the list was announced by nba commissioner david stern on october 29, 1996, at the hotel grand hyatt new york, the former site of the commodore hotel, where the original nba charter was signed on june 6, 1946. the announcement marked the beginning of a season-long celebration of the league's anniversary. forty-seven of the fifty players were later assembled in cleveland, during the halftime ceremony of the 1997 all-star game. three players were absent: pete maravich, who had died in 1988, at forty; shaquille o'neal, who was recovering from a knee injury; and jerry west, who was scheduled to have surgery for an ear infection and could not fly. at the time of the announcement, eleven players were active; all have subsequently retired. o'neal was the last to be active in the nba, retiring at the end of the .