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***THIS IS JUST A FAN SITE, I HAVE NO CONNECTION WITH THE NBA***The Basketball Association of America was founded in 1946 by the owners of the major sports arenas in the Northeast and Midwest, most notably Madison Square Garden in New York City. Although there had been earlier attempts at professional basketball leagues, including the American Basketball League and the National Basketball League, the BAA was the first league to attempt to play primarily in large arenas in major cities. During its early years, though, the quality of play in the BAA was not obviously better than in competing leagues or among leading independent clubs such as the Harlem Globetrotters. For instance the 1947 ABL finalist Baltimore Bullets moved to the BAA and won its 1948 title, followed by the 1948 NBL champion Minneapolis Lakers who won the 1949 BAA title. On November 1, 1946, the Toronto Huskies hosted the New York Knickerbockers which the NBA now regards as its first game to be played in the league's history. _____________________________________________ Following the 1949 season, the BAA agreed to merge with the NBL, expanding the National Basketball Association to seventeen franchises located in a mix of large and small cities, as well as large arenas and smaller gymnasiums and armories. In 1950, the NBA consolidated to eleven franchises, a process that continued until 1954, when the league reached its smallest size of eight franchises, all of which are still in the league (the Knickerbockers, Celtics, Warriors, Lakers, Royals/Kings, Pistons, Hawks, and Nationals/76ers). _________________________________________ While contracting, the league also saw its smaller city franchises move to larger cities. The Hawks shifted from "Tri-Cities" (the area now known as the Quad Cities) to Milwaukee and then to St. Louis; the Royals from Rochester to Cincinnati, the Pistons from Fort Wayne to Detroit. _________________________________________ Although Japanese-American Wataru Misaka technically broke the NBA color barrier in the 1947-48 season when he played for the New York Knicks, 1950 is recognized as the year the NBA integrated with the addition of African American players by several teams including Chuck Cooper with the Boston Celtics, Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton with the New York Knicks, and Earl Lloyd with the Washington Capitols. Today, more than fifty years later, the NBA is made up of players of many different races, with diverse backgrounds and cultures. The majority (80%) of NBA players today are African American. _________________________________________ During this period, the Minneapolis Lakers, led by center George Mikan, won five NBA Championships and established themselves as its first dynasty. _________________________________________ To liven up play, the league introduced the 24-second shot clock in 1954. _________________________________________ In 1956, 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 in 1959 and became the dominant individual star of the 1960s, setting new records in scoring and rebounding. Russell's rivalry with Chamberlain became one of the great individual rivalries in the history of team sports. ______________________________________________ Through this period, the NBA continued to strengthen with the shift of the Minneapolis Lakers to Los Angeles, the Philadelphia Warriors to San Francisco, and the Syracuse Nationals to Philadelphia, as well as the addition of its first expansion franchises. ______________________________________________ In 1967, the league faced a new external threat with the formation of the American Basketball Association. The leagues engaged in a bidding war for talent. The NBA landed the most important college star of the era, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor), who together with Oscar Robertson led the Milwaukee Bucks to a title in his second season, and who later played on five Laker championship teams. _____________________________________________ However, the NBA's leading scorer, Rick Barry jumped to the ABA, as did four veteran referees—Norm Drucker, Earl Strom, John Vanak and Joe Gushue. ____________________________________________ The ABA also succeeded in signing a number of major stars, including Julius Erving, in part because it allowed teams to sign college undergraduates. The NBA expanded rapidly during this period, one purpose being to tie up most viable cities. Following the 1976 season, the leagues reached a settlement that provided for the addition of four ABA franchises to the NBA, raising the number of franchises in the league at that time to 22. ___________________________________________ The league added the ABA's innovative three-point field goal beginning in 1979 to open up the game. That same year, rookies Larry Bird and Magic Johnson joined the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, respectively, initiating a period of significant growth in fan interest in the NBA throughout the country and the world. Bird went on to lead the Celtics to three titles, and Johnson went on to lead the Lakers to five. ___________________________________________ Michael Jordan entered the league in 1984 with the Chicago Bulls, providing an even more popular star to support growing interest in the league. By 1989, further expansion had raised the number of teams in the league to 27. During the 1990s, Jordan went on to lead the Bulls to six titles. (1991-1993,1996-1998) __________________________________________ The 1990s also saw greater globalization. The 1992 Olympic basketball Dream Team, the first to use current NBA stars, featured Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson. A growing number of NBA star players also began coming from other countries. Initially, many of these players, such as 1994 NBA MVP Hakeem Olajuwon of Nigeria, first played NCAA basketball to enhance their skills. An increasing number, though, have moved directly from playing elsewhere in the world to starring in the NBA, such as 2002 NBA Rookie of the Year and 2006 World Championships MVP Pau Gasol of Spain, first pick in the 2002 NBA Draft Yao Ming of China, 2002 World Championships and Eurobasket 2005 MVP Dirk Nowitzki of Germany, and 2004 Olympic Tournament MVP Manu Ginobili of Argentina. Today, young players from the English-speaking world tend to attend U.S. colleges before playing in the NBA (notable examples are 2005 and 2006 MVP Steve Nash, a Canadian, and 2005 top draft pick Andrew Bogut of Australia), while other international players generally come to the NBA from professional club teams. The NBA is now televised in 212 nations in 42 languages. In 1996 the NBA created a women's league, the Women's National Basketball Association, and in 2001 created an affiliated minor league, the National Basketball Development League, now called the NBA Development League. _________________________________________ In 1998 the NBA owners began a lockout which lasted 191-days and was settled on January 18, 1999. As a result of this lockout the 1998-99 NBA season was reduced from 82 to 50 games, which were all played in early 1999. ________________________________________ Today, the NBA has reached 30 franchises and continues to evolve as one of the premier sports leagues in the world. _______________________________________ Location of NBA teams, conferences and divisions, on June 29, 2006, a new official game ball was introduced for the 2006-07 season, marking the first change to the ball in over 35 years and only the second in 60 seasons. Manufactured by Spalding, the new ball features a new design and new synthetic material that Spalding claims offers a better grip, feel, and consistency than the original ball. However, many players have been vocal in their disdain for the new ball, saying that it is too sticky when dry, and too slippery when wet. The NBA has promised to do extensive testing of the new ball, but so far has shown no indication that it plans to return to the older leather ball. Also new in 2006, the NBA team jerseys will now be manufactured by Adidas after the company purchased Reebok, the previous kit supplier...The Top 10 Teams in NBA History (chronological order)___________________________________________ 1964-65 Boston Celtics 62 - 18 (.775) Led by Bill Russell, Sam Jones, John Havlicek, Tom Sanders and Tom Heinsohn...Broke its own league record for most victories in a season and went on to win the Celtics' seventh consecutive NBA championship...Battled the Philadelphia 76ers in an East Finals for the ages, winning Game Seven 110-109; John Havlicek's deflection at game's end produced the legendary "Havlicek stole the ball!" radio call from Celtics broadcaster Johnny Most...Defeated the L.A. Lakers 4-1 in 1965 NBA Finals.___________________________________________ 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers 68 - 13 (.840) Propelled by Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer, Chet Walker and Billy Cunningham, started the season 46-4 and went on to set record for most victories in a season (broken by 1971-72 L.A. Lakers)...Ended Celtics' run of eight consecutive championships by defeating Boston 4-1 in Eastern Division Finals...Defeated the San Francisco Warriors 4-2 in 1967 NBA Finals.___________________________________________ 1969-70 New York Knicks 60 - 22 (.732) Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Dick Barnett, Dave DeBusschere, Bill Bradley and Cazzie Russell starred for one of the best passing teams in NBA history...Captured New York's first NBA Championship by defeating Los Angeles 4-3 in the memorable 1970 NBA Finals...Captain Willis Reed, who missed Game Six due to a torn leg muscle, hobbled onto the Madison Square Garden floor before Game Seven and scored New York's first two baskets to inspire the Knicks to a 113-99 victory.__________________________________________ 1971-72 L.A. Lakers 69 - 13 (.841) Gail Goodrich, Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Jim McMillian and Happy Hairston combined to bring Lakers their first championship of the Los Angeles era...Broke Philadelphia's 1966-67 record for wins in a season (broken by Chicago in 1995-96), at one point winning 33 consecutive games, a record that still stands...Won NBA record 16 consecutive road games...Best road winning percentage in NBA history (.816; 31-7)...Defeated New York 4-1 in 1972 NBA Finals.____________________________________________ 1982-83 Philadelphia 76ers 65 - 17 (.793) Moses Malone joined the 76ers as a free agent and teamed with Julius Erving, Andrew Toney, Maurice Cheeks and Bobby Jones to bring the 76ers their first title in 16 seasons...Malone proclaimed the 76ers would sweep through the NBA Playoffs in "Fo', Fo', Fo'" and he wasn't far off as Philadelphia cruised in "Fo', Fi', Fo'" to post the best winning percentage in NBA Playoffs history at .923 (12-1).____________________________________________ 1985-86 Boston Celtics 67 - 15 (.817) Stung by a 4-2 loss to the L.A. Lakers in the 1985 NBA Finals, Larry Bird led the Celtics featuring Robert Parish, Kevin McHale, Dennis Johnson, Danny Ainge and a rejuvenated Bill Walton to the best record in franchise history and a 4-2 defeat of Houston in the 1986 NBA Finals...Posted 40-1 record at Boston Garden, best home winning percentage (.976) in NBA history...Fifth-best overall winning percentage ever (.817).__________________________________________ 1986-87 L.A. Lakers 65 - 17 (.793) The Lakers recaptured their place atop the NBA thanks to the "Showtime" fast-break style spearheaded by Earvin "Magic" Johnson and teammates Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Byron Scott, A.C. Green and Michael Cooper...Johnson averaged a career-best 23.9 points per game and led the league in assists with a 12.2 average...Lakers defeated Boston 4-2 in the 1987 NBA Finals after winning 11 of their first 12 games in the playoffs.__________________________________________ 1988-89 Detroit Pistons 63 - 19 (.768) Isiah Thomas, Bill Laimbeer, Joe Dumars, Mark Aguirre, Vinnie Johnson and Dennis Rodman combined to form the heart of one of the strongest defensive teams in the modern era...Lacking a dominant center, Pistons featured a potent three-guard rotation and a deep bench that rebounded and defended relentlessly...Pistons were 15-2 in 1989 playoffs, including 4-0 sweep of L.A. Lakers in 1989 NBA Finals._________________________________________ 1991-92 Chicago Bulls 67 - 15 (.817) Michael Jordan dominated the NBA and received strong support from teammates Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, B.J. Armstrong, Bill Cartwright and John Paxson...Topped previous championship season by winning six more games than in 1990-91, the fifth-winningest season in league history...Defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 4-2 in 1992 NBA Finals. ___________________________________________ 1995-96 Chicago Bulls 72 - 10 (.878) Featuring Superman (Michael Jordan), Batman (Scottie Pippen) and Rodman (Dennis Rodman), Bulls shattered record for most wins in a regular season...Won 87 of 100 games, including the playoffs...Ron Harper, Luc Longley, Toni Kukoc and Steve Kerr rounded out core of driven team that featured triangle offense...Started season an amazing 41-3...Jordan's first full season since returning from retirement.