Marques Johnson played college basketball at UCLA and was a member of the last championship team of the great Bruin dynasty under legendary coach John Wooden in 1975.  Johnson was a great college player winning the first ever John Wooden college basketball player of the year award in 1977 and gained consensus first team All-American honors.  Selected 3rd overall by the Milwaukee Bucks, Johnson quickly became a star under Coach Don Nelson.  In his second season he averaged 25.6 points a game which was good for third in the league and earned first team All NBA honors.  Johnson helped the Bucks win 5 straight division titles in the early 80's but they never could get over the hump of beating the dominant Philadelphia 76ers or Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference to make the Finals. 

When professional basketball took the steps to become the modern NBA, Max Zaslofsky was one of their first stars, playing first for the Chicago Stags in 1946-47 of the Basketball Association of America.  Zaslofsky, at age 21, was the youngest man to make the All-League First Team, and it was a record that stood for sixty years until it was broken by LeBron James.

Zaslofsky went on to be a First-Team All-BAA selection the next two years, averaging over 20 Points per Game in a very low-scoring era.  As the Stage migrated to the NBA, the sweet-shooting Zaslofsky was again First Team.  The Stags folded in 1950, and Zaslofsky was able to return home when the New York Knicks in the dispersal draft.  The Guard was still a very good player, adding an All-Star in 1952.  While he never won a title, he did help New York reach two NBA Finals.  He would later be traded to Baltimore, then Milwaukee, and closed his career with three seasons in Fort Wayne.

At the time of his retirement, Max Zaslofsky left an indelible mark on the league. He was the third leading scorer in NBA history, a ranking that placed him just behind the legendary George Mikan and Joe Fulks. Zaslofsky's contributions to the game were further recognized when he was named to the NBA 25th Anniversary Team.

Maurice Lucas played college basketball for Al McGuire at the University of Marquette leading the team to the finals of the 1974 NCAA tournament.  Lucas led the Warriors with 21 points and 13 boards in a loss to North Carolina State and future ABA-NBA superstar David Thompson.  Chosen high by both the NBA and ABA in their drafts, Lucas decided to go play in the newer ABA.  He had two solid years in the ABA and when the league merged with the NBA he was selected number two in the dispersal draft of players by the Portland Trail Blazers.  Portland had traded two solid veterans for a chance to get Lucas and Coach Jack Ramsey quickly made him their power forward playing next to their franchise player Bill Walton.  The Blazers gelled quickly and made an improbable run through the playoffs in their first season after the merger.