconds left in the 4th, LeBron James found Chris Bosh for a 20-foot baseline jumper; Dirk Nowitzki had a chance to force OT, but missed a well-defended fadeaway jumper at the buzzer as the Heat handed Dallas another defeat to go up 2–1 in the series. It was Miami's sixth win in its last seven NBA Finals games, four by 3 points or less.


2011 NBA Finals, Game Summaries, Game 4
Game 4 was a back-and-forth affair, with 12 lead changes and 15 ties. Miami went up 74–65 early in the fourth quarter on a baseline jumpshot by Udonis Haslem, tallying their largest lead of the game. After a timeout, Dallas answered with 4 straight points by Jason Terry, similar to the 6 straight he scored with Dallas down 15 halfway through the fourth quarter of Game 2. Dallas would take their first lead of the fourth quarter with 5:15 left on a fastbreak layup by Terry.


2011 NBA Finals, Game Summaries, Game 4
They held the lead for the rest of the game, although Miami cut the lead to 1 twice in the final minute. Up 82–81 with 20 seconds left after Dwyane Wade missed 1 of 2 free throws, Dirk Nowitzki hit a driving layup with 14.4 seconds left to extend the lead to 3. After a dunk by Wade with 9 seconds left, 2 free throws by Terry pushed the lead back up to 3.


2011 NBA Finals, Game Summaries, Game 4
With a chance to tie the game with a 3, Wade fumbled the inbounds pass with 6.7 seconds left, only to make a diving save to prevent a backcourt violation. The ball landed in Mike Miller's hands, whose desperation 3 airballed at the buzzer, preserving Dallas's 86–83 win. LeBron James scored just eight total points in Game 4 on 3-11 shooting including going 0-6 from the field when guarded by Jason Kidd or Jason Terry.


2011 NBA Finals, Game Summaries, Game 5
After four low-scoring games, Game 5 saw the first time either team would break 100 points in this series. Dallas connected 13 times out of their 19 tries from three-point range. Jason Terry, Jason Kidd, and J. J. Barea combined to make 10 of those 13 made threes. Late in the first quarter, Dwyane Wade ran into Brian Cardinal and had to go to the locker room with a hip injury; he eventually returned and hit a 3 to cap a 9–0 run that put Miami in front 99–95 with less than 5 minutes left in the game.


2011 NBA Finals, Game Summaries, Game 5
Unhappy with Terry for missing a defensive assignment and setting a poor cross-screen, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle pulled Terry from the game, telling him, "Refocus. I'm putting you right back in." After less than a minute, Carlisle subbed in Terry and made the crucial decision to run the offense through him for the rest of the game. This move ignited Dallas' offense, leading them on a game-winning 15–3 run in which Terry scored or assisted on 11 points.


2011 NBA Finals, Game Summaries, Game 5
With Miami leading 100–97, Terry passed to Dirk Nowitzki, who drew a double team and then kicked it back out to Terry for a game-tying 3. Nowitzki then drove baseline on Chris Bosh for a two-handed dunk (assisted by Terry) with 2:44 left in the game to give the Mavs a 102–100 lead they would not relinquish. After LeBron James was called for an offensive foul (Tyson Chandler drew the charge), Terry found Kidd for another wide-open 3 that gave the Mavs a 105–100 lead with 1:26 left.


2011 NBA Finals, Game Summaries, Game 5
After Chandler blocked Wade with 1:04 left, Bosh made 1 of 2 free throws to cut the Mavs' lead to 105–101. On the Mavs' next possession, Terry knocked down a 28-foot three-pointer with James closely guarding him to give the Mavs an insurmountable 108–101 lead with 33.3 seconds left. The Mavericks won 112–103 and grabbed a 3–2 series lead going back to Miami.


2011 NBA Finals, Game Summaries, Game 6
LeBron James made his first four shots to contribute to the Heat taking a 20–11 lead. The Mavericks went to a zone defense that perplexed Miami and Dallas went on a 21–4 run in a span of 5½ minutes. They made 9 of 12 shots during this stretch with DeShawn Stevenson making three-pointers in a 24-second duration to give Dallas a 40–28 lead with 9:42 left in the first half. Dallas turned Miami's first six turnovers into 14 points. The Heat then went on a 14–0 run to take a 42–40 lead.


2011 NBA Finals, Game Summaries, Game 6
With 6:25 left in the half, Stevenson along with Udonis Haslem and Mario Chalmers received technical fouls after a scuffle occurred at midcourt during a timeout. In the second half, James did not score until making a layup with 1:49 remaining in the third. The Mavericks led by nine going into the 4th quarter after Ian Mahinmi hit a buzzer beater to give Dallas an 81–72 lead. The Mavericks took a 12-point lead with 8:12 remaining. With 2:27 left, Nowitzki made a jump shot to help build the Mavericks' lead to 99–89.


2011 NBA Finals, Game Summaries, Game 6
The Mavericks, who led for the final 22 minutes in the game, won their first championship in franchise history. Nowitzki was named Finals MVP. He had a poor shooting performance in the first half but managed to score 18 points in the second half. When the final buzzer sounded, an emotional Nowitzki went straight to the locker room in tears, although he re-emerged for the trophy presentation.


2011 NBA Finals, Broadcast notes
The Finals were originally projected to begin on Thursday, June 9, but (along with the entire NBA schedule) were pushed up ahead one week to Thursday, June 2 due to negotiations on an impending league-wide lockout at the end of the season. They were again pushed ahead to a start date of May 31 as both conference finals series ended in five games.


2011 NBA Finals, Broadcast notes
The Finals were televised in the United States through ABC, with Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, and Mark Jackson as announcers. Doris Burke was the sideline reporter, while Stuart Scott hosted the championship presentation. Scott also hosted the pre-game and halftime shows along with Jon Barry, Michael Wilbon, and Magic Johnson. ESPN Radio aired the Finals nationally on radio, with Mike Tirico, Hubie Brown, and Jack Ramsay announcing.


2011 NBA draft
The 2011 NBA draft was held on June 23, 2011, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (23:00 UTC), and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. Kia Motors was the presenting sponsor of the 2011 NBA draft. In this draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. The Cleveland Cavaliers had the first pick due to a previous trade they had involving the Los Angeles Clippers, choosing point guard Kyrie Irving of Duke. Of the 60 players drafted, 7 were freshmen, 7 were sophomores, 14 were juniors, 19 were seniors, 12 were international players without U.S. college basketball experience (including the first-ever Qatari-selected player), and 1 was a D-League player.


2011 NBA draft
The 2011 NBA draft marked the final time the New Jersey Nets made an NBA draft appearance. After the end of the Nets' 2011–12 season, the franchise relocated to Brooklyn, New York and was renamed to the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets made their first draft appearance with the Brooklyn moniker in 2012. Four of the first-round picks, including three of the top four picks, Kyrie Irving, Derrick Williams, Tristan Thompson, and Iman Shumpert, would all eventually become teammates on the Cleveland Cavaliers. The 2011 draft is considered one of the most loaded drafts in NBA history; seven players in the draft would play in at least one All-Star game, including the final pick of the draft, Isaiah Thomas.


2011 NBA draft, Notable undrafted players
These players were not selected in the 2011 NBA draft but have played at least one game in the NBA.


2011 NBA draft, Eligibility rules
As of 2010, the basic eligibility rules for the draft are listed below.


2011 NBA draft, Eligibility rules
The basic requirement for automatic eligibility for a U.S. player is the completion of his college eligibility.


2011 NBA draft, Eligibility rules
Players who meet the CBA definition of "international players" are automatically eligible if their 22nd birthday falls during or before the calendar year of the draft (i.e., born on or before December 31, 1989). U.S. players who were at least one year removed from their high school graduation and have played minor-league basketball with a team outside the NBA are also automatically eligible.


2011 NBA draft, Eligibility rules
A player who is not automatically eligible must declare his eligibility for the draft by notifying the NBA offices in writing no later than 60 days before the draft. For the 2011 draft, this date fell on April 24. Under NCAA rules, players will only have until May 8 to withdraw from the draft and maintain their college eligibility. This year, a total of 69 collegiate players and 20 international players declared as early entry candidates. At the withdrawal deadline, 41 early entry candidates withdrew from the draft (25 from US colleges and institutions), leaving 42 collegiate players and six international players as the early entry candidates for the draft.


2011 NBA draft, Eligibility rules
A player who has hired an agent will forfeit his remaining college eligibility, regardless of whether he is drafted. Also, while the CBA allows a player to withdraw from the draft twice, the NCAA mandates that a player who has declared twice loses his college eligibility.


2011 NBA draft, Draft lottery
The first 14 picks in the draft belong to teams that missed the playoffs; the order will be determined through a lottery. The lottery will determine the three teams that will obtain the first three picks on the draft. The remaining first-round picks and the second-round picks were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win-loss record in the previous season. As it is commonplace in the event of identical win-loss records, the NBA performed a random drawing to break the ties on April 15, 2011.


2011 NBA draft, Draft lottery
The lottery was held on May 17, 2011, in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Cleveland Cavaliers, who obtained the Los Angeles Clippers' first-round draft pick, won the lottery. The Cavaliers won the lottery with a 22.7% chance to win, combining a 19.9% chance from their own pick and 2.8% chance from the Clippers' pick. However, their winning lottery combination came from the Clippers' pick, which had a significantly lower chance to win. The Minnesota Timberwolves, who had the worst record and the biggest chance to win the lottery, won the second pick. The Utah Jazz, who obtained the New Jersey Nets' first-round draft pick, won the third pick.


2011 NBA draft, Draft lottery
Below were the chances for each team to get specific picks in the 2011 draft lottery, rounded to three decimal places.


2011 NBA draft, Draft lottery
^ 1: New Jersey Nets' pick was conveyed to the Utah Jazz. ^ 2: Los Angeles Clippers' pick was conveyed to the Cleveland Cavaliers.


2011 NBA draft, Entrants, Early entrants, International players
This list is restricted to players who meet the CBA definition of "international" players.


2011 NBA draft, Entrants, Automatically eligible entrants
Players who do not meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:


2011 NBA draft, Entrants, Automatically eligible entrants
Players who meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:


2011 NBA draft, Invited attendees
The NBA annually invites 10 to 15 players to sit in the so-called "green room", a special room set aside at the draft site for the invited players plus their families and agents. This season, the following players were invited (listed alphabetically):


2011 NBA draft, Trades involving draft picks, Pre-draft trades
Prior to the day of the draft, the following trades were made and resulted in exchanges of draft picks between the teams.


2011 NBA draft, Trades involving draft picks, Draft-day trades
The following trades involving drafted players were made on the day of the draft.


2011 NBA lockout
The 2011 NBA lockout was the fourth and most recent lockout in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Team owners began the work stoppage upon expiration of the 2005 collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The 161-day lockout began on July 1, 2011 and ended on December 8, 2011. It delayed the start of the 2011–12 regular season from November to December, and it reduced the regular season from 82 to 66 games. The previous lockout in 1998–99 had shortened the season to 50 games. During the lockout, teams could not trade, sign or contact players. Also, players could not access NBA team facilities, trainers, or staff.


2011 NBA lockout
Negotiations between the owners, led by league commissioner David Stern, and the players, headed by director Billy Hunter and president Derek Fisher of the labor union National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), began in early 2011 and continued through November. The main issues dividing both sides were the division of revenue, the structure of the salary cap and luxury tax. Owners proposed to reduce the players' share of basketball related income (BRI) from 57% to 47%, but the players countered with 53% of BRI. Owners wanted to implement a hard salary cap and a harsher luxury tax, hoping to increase competition among teams, whereas players wanted to keep the current soft salary cap structure intact.


2011 NBA lockout
As both sides failed to reach an agreement, the NBA canceled the preseason and all games through December. On November 14, the players dissolved the union, allowing them to file antitrust lawsuits against the league. On November 26, both sides reached a tentative agreement to end the lockout. The new CBA calls for a revenue split of 49-to-51.2% and a flexible salary cap structure with harsher luxury tax. After the tentative deal was reached, owners allowed players to have voluntary workouts at team sites starting December 1.


2011 NBA lockout
After the deal was ratified on December 8, training camps, trades and free agency began the next day. During the lockout, some players signed contracts to play in other countries, mostly in Europe and Asia, with most of them having the option to return upon the lockout's conclusion. The lockout also affected the economy due largely to NBA cities losing revenue generated by games as well as television networks losing ratings and advertisement revenue.


2011 NBA lockout, Background
After the previous lockout, which shortened the 1998–99 season from 82 to 50 games, a six-year deal between the owners, led by commissioner David Stern, and the players, led by director Billy Hunter and president Patrick Ewing of the labor union National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), was reached. As the CBA was set to expire on June 30, 2005, the two sides began to negotiate in early 2005. There were several issues obstructing the new agreement, which included adding an age limit for rookies, toughening the existing drug-testing program and limiting the length of long-term contracts.


2011 NBA lockout, Background
However, negotiations went smoothly and the two sides were able to reach a deal in June 2005, avoiding the lockout. That deal guaranteed players 57 percent of basketball-related income (BRI) and lasted for six years, until June 30, 2011. A year after signing the deal, eight owners signed a petition requesting Stern address the disparity between small-market and large-market teams. They wrote that "the hard truth is that our current economic system works only for larger-market teams and a few teams that have extraordinary success ... The rest of us are looking at significant and unacceptable annual financial losses."


2011 NBA lockout, Background
Derek Fisher succeeded Ewing as NBPA president in 2006. In early 2011, negotiations on a new CBA began. The league claimed that it was losing $300 million a year (22 out of 30 teams were losing money last season) and proposed to reduce 40% of players' salary (about $800 million) and institute a hard salary cap (at $45 million per team) as opposed to a soft cap (at $58 million) currently in use. The union disputed those figures and steadfastly opposed those changes. Hunter said that he was advising players to prepare for a lockout.


2011 NBA lockout, Background
In May 2011, the NBPA filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), accusing the league of negotiating in bad faith by failing to provide critical financial data to the union and repeatedly threatening to lock out players. The NBA quickly rejected the complaint, saying that the league complies fully with federal labor laws. The union also considered the option of decertification, which allows players to file an antitrust lawsuit against the NBA.


2011 NBA lockout, Background
With time winding down, negotiations continued in May and June. On the salary cap, the owners, in their newest proposal, call for a system called the "flex cap" that limits payroll at $62 million but penalizes teams if the teams payroll exceeds the league's average payroll of that season. The union argued that it is still a hard cap because the ceiling would kick in eventually. On salary reduction, players offered to cut $500 million over the next five years (their share of BRI would be reduced from 57 to 54.3 percent). The owners instead proposed to cut $2 billion over the next 10 years.


2011 NBA lockout, Background
As a last-ditch effort to avert a lockout, owners and players met again on June 30, 2011, to negotiate, but both sides failed to reach a resolution on key issues like salary cap and BRI splits. Both Stern and Hunter said that the two sides remained far apart. The owners demanded a larger share, claiming that they were losing money. The players, on the other hand, were willing to make concessions, but they refused to completely cave in to owners' demands. Negotiations broke off, and the CBA expired at midnight.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Initial months
The lockout was officially started by the owners on July 1, 2011, during which, teams could not trade, sign or contact players, and players could not access NBA team facilities, trainers or staffs. Negotiations resumed at an August 1 bargaining session, but it fell apart after three hours. On August 2, 2011, the NBA filed two unfair labor practice claims against the NBPA, one at the NLRB and another at a federal district court in New York. The league accused the players of being uncooperative in negotiations by threatening to dissolve their union and file antitrust lawsuits. Hunter, in a statement released by the union, called the lawsuits "without merit" and that the union would seek to dismiss it in court. On August 4, Hunter said that he thought the entire 2011–12 season would likely be canceled.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Initial months
The NBPA and the owners returned to negotiate again on August 31 with a sense of urgency. No specifics were disclosed although both sides hoped to meet again soon. "Everyone loses if we don't reach an agreement, that's something that I think has always been understood," said union president Derek Fisher. "I will say we are not apart in terms of an agreed urgency on getting a deal done," said NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Initial months
The union and owners met again on September 13 but the negotiation soon collapsed. The salary cap structure remained the main source of disagreement. Owners wanted to create a hard cap for team payroll. The union wanted to keep the current structure intact, referring to it as a "blood issue". Players were willing to cut salary only if owners agree to compromise on the salary cap. But owners were unwilling to concede, saying that there must be a system in place that allows all teams to compete.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Initial months
Five of the sports agents—Arn Tellem, Bill Duffy, Mark Bartelstein, Jeff Schwartz and Dan Fegan—who represent one-third of NBA players spoke with each other about decertifying the union. They believed owners have most of the leverage in negotiation and viewed decertification as a way for players to take control. Hunter said however that players had not considered decertification at this point.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Initial months
On September 15, Fisher sent an email to 400-plus players asking for unity. In the email, he said that recent meetings were "effective". He suggested that the failure of having a deal was not due to disagreement between players and owners, but due to disagreement among owners. Fisher also used the opportunity to counter agents' suggestion of disbanding the union, saying that they were not making "a drastic move that leaves players without a union". According to sources, there was indeed disagreement among the owners.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Initial months
Some thought players' proposal of taking 52% of BRI was fair, and were willing to compromise on things like tying players' future earnings to NBA's future revenue growth and maintaining current salary level. Cavaliers' Dan Gilbert and Suns' Robert Sarver were among the hardliners who oppose the deal while Knicks' James Dolan and the Lakers' Jerry Buss were among the group in favor of it. Stern denied that there was a rift among owners the following day, saying, "I don't know what the basis of Derek's belief is."


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Cancellations
On September 23, 2011, the NBA canceled training camp, which was to begin October 3, and the first week of preseason games, which were to run October 9 through 15. The incident marked only the second time in league history that games had been lost to a labor stoppage. Both the owners and the union had planned to meet on September 30 in New York and pledged to continue through the weekends if progress was being made.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Cancellations
A source close to the situation leaked to ESPN that Stern planned to threaten the cancellation of the season if no deal was made, but the union saw this as a scare tactic and not a serious threat. Commentators speculated that Stern wanted to put pressure on the players and prevent negotiation from dragging through the fall. The meeting on September 30 was tense as Dwyane Wade reportedly yelled at Stern after he pointed his finger at Wade. The players nearly stormed out, but they remained in the meeting only after Hunter asked them to. Stern also backed down from his earlier threat that he would cancel the season if there was no deal.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Cancellations
On October 4, the NBA canceled the remainder of the preseason. Stern said the league would lose $200 million by canceling the preseason, and warned that the first two weeks of the season would be in jeopardy if no deal was reached by October 10. The players proposed that they receive 53% of BRI, while the owners countered with 47%. The two sides then discussed a 50–50 split of BRI, with the owners offering the players 49% of BRI with incentives that would raise the value to 51%.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Cancellations
The players countered by asking for 51%, which would increase to 53 percent using those same incentives. It was rejected by the owners. Attempts for the sides to meet on October 7 failed. The union said the NBA demanded a 50–50 revenue split prior to the meeting, while the league refuted making any such demands. After talks on October 9 and 10, the two sides were unable to reach a deal and Stern subsequently canceled the first two weeks of regular-season games, which were originally scheduled to begin on November 1.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Cancellations
BRI remained the main issue, but other differences included luxury tax, player contract length, and the mid-level exception. The owners proposed a $2 tax for every $1 that a team spent above the tax threshold for player salaries. The tax would rise to as high as $4 for every $1 above the limit for teams that were repeat offenders. The previous CBA in comparison called for a $1 tax for every $1 over the limit. The players refused to accept a hard salary cap, which they felt the more punitive luxury taxes would effectively create.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Cancellations
Stern said the owners felt a harsher luxury tax would make the league more competitive. Wade countered that a small-market team like the San Antonio Spurs had won multiple championships. Andrew Zimbalist, an economist at Smith College, said that "the statistical correlation between payroll and win percentage is practically nonexistent" in the NBA. ESPN concluded that a team's draft efficiency accounted for 34% of its winning percentage in the past decade, while payroll showed only a 7% correlation. The New York Times noted that a fairer system was needed for the small-market teams, but the league's popularity historically relied on predictably successful teams with multiple superstars.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Cancellations
NBPA leaders met with around 30 players on October 14 and stressed unity. Washington Wizards player JaVale McGee left the meeting early and told reporters there were some players "saying that they're ready to fold", but the majority was united. McGee later denied mentioning that players were ready to fold, but his comment was recorded by reporters. Fisher said McGee had "no ability to make that statement" based on the limited time he spent at the meeting.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Cancellations
Owners and players met again on October 18–20 for 30 hours of talks over three days. They met before a federal mediator, George Cohen—the director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Cohen tried unsuccessfully to resolve the 2011 NFL lockout. At the conclusion of the meetings, the sides remained split on the revenue split and the structure of the salary cap. The league proposed a 50–50 split of BRI, and the players proposed a range that would allow them as low as 50% of BRI to a maximum of 53%, depending on the league's revenues.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Cancellations
Gilbert told the players to trust that the salary cap issues could be resolved if they accepted the 50–50 proposal. Hunter responded, "I can't trust your gut. I got to trust my own gut." Silver and San Antonio Spurs owner Peter Holt told reporters that the players refused to negotiate after the 50–50 proposal. Fisher told the press "that you guys were lied to" by the owners. Hunter said the owners told them, "Take it or leave it." Cohen decided that there was "no useful purpose" to continue mediation. Tentative agreements were reached on smaller issues, allowing a one-time exemption for teams to waive players without counting against the salary cap, granting teams an annual exemption to waive players and prorate the impact to the salary cap over multiple years, and a mid-level exception of $5 million.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Cancellations
Hunter characterized the small-market owners as being inflexible in negotiation. However, The New York Times wrote that the views of individual owners "cannot be easily categorized by market size, revenue, personal wealth or championship aspirations". Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, whose team was in the fifth-largest market and had one of the highest payrolls, and Portland Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen, the 23rd-wealthiest person in America, were as interested as small-market owners in changing the economy of the NBA in an effort to increase competition. While owners of profitable teams like Buss and Dolan were willing to accept modest changes to the CBA, they remained united with the small-market teams based on concerns for the league's long-term health.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Cancellations
Despite the earlier cancellation announcement, the players and the league hoped that a full 82-game schedule could be salvaged if a deal was reached in time. On October 28, Stern announced the cancellation of all games through November 30 after negotiations regarding division of revenue ended without an agreement. He said that Hunter was unwilling "to go a penny below 52%" on BRI, while Hunter stated, "We made a lot of concessions, but unfortunately at this time it's not enough." Stern indicated that an 82-game season was no longer possible. He added that tentative agreement was reached for maximum contract lengths of five years for players staying with their teams or four years when signing with another team.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Cancellations
Reports of division among players and owners surfaced. Jason Whitlock of Foxsports.com wrote that Fisher was privately working with Stern on the 50–50 split and that Hunter confronted Fisher about the issue. Fisher and Stern denied a private meeting took place. In a letter to the players, Fisher called the reports "absurd" and demanded "a retraction for the libelous and defamatory stories" through his attorneys. Hunter said his "relationship with Derek [was] very good. There was no confrontation". Fisher, as union president, was not empowered to make unilateral decisions for the union.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Cancellations
While Fisher believed a 50–50 deal could be considered, Hunter maintained that the owners should never "make the same or more than the players". Miami Heat owner Micky Arison, one of the owners willing to settle with players, responded to a fan complaining about greedy owners and players on Twitter, saying that "You are barking at the wrong owner." He was fined $500,000 by Stern, five times larger than any previous amount against an owner for publicly commenting on the labor situation.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Cancellations
Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis and Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan had been fined $100,000 each for public comments on the lockout. Leonsis had commented about the owners' desire for a hard salary cap, while Jordan told an Australian newspaper that the league's business model was "broken", citing the owners' desire for revenue sharing. A group of 10 to 14 hardline owners, led by Jordan, wanted to cap the players' share of BRI at 50% and as low as 47.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Cancellations
During the labor dispute in 1998, then-player Jordan told Washington Wizards then-owner Abe Pollin, "If you can't make a profit, you should sell your team." Whitlock called Jordan a "sellout" wanting "current players to pay for his incompetence". He cited Jordan's executive decisions to draft disappointing players Kwame Brown and Adam Morrison.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Cancellations
In early November, about 50 players renewed talks of union decertification if the union went lower than 52.5% of BRI or agreed to additional restrictions on contracts, salary-cap exceptions, or free agency. Decertifying would require that 30% of the union—about 130 players—sign a petition, allowing an election under the auspices of the NLRB by all NBPA members to decertify with a simple majority. The NLRB traditionally did not consider a decertification petition while a charge was pending, such as the NBPA's unfair labor practice charges filed in August.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Cancellations
The owners and players union met on November 6, and they were joined again by federal mediator Cohen. The players proposed that they receive 51% of BRI, with a 1% portion taken out for retired players. The owners offered a "band" that would pay the players 49 to 51%, depending on revenue growth. Jeff Kessler, the union's attorney, said the league's proposal was really 50.2% and called the possibility of reaching 51% an "illusion".


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Cancellations
The league also proposed restrictions for teams that pay the luxury tax, banning them from sign and trade deals and limiting their use of the mid-level exception. They also proposed a "repeater tax" for teams that exceed the tax threshold thrice in a five-year span. Stern issued an ultimatum, giving the players until November 9 to accept the deal before it was lowered to 47% BRI and a flex salary cap.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Cancellations
On November 15, the NBA canceled all games through December 15.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Dissolving the union
The union rejected the offer on November 9 and asked for another bargaining session. The two sides met again as the deadline passed. After two days of negotiation, the owners put forth a revised final offer and said that they were done bargaining. If accepted by the players, Stern hoped to start a 72-game season in mid December. On November 14, the union rejected the last offer and dissolved the union.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Dissolving the union
The NBPA was converted into a trade association, enabling the players as individual employees to participate in a class action antitrust lawsuit against the league, calling the lockout an illegal group boycott. Attorney David Boies, who represented the NFL owners in their 2011 lockout, agreed to represent the players and join Keesler, who also represented the players in the NFL lockout.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Dissolving the union
On November 15, one group of NBA players (including Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Kawhi Leonard, and Leon Powe) filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NBA in a California federal court, while another (including Anthony Tolliver, Ben Gordon, Caron Butler and Derrick Williams) filed their own suit against the NBA in a Minnesota federal court. November 15 was also the day players were to receive their first paychecks if the season was played.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Dissolving the union
On November 21, the California lawsuit was dropped in order to merge with the Minnesota lawsuit. Boies hoped that the move would speed up the process, since the courts would likely merge the suits as they were similar complaints seeking the same outcome.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Settlement
On November 23, the league and the players agreed to resume negotiating on November 25. On November 26, after 15 hours of talks, a tentative deal was reached. The NBPA re-formed as a union on December 1, receiving support from over 300 players, exceeding the requirement for at least 260 signatures. Signature cards were sent to the roughly 440 players on rosters at the end of the previous season, as well as to the 60 rookies drafted in 2011 and to players who signed at least two 10-day contracts.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Settlement
The re-formation enabled further negotiations with the league on secondary issues such as the age limit for the NBA draft and rules on players being sent to and recalled from the NBA G-League. The players and owners concluded their voting on the deal on December 8, when the deal was ratified, and the lockout ended after 161 days. The owners approved the deal by a 25–5 vote, while 86% of the more than 200 players who voted approved the deal. The Miami Heat's Micky Arison and the Dallas Mavericks' Mark Cuban were the two owners who publicly disclosed that they voted against the new CBA.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Settlement
The players would receive 51.2% of BRI in 2011–12, with a 49-to-51 band in subsequent years. Teams were allowed a one-time amnesty exemption to waive one player and remove him from the team's salary cap. The player could be claimed off waivers by the highest bidder; the waiving team would be responsible for the remaining salary without it counting against their cap.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Settlement
In a rule dubbed the "Derrick Rose Rule" after the 2011 NBA Most Valuable Player Award winner, a player finishing his rookie contract could be re-signed at up to 30% of his team's salary cap—an increase from the previous CBA's 25%—if he was either a two-time All-Star starter, twice voted All-NBA Team, or won an MVP award. The maximum salary for a player otherwise would remain unchanged at 25, 30, or 35% of the salary cap, depending on the player's years of service.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Settlement
Others: 5 years, which included years remaining on existing contract


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Settlement
Others: 4 years, which included years remaining on existing contract


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Settlement
Tax paying teams: Three years, a $3 million base salary (which grew by 3 percent annually beginning in 2013–14) and 4.5 percent raises. Teams with cap room: Previously had no midlevel exception. Now received a new exception that was for two years and started at $2.5 million (growing 3 percent annually).


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Settlement
Non -tax paying teams: Could acquire up to the lesser of 150 percent plus $100,000, or 100 percent plus $5 million of the salaries they trade away. The maximum cash a team could pay or receive in trade was $3 million annually.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Racial comments
Bryant Gumbel on his HBO Real Sports show in October likened Stern's role in the lockout to a "modern plantation overseer, treating NBA men as if they were his boys ... keeping the hired hands in their place". The NBA owners were predominantly white, while the players were mostly black. ESPN noted that William C. Rhoden in his book $40 Million Slaves had earlier dealt with the topic of players as "slaves" in spite of earning millions of dollars. Stern dismissed Gumbel's comments as "an occupational hazard" of being the NBA commissioner.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Racial comments
In early November, NBPA attorney Jeffrey L. Kessler criticized the owners' "take it or leave it" bargaining approach: "instead of treating the players like partners, they're treating them like plantation workers." Hall of Famer Magic Johnson called the comments "ridiculous" and defended Stern's record of promoting blacks. ESPN The Magazine said that the NBPA did not condone Kessler's statements, and they had intentionally avoided getting involved with Gumbel's earlier remarks. Kessler later apologized for his comments.


2011 NBA lockout, Lockout, Impact
The revised season schedule with 16 fewer regular-season games and a reduced pre-season caused an estimated loss of $400 million for both the team owners and the players . According to CNBC, the average player lost $220,000 after the first missed paycheck on November 15. However, each player did receive $100,000 from the NBA to compensate for salaries falling below the 57% BRI level in 2010–11. As of October 25, an estimated 400 NBA jobs were lost due to layoffs and attrition since the lockout—around 200 in the league office and another 200 among the 30 teams. As the lockout dragged on toward the holiday season, many NBA arenas workers felt the effect. Many of them worked part-time in order to supplement their income or to simply pay bills and they were unable to recover lost wages that resulted from cancelled games.


2011 NBA lockout, Players' alternatives, Going overseas
The players union encouraged players to find work overseas, hoping owners would offer better deals if they saw players having more options. Josh Childress, who played for Greek team Olympiacos before returning to the NBA in 2010, said he would not consider playing overseas during the lockout. He cited concerns with reliability of getting paid, differences in coaching styles, and lower standards of business travel compared to the NBA.


2011 NBA lockout, Players' alternatives, Going overseas
The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) announced on July 29 that it would allow players under NBA contracts to play overseas, provided that the contracts they signed had opt-out clauses that allowed players to return once the work stoppage ended. Stern said the league would allow players to play overseas, but he warned that it could divide the union and possibly jeopardize players' contracts if they were seriously injured.


2011 NBA lockout, Players' alternatives, Going overseas
Most leagues permitted the signing of locked-out NBA players with the option of opting out; the Chinese Basketball Association, however, only allowed its clubs to sign foreign free agents who could play for at least the entire season. Chinese nationals were exempt from this rule; this allowed Yi Jianlian to return to the NBA upon the end of the lockout.


2011 NBA lockout, Players' alternatives, Going overseas
More than 90 players decided to sign with foreign teams during the lockout. The New York Times called the migration of players overseas "one of the most overblown stories of the lockout" with a majority of those signing being "rookies, middling veterans and fringe players". Deron Williams was the only 2011 All-Star going overseas, signing a one-year contract for $5 million to play for Beşiktaş of the Turkish Basketball League.


2011 NBA lockout, Players' alternatives, Going overseas
Former first overall draft pick Kenyon Martin, a free agent, signed a one-year contract with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association that would make him the highest paid player in the league's history at $500,000 a month. Unlike players who signed more lucrative contracts overseas, three-time NBA champion Tony Parker opted to play for the minimum wage of $2,000 per month with ASVEL Basket, the French team he partly owned. Parker joined several foreign players, such as Leandro Barbosa, Boris Diaw, Rudy Fernández, Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur, who opted to play in their home countries until the lockout ended.


2011 NBA lockout, Players' alternatives, Going overseas
An NBA player playing in Europe could earn as little as $50,000–$75,000 per month, while the average NBA annual salary was $5.8 million with the minimum around $500,000. The large contracts signed by Williams and Martin were extreme exceptions. In October after the cancellation of regular season games, it was not anticipated that many additional NBA players would be signed overseas; leagues had started playing, their rosters were full, and new players could disrupt the teams.


2011 NBA lockout, Players' alternatives, Other alternatives
Many players opted to stay in the United States instead. The New York Times speculated that many Americans would have found it hard to leave and change their lifestyle. Some played in local pick-up games, while others ranging from stars like Kevin Durant to players like Dorell Wright played in the more organized exhibition tournaments such as the Drew League in Los Angeles, the Melo League located in Baltimore and the Goodman League in Washington, D.C. An exhibition game between two of the leagues was played on August 20, 2011, with the Goodman League defeating the Drew League, 135–134.


2011 NBA lockout, Players' alternatives, Other alternatives
Drew commissioner Dino Smiley said such pro–am games during the NBA off-season were not new, but that "the lockout has taken these games to a new level". A tournament of NBA-only players was held in September in Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring eight teams with seven to eight players each. Named the Impact Basketball Competitive Training Series, the league was dubbed by The New York Times as the "Lockout League".


2011 NBA lockout, Players' alternatives, Other alternatives
Training camp was not expected to be long if there ended up being a season. Some players organized workouts for their teams to build team chemistry. The NBPA announced it was setting up workout centers in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Houston and possibly Miami for players to work out at the union's expense.


2011 NBA lockout, Players' alternatives, Other alternatives
The continuing lockout in October and the canceled preseason allowed Renaldo Balkman, José Juan Barea and Carlos Arroyo to play for Puerto Rico in the Pan American Games that month. Puerto Rico won the gold medal.


2011 NBA lockout, Outside impact, Olympics
Although the 2012 Olympic men's basketball tournament was then more than a year away, qualifying tournaments in all five of FIBA's continental zones were to be held in the Northern Hemisphere summer of 2011 (the traditional basketball offseason throughout the world). The lockout resulted in the suspension of an agreement between the NBA and FIBA by which the NBA would take on most of the costs for insuring the value of its players' contracts in the event they were injured during international competition. As a result, national federations that wish to have NBA players on their squads must now provide full coverage instead of supplemental insurance.


2011 NBA lockout, Outside impact, Olympics
These costs are surprisingly high—one agent who represents an unnamed NBA player set to earn $10 million in the 2010–11 season said the player had received a $400,000 quote to insure his contract for his national team's FIBA qualifier. The Spanish Basketball Federation said that insuring all the NBA players on its national team for EuroBasket 2011, which doubles as the European Olympic qualifiers, could cost as much as $5.67 million.


2011 NBA lockout, Outside impact, Olympics
Basketball Australia announced that Andrew Bogut would not be available for the 2011 FIBA Oceania Championship; his agent indicated that the final deal-breaker was when insurers stated that they would not insure his remaining $39 million in NBA salary unless pre-existing elbow, wrist, and back injuries were excluded from the policy.


2011 NBA lockout, Outside impact, Olympics
The French, Russian and Argentine federations were able to insure their NBA players, and several other federations were also expected to be able to do so. Over 30 NBA players participated in EuroBasket 2011, while Ben Gordon and Marcin Gortat opted out due to insurance concerns.


2011 NBA lockout, Outside impact, Other sports
A couple of weeks before the NBA season was originally scheduled to start, Reuters and Bloomberg Businessweek speculated on the prospect of increased interest in the National Hockey League (NHL) among NBA fans. The NHL had experienced steady growth since the 2005–06 season after their own lockout canceled the league's 2004–05 season. They again opened the 2011–12 season in early October to record crowds. Businessweek wrote, "Just maybe, the NBA's sketchy situation is already having a positive effect on the NHL." However several NHL teams (nearly half of which do not have an NBA team in their market) had no plans to market directly to NBA fans during the lockout.


2011 NBA lockout, Outside impact, Other sports
The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), in its inaugural college football season, drew 40,000 fans to its games in September. The San Antonio Business Journal speculated on UTSA's opportunities to grow its fan base with the canceled NBA games in San Antonio.


2011 NBA lockout, Outside impact, Other sports
Boston Herald speculated that NCAA college basketball would have higher television ratings and attendance during the lockout. However, Sporting News noted that "there was no obvious boost in popularity in the college game" during the previous lockout when college basketball attendance increased by an average of 21 people per game.


2011 NBA lockout, Outside impact, NBA cities
Mayors from 14 NBA cities wrote an open letter to NBA commissioner David Stern and NBPA chief Billy Hunter, requesting that they end the lockout based on "the perspective [of city] residents and the negative impact a canceled season might have on them, our cities, and our local economies". Time noted that arena workers would be affected by the cancellation of games. However, separate studies by University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Lake Forest College found no historic significant effect to the economies of cities with sports franchises affected by work stoppages. Explanations included consumer shifting of spending on sporting events to other forms of entertainment, reduced local government spending on crowd and traffic control, and higher productivity by the general workforce without the distraction of games.


2011 NBA lockout, Outside impact, Other businesses
It was estimated that a complete lockout had cost an upwards of $1 billion in lost television advertisement revenue. The lockout had dealt a sizable blow to the current licensed product market which was estimated at $2.7 billion, and had created a big loss in television ratings for networks that cover NBA games such as the regional sports networks, TNT and ESPN.


2011 NBA lockout, Rescheduled season
The NBA revised the schedule to play two preseason games and a 66-game regular season schedule per team rather than the standard seven preseason games and an 82-game regular season schedule. Teams were allowed to contact players' agents on November 30. Players could begin working out voluntarily at team facilities with trainers on December 1, but coaches and general managers were not allowed to observe the workouts nor could any drills be conducted. NBA teams began talking to free agents on December 5, 2011 at 10 a.m. EST.


2011 NBA lockout, Rescheduled season
Training camps and free agency started on December 9 with the regular season beginning on Christmas Day with five games, two more than the original schedule. ESPN/ABC analyst Jeff Van Gundy said about the NBA opening on Christmas Day: "It's a different opening day than has ever happened in the past and Christmas Day games have always been a big day for the NBA. This unique situation combined with the unveiling of a championship banner for the Mavericks in a finals rematch, and then to see the Lakers and the debut of Mike Brown as head coach, those things are all going to be very compelling."


2011 NBA lockout, Rescheduled season
The league built a new schedule from scratch based on available arena dates. In October, the league had allowed arenas in Los Angeles and Chicago to reassign NBA dates for other events. The number of games between conferences was affected as was the case in the 1999 lockout, when each team played only five or six interconference games in a 50-game schedule. Normally, each team plays teams in the other conference twice each. Teams played 48 conference games and 18 non-conference games in a 66-game schedule, compared to 52 conference games and 30 non-conference games in a normal 82-game season.


2011 NBA lockout, Rescheduled season
Teams played on average two more games per month and also played three-consecutive games at least once in the season. In total, the league had 42 sets of back-to-back-to-back games, with 11 teams playing two such sets. The three-game set, or "triple", had not occurred since the shortened 1999 season, which featured 64 triples and sloppier play due to tired players. Before that, the last occurrence was two decades earlier. During the season, there were 29 occasions when teams played five games in six days.


2011 NBA lockout, Rescheduled season
With fewer off days during the season, the level of play was lower due to fatigue, and some older players rested to avoid burnout and recuperate from injuries. When the San Antonio Spurs rested Tim Duncan for a game in March at the end of a back-to-back-to-back, coach Gregg Popovich submitted the description of Duncan's absence as "Old". Nonetheless, some players still sustained injuries.


2011 NBA lockout, Rescheduled season
In the 2012 playoffs, the Chicago Bulls were eliminated after losing Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah to injuries, and the New York Knicks lost to the Miami Heat while losing Baron Davis and Iman Shumpert to knee injuries. The Heat were not immune, losing Chris Bosh for most of the playoffs en route to their NBA championship. Stern initially said there was no connection between the injuries and the 66-game schedule compressed into 124 days; however, he backed off those comments a week later, saying more research was needed.


2011 NBA playoffs
The 2011 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2010–11 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks defeating the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. Dirk Nowitzki was named NBA Finals MVP.


2011 NBA playoffs
The Chicago Bulls achieved several "firsts" since 1998: the East's best record, a Central Division title, and over 60 victories. They also clinched the NBA's best record for the first time since 1997, guaranteeing home-court advantage in every round. They advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1998, and lost the ECF for the first time since 1990.


2011 NBA playoffs
The Indiana Pacers appeared in the playoffs for the first time since 2006, as did the Memphis Grizzlies. The New York Knicks made the playoffs for the first time since 2004, but this was their first playoff appearance as an above-.500 team since 2001. The Philadelphia 76ers and New Orleans Hornets appeared for the third time in 4 years. The other 11 teams were in the 2010 NBA Playoffs. The Oklahoma City Thunder headed to the playoffs with their first Northwest Division title under this incarnation.


2011 NBA playoffs
This was the final postseason appearance for the New Orleans franchise while known as the Hornets, as the team was renamed the Pelicans before the 2013–14 season.


2011 NBA playoffs
For the first time since the 16-team format was introduced in 1984, the top two seeds from the same conference (San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers of the West) lost Game 1 of the first round. The Spurs lost to the Grizzlies, who won their first playoff game in team history, while the Lakers lost Game 1 to the Hornets and were subsequently swept by the Mavericks in the next round. Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic tied a franchise record with 46 points (31 in the first half) in Game 1 of the first round against the Atlanta Hawks, tying Tracy McGrady's total in Game 2 of the 2003 First Round against the Detroit Pistons.


2011 NBA playoffs
With a 4–1 series win over the Denver Nuggets, the Thunder won their first playoff series since relocating to Oklahoma City. The Boston Celtics swept a best-of-7 playoff series for the first time since winning the 1986 Eastern Conference Finals with a 4-game sweep of the Bucks; prior to the series win they had not swept a series overall since 1992, in Larry Bird's final season.


2011 NBA playoffs
The Grizzlies followed up their first playoff-game win with their first playoff series win ever. They became the fourth 8th-seeded team ever to advance to the Conference Semifinals after defeating the Spurs in 6, and the second since the first round expanded to a best-of-7 format in 2003. In addition, this marked the first time that no first-round series was pushed to a Game 7 since the current format was introduced. Also, the 2011 Playoffs was the first time since 2007 that only one series went to a Game 7.


2011 NBA playoffs
The Los Angeles Lakers, who went to the Finals the previous 3 years, were swept by the Mavericks in the second round. It was the first time that Lakers head coach Phil Jackson had been swept in a playoff series. It would be the first time since 1996 and only the second since 1990 in which the Lakers lost a Western Conference playoff series despite having home court advantage.


2011 NBA playoffs
Game 7 of the Grizzlies–Thunder series ensured a 12th straight postseason with at least one Game 7 played. The last without one was the 1999 NBA Playoffs.


2011 NBA playoffs, Format
The 3 division winners and 5 other teams with the most wins from each conference qualified for the playoffs. The seedings are based on each team's record. However, a division champion is guaranteed to be ranked at least fourth, regardless of their record and their winnings.


2011 NBA playoffs, Bracket
Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Home court advantage for the playoffs does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record; teams with home court advantage are shown in italics. If two teams with same record met in a round use normal tiebreakers. Tiebreakers in NBA Finals are head to head and record vs opposite conference.


2011 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (1) Chicago Bulls vs. (8) Indiana Pacers
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Bulls winning the first meeting.


2011 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (1) Chicago Bulls vs. (8) Indiana Pacers
This series pitted the team with the best record in the regular season against the team with the worst record in the playoffs. As such this series was expected to be a very easy one for the Bulls. However, despite the Bulls winning 4-1 the series was much closer than this figure would indicate. Except for the last game each was heavily contested with each of the first 4 being decided by 6 points or less.


2011 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (1) Chicago Bulls vs. (8) Indiana Pacers
The series could have easily gone 6 or 7 games had the Pacers been able to convert in the end of game situations in each of the first 3 games. However, despite their struggles the Bulls were able to take the series and advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals for the second time since the Michael Jordan era (they advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 2007).


2011 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (2) Miami Heat vs. (7) Philadelphia 76ers
This was the first playoff meeting between the Heat and the 76ers.


2011 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (2) Miami Heat vs. (7) Philadelphia 76ers
The newly revamped Heat, with the much publicized acquisition of all stars and franchise players LeBron James and Chris Bosh during the off-season, were heavy favorites going into this series against the Philadelphia 76ers. Along with Dwyane Wade, James and Bosh comprised the "Big 3", and were eager to show critics that they were a team that could compete in the playoffs after some slip-ups during the regular season (a 9-8 start, a 5-game losing streak, and a not so favorable record against the best teams in the league).


2011 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (2) Miami Heat vs. (7) Philadelphia 76ers
However, many pundits believed that the end of the season showed the Heat playing the best they had all season. Although the Sixers offered some resistance to the Heat, including some close games and a come from behind victory the Heat were able to take it in five and advance out of the first round for the first time since their NBA Championship in 2006.


2011 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (3) Boston Celtics vs. (6) New York Knicks
This was the 14th playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning seven of the first 13 meetings.


2011 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (3) Boston Celtics vs. (6) New York Knicks
Due to the Celtics' struggles at the end of the regular season as well as the star power of the New York Knicks in Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony this was a favorite first round upset for many. In the first two games the Knicks were indeed able to show they could contend with the defending Eastern Conference champions. In Game 1, Ray Allen made a game winning three-pointer after being freed up by a controversial screen. The next two games the Celtics took fairly easily as injuries to both Chauncey Billups and Amar'e Stoudemire took their toll on the Knicks. This was the only sweep of the first round.


2011 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (4) Orlando Magic vs. (5) Atlanta Hawks
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Magic winning the first two meetings.


2011 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (4) Orlando Magic vs. (5) Atlanta Hawks
Despite having won the season series against the Magic the Atlanta Hawks were touted as underdogs against the Orlando Magic, led by Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard. In the first game of the series the Hawks were unable to contain Howard as he scored 46 points – however, by limiting the contributions of the Magic's role players they were able to get a victory and steal home court advantage from the Magic.


2011 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (4) Orlando Magic vs. (5) Atlanta Hawks
Although the Magic won the next game, better play by the Hawks down the stretch and the inability of the Magic to convert on 3-point shots (the Magic shot 2-23 from beyond the arc in game 4) gave the Hawks a 3-1 lead. The next two games were split and the Hawks advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals for the third straight year.


2011 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (8) Memphis Grizzlies
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Spurs winning the first meeting.


2011 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (8) Memphis Grizzlies
The eighth seeded Grizzlies won their first playoff game in franchise history after they defeated the top seeded Spurs 101-98 in Game 1. The Spurs evened the series up in Game 2, but the Grizzlies won Games 3 and 4 to take a 3-1 lead in the series. In Game 5 with only 1.7 seconds left in regulation, Gary Neal tied the game with a 3-point buzzer beater to force OT. The Spurs won in OT 110-103.


2011 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (8) Memphis Grizzlies
In Game 6, the Grizzlies won their first ever playoff series in franchise history when they defeated the Spurs 99-91, winning the series 4-2. In addition, the Grizzlies became just the second eighth seeded team to knock off a top seeded team since the NBA went to a best-of-seven series in the first round.


2011 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (7) New Orleans Hornets
This was the first playoff meeting between the Lakers and the New Orleans Pelicans/Hornets franchise.


2011 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (3) Dallas Mavericks vs. (6) Portland Trail Blazers
This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Trail Blazers winning two of the first three meetings.


2011 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (3) Dallas Mavericks vs. (6) Portland Trail Blazers
The Mavericks won the first two games of the series, but the Trail Blazers won Games 3 and 4 to tie the series 2-2. In Game 4, the Trail Blazers played from behind most of the game, at one point trailing the Mavericks by 23 points late in the third quarter. Entering the final quarter down 67-49, the Trail Blazers, with the help of Brandon Roy's 18 fourth quarter points, embarked on their biggest fourth quarter comeback in franchise history to win the game 84-82. However, the Mavericks recovered from their Game 4 collapse and won Games 5 and 6 to win the series 4-2.


2011 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (5) Denver Nuggets
This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Nuggets winning two of the first three meetings. All previous meetings took place while the Thunder franchise were still known as the Seattle SuperSonics.


2011 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (1) Chicago Bulls vs. (5) Atlanta Hawks
This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the each team winning two series apiece.


2011 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (2) Miami Heat vs. (3) Boston Celtics
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning the first meeting.


2011 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (2) Miami Heat vs. (3) Boston Celtics
The series was seen as a way for Heat small forward LeBron James to exact revenge on the Celtics after Boston eliminated James' former team the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2008 and 2010. James called the series "personal", saying "... You don't want to keeping getting beat by the same team, the same team keep sending you home to plan a vacation..."


2011 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (2) Miami Heat vs. (3) Boston Celtics
The Heat won the first two games of the series to take a 2-0 lead. However, the Celtics cut the series lead in half by winning Game 3 97-81. In that game, Boston point guard Rajon Rondo dislocated his left elbow on a bizarre play where he became tangled up with Dwyane Wade. Despite his injury, Rondo still contributed to the Celtics' victory with his 11 assists and 4 points in the fourth quarter, however his left arm was visibly limp the rest of the series and he was unable to play at his customarily high level.


2011 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (2) Miami Heat vs. (3) Boston Celtics
Miami bounced back after the Game 3 loss and won Games 4 and 5, winning the series 4-1 and returning to their first Eastern Conference Finals since the 2006 NBA Playoffs.


2011 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Western Conference Semifinals, (2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Dallas Mavericks
This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning the first three meetings.


2011 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Western Conference Semifinals, (2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks won the first two games of the series in Los Angeles, including overcoming a 16-point late third-quarter deficit in Game 1. The Mavericks then overcame another second-half deficit in Game 3 to win 98–92. In Game 4, the Mavericks blew out the Lakers 122–86, sweeping the two-time defending NBA champions from the playoffs. In that game, Dallas scored 20 three-pointers, equaling an NBA record. Mavericks sixth man Jason Terry led the team in scoring with 32 points while making 9 of his 10 3-point attempts, tying another NBA playoff record that would go unequaled for nearly five years. Also in the same game, Andrew Bynum was ejected and eventually fined and suspended for five games of the next season after he committed a flagrant foul on J. J. Barea.


2011 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Western Conference Semifinals, (2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Dallas Mavericks
This series was the first time a team coached by Phil Jackson was swept in the playoffs.


2011 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Western Conference Semifinals, (4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (8) Memphis Grizzlies
This was the first playoff meeting between the Grizzlies and the Thunder.


2011 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Western Conference Semifinals, (4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (8) Memphis Grizzlies
The Grizzlies and Thunder split the first 2 games of the series. In Game 3, the Grizzlies took a 2-1 series lead after overcoming a 16-point deficit late in the 3rd quarter. The Thunder tied the series in Game 4 after winning in triple OT 133-123. The Thunder blew out the Grizzlies in Game 5 92-77, but the Grizzlies tied the series at 3 when they defeated the Thunder 95-82 in Game 6. The Thunder finally advanced to their first conference finals since they moved from Seattle when they eliminated the Grizzlies 105-90 in Game 7. In that game, Russell Westbrook became the fifth player to record a triple double in a Game 7.


2011 NBA playoffs, Conference Finals, Eastern Conference Finals, (1) Chicago Bulls vs. (2) Miami Heat
This was the sixth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Bulls winning four of the first five meetings.


2011 NBA playoffs, Conference Finals, Eastern Conference Finals, (1) Chicago Bulls vs. (2) Miami Heat
Going into the series, Chicago had swept Miami in the regular season. The Bulls took Game 1 by blowing out the Heat 103-82. However, Miami won the next four consecutive games to win the series 4-1. In Game 5, Miami came back from a 12-point deficit with only three minutes left in the fourth quarter to win the game 83-80.


2011 NBA playoffs, Conference Finals, Eastern Conference Finals, (1) Chicago Bulls vs. (2) Miami Heat
This series marked the first time the Bulls lost 4 consecutive games in the season.


2011 NBA playoffs, Conference Finals, Western Conference Finals, (3) Dallas Mavericks vs. (4) Oklahoma City Thunder
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with each team winning one series apiece. All previous meetings took place while the Thunder franchise were still known as the Seattle SuperSonics.


2011 NBA playoffs, Conference Finals, Western Conference Finals, (3) Dallas Mavericks vs. (4) Oklahoma City Thunder
In Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks set a playoff record for most free throws made without a miss with 24, previously held by Paul Pierce (21) in 2003. The Mavericks won 121-112. The Thunder and Mavericks then split the next two games. In Game 4, the Mavericks rallied from a 15-point deficit with only five minutes left in regulation to win the game in OT and take a 3-1 series lead. The Mavericks then overcame another late 4th quarter deficit in Game 5 to win the game 100-96 and the series 4-1 and reach their first finals since 2006. It would be the last time that neither the 1st seed or the 2nd seed reached the Conference Finals until 2020.


2011 NBA playoffs, NBA Finals: (E2) Miami Heat vs. (W3) Dallas Mavericks
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Heat winning the first meeting.


2011 NBL Canada draft
On August 21, 2011, NBL Canada held its draft at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. The first round was a free agent draft with no limits, while the second and third rounds required Canadian players be selected. The Halifax Rainmen's third round draft pick has since been voided due to the paperwork of Jerrell Thompson being mixed up to appear as that of a Canadian, he will be entered as a free agent in the next draft picks.


2011 NC State Wolfpack football team
The 2011 NC State Wolfpack football team represented North Carolina State University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wolfpack were led by fifth year head coach Tom O'Brien and played their home games at Carter–Finley Stadium. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They finished the season 8–5, 4–4 in ACC play to finish in fourth place in the Atlantic Division. They were invited to the Belk Bowl where they defeated Louisville 31–24.


2011 NCAA Bowling Championship
The 2011 NCAA Bowling Championship was the eighth annual tournament to determine the national champion of women's NCAA collegiate ten-pin bowling. The tournament was played at Skore Lanes in Taylor, Michigan from April 15–16, 2011.


2011 NCAA Bowling Championship
Maryland Eastern Shore defeated Vanderbilt in the championship match, 4 games to 2 (215–197, 164–193, 201–248, 234–204, 235–166, 192–181), to win their second national title. The Hawks were coached by Sharon Brummell.


2011 NCAA Bowling Championship
Maryland Eastern Shore's Kristina Frahm was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Frahm, along with four other bowlers, also comprised the All Tournament Team.


2011 NCAA Bowling Championship, Qualification
Since there is only one national collegiate championship for women's bowling, all NCAA bowling programs (whether from Division I, Division II, or Division III) were eligible. A total of 8 teams were invited to contest this championship, which consisted of a modified double-elimination style tournament.


2011 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament
The 2011 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament began on Friday, June 3, 2011 as part of the 2011 NCAA Division I baseball season. The 64 team double elimination tournament concluded with the 2011 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska on June 29, 2011.


2011 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament
The 64 NCAA Division I college baseball teams were selected out of an eligible 300 teams. Thirty teams were awarded an automatic bid as champions of their conferences, and 34 teams were selected at-large by the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee.


2011 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, Bids, Automatic bids
Conference champions from 30 Division I conferences earned automatic bids to regionals. The remaining 34 spots were awarded to schools as at-large invitees.


2011 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, Regionals & Super Regionals, Santa Clara Super Regional
Hosted by the University of California at Stephen Schott Stadium on the campus of Santa Clara University. * *


2011 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, Regionals & Super Regionals, Santa Clara Super Regional
* *California hosted the super regional at Santa Clara because its own stadium (Evans Diamond) could not accommodate television crews and did not have lights.


2011 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, College World Series, All-Tournament Team
The following players were members of the College World Series All-Tournament Team.


2011 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, Record by conference
The columns RF, SR, WS, NS, CS, and NC respectively stand for the Regional Finals, Super Regionals, College World Series, National Semifinals, Championship Series, and National Champion.


2011 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, Television coverage, Selection shows
The NCAA Division I Road to Omaha Selection Show Presented by Capital One aired on ESPN on May 30, 2011.


2011 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships
The 2011 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships were the 73rd annual NCAA Men's Division I Cross Country Championship and the 31st annual NCAA Women's Division I Cross Country Championship to determine the team and individual national champions of NCAA Division I men's and women's collegiate cross country running in the United States. In all, four different titles were contested: men's and women's individual and team championships.


2011 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships
Held on November 21, 2011, the combined meet was the eighth of eight consecutive meets hosted by Indiana State University at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Indiana. The distance for the men's race was 10 kilometers (6.21 miles) while the distance for the women's race was 6 kilometers (3.73 miles).


2011 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships
The men's team championship was won by Wisconsin (97 points), the Badgers' fifth overall and first since 2005. The women's team championship was won by Georgetown (162 points), the Hoyas' first.


2011 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships
The two individual champions were, for the men, Lawi Lalang (Arizona, 28:44.1) and, for the women, Sheila Reid (Villanova, 19:41.2); it was her second consecutive title.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
Three human polls and one formula ranking make up the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) football rankings, in addition to various publications' preseason polls. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, does not bestow a national championship title. That title is bestowed by one or more of four different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason: the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
Two additional polls are released midway through the season; the Harris Interactive Poll is released after the sixth week of the season and the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings is released after the seventh week. The Harris Poll and Coaches Poll are factors in the BCS Standings. At the end of the season, on Sunday, December 4, 2011, the BCS Standings determines who plays in the BCS bowl games as well as the 2012 BCS National Championship Game on January 9, 2012 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The regular season began on September 1, 2011 and ended on December 10, 2011. The postseason concluded on January 9, 2012 with the BCS National Championship Game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. The No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the No. 1 LSU Tigers 21–0. For the first time since 2007, and for only the third time in the Bowl Championship Series era, no team from an automatic-qualifying BCS conference finished the season with an undefeated record.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Rule changes
In addition, the NCAA recommends that conferences without a pregame warm-up policy should use a ten-yard, no-player zone between the 45-yard lines beginning 60 minutes before kickoff.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference realignment, Membership changes
Five FBS schools switched conferences prior to the 2011 season. Each of these moves had been formally announced in 2010.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference realignment, Membership changes
On April 20, 2011, UMass announced that it would upgrade its football program to the FBS level and become a football-only member of the Mid-American Conference beginning in 2012. Full FBS membership and eligibility for the conference championship and bowl games would follow in 2013.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference realignment, Membership changes
On September 18, the Atlantic Coast Conference announced that Big East Conference mainstays Pittsburgh and Syracuse had been officially accepted as the conference's 13th and 14th members. At the time, the two schools' departure date was uncertain, as Big East bylaws require a 27-month notice period for departing members. The earliest that Pitt and Syracuse could join the ACC, barring other developments, was July 2014.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference realignment, Membership changes
On September 26, the Southeastern Conference announced that Texas A&M would leave the Big 12 Conference and become the league's 13th member in July 2012. Missouri also announced plans to depart the Big 12 to join the SEC on November 6, bringing SEC conference membership to 14 schools.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference realignment, Membership changes
Facing the imminent loss of four members, the Big 12 announced the addition of TCU from the Mountain West Conference on October 10. In order to join the Big 12, TCU had to renege on an agreement it had made less than year earlier to join the Big East.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference realignment, Membership changes
On October 14, the Mountain West and Conference USA announced their intention to merge their football operations and form a two-division, 22-team conference in hopes of earning an automatic qualifier to a BCS bowl. The agreement was abandoned in 2012 after both conferences added new members.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference realignment, Membership changes
The next change came on October 28, when the Big 12 formally accepted West Virginia from the Big East. This move led to a legal battle in which West Virginia filed suit against the Big East to overturn the standard 27-month notice period, and the Big East suing in another court to have the requirement enforced. In February 2012, the two parties reached a settlement that allowed West Virginia to join the Big 12 that July. Several months later, both Pittsburgh and Syracuse reached their own settlements with the Big East that allowed them to leave for the ACC in July 2013.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference realignment, Membership changes
Changes in membership reduced the number of teams in the Big 12 from twelve to ten for the 2011 season and beyond, forcing the conference to drop its annual football championship game to comply with NCAA rules.