1.
Philadelphia
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In 1682, William Penn, an English Quaker, founded the city to serve as capital of the Pennsylvania Colony. Philadelphia was one of the capitals in the Revolutionary War. In the 19th century, Philadelphia became an industrial center. It became a destination for African-Americans in the Great Migration. The areas many universities and colleges make Philadelphia a top international study destination, as the city has evolved into an educational, with a gross domestic product of $388 billion, Philadelphia ranks ninth among world cities and fourth in the nation. Philadelphia is the center of activity in Pennsylvania and is home to seven Fortune 1000 companies. The Philadelphia skyline is growing, with a market of almost 81,900 commercial properties in 2016 including several prominent skyscrapers. The city is known for its arts, culture, and rich history, Philadelphia has more outdoor sculptures and murals than any other American city. Fairmount Park, when combined with the adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park in the watershed, is one of the largest contiguous urban park areas in the United States. The 67 National Historic Landmarks in the city helped account for the $10 billion generated by tourism, Philadelphia is the only World Heritage City in the United States. Before Europeans arrived, the Philadelphia area was home to the Lenape Indians in the village of Shackamaxon, the Lenape are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government. They are also called Delaware Indians and their territory was along the Delaware River watershed, western Long Island. Most Lenape were pushed out of their Delaware homeland during the 18th century by expanding European colonies, Lenape communities were weakened by newly introduced diseases, mainly smallpox, and violent conflict with Europeans. Iroquois people occasionally fought the Lenape, surviving Lenape moved west into the upper Ohio River basin. The American Revolutionary War and United States independence pushed them further west, in the 1860s, the United States government sent most Lenape remaining in the eastern United States to the Indian Territory under the Indian removal policy. In the 21st century, most Lenape now reside in the US state of Oklahoma, with communities living also in Wisconsin, Ontario. The Dutch considered the entire Delaware River valley to be part of their New Netherland colony, in 1638, Swedish settlers led by renegade Dutch established the colony of New Sweden at Fort Christina and quickly spread out in the valley. In 1644, New Sweden supported the Susquehannocks in their defeat of the English colony of Maryland
2.
Washington Wizards
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The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D. C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association, as a club of the leagues Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its games at the Verizon Center, in the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington. The team now known as the Wizards began playing as the Chicago Packers in 1961, as the first modern expansion team in NBA history, an expansion prompted by Abe Sapersteins American Basketball League. Rookie Walt Bellamy was the star, averaging 31.6 points per game,19.0 rebounds per game. During the All-Star game, Bellamy represented the team while scoring 23 points, Bellamy was named the league Rookie of the Year, but was the team finished with the NBAs worst record at 18-62. The teams original nickname was a nod to Chicagos meatpacking industry, their home arena, however, it was extremely unpopular since it was the same nickname used by the NFLs Green Bay Packers, bitter rivals of the Chicago Bears. After only one year, the changed its name to the Chicago Zephyrs. Their only season as the Zephyrs boasted former Purdue star Terry Dischinger, in their first year in Baltimore, the Bullets finished fourth in a five–team Western Division. Prior to the 1964–65 NBA season the Bullets pulled off a trade, sending Dischinger, Rod Thorn and Don Kojis to the Detroit Pistons for Bailey Howell, Don Ohl, Bob Ferry. The trade worked out well, Howell proved to be a hustling, in the 1965 NBA Playoffs, the Bullets stunned the St. Louis Hawks 3–1, and advanced to the Western Conference finals. In the finals, Baltimore managed to split the first four games with the Los Angeles Lakers before losing the series 4–2. In the late 1960s, the Bullets drafted two future Hall of Fame members, Earl Monroe, in the 1967 draft, number two overall, and Wes Unseld, in the 1968 draft, also number two overall. The team improved dramatically, from 36 wins the season to 57 in the 1968–69 season. The Bullets reached the playoffs with high expectations to go far, the next season the two teams met again in the first round, and although this one went to seven games, the Knicks emerged victorious again. In the 1970–71 season, the 42–40 Bullets again met the 1970–71 Knicks and they were swept in four games by the powerful Milwaukee Bucks led by future Hall of Fame members Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson. Even after the trades of Earl Monroe and Gus Johnson, the Bullets remained a playoff contender throughout the 1970s. Following a less than spectacular 1971–72 season, Baltimore acquired Elvin Hayes from the Houston Rockets and drafted Kevin Porter in the third round, out of St. Francis in Pennsylvania
3.
Philadelphia 76ers
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The Philadelphia 76ers are an American professional basketball team based in Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 and originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA and they have won three NBA championships, with their first coming as the Syracuse Nationals in 1955. The second title came in the 1966–67 season, a team which was led by Chamberlain, the third title came in the 1982–83 season, won by a team led by Erving and Malone. The 76ers have only been back to the NBA Finals once since then, in 2001, while in the NBL with teams largely consisting of small Midwestern towns, the Nationals put together a 21–23 record, finishing in 4th place. In the playoffs, the Nats would be beaten by the fellow upstate neighbor Rochester Royals in 4 games, in their second season, 1947–48, the Nationals would struggle, finishing in 5th place with a 24–36 record. Despite their struggles, the Nats would make the playoffs, getting swept by the Anderson Duffey Packers in 3 straight games, several teams began to leave the NBL for the BAA as the foundation for an absorption was laid. The Nationals recipe for success began by recruiting Leo Ferris, in the playoffs the Nationals would make quick work of the Hammond Calumet Buccaneers, winning the series in 2 straight games. However, in the semifinals the Nats would fall to the Anderson Duffey Packers for the second season in 4 games. In 1949, the Nationals were one of seven NBL teams that were absorbed by the Basketball Association of America to form the NBA, the Nationals were an instant success in the NBA, winning the Eastern Division in the 1949–1950 season, with a league best record of 51–13. In the playoffs the Nationals continued to play basketball, beating the Philadelphia Warriors in 2 straight. Moving on to the Eastern Finals, the Nationals battled the New York Knickerbockers, in the NBA Finals, the Nationals faced fellow NBL alums the Minneapolis Lakers. In Game 1 of the Finals the Nats lost just their home game of the season 68–66. The Nats did not recover, as they fell behind 3 games to 1 before falling in 6 games, despite several teams leaving the NBA for the National Professional Basketball League before the 1950–1951 season, the Nationals decided to stay put. In their second NBA season the Nationals played mediocre basketball all season, however, in the playoffs the Nats played their best basketball of the season as they stunned the 1st place Philadelphia Warriors in 2 straight, taking Game 1 on the road in overtime 91–89. In the Eastern Finals the Nationals were beaten by the New York Knickerbockers in a hard-fought 5-game series, in the playoffs the Nats knocked off the Philadelphia Warriors again in a 3-game series. However, in the Eastern Finals the Nats fell to the New York Knickerbockers again, the Nationals would finish in 2nd place in a hard fought 3-way battle for first place in the Eastern Division for the 1952–1953 season, with a record of 47–24. In the playoffs the Nationals would face the Boston Celtics dropping Game 1 at home 87–81, the Nationals acquired Alex Groza, and Ralph Beard as the Indianapolis Olympians folded leaving the NBA with just 9 teams for the 1953–1954 season
4.
Milwaukee Bucks
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The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball franchise based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 as a team. The team is valued at $675 million according to Forbes. The Bucks have won one title, two conference titles, and 13 division titles. On January 22,1968, the NBA awarded a franchise to Milwaukee Professional Sports and Services, Inc. a group headed by Wesley Pavalon, a fan contest was held to name the new team, with over 40,000 fans participating. One fan, R. D. Trebilcox, was awarded a new car for his part in reasoning why the Bucks was a nickname, saying that bucks were spirited, good jumpers, fast. In October, the Bucks played their first NBA regular-season game against the Chicago Bulls before a Milwaukee Arena crowd of 8,467, as is typical with expansion teams, the Bucks first season was a struggle. Their first victory came in their game as the Bucks beat the Detroit Pistons 134–118. The Bucks record that earned them a coin flip against their expansion cousins. It was a conclusion that the first pick in the draft would be Lew Alcindor of UCLA. The Bucks won the flip, but had to win a bidding war with the upstart American Basketball Association to secure him. Despite the Bucks stroke of fortune in landing Alcindor, no one expected what happened in 1969–70 and they finished with a 56–26 record – a nearly exact reversal of the previous year and good enough for the second-best record in the league, behind the New York Knicks. The 29-game improvement was the best in league history – a record which would stand for 10 years until the Boston Celtics jumped from 29 wins in 1978–79 to 61 in 1979–80. The Bucks defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in five games in the Eastern semifinals, Alcindor was a runaway selection for NBA Rookie of the Year. The following season, the Bucks got a gift when they acquired Oscar Robertson, known as the Big O. Subsequently, in only their season, the Bucks finished 66–16 – the second-most wins in NBA history at the time. During the regular season, the Bucks recorded a then-NBA record 20-game win streak and they then steamrolled through the playoffs with a dominating 12–2 record, winning the NBA Championship on April 30,1971, by sweeping the Baltimore Bullets in four games
5.
Chicago Bulls
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The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 16,1966, the team plays its home games at the United Center, an arena shared with the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League. The Bulls saw their greatest success during the 1990s and they are known for having one of the NBAs greatest dynasties, winning six NBA championships between 1991 and 1998 with two three-peats. All six championship teams were led by Hall of Famers Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, the Bulls are the only NBA franchise to win multiple championships and never lose an NBA Finals series in their history. The Bulls won 72 games during the 1995–96 NBA season, setting an NBA record that stood until the Golden State Warriors won 73 games during the 2015–16 NBA season. The Bulls were the first team in NBA history to win 70 games or more in a season. Many experts and analysts consider the 1996 Bulls to be one of the greatest teams in NBA history, Michael Jordan and Derrick Rose have both won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award while playing for the Bulls, for a total of six MVP awards. The Bulls share rivalries with the Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, the Bulls rivalry with the Pistons was highlighted heavily during the late 1980s and early 1990s. On January 16,1966 Chicago was granted an NBA franchise to be called the Bulls, the Chicago Bulls became the third NBA franchise in the city, after the Chicago Stags and the Chicago Packers/Zephyrs. The Bulls founder, Dick Klein, was the Bulls only owner to play professional basketball. He served as the Bulls president and general manager in their initial years, after the 1966 NBA Expansion Draft, the newly founded Chicago Bulls were allowed to acquire players from the previously established teams in the league for the upcoming 1966–67 season. The team started in the 1966–67 NBA season, and posted the best record by a team in NBA history. In their first two seasons, the Bulls played most of their games at the International Amphitheatre, before moving to Chicago Stadium. Fan interest was diminishing after four seasons, with one game in the 1967–68 NBA season having an attendance of 891. The Bulls under Williams and head coach Dick Motta qualified for four straight playoffs and had attendances grow to over 10,000, in 1972, the Bulls set a franchise win-loss record at 57 wins and 25 losses. During the 1970s, the Bulls relied on Jerry Sloan, forwards Bob Love and Chet Walker, point guard Norm Van Lier, the team made the conference finals in 1975 but lost to the Golden State Warriors,4 games to 3. After four 50-win seasons, Williams returned to Philadelphia, and Motta decided to become GM as well, the Bulls ended up declining, winning only 24 games in the 1975–1976 season
6.
Rebound (basketball)
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In basketball, a rebound, colloquially referred to as a board, is a statistic awarded to a player who retrieves the ball after a missed field goal or free throw. Rebounds are also given to a player who tips in a shot on his teams offensive end. Rebounds in basketball are a part in the game, as all possessions change after a shot is successfully made. A rebound can be grabbed by either a player or a defensive player. The majority of rebounds are defensive because the team on defense tends to be in position to recover missed shots. Offensive rebounds give the team another opportunity to score whether right away or by resetting the offense. A block is not considered a rebound, a ball does not need to actually rebound off the rim or backboard for a rebound to be credited. Rebounds are credited after any missed shot, including air balls, if a player takes a shot and misses and the ball bounces on the ground before someone picks it up, then the person who picks up the ball is credited for a rebound. Rebounds are credited to the first player that gains possession of the ball or to the player that successfully deflects the ball into the basket for a score. A rebound is credited to a team when it gains possession of the ball after any missed shot that is not cleared by a single player, great rebounders tend to be tall and strong. Because height is so important, most rebounds are made by centers and power forwards, the lack of height can sometimes be compensated by the strength to box out taller players away from the ball to capture the rebound. For example, Charles Barkley once led the league in rebounding despite usually being much shorter than his counterparts, also, some shorter guards can be excellent rebounders as well such as point guard Jason Kidd who led the New Jersey Nets in rebounding for several years. Great rebounders must also have a sense of timing and positioning. Great leaping ability is an important asset, but not absolutely necessary, players such as Larry Bird and Moses Malone were excellent rebounders, but were never known for their leaping ability. Bird has stated, Most rebounds are taken below the rim, the action can also be called blocking out. A team can be boxed out by players using this technique to stop the other team from rebounding. Because fighting for a rebound can be physical, rebounding is often regarded as grunt work or a hustle play. Overly aggressive boxing out or preventing being boxed out can lead to personal fouls, statistics of a players rebounds per game or rebounding average measure a players rebounding effectiveness by dividing the number of rebounds by the number of games played
7.
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
8.
Mount St. Mary's University
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Mount St. Marys University is a private, liberal arts, Catholic university in the Catoctin Mountains near historic Emmitsburg, Maryland. The university has more than 40 majors, minors, concentrations and special programs, the university also offers eight masters degree programs and six postgraduate certificate programs. The campus includes the second largest Catholic seminary in the United States, lay students can pursue a Master of Theology Arts at the seminary. Dr. Karl Einolf served briefly as acting university president, following the recent resignation of Mr. Simon Newman, the current, two-year interim president is Brigadier General Timothy Trainor PhD, former academic dean of the United States Military Academy. The seminarys rector and president is Monsignor Andrew R. Baker, the chancellor of the seminary is the current Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore, the Most Reverend William E. Lori. Mount Saint Marys was founded by French émigré Father John DuBois, in 1805, Father DuBois bought land near Emmitsburg, Maryland on the mountain that Catholic colonists had christened St. Marys Mountain, and laid the cornerstone for Saint-Marys-on-the-Hill church. Parishioners from two local congregations built a one-story, two room log cabin for Father DuBois, and that cabin was the first structure of Mount Saint Marys, the church was completed in 1807. Father DuBois first opened a school for children. Then, in 1808, the Society of St. Sulpice closed Pigeon Hill, its seminary in Pennsylvania. This marked the beginning of Mount St. Marys. Father DuBois was appointed president of the college, Father Simon Bruté, whom President John Quincy Adams called the most learned man of his day in America, joined Mount St. Marys as teacher and vice-president in 1812. DuBois Hall, named for Father DuBois, was completed in 1826 in what had been a swampy thicket on the mountain, the first charter for a university was obtained in 1830. Until the early 1900s, Mount St. Marys also acted as a boarding school, some remnants of the boarding school, such as Bradley Hall, still exist. The Mount was known as Mount Saint Marys College and Seminary until June 7,2004, Elizabeth Ann Seton, founder of the Sisters of Charity and the first native born United States citizen to be canonized as a saint, came to Emmitsburg in 1809. She lived on the campus of Mount St. Marys while her own school was being built, for a while, she lived in the same log cabin that had been built for Father DuBois. In June 1809, Mother Seton established Saint Josephs Academy and Free School for girls and this school is considered to be the foundation of the entire Catholic parochial school system in the United States. Mother Seton wrote classroom textbooks and trained her Catholic sisters to become teachers, Saint Josephs Academy and Free School developed into Saint Joseph College High School, Saint Josephs High School, and Saint Joseph College, a four-year liberal arts college for women. There was a shared history between Saint Joseph and Mount St. Marys
9.
Billy Cunningham
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William John Billy Cunningham is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who was nicknamed the Kangaroo Kid. He spent a total of 17 seasons with the NBAs Philadelphia 76ers, Billy Cunningham was born in Brooklyn, New York. His fame began while he was playing at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn and that year, he was the First-Team All-New York City, and a member of the Parade Magazine All-America Team. Cunningham then went to the University of North Carolina, where he excelled. He once grabbed a record 27 rebounds in a game vs. Clemson on February 16,1963, Cunningham also set a single-game North Carolina record with 48 points against Tulane on December 10,1964. In his UNC career, he scored 1,709 points, upon graduation, his 1,062 rebounds were the best in North Carolina history and he held seasonal records for most rebounds and rebound average. Cunningham was a member of the powerful 1967 Sixers championship team, after Chamberlain left the team in 1968, Cunningham became the 76ers franchise player. After that season, he earned the first of what would be three straight All-NBA First Team selections, in 1972, he joined the Carolina Cougars of the American Basketball Association. In his first ABA season, Cunningham averaged 24.1 points per game,12.0 rebounds per game and he led the Cougars to the best record in the league and was selected to the All-ABA First Team and was named the ABA MVP. During the post-season, the Cougars defeated the New York Nets in five games in the Eastern Division Semifinals to advance to the Eastern Division Finals, in the Division Finals the Cougars lost a tight seven game series to the Kentucky Colonels,4 games to 3. In the 1973–74 season Cunningham and the Cougars finished third in the Eastern Division, after the 1973–74 season, Cunningham returned to the 76ers, where he played until he suffered a career-ending injury early in the 1975–76 season. For his career, Cunningham scored 16,310 points and grabbed 7,981 rebounds in both the NBA and the ABA and he reached the 300, and 400-win milestone faster than any coach in NBA history. He led Philadelphia to the playoffs in every year as coach, upon his retirement, his 454 wins as a head coach were the 12th best in NBA history, he holds the third best regular season winning percentage in league history.698. In 1987, Cunningham replaced Tom Heinsohn as the color commentator for CBS NBA telecasts. Cunningham left CBS Sports the following season to join the Miami Heat expansion franchise as a minority owner, Cunningham was subsequently replaced on CBS by Hubie Brown. Barkley normally wore the number 34, but switched to 32 in honor of Magic Johnson, list of National Basketball Association single-game playoff scoring leaders Billy Cunningham statistics
10.
Atlanta Hawks
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The Atlanta Hawks are a professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association as a team of the leagues Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its games at Philips Arena. The teams origins can be traced to the establishment of the Buffalo Bisons in 1946 in Buffalo, New York, after 38 days in Buffalo, the team moved to Moline, Illinois, where they were renamed the Tri-Cities Blackhawks. In 1949, they joined the NBA as part of the merger between the NBL and the Basketball Association of America, and had Red Auerbach as coach briefly, in 1951, Kerner moved the team to Milwaukee, where they changed their name to the Hawks. Kerner and the team moved again in 1955 to St. Louis, the Hawks played the Boston Celtics in all four of their trips to the NBA Finals. The St. Louis Hawks moved to Atlanta in 1968, when Kerner sold the franchise to Thomas Cousins, the Hawks currently own the second-longest drought of not winning an NBA championship at 57 seasons. The franchises lone NBA championship, as well as all four NBA Finals appearances, meanwhile, they went 48 years without advancing past the second round of the playoffs in any format, until finally breaking through in 2015. Much of the failure theyve experienced in the postseason can be traced back to their history in the NBA draft. Since 1980, the Hawks have drafted four players who have been chosen to play in an NBA All-Star Game. Dominique Wilkins was actually selected by the Utah Jazz and traded to the Hawks a few months after the draft, the origins of the Atlanta Hawks can be traced to the Buffalo Bisons franchise, which was founded in 1946. The Bisons were a member of the National Basketball League, the club was organized by the Erie County American Legion and was coached by Nat Hickey. Their first game – a 50–39 victory over the Syracuse Nationals – was played on November 8,1946, on the team was William Pop Gates, who, along with William Dolly King, was one of the first two African-American players in the NBL. The team, which needed to draw 3,600 fans per game to break even struggled to draw 1,000 fans per game to the Auditorium. Upon relocation to Moline, the team was renamed the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, and played their games at Wharton Field House. The team featured guard/forward and coach Deanglo King, and was owned by Leo Ferris, Pop Gates remained on the Blackhawks roster, and finished second on the team in scoring behind future 1948 NBL MVP Don Otten. A Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame member, Gates helped to integrate the league and later become the first African-American coach in a sports league. In 1949 the Blackhawks became one of the National Basketball Associations 17 original teams after a merger of the 12-year-old NBL and they reached the playoffs in the NBAs inaugural year under the leadership of coach Red Auerbach
11.
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
