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NBA coaching greats Mike Fratello and Cotton Fitzsimmons and Hawks legends Bob Pettit and Lou Hudson, have been selected to coach in the 2003 got milk? Rookie Challenge on NBA All-Star Saturday presented by America Online, February 8 in Atlanta’s Philips Arena.

The got milk? Rookie Challenge features the last two classes of rookies and will be broadcast live nationally at 4 p.m. EST by TNT, Rogers Sportsnet and ESPN Radio. Nine of the best players from the 2001 NBA Draft will meet the top rookies from this season in a format that first debuted in 2000. The 18 players in this game were selected by a 14-member panel of former players and coaches.

Fitzsimmons, who will coach the Rookie Team, traveled for 21 seasons around the NBA as a coach (832-775), stopping in Phoenix, Atlanta, Buffalo, Kansas City, San Antonio and then back to Phoenix. Along this route he captured two NBA Coach of the Year Awards (1979, 1989), and brought his teams to the conference finals on three occasions. His 832 wins still rank 10th in league history in total victories.

On the sidelines as head coach for the Sophomores will be Mike Fratello, one of the most successful coaches of the 1980s. Fratello coached at the high school and college levels before becoming the youngest head coach in the NBA at age 36 in 1983. He made the most of his opportunity, guiding the Hawks to four straight 50-win seasons and five playoff appearances in seven seasons. He was named the NBA Coach of the Year for 1985-86 and was a runner-up in 1994-95 while leading the Cleveland Cavaliers. He is currently a broadcaster for NBA games on Turner Sports.

Arguably the greatest forward in his era, Pettit was an NBA All-Star in each of his 11 seasons and will assist Mike Fratello with the Sophomore Team. In addition to his All-Star appearances he was an All-NBA First Team selection 10 times and an All-NBA Second Team pick once. After 11 seasons with the Milwaukee and St. Louis Hawks, Pettit retired following the 1964-65 season as the first player in league history to score more than 20,000 points (20,880). During his career, he collected the NBA Rookie of the Year Award (1955), the NBA MVP twice (1956, 1959), the NBA All-Star Game MVP Award four times (1956, 1958, 1959, 1962) and won an NBA championship in 1958. The all-time leading rebounder in franchise history with 12,851, Pettit was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1970. He is a member of the NBA 25th Anniversary All-Time Team (1970), a member of the NBA 35th Anniversary All-Time Team (1980) and in 1986 was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History.

Hudson, selected by the St. Louis Hawks in the first round (4th overall) of the 1966 NBA Draft, spent 11 of his 13 NBA seasons with the Hawks and will assist Cotton Fitzsimmons with the Rookie Team. Nicknamed “Sweet Lou”, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team (1967) and was selected to the All-NBA Second Team in 1970. A six-time All-Star, Hudson led the Hawks in scoring in seven of his seasons with the franchise, including his rookie year when he averaged 18.4 points.

The 14-member panel that selected the players for this game included Sean Elliott, Tim Hardaway, Tom Tolbert and Bill Walton from ESPN; Danny Ainge, Kenny Smith and John Thompson from TNT; Phil Chenier from Comcast Sportsnet; Mike Glenn from the Hawks Television Networks; Tom Heinsohn from FOX Sports Net New England; Rod Hundley from the Jazz Television Networks; Steve Jones from Blazer Broadcasting; Calvin Murphy from Rockets Television; and Jack Ramsay from ESPN Radio.

This is the fourth year under the current rookie versus sophomore format with the rookies holding a 2-1 edge. The game will be played in two 20-minute halves, with each team allowed one full timeout and one 20-second timeout per half. Individual foul totals will be kept, but a player can not foul out. A team will be in the penalty situation after 10 team fouls or after the second foul in the final two minutes of each half. In the event of a tie game, there will be a two-minute overtime to determine the winner.

Tickets to the got milk? Rookie Challenge are priced at $30, and are available at the Philips Arena box office, Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster.com, NBA.com and 1-800-4NBA-TIX.

NBA All-Star Saturday Night presented by America Online, featuring Sprite Rising Stars Slam Dunk, 1 800 CALL ATT Shootout, 989 Sports Skills Challenge and Jeep All-Star Hoop-It-Up will also be broadcast live nationally at 8 p.m. EST by the same broadcast outlets. The NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, February 9 will be broadcast live nationally on TNT and ESPN Radio from Philips Arena at 8 p.m. EST.

If a rookie or second-year player is selected to play in the All-Star Game on Sunday, he will not play in the Rookie Challenge.

The got milk? Milk Mustache campaign is sponsoring the NBA Rookie platform to highlight the importance of milk's bone-building calcium and eight other essential nutrients for active people, teens especially, who add about 15 percent of their adult height during these years. The platform includes the got milk? Rookie Challenge, the got milk? Rookie of the Month awards, the got milk? Rookie of the Year award and the got milk? All-Rookie Team.


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