UNC Great James Worthy Sees Similarities Between Current Tar Heel Team & 1982 National Champions

Posted Aug 18, 2022
On a recent Instagram post, North Carolina and NBA legend James Worthy commented that the current Tar Heel team reminds him of his 1981-82 National Championship-winning squad. "This team reminds me of the UNC 1981 team. We lost to Indiana that year & was determined to win Coach (Dean) Smith's first national championship in 1982!" (Inside Carolina)

Related: Basketball, Tar Heels in the NBA

Chansky’s Notebook: The Dean Dome’s Greatest Games
Duke’s Mark Alarie made the first basket at the Dean Dome and Warren Martin dunked North Carolina’s historic first bucket. In the year before college...
Thu Jan 8, 2026

Can't Run, Can't Hide: UNC’s backcourt is a problem
One of the biggest questions around UNC entering the college basketball season was how well this backcourt would gel. So far, the results have been...
Thu Jan 8, 2026

UNC Basketball Entering Tricky 3-Game Stretch
Wake Forest, Stanford, and California are all capable of beating the Tar Heels. Wake has guards that can cause issues for UNC defensively, Stanford has...
Thu Jan 8, 2026

Indiana Pacers plan to bring back center Tony Bradley on a 10-day contract
Tony Bradley was waived before his contract was fully guaranteed, but the Pacers plan to bring back the depth center on a 10-day contract starting...
Thu Jan 8, 2026