The Players Tribune

Tales of Madness

There's probably no stage in sports where the stakes are higher than the NCAA basketball tournament. One shot can decide an entire season.

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Michael Carter-Williams on confronting a family emergency during the 2013 NCAA Tournament.

Michael Carter-Williams

This game was still the best celebration I’ve ever seen on a basketball court.

Jason Collins

“We plan to shock the world today.” That was how our UConn team felt going into the national championship game against Duke in 1999.

Khalid El-Amin

Alonzo Mourning remembers when Princeton almost pulled off one of the most unlikely upsets in tournament history, and his blocks that saved the game for Georget

Alonzo Mourning

I was an 18-year-old kid sitting at the dinner table with a young coach with a funny name. Coach Izzo had come to recruit me.

Mateen Cleaves

That whole year, we felt overlooked. We were a team that nobody really gave a chance. But we had a secret weapon: the game was in Anaheim. For us, that felt lik

Solomon Hill

One hundred twenty-five games, 4,311 minutes: That’s the amount of official game time I spent giving it my all while at St. Joe’s.

Jameer Nelson

Ohio State alumnus Aaron Craft breaks down his 2013 buzzer beater to send Ohio State to the Sweet 16.

Aaron Craft

A lot of people remember me for being a part of that Texas Western team that made history. But now you know how one bad boxing impression almost took it all awa

Nevil Shed

Steve Novak remembers Marquette's magical run to the Final Four in 2003, capped off by an Elite Eight win over heavily favored Kentucky that featured a triple-d

Steve Novak

Brittney Griner recalls Baylor's national championship win over Notre Dame and the Lady Bears' historic 2012 season.

Brittney Griner

The tournament is unforgiving. If you have one bad game, that's it.

Paul Pierce

When I arrived to the University of Arizona, the basketball program was in shambles. Today, Arizona is almost always in the top 10 or 15 and we’ve been to 25 co

Steve Kerr

Everything I’ve done since comes from the confidence I built during that run. We may have lost in the end, but that’s when I knew I had it in me to be great.

Draymond Green

That game still haunts me.

Tina Charles

If I missed it, it wouldn’t have mattered. I may have shot the free throw, but it was never about me, and it still isn’t. It’s about Hank.

Bo Kimble

Alonzo Mourning, Jason Collins and Bo Kimble join host Ben Lyons to discuss moments of real strength on and off the court.

The Players' Tribune

Jason Kidd remembers Cal's unlikely 1993 upset over two-time defending national champion Duke.

Jason Kidd

It’s just one play and it’s just three points, but looking back, it was purely a game of momentum. When we had it, we went up big. When they got it, they took a

Sue Bird