2011 in basketball

• On June 1, Shaquille O'Neal announced his retirement from basketball after 19 seasons and four world championships. O'Neal made the announcement on his Twitter page.[4]
• On July 1, the collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and its players union expires, and the league immediately imposes a lockout of its players.
• On July 20, Yao Ming officially announced his retirement from basketball after nine seasons and a series of foot and ankle injuries. Yao has been credited with fueling greatly increased interest in the NBA in his home country of China since his selection as the #1 overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft.[5]
• On September 26, New Jersey Nets minority owner Jay-Z announced that the team would change its name to the Brooklyn Nets when it moves to its new arena for the 2012–13 season.[6]

• The Fab Five – an ESPN Films documentary about the 1990s Michigan Wolverines players known collectively as the Fab Five: Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson
• Off the Rez – a TLC documentary chronicling the high school career of current University of Louisville women's player Shoni Schimmel, a Native American who grew up on an Oregon reservation
• Runnin' Rebels of UNLV – a Home Box Office documentary chronicling the UNLV men's team's success in the late 1980s through early 1990s
• Salaam Dunk
• Unguarded – an ESPN Films documentary about former NBA player Chris Herren, including his struggle with and ongoing recovery from drug addiction

• January 12 — Howard Engleman, All-American player and interim head coach for the Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team (born 1919)
• January 16 — Guðmundur Þorsteinsson, Icelandic national team player and coach (born 1942)
• February 2 — Roger Strickland, NBA player (Baltimore Bullets) (born 1940)
• February 4 — Lee Winfield, NBA player (Seattle SuperSonics, Buffalo Braves, Kansas City Kings) (born 1947)
• February 6 — Cesare Rubini, Italian coach and member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (born 1923)
• February 20 — Troy Jackson, better known by his nickname "Escalade", streetball player for the AND1 Mixtape Tour (born 1976)
• March 4 — Ed Manning, NBA and ABA player and father of 1988 #1 overall NBA Draft pick Danny Manning (born 1943)
• March 7 — Rudy Salud, former commissioner of the Philippine Basketball Association (born 1938)
• March 22 — Edgar Lacey, ABA player (Los Angeles Stars) and national champion at UCLA (born 1944)
• April 2 — Larry Finch, college coach and player (Memphis) (born 1951)
• April 10 — Bob Shaw, American NBL player (born 1921)
• April 14 — Joe Dan Gold, college player and coach (Mississippi State) (born 1942)
• April 15 — Beryl Shipley, college coach (Southwestern Louisiana) (born 1926)
• May 11 — Robert Traylor, NBL and NBA player (Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Charlotte Hornets) (born 1977)
• May 27 — Margo Dydek, Polish WNBA player (Utah Starzz, San Antonio Silver Stars, Connecticut Sun, Los Angeles Sparks) (born 1974)
• June 6 — Bill Closs, NBA player (Philadelphia Warriors, Fort Wayne Pistons) (born 1922)
• June 9 — Mike Mitchell, NBA player (Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs) (born 1956)
• June 15 — Marshall Rogers, NBA player (Golden State Warriors) and the 1976 NCAA Division I season scoring leader (born 1953)
• June 27 — Lorenzo Charles, NBA player (Atlanta Hawks) famous for hitting the game-winning shot of the 1983 NCAA tournament for NC State (born 1963)
• July 1 — Bob McCann, NBA player (five teams) (born 1964)
• July 5 — Neil Dougherty, college coach (TCU) (born 1961)
• July 5 — Armen Gilliam, NBA player (six teams) (born 1964)
• July 9 — Don Ackerman, NBA player (New York Knicks) (born 1930)
• July 16 — Joe McNamee, NBA player (Rochester Royals, Baltimore Bullets) (born 1926)
• July 30 — Bob Peterson, NBA player (Baltimore Bullets, Milwaukee Hawks, New York Knicks) (born 1932)
• August 3 — Ray Patterson, NBA executive (Milwaukee Bucks, Houston Rockets)
• August 4 — Sherman White, college player at Long Island famous for being indicted in point shaving scandal (born 1928)
• August 8 — Mike Barrett, ABA player and Olympic gold medalist in 1968 (born 1943)
• August 18 — Scotty Robertson, NBA and college coach (born 1930)
• August 27 — Bob Hubbard, American NBL and BAA player (born 1922)
• August 31 — Cal Christensen, NBA player (Milwaukee Hawks, Cincinnati Royals) (born 1927)
• August 31 — Jack Stephens, NBA player (St. Louis Hawks) (born 1933)
• September 14 — Lewis Brown, NBA player (Washington Bullets) (born 1955)
• September 16 — Dave Gavitt, American basketball coach (Providence College) and founder of the Big East Conference; member of the Naismith Hall as a contributor (born 1937)
• September 17 — Fedon Matheou, Greek basketball player and coach (born 1924)
• September 21 — Mickey Rottner, American NBL (Sheboygan Red Skins) and BAA (Chicago Stags) player (born 1919)
• September 22 — John H. Dick, starter on first NCAA championship team (1939 Oregon Ducks) (born 1918)
• September 30 — Peter Gent, standout forward/center for Michigan State from 1962 to 1964 and author of North Dallas Forty (born 1942)
• October 3 — Jim Neal, NBA player (Syracuse Nationals) (born 1930)
• October 9 — Antonis Christeas, Greek basketball player (Panellinios, AEK Athens) (born 1937)
• October 9 — Chauncey Hardy, 23-year-old American playing professionally in Romania (born 1988)
• October 12 — Lewis Mills, college coach (Richmond) and athletic director
• November 2 — Ilmar Kullam, Olympic silver medalist for the Soviet Union in 1952 (born 1922)
• November 8 — Ed Macauley, Hall of Fame player (St. Louis Hawks) (born 1928)
• November 9 — Bob Carney, NBA player (Minneapolis Lakers) (born 1932)
• November 17 — Kurt Budke, women's college basketball coach (Oklahoma State) (born 1961)
• November 18 — Walt Hazzard, NBA player and college coach (UCLA) (born 1942)
• November 22 — Alberto Reynoso, Philippine Basketball Association player (born 1940)
• November 25 — Hoddy Mahon, College basketball coach (Seton Hall)
• November 30 — George McCarty, College coach (New Mexico State, UTEP) (born 1915)
• December 1 — Dick Wehr, BAA player (Indianapolis Jets) and college coach (Georgia State) (born 1925)

• Timeline of women's basketball

Media related to 2011 in basketball at Wikimedia Commons