Surprisingly little is known about the origin of baseball. The question has been the subject of considerable debate and controversy for more than 100 years. Baseball (and softball), as well as the other modern bat, ball and running games, cricket and rounders, developed from earlier folk games. Many of the earlier games were similar to each other, but there certainly were local, regional and national variations, both in how they were played and what they were called: names included "stoolball", "poison ball", and "goal ball".

James Ager Worthy (b. February 27, 1961 in Gastonia, North Carolina) is an American former college and professional basketball player. Standing 6 ft 9 in (2.05 m), he played small forward.Worthy was a stand-out basketball player for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels and a key member of that school's 1982 NCAA championship team. In that year's championship game against the Georgetown Hoyas, Worthy's freshman teammate, Michael Jordan, made the final shot to give North Carolina the lead. On Georgetown's subsequent possession, Worthy stole the ball to seal the Tar Heels' victory.

Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player. Considered by many to be the greatest basketball player of all time, he became the most effectively marketed athlete of his generation and was instrumental in spreading the appeal of the National Basketball Association around the world in the 1980s and 1990s. He is currently a part-owner of the Charlotte Bobcats.

Jerry Alan West (born May 28, 1938, in Chelyan, West Virginia) has had one of the most successful careers ever in professional basketball, first as a player, then as a coach, and finally as an executive. He was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980, and his dribbling silhouette has long been used in the National Basketball Association's official logo.

Wilton Norman "Wilt" Chamberlain (August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American National Basketball Association basketball player. Known as Wilt the Stilt (a nickname he hated) or The Big Dipper, he is regarded as one of the greatest and most dominant basketball players of all time for the incredible statistical achievements he attained throughout his playing career. He holds the great majority of all individual single-game or regular-season NBA records.

Robert Lee Parish (born on August 30, 1953 in Shreveport, Louisiana), is an American former basketball center. His nickname was "The Chief", after the mute Native American in the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. According to legend, former Celtics forward Cedric Maxwell gave Parish this nickname because of his stoic nature.

John Houston Stockton (born March 26, 1962) is a former American professional basketball player. He spent his entire career (1984–2003) as a point guard for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Stockton is regarded as one of the best point guards of all time, holding the NBA record for career assists and steals.