All-time starting five: Charlotte

The O List's its all-time starting five for Charlotte basketball:

Cedric Maxwell (1973-77): Was named the Mideast Regional most valuable player during the 49ers' 1977 Final Four run. Charlotte was 58-0 in home games during his career, during which he amassed 1,824 points, 1,117 rebounds and 94 blocks. Maxwell (above) played 11 seasons in the NBA, getting drafted by the Boston Celtics.

Eddie Basden (2001-05): During his career with the 49ers he was named Conference USA Player of the Year in 2005, and the league's defensive player of the year in 2004 and 2005. In his senior season, several national college basketball analysts tapped Basden (above) as the national defensive player of the year.

DeMarco Johnson (1994-98): The 1998 C-USA Player of the Year played on three NCAA Tournament teams, helping two (1997 and 1998) advance to the second round. One of just four players in school history to surpass 2,000 career points. He averaged 16.8 points and 7.8 rebounds during his career.

Byron Dinkins (1985-89): The former East Mecklenburg High star was the first recruit of the Jeff Mullins era. In 1988 he led the 49ers to their first Sun Belt regular season and tournament championships and the school's first NCAA bid since the 1977 Final Four.

Henry Williams (1988-92): One of the best 3-point shooters in Charlotte history, he is the school's all-time leading scorer with 2,383 points, including 308 long-range shots. Williams (left) produced a record 65 games of at least 20 points. In 1992, he led Charlotte to the Metro Conference tournament championship and trip to the NCAA Tournament.

--Jim Utter

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Think the O List is crazy for leaving someone out? Tell us who you'd add, and, just to make it interesting, who you would replace from our list. Put your thoughts in the comments section below.

Carolinas Mount Rushmore: NASCAR in S.C.

ESPN is naming its "Mount Rushmore" for sports in each of the 50 states. We liked the idea, so we're taking a smaller sliceh. Today, the Mount Rushmore of NASCAR for South Carolina.

David Pearson: "The Silver Fox" won 105 races and won the championship pretty much every time he really tried. Pearson (above) and Richard Petty had the greatest rivalry in NASCAR history and one of the all-time greatest in all sports.

Cale Yarborough: Drove every lap like his car was on fire and he needed to find water. He was the first driver to win three straight titles. Nobody ever drove with more determination that Yarborough (above).

Harold Brasington: People openly mocked the idea of building a 1.3-mile paved track in 1950. Brasington (above) didn't care. He built it anyway and made Darlington a synonym for racing. His track is still one of the best tests of a driver's skill.

Buck Baker: Although Charlotte was considered his racing hometown, Baker (above) was born in Richburg, S.C. One of the sport's first great champion, his grit and determination also helped foster a great career for his son Buddy.

-- David Poole

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Disagree? Think we left someone out? Tell us in the comments below who you'd add, and which of our picks yours should replace.

Carolinas Mount Rushmore: NASCAR in N.C.

ESPN is naming its "Mount Rushmore" for sports in each of the 50 states. We liked the idea, so we're taking a smaller slice. Today we give you the Mount Rushmore of NASCAR in North Carolina.

Richard Petty: They don't call him "The King" for nothing. He won 200 Cup races and seven championships and signed more autographs than you could count. He represents Lee, Kyle, Adam and the whole Petty clan.

Dale Earnhardt: One part John Wayne, one part Elvis and one part everyman. Earnhardt won seven championships, but as importantly he defined the sport in his era.

Junior Johnson: Won 50 races as a driver and six championships as a team owner. Johnson is also an icon, "The Last American Hero" as writer Thomas Wolfe once called the bootlegger turned land baron.

Ned Jarrett (left): A three-time champion who also became one of the sport's most respected ambassadors as a radio and television broadcaster. Also the father of a Cup champion, Dale Jarrett.

--David Poole

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Disagree? Think we left someone out (like Bruton Smith, Benny Parsons or Richard Childress...we know, we know)? Tell us in the comments below who you'd add, and which of our picks yours should replace.

Carolinas Mount Rushmore: Pro basketball

ESPN is naming its "Mount Rushmore" for sports in each of the 50 states. We liked the idea, so we're taking a smaller slice. Today, the Mount Rushmore of pro basketball in the Carolinas.

Carl Scheer, Carolina Cougars, Charlotte Hornets: Back in a time when the general manager did everything (business and basketball decisions), Scheer was an innovator, creating the slam-dunk contest in the ABA. He was long-gone from Charlotte when the Hornets’ relationship with the city deteriorated. Now he’s back in town, a Bobcats season-ticket holder.



Larry Johnson, Charlotte Hornets: The Hornets’ first All-Star, Johnson (above) was an iconic player struck down by a back injury. We say that bust on top of the mountain has to picture him as “Grandmama’’ of sneaker-selling fame (left).






Muggsy Bogues, Charlotte Hornets: The shortest player in NBA history at 5-3, Bogues (above) attacked the game with a frenetic energy anyone could appreciate. Former Hornets coach Allan Bristow put it best: There’d be another Larry Bird before there’s another Muggsy Bogues.

Larry Brown, Cougars player and coach, Bobcats coach: Brown’s Hall of Fame coaching career started in the Carolinas and will likely end here, too. In-between, Brown (above) became the only coach to win a title in the NCAA (Kansas, 1988) and NBA (Detroit Pistons, 2004).

-- Rick Bonnell

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Disagree? Think we left someone out? Tell us in the comments below who you'd add, and which of our picks yours should replace.

Top 5 performances in the Garden

Tonight, the Charlotte Bobcats visit Madison Square Garden, where in the space of 48 hours earlier in February, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James gave the two signature performances of the NBA season to date. That got us to thinking of the five best all-time NBA performances in the Garden (and wondering if Gerald Wallace has 50 in him tonight). Here's our list:

5. Kobe Bryant, (2009): The man (above) made all 20 of his free throws and scored a Garden record 61 points, but he appears last on the list because he got no rebounds. He did have three assists.

4. Bernard King (1984): In 1984, King averaged 33 points per game. He scored 50 against San Antonio and 50 more against Dallas on back-to-back nights that season, but on Christmas Day, he put up 60, a Garden record, on the rival Nets at the Garden. Later that same season, King scored 44 points in deciding Game 5 playoff win over Detroit, playing with two dislocated fingers and a 102-degree fever. Sadly, the next season, he blew out his knee and was never the same player.

3. Reggie Miller (1994): Miller’s Indiana Pacers were down 2-0 to the Knicks in the best-of 7 Eastern Conference finals but rallied to tie the series at two. In Game 5, the Pacers were down 12 going into the fourth quarter, but Miller made five 3-pointers in the quarter, scoring 25 points overall. Indiana won 93-86. Miller had 25 points in the quarter and 39 for the game, chatting with filmmaker (and huge Knick fan) Spike Lee all the way through it.

2. LeBron James (2009): Two nights after Kobe went off for 61, King James ran up his 21st career triple double -- 52 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. Only he and Michael Jordan have multiple 50-point games in the Garden, and James was the first NBA player to score 50 points and have a triple double since Kareem Abdul Jabbar in 1975. "The sad thing,” Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said, “is that I'm sure LeBron said that it's no big deal to get 61 points. I’ll just get a triple-double. (Kobe) didn't do that.'' (The NBA took away the triple-double after the game, saying James was credited for a rebound he didn't get)

1. Michael Jordan (1995): Jordan’s 1986 performance probably should make the list, when he went off for 50 points in Chicago’s first game of the year and his first back from a broken foot that cost him 64 games the prior season. But on March 28, 1995, Jordan came to the Garden wearing No. 45. It was his fifth game back after a 17-month retirement. Chicago beat New York 113-111 and Jordan scored 55 points, setting up the game-winner and making 21-of-37 shots. Dejected again in a big game, Spike Lee famously said “Mike dropped a double-nickel on us.”

-- Langston Wertz Jr.

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Think we missed a great performance in the Garden? Want to tell your story about one of these five? Or do you have a list of top five performances at some other venue? Post your comments below.

Carolinas Mount Rushmore: North Carolina

Tenth of a series.

ESPN is naming its "Mount Rushmore" for sports in each of the 50 states. We liked the idea, so we're taking a smaller slice. Today, the Mount Rushmore of University of North Carolina athletics.

Dean Smith, basketball: After 36 years, the 'Dean' of college basketball retired from North Carolina in 1997 with 879 wins, then the most for a Div. I men's basketball coach. His career included two national championships. The Tar Heels play in the arena named after him -- the Dean E. Smith Center.

Charlie 'Choo-Choo' Justice, football: An All-American in 1948 and 1949 at North Carolina, Justice ran or threw for 64 touchdowns and set a team total-offense record of 4,883 yards during his college career. He was a two-time runner-up for the Heisman Trophy, and went on to play in the NFL for the Washington Redskins.

Michael Jordan, basketball: Considered by many the best basketball player of all time, Jordan was known as "Mike" when he first arrived on UNC's campus. Jordan made the game-winning jump shot in the in the 1982 championship game against Georgetown. He averaged 17.7 ppg on 54 percent shooting in his three years as a Tar Heel.

Mia Hamm, soccer: Before she retired from women's soccer in 2004, Hamm won four national championships at UNC and scored 158 goals for the U.S. Women's Soccer team. In so doing, she became one of the most popular women's athletes in the world -- and a role model for little girls who wanted to become athletes, too.

— Robbi Pickeral

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Disagree? Think we left someone out? Tell us in the comments below who you'd add, and which of our picks yours should replace.

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Vote in our Poll! Which school has the more impressive O List "Mount Rushmore," Duke or North Carolina?

Carolinas Mount Rushmore: Duke

Ninth of a series.

ESPN is naming its "Mount Rushmore" for sports in each of the 50 states. We liked the idea, so we're taking a smaller slice. Today, the Mount Rushmore of Duke athletics.

Eddie Cameron, men’s basketball/football: Coached Duke to three Southern Conference titles in basketball and three more in football when Wallace Wade was serving in the military during World War II. In 1940, Cameron (above) coached the first game in the basketball arena that bears his name.

Christian Laettner, basketball: All-time leading scorer in NCAA tournament history, Laettner (above) played in four Final Fours and led Duke to NCAA titles in 1991 and 1992.

Mike Krzyzewski, basketball: Coach (above) has won three NCAA titles in 10 Final Four appearances and has more than 750 wins in 29 seasons at Duke.

Wallace Wade, football: After leaving Alabama to coach at Duke in 1931, Wade (above) coached the Blue Devils to two Rose Bowl appearances with a 110—36-7 record in 16 seasons, establishing the Blue Devils as a regional power.

--Ken Tysiac

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Disagree? Think we left someone out? Tell us in the comments below who you'd add, and which of our picks yours should replace.

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Vote in our Poll! Which school has the more impressive O List "Mount Rushmore," Duke or North Carolina?