Jim Valvano

popular name: Hank Greenberg

date_of_death: September 4, 1986

age: 75

cause_of_death: Metastatic kidney cancer

claim_to_fame: Sports

best_know_for: Standing at six-foot-four, 215-pound Hank Greenberg was a baseball legend who played first base and outfield for the Detroit Tigers from 1930 to 1946. Greenberg, who was the American League's most valuable player in 1935 and 1940, also was one of the few players to make the transition from the field to the front office. He was a part-owner and general manager of the Cleveland Indians from 1948 to 1958 and a vice president of the Chicago White Sox from 1959 to 1960. Elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in 1956, Greenberg batted in more than 100 runs seven times during his career. His lifetime batting average was .313 and his career home run total was 331.

popular name: Randy Smith

date_of_death: June 4, 2009

age: 60

cause_of_death: Heart attack

claim_to_fame: Sports

best_know_for: Randy Smith was an American professional basketball player who set the NBA record for consecutive games played. From 1972 to 1982, Smith played in every regular season game, en route to a then-record of 906 straight games (since broken by A.C. Green). After college graduation, Smith was chosen by the nearby Buffalo Braves with the 104th pick in the 1971 NBA Draft (in the seventh round). Playing for the Buffalo Braves / San Diego Clippers (1971–1979) Smith surprised everyone in training camp, and he made the final roster cuts. Despite standing only 6-foot-3, he was assigned to play forward. He averaged 13.4 points per game in his rookie season. Smith continued to improve beyond expectation, drawing on his tremendous speed, quickness and leaping ability. His style of play, along with contemporaries like Julius Erving, marked by fast breaks and "above the rim" ball movements influenced the offensive style of the NBA in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Playing alongside league scoring champion Bob McAdoo, Smith averaged 21.8 points per game in the 1975–76 season, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team. Smith continued his successful career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the New York Knicks, then a return to the San Diego Clippers before retiring after 15 games with the Atlanta Hawks. After retiring as a player, Smith was an NBA league executive whose duties included assisting former players in need, and he was a coach in the Continental Basketball Association before working at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, where he worked in marketing. Upon his death, he was interred at Forest Lawn East Cemetery in North Carolina.

popular name: Lorenzo Charles

date_of_death: June 27, 2011

age: 47

cause_of_death: Blunt force trauma due to bus crash

claim_to_fame: Sports

best_know_for: Charles Lorenzo (Zo to his friends and teammates) was a Brooklyn, New York native and was born to Panamanian immigrants. He played basketball for the University of North Carolina State from 1981 to 1985 where he was coached by the late Jim Valvano. Lorenzo was drafted into the NBA by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2nd round (41st overall pick). Lorenzo is perhaps best known when he made March Madness history when he clinched the title for North Carolina State University over the favored University of Houston Cougars right as the buzzer sounded more than two decades ago. He had a brief career in the National Basketball Association with the Atlanta Hawks from 1985 to 1986 and then played professionally in Europe for about 12 years before retiring from basketball and settling back into the Raleigh area. For the last 10 years, Charles was a driver for Elite Coach, a limo, charter bus and car service when he passed away from a fatal bus accident.