The tallest, the smallest and weirdest
Michael Jordan's return from retirement 12 months ago with the Washington Wizards team he part-owns was greeted by near hysteria.
That showed the dearth of marketable talent in today's NBA but also showed the stature that Jordan - six-times an NBA champion with the legendary Chicago Bulls of the Nineties - still possesses.
Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, who have made the LA Lakers the best NBA team for the past three seasons, are arguably the best and second best players in the world.
The tallest and smallest
Dallas ace Shawn Bradley, at 7ft 6ins, is the league's biggest big man. LA Clippers playmaker Earl Boykins is the resident short guy, at 5ft 5ins.
The weirdest
Critics complain there are no "characters" in the league today, certainly not to compare with Dennis Rodman and Charles Barkley.
Rodman dated Madonna, 'married' himself in a public ceremony and tried to ask Lady Di out for a date. Barkley once threw an aggressive fan through a bar-room window.
