HoopsHype.com Rumors

Two-time Hall of Famer Bill Sharman is auctioning his 2010 Lakers championship ring, with the proceeds going to charity. The Bill's Ring of Hope campaign kicked off Wednesday and will close at 8 a.m. Pacific time on June 7. Tickets cost $2 each with a minimum purchase of five ($10 overall). Tickets can be purchased at www.billsringofhope.com. Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Hall of Fame, Bill Sharman 

The anxiety heightened as former Lakers coach Bill Sharman watched the television screen. He "felt that Miami had a very good chance" to surpass the Lakers' all-time record of 33 consecutive wins set in the 1971-72 season when Sharman oversaw the team's first NBA championship in Los Angeles. Even with Miami nursing a double-digit deficit for most of Wednesday night against Chicago, Sharman said he didn't feel fully at ease as he watched the game with his wife, Joyce, and sister-in-law until the Heat officially ended their 27 -game winning streak. "We were all very nervous even when Chicago was ahead because the Heat team is so good and has come back from large deficits in other games," Sharman wrote in an email to this newspaper. "Who can say if the 33-straight winning streak will ever be broken? I am glad that it stays with the Lakers." Long Beach Press-Telegram

Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Bill Sharman 

"I am really glad that Pat Riley was part of our '71-72 team," Sharman said. "I would have been among the first to congratulate him if they would have broken the streak." Long Beach Press-Telegram

Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Pat Riley, Bill Sharman 

There’s no reason for concern anymore. The Heat’s 27-game winning streak, the second-longest in NBA as well as all of American pro sports history, came crashing down with a 101-97 loss Wednesday night at Chicago. “The Miami Heat had a great run and I congratulate them on winning 27 in a row,’’ said Bill Sharman, coach of the 1971-72 Lakers. “As for me and my '72 team, I don't mind that the streak will live on for a while longer.’’ FOXSports Florida

Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Bill Sharman 

Now, it's different. Here come the mighty Miami Heat, who won their 20th straight Wednesday and are showing no signs of slowing down. "It is certainly a possibility that the Heat could break our 33-game winning streak," said Bill Sharman, the Hall of Fame coach of those legendary Lakers. "The record has held for 41 years, and all of us that participated in it are very proud to have been part of that season. However, (Heat president) Pat Riley has put together an amazing team, and I have to admit this one makes me a little nervous." FOXSports Florida

Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Pat Riley, Bill Sharman 

Jamaal Wilkes spoke pregame to the media - emotional from all the recognition. Spoke Lakers... "Playing for the Lakers was just great. From top to bottom they had the leadership, the organization, from Dr. Buss to Bill Sharman, Jerry West, Pat Riley and then the players," said Wilkes. "We had a real sense of pride in our team's success. Of course we had issues going on all the time, undercurrents, but we never let it get in the way of our objective, which was to be the best in the NBA and to represent the city of LA the best that we could." Sulia

Los Angeles Lakers, Pat Riley, Jerry West, Jamaal Wilkes, Bill Sharman 

Scott Howard-Cooper: Bill Sharman, 86, back at the Hall tonight after health issues kept him away from Buss induction in '10, Tex Winter in '11. Good, good man. Twitter

Hall of Fame, Tex Winter, Bill Sharman 

It’s happy 40th birthday to the shootaround. Back up a minute. The non-basketball junkie might want to know what in the name of James Naismith is a shootaround and why is it having a birthday. Well, back in 1971, when Bill Sharman took over as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, he proposed that his players show up at the arena on the morning of game days for a very loose practice that he dubbed a shootaround. The Lakers ended up winning the NBA title by going 69-13, which was then the best mark in NBA history and included a record 33-game winning streak. With those results, that’s why all NBA teams have been taking the lead from Sharman since the 1970s. It was on Oct. 15, 1971 that the Lakers’ regular season began and the shootaround started to become an NBA staple. So that seems as good of a birthday as any. FOXSports Florida

Los Angeles Lakers, James Naismith, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Sharman 

But when you’ve got a guy like Wilt Chamberlain involved, it sounds a lot better to say that shootarounds really started with the 1971-72 Lakers. “It was a funny story," said Hall of Famer Jack Ramsay, who coached Philadelphia that season after having been general manager of the 76ers five years earlier, when they won the NBA title with Chamberlain. “Wilt was not a shootaround guy. So Bill sent his assistant to get Wilt and Wilt said, ‘Tell Bill I play once a day. Does he want me to play at 10 o’clock in the morning or at 7:30 at night? That’s his decision."’ Another story goes that the shootaround was started to get Chamberlain, notorious for going to bed very late and sleeping until noon, out of bed. FOXSports Florida

Los Angeles Lakers, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Sharman 

Chamberlain, who died in 1999, is not around to offer his take. But Sharman says those stories are not true. “I’ve heard that story so many times but Wilt never said that," Sharman said about Chamberlain vowing to show up just once a day at the arena. “But when I did start shootarounds with the Lakers everybody said, ‘You’ll never get Wilt Chamberlain to do it.’ Wilt had a reputation of sleeping late. “So I took Wilt to lunch and put on my best pitch. I told him that I thought having shootarounds really could get the team loose and help. He was real nice and kind. But when he got done listening to me, he said, ‘Bill, I’ve known you for a number of years and I respect you but I don’t think it will help. I just don’t feel good when I get up too early in the morning.’ I said, ‘Wilt, let’s just try it out and see.’ So he kind of went along with it." FOXSports Florida

Los Angeles Lakers, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Sharman