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The Road to the Hardwood: The Making of Professional Basketball
Imagine the game of basketball without the slam dunk showcase,
celebrity players and flashy entertainment value we've come to
expect. That's how the game began in 1891, New England. Two
teams, two peach baskets and 13 rules.
James Naismith, a physical education teacher at the School for
Christian Workers in Springfield, Massachusetts created an
indoor game to "provide an athletic distraction for a rowdy
class, through brutal New England winters," and is to this day,
credited for creating the game of basketball.
Naismith asked the janitor to find two boxes to fasten to the
balcony railings at either end of the gymnasium, but all the
janitor could find were two peach baskets. In the original 13
rules, the ball, made of leather panels stitched together with a
rubber bladder inside, could be batted but not dribbled because
players could not move with the ball.
In 1896, as a result of a dispute between a YMCA official and
YMCA members, in Trenton, NJ, a professional team was formed to
play for money. Two years later a group of New Jersey newspaper
sports editors founded the National Basketball League,
consisting of six franchises from Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
During this time, the Buffalo Germans and the original Celtics
were standout teams in the league. The Germans won 111 straight
games between 1908 and 1911, and the Celtics pioneered many of
the game's tactics that are still used today, such as zone
defense.
The American Basketball League (ABL) was the first successful
professional league, running from1925 to 1931. Teams made up of
all black players, like the New York Renaissance and the Harlem
Globetrotters, dominated the league in the 1930's. By the mid
1930's another professional league called the National
Basketball League, which had taken its name from the earlier
league that had folded a few years earlier, started to make a
name for itself. In 1946, a group of executives got together to
form another league called the Basketball Association of America
(BAA), which ended up persuading most of the teams from the NBL
to join them. By the 1949- 1950 season the remaining six teams
in the NBL moved to the BAA, forming three divisions, and
renaming themselves the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Following that season, the NBA reduced its size and established
two divisions- the beginning of the eastern and western
conferences, which were later established in the 1969- 1970
season.
Red
Auerbach's Celtics from Boston were the team to beat from
1957 to 1969, when they dominated the league, winning 11 NBA
titles. In 1967, the ABA was formed and became known for its
flashy playing style. Julius Irving, known affectionately as Dr.
J is one of the most well known players whose career began in
the ABA, before moving to the NBA for a notable and successful
career on the court.
By the 1970's, basketball had hit a low point. The ABA disbanded
in 1976, and NBA ticket sales were down. The game was viewed as
dull, and revenue declined, while TV ratings bottoming out at a
record low. But, two young collegiate players were causing a
stir in the mid-west in 1979. Larry Bird of Indiana University
and Magic Johnson from Michigan State faced off against each
other in a NCAA battle that sent both players to a visible place
in the NBA, and generated some much needed attention on a game
that was potentially dying.
College basketball was the focus of the 1980's, and the 90's
were all about Mike. Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls
mastered 6 NBA championships from 1991 to 1993, and 1996 to
1998. Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippin and Karl Malone all made
waves in the NBA during the 90's and interest in the game hit an
all-time high.
Salary caps and other issues forced a player lockout during the
1997-98 season, canceling all league play until an agreement was
reached in 1999. Now, athletes are celebrities on and off the
court. They are icons in pop culture whose style and finesse on
and off the court is replicated and in some cases available for
sale. NBA players sported Mitchell &
Ness vintage throwback jerseys of past court royalty like
Chamberlain, Bird and Johnson off the hardwood. Mitchell &
Ness now features over 1600 players including more recent
greats like Kobe Bryant, Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal.
From peach baskets to pop- culture, the game of basketball has
taken fans on a roller coaster of ups and downs from the
beginning and will certainly hold our interest as it continues
to change in the future.
About the author:
Nina Nocciolino is a copywriter with DMI Partners, an
interactive marketing agency specializing in higher education,
finance, retail and real estate. For more information, visit www.dmipartners.com.
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