NCAA Vintage 1982 North Carolina Tar Heels Basketball National Champions Light Blue Tee Shirt

Relive the glory with this blue ringer tee commemorating the 1982 UNC Tar Heels' National Championship. The National Championship eluded Dean Smith and the University of North Carolina in six previous trips to the Final Four, and this year Smith pinned his hopes on a talented core that featured such stars as Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins, James Worthy, and Matt Doherty. The Georgetown Hoyas had their own star-studded lineup featuring Patrick Ewing, Eric "Sleepy" Floyd and Fred Brown, with their own National Championship dreams. In a back and forth game, UNC found themselves down late in the championship game once again. With under a minute to play, Sleepy Floyd knocked down a jumper to give the Hoyas a 62-61 lead and force Carolina to call a timeout. With the championship about to escape Smith for the seventh time, he called on the heroics of his star sophomore, Michael Jordan. With 15 seconds left to play, Jordan hit a jump shot from the left side to give the Tar Heels a 63-62 lead. The Hoyas had one last chance and hoped to steal the title from UNC when Fred Brown looked to pass the ball to teammate Floyd at half court, but instead passed it directly to James Worthy. Worthy's steal, along with his 28-point effort sealed the victory for the Tar Heels. Dean Smith's seventh Final Four trip was a charm and the University of North Carolina Tar Heel's were NCAA National Champions.

Coming into this season there were obvious picks for the next Western Conference champion like the defending champion San Antonio Spurs who are always a contender, the Dallas Mavericks who will be looking to avenge the early loss in the first round last season and the Phoenix Suns that added veteran Grant Hill to their lineup in the off season. Although all of these teams are still on pace to be best in the West, there are a few unexpected surprises in the West this season.

There are three teams in the Western Conference that continue to amaze and improve as the season progresses: Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Hornets and Portland Trailblazers

The Portland Trailblazers came into the season on a sour note with their number one pick Greg Oden having season-ending surgery before he could even play his first game in a Blazer uniform. That kind of took the wind out of their sails coming out of the gate, but not for long as their young superstar Brandon Roy put his team on his back and rallied the troops to a very impressive start with the promise of a playoff spot come June.

The New Orleans Hornets have to be the biggest surprise out of these three as rookie of the year Chris Paul has become a real leader and on of the top point guards in the NBA just behind Steve Nash and Jason Kidd. If the playoffs started today, the New Orleans Hornets would be the number one seed in the West, pretty amazing considering they were no where near making the post season last year.

Then we come to the never ending saga of the Los Angeles Lakers who have been the NBA's equivalent of a drama filled soap opera all off season long with questions and trade rumors about the NBA's best player in Kobe Bryant. Even though the Lakers' future looked very dismal and eminent for disaster when the season began, somehow, someway Kobe Bryant and company were able to pull it all together and become one of the league's best teams with most of the credit going to up and coming center Andrew Bynum who is looking more and more like the future of the Lakers and the next great center in the NBA.

Who will come out on top in the Western Conference? Who knows, but one thing is for sure, as the season moves closer to the playoffs, basketball fans are in for a treat as it is looking more competitive than ever in the West!

Like what you have read? For all NBA recent news, rumors and products for improving your game on the basketball court, go to Lakers4Life for all NBA related news and Basketball Go Pro to learn free tips and tricks to get you to the next level of your game.

basketball gear Reebok
basketball gear Northwest
basketball gear NBA
basketball gear Wincraft
basketball gear Northwest