1.
National Basketball Association
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The National Basketball Association is the major mens professional basketball league in North America, and is widely considered to be the premier mens professional basketball league in the world. It has 30 teams, and is a member of USA Basketball. The NBA is one of the four professional sports leagues in the United States. NBA players are the worlds best paid athletes by average annual salary per player, the league was founded in New York City on June 6,1946, as the Basketball Association of America. The league adopted the name National Basketball Association on August 3,1949, the leagues several international as well as individual team offices are directed out of its head offices located in the Olympic Tower at 645 Fifth Avenue in New York City. NBA Entertainment and NBA TV studios are directed out of offices located in Secaucus, the Basketball Association of America was founded in 1946 by owners of the major ice hockey arenas in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Canada. On November 1,1946, in Toronto, Canada, the Toronto Huskies hosted the New York Knickerbockers at Maple Leaf Gardens, the first basket was made by Ossie Schectman of the Knickerbockers. During its early years, the quality of play in the BAA was not significantly better than in competing leagues or among leading independent clubs such as the Harlem Globetrotters. For instance, the 1948 ABL finalist Baltimore Bullets moved to the BAA and won that leagues 1948 title, Following the 1948–49 season, the BAA took in the remainder of the NBL, Syracuse, Anderson, Tri-Cities, Sheboygan, Denver, and Waterloo. The new league had seventeen franchises located in a mix of large and small cities, as well as arenas and smaller gymnasiums. The process of contraction saw the leagues smaller-city franchises move to larger cities, the Hawks shifted from the Tri-Cities to Milwaukee in 1951, and then to St. Louis in 1955. The Rochester Royals moved from Rochester, New York, to Cincinnati in 1957, japanese-American Wataru Misaka broke the NBA color barrier in the 1947–48 season when he played for the New York Knicks. He remained the only player in league history prior to the first African-American, Harold Hunter. During this period, the Minneapolis Lakers, led by center George Mikan, won five NBA Championships, to encourage shooting and discourage stalling, the league introduced the 24-second shot clock in 1954. If a team does not attempt to score a goal within 24 seconds of obtaining the ball, play is stopped. In 1957, rookie center Bill Russell joined the Boston Celtics, who already featured guard Bob Cousy and coach Red Auerbach, and went on to lead the club to eleven NBA titles in thirteen seasons. Center Wilt Chamberlain entered the league with the Warriors in 1959 and became a dominant individual star of the 1960s, russells rivalry with Chamberlain became one of the greatest rivalries in the history of American team sports. The 1960s were dominated by the Celtics, led by Russell, Bob Cousy and coach Red Auerbach, Boston won eight straight championships in the NBA from 1959 to 1966
2.
Basketball
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Basketball is a non-contact team sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of five players each. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches in diameter and 10 feet high that is mounted to a backboard at each end of the court. The game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, a team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket being defended by the opposition team during regular play. A field goal scores three points for the team if the player shoots from behind the three-point line. A team can also score via free throws, which are worth one point, the team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but additional time is mandated when the score is tied at the end of regulation. The ball can be advanced on the court by passing it to a teammate and it is a violation to lift, or drag, ones pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling. The game has many techniques for displaying skill—ball-handling, shooting, passing, dribbling, dunking, shot-blocking. The point guard directs the on court action of the team, implementing the coachs game plan, Basketball is one of the worlds most popular and widely viewed sports. Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the Euroleague, the FIBA Basketball World Cup attracts the top national teams from around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for teams, like EuroBasket. The FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup features the top womens basketball teams from continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA, whereas the EuroLeague Women has been dominated by teams from the Russian Womens Basketball Premier League, in early December 1891, Canadian Dr. He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied, after rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot elevated track. Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball and these laces could cause bounce passes and dribbling to be unpredictable. Eventually a lace-free ball construction method was invented, and this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith, dribbling was not part of the original game except for the bounce pass to teammates. Passing the ball was the means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a part of the game around the 1950s
3.
NBA on CBS
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CBS aired NBA games from the 1973–1974 NBA season until the 1989–90 NBA season. During CBS first few years of covering the NBA, CBS was accused of mishandling their NBA telecasts, regular features included a pre-game show that consisted of mini-teams of celebrities, and active and former NBA players competing against each other, and a halftime show called Horse. The NBA eventually took notice of the criticisms and managed to persuade CBS to eliminate its original halftime show, in its place, came human-interest shows about the players. There also was a possibility that CBS would start televising a single game on Sunday afternoons. Other adjustments that CBS made in hopes of improving its coverage included hiring reporter Sonny Hill to cover the league on a full-time basis, CBS also put microphones and cameras on team huddles to allow viewers to see and hear coaches at work. Finally, CBS introduced a segment called Red Auerbach on Roundball. The segment intended to not only educate CBS viewers about the complexities of the pro game and they also subtly introduced audiences to an all-star team based on Auerbachs criteria such as screening and passing. Don Criqui was the host of this particular competition, the final, which pitted Larry McNeill of the Golden State Warriors against eventual winner Darnell Dr. Dunk Hillman of the Indiana Pacers, took place during Game 6 of the 1977 NBA Finals. At the time of the final, Hillmans rights had been traded to the New York Nets, since he was not officially a member of any NBA team, instead of wearing a jersey, he competed in a plain white tank top. Other players to compete in the slam dunk tournament included Julius Erving, George Gervin, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, CBS, anxious for star power, also gave David Thompson the opportunity to be eliminated three times. During the 1977–78 season, CBS held a H-O-R-S-E competition at halftime of the Game of the Week telecasts, Again, Don Criqui hosted with Mendy Rudolph officiating. 32 players, including Rick Barry, Pete Maravich, George Gervin, JoJo White, Doug Collins, Paul Westphal and Bob McAdoo, Barry was eliminated in the first round by journeyman Earl Tatum of the Los Angeles Lakers. Maravich and Westphal made it all the way to the final, however, Maravich was injured and unavailable, so CBS instead had Westphal shoot a free-throw against Bag-Man. Westphal, with a bag over his head as well, made the free throw while Barry missed, from 1975 to 1979, CBS aired all NBA Finals games live, live NBA Finals game coverage on the network resumed in 1982. During this era, CBS aired weeknight playoff games from earlier rounds on tape delay at 11,30 p. m. Eastern Time, CBS continued this practice until at least the mid-1980s. CBS did not want sportscasters to give the score on the late-evening newscasts aired by its local affiliates. The network preferred the games to not be over by that time if they were going to be aired on later that night. Most CBS games were either 8,30 or 9,00 p. m. local starts, for instance, CBS aired Games 1–3 of the 1981 Western Conference Finals, between the Houston Rockets and Kansas City Kings
4.
NBA on TBS
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The NBA on TBS was a presentation of NBA regular season and playoff game telecasts that aired on the American cable and satellite network TBS. The games were produced by Turner Sports, the division of the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner. The network obtained rights to air NBA games beginning with the 1984-1985 season under a four-year contract, TBS also carried numerous NBA Playoff games as well as the NBA Draft from 1985-1989. TBS was also allowed to televise 20 early round playoff games beginning with the 1985 NBA Playoffs. During the 1989 NBA Playoffs, only 13 of the 24 games in the first round aired on TBS or CBS, for example, none of the four games from the Seattle-Houston first round series appeared on national television. Beginning in 1986, TBS televised the various contests from the NBA All-Star Weekend, in 1987, the slam dunk contest was televised live for the very first time on the network. TNT held rights to broadcast the NBA Draft and most NBA regular season and playoff games, while TBS only aired single games or double-headers once a week. Both networks continued to expand their NBA coverage during the late 1990s, by time, TBS only aired games on Wednesday nights. By 1994, the round of the playoffs featured overlapping doubleheaders on both TBS and TNT on the first two nights of each series. For the 1999-2000 NBA season, TBS shifted its primetime game telecasts from Wednesdays to Mondays, for the 2000-2001 NBA season, the broadcasts were moved to Tuesdays, while TNT assumed rights to Wednesday and Thursday evening games. Starting in 2000, the NBA spread out telecasts of games from the Eastern Conference, TNT would air doubleheaders on most weekdays, while TBS would air one doubleheader each week. The 2001-2002 season would ultimately mark TBSs final year of NBA coverage, during 2002, TBS aired doubleheaders every Tuesday night of the playoffs until the Conference Finals. The final NBA game ever to be televised on TBS aired on May 13,2002. In that last game, Robert Horry hit a key three-pointer that won the four games to one for the Lakers to move on to the Western Conference Finals. The game was available in the Los Angeles area through SportsChannel Los Angeles. On isolated occasions since TNT assumed partial cable rights to the NBA, in 2003, TBS aired a doubleheader of first round Game 6 matchups. On May 14,2004, the situation arose, as Game 5 of the New Jersey Nets-Detroit Pistons playoff series lasted three overtimes. However, due to scheduling conflicts with TBS, TNT had to air part of the Sacramento Kings-Minnesota Timberwolves game that was supposed to follow on NBA TV. m, since 2015, TBS started simulcast the NBA All-Star Game on TNT
5.
1985 NBA draft
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The 1985 NBA draft took place on June 18,1985. It was also the first NBA draft of the lottery era, a total of 162 players were selected over seven rounds by the leagues 23 teams. The New York Knicks were awarded the first overall pick by winning the first-ever NBA draft lottery, the Knicks ultimately used it on Georgetowns Patrick Ewing
6.
Patrick Ewing
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Patrick Aloysius Ewing is a Jamaican-American retired Hall of Fame basketball player. He played most of his career with the NBAs New York Knicks as their center and played briefly with the Seattle SuperSonics. On April 3,2017, he was named head coach of the Georgetown Hoyas. Ewing played center for Georgetown for four years—where he played in the NCAA Championship Game three times—and was named as the 16th greatest college player of all time by ESPN and he won Olympic gold medals as a member of the 1984 and 1992 United States mens Olympic basketball teams. In a 1996 poll celebrating the 50th anniversary of the NBA and he is a two-time inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 2009, he was inducted into the U. S. Olympic Hall of Fame as a member of the Dream Team. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame on September 5,2008, along with former NBA coach Pat Riley and his number 33 was retired by the Knicks in 2003. Ewing was born in 1962 in Kingston, Jamaica, he excelled at cricket, in 1975, 12-year-old Ewing joined his family in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He learned to play basketball at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School with the help of John Fountain, when Ewing was in high school, opponents threw rocks at his team bus when the squad traveled to play an away game. In order to prepare for college, Ewing joined the MIT-Wellesley Upward Bound Program and he went to Georgetown University in Washington, D. C. and became a United States citizen while attending Georgetown. During his recruitment, Ewing was close to signing a letter of intent with the University of North Carolina, while visiting the campus, he stayed at the Carolina Inn. After witnessing a rally for the Ku Klux Klan, he decided not to sign with UNC. Ewing signed a letter of intent to play for Coach John Thompson at Georgetown University, Ewing made his announcement in a room full of fans who wanted him to play for Boston College or Boston University. When Ewing announced his decision to play at Georgetown, the left the room. As a freshman during the 1981–1982 season, Ewing became one of the first college players to start, while at Georgetown, he developed a habit of wearing a short sleeved T-shirt underneath his jersey. This started a trend among young athletes that lasts to this day. In the 1982 NCAA final against the University of North Carolina, Ewing was called for goaltending five times in the first half, setting the tone for the Hoyas and making his presence felt. The Hoyas led late in the game, but a shot by future NBA supestar Michael Jordan gave North Carolina the lead, in the 1983–84 season, Ewing led Georgetown to the Big East championship and a number one seed in the tournament
7.
New York Knicks
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The New York Knickerbockers, commonly referred to as the Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in New York City. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its games at Madison Square Garden, located in the borough of Manhattan. They are one of two NBA teams located in New York City, the other is the Brooklyn Nets, along with the Boston Celtics, the Knicks are one of only two original NBA teams still located in its original city. The Knicks were successful during their years and were constant playoff contenders under the franchises first head coach Joe Lapchick. Beginning in 1950, the Knicks made three appearances in the NBA Finals, all of which were losing efforts. Lapchick resigned in 1956 and the team began to falter. It was not until the late 1960s when Red Holzman became head coach that the Knicks began to regain their former dominance, Holzman successfully guided the Knicks to two NBA championships, in 1970 and 1973. The Knicks of the 1980s had mixed success that included six playoff appearances, however, the playoff-level Knicks of the 1990s were led by future Hall of Fame center Patrick Ewing, this era was marked by passionate rivalries with the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers, and Miami Heat. During this time, they were known for playing tough defense under head coaches Pat Riley, during this era, the Knicks made two appearances in the NBA Finals, in 1994 and 1999, though they were unable to win an NBA championship. Since 2000, the Knicks have struggled to regain their former glory, in 2012–13, the franchise won its first division title in 19 years, but was eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by the Indiana Pacers. According to a 2016 Forbes report, the Knicks were the most-valuable NBA franchise, in 1946, basketball, particularly college basketball, was a growing and increasingly profitable sport in New York City. Hockey was another sport at the time and generated considerable profits, however. Max Kase, a New York sportswriter, became the editor at the Boston American in the 1930s. Kase developed the idea of a professional league to showcase college players upon their graduation. Brown, intrigued by the opportunity to attain additional income when the teams were not playing or on the road. Ned Irish, a college basketball promoter, retired sportswriter and then president of Madison Square Garden, was in attendance, Kase originally planned to own and operate the New York franchise himself and approached Irish with a proposal to lease the Garden. Irish explained that the rules of the Arena Managers Association of America stated that Madison Square Garden was required to own any professional teams played in the arena
8.
Boston Celtics
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The Boston Celtics are an American professional basketball team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 and one of eight NBA teams to survive the leagues first decade, the Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which they share with the National Hockey League s Boston Bruins. The franchises 17 championships are the most of any NBA franchise, as a percentage of championships won, the Celtics are the most successful franchise to date in the major four traditional North American professional sports leagues. The Celtics have played the Lakers a record 12 times in the Finals, including their most recent appearances in 2008 and 2010, four Celtics players have won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award for an NBA record total of 10 MVP awards. Their mascot Lucky the Leprechaun is a nod to the teams Irish heritage, in 1950, the Celtics signed Chuck Cooper, becoming the first NBA franchise to draft a black player. The Celtics struggled during their years, until the hiring of coach Red Auerbach. In the franchises early days, Auerbach had no assistants, ran all the practices, did all the scouting—both of opposing teams and college draft prospects—and scheduled all the road trips. One of the first great players to join the Celtics was Bob Cousy, Cousy eventually became the property of the Chicago Stags, but when that franchise went bankrupt, Cousy went to the Celtics in a dispersal draft. After the 1955–56 season, Auerbach made a stunning trade and he sent perennial All-Star Ed Macauley to the St. Louis Hawks along with the draft rights to Cliff Hagan in exchange for the second overall pick in the draft. Auerbach also acquired Holy Cross standout, and 1957 NBA Rookie of the Year, Russell and Heinsohn worked extraordinarily well with Cousy, and they were the players around whom Auerbach would build the champion Celtics for more than a decade. With Bill Russell, the Celtics advanced to the NBA Finals and defeated the St. Louis Hawks in seven games, Russell went on to win 11 championships, making him the most decorated player in NBA history. In 1958, the Celtics again advanced to the NBA Finals, however, with the acquisition of K. C. Jones that year, the Celtics began a dynasty that would last for more than a decade. In 1959, the Celtics won the NBA Championship after sweeping the Minneapolis Lakers, during that time, the Celtics met the Lakers in the Finals five times, starting an intense and often bitter rivalry that has spanned generations. In 1964, the Celtics became the first NBA team to have an all African-American starting lineup. On December 26,1964, Willie Naulls replaced an injured Tommy Heinsohn, joining Tom Satch Sanders, K. C. Jones, Sam Jones, the Celtics defeated St. Louis 97–84. Boston won its next 11 games with Naulls starting in place of Heinsohn, the Celtics of the late-1950s–60s are widely considered as one of the most dominant teams of all time. Auerbach retired as coach after the 1965–66 season and Russell took over as player-coach, with his appointment, Russell also became the first African-American coach in any U. S. pro sport
9.
NBA Most Valuable Player Award
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The National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1955–56 season to the best performing player of the regular season. The winner receives the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, which is named in honor of the first commissioner of the NBA, until the 1979–80 season, the MVP was selected by a vote of NBA players. Since the 1980–81 season, the award is decided by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada, each of whom casts a vote for first to fifth place selections. Each first-place vote is worth 10 points, each vote is worth seven, each third-place vote is worth five. Starting from 2010, one ballot was cast by fans through online voting, the player with the highest point total wins the award. As of May 2016, the current holder of the award is Stephen Curry, every player who has won this award and has been eligible for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has been inducted. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won the award a record six times, both Bill Russell and Michael Jordan won the award five times, while Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James won the award four times. Russell and James are the players to have won the award four times in five seasons. Moses Malone, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson each won the three times, while Bob Pettit, Karl Malone, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash and Stephen Curry have each won it twice. Only two rookies have won the award, Wilt Chamberlain in the 1959–60 season and Wes Unseld in the 1968–69 season. Hakeem Olajuwon of Nigeria, Tim Duncan of the U. S. Virgin Islands, Steve Nash of Canada, Stephen Curry in 2015–16 is the only player to have won the award unanimously. Shaquille ONeal in 1999–2000 and LeBron James in 2012–13 are the two players to have fallen one vote shy of a unanimous selection, both receiving 120 of 121 votes. Since the 1982–83 season, every winner was from a team won at least 50 games in the regular season that year. Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award NBA Development League Most Valuable Player Award General Specific
10.
Larry Bird
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Larry Joe Bird is an American professional basketball executive, former coach and former player, currently serving as president of the Indiana Pacers in the National Basketball Association. Since retiring as a player for the Boston Celtics, he has been a mainstay in the Indiana Pacers organization, Bird was a 12-time NBA All-Star and was named the leagues Most Valuable Player three consecutive times. He played his professional career for Boston, winning three NBA championships and two NBA Finals MVP awards. He was a member of the 1992 United States mens Olympic basketball team won the gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Bird was voted to the NBAs 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996 and he served as head coach of the Indiana Pacers from 1997 to 2000. In 2003, he assumed the role of president of operations for the Pacers. After a year away from the position, he announced he would return to the Pacers as president of operations in 2013. In addition to being part of the 50–40–90 club, he is the person in NBA history to be named Most Valuable Player, Coach of the Year. Bird was born in West Baden Springs, Indiana to Georgia and Claude Joseph Joe Bird and he was raised in nearby French Lick, where his mother worked two jobs to support Larry and his five siblings. Bird has said that being poor as a child still motivates him to this day, Georgia and Joe divorced when Larry was in high school, and Joe committed suicide about a year later. Bird received a scholarship to college basketball for the Indiana University Hoosiers in 1974. After less than a month on campus he dropped out of school and he returned to French Lick, enrolling at Northwood Institute in nearby West Baden, and working municipal jobs for a year before enrolling at Indiana State University in Terre Haute in 1975. Indiana State would lose the game 75–64, with Bird scoring 19 points, despite failing to win the championship, Bird earned numerous year-end awards and honors for his outstanding play, including the Naismith College Player of the Year Award. For his college career, he averaged 30.3 points,13.3 rebounds, Bird also appeared in one game for the baseball team, going 1-for-2 with 2 RBI. Bird was selected by the Boston Celtics with the sixth pick in the 1978 NBA draft. He did not sign with the Celtics immediately, instead, he played out his season at Indiana State. After protracted negotiations, Bird inked a five-year, $3.25 million contract with the team, shortly afterwards, NBA draft eligibility rules were changed to prevent teams from drafting players before they were ready to sign, a rule known as the Bird Collegiate Rule. Bird immediately transformed the Celtics into a contender, helping them improve their win total by 32 games from the year before he was drafted
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