| Summary: | Basketball player Ralph Sampson was born on July 7, 1960 in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He received his B.A. degree from the University of Virginia, where he played basketball. In college, Sampson won three Naismith Awards for National Player of the Year and two Wooden Awards. Sampson was the first pick in the 1983 NBA draft, and was drafted by the Houston Rockets. He went on to win NBA Rookie of the Year and became a four-time NBA All-Star, winning the title of MVP in the 1985 NBA All-Star Game. Sampson also played for the Golden State Warriors, the Sacramento Kings, and the Washington Bullets, but a chronic knee injury forced him into an early retirement in 1992. In 1996, he was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. After retiring, Sampson focused on mentoring young athletes and running The Sampson Group, a consulting group he founded in 2005.
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