From Hoopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

All Basketball, All The Time

On The Court

Off The Court

Celebrating the centennial of basketball's invention, 1991
  • The sport of basketball has been gracing postage stamps since 1934, when the U.S. administrators of the Philippines issued the 16 cent commemorative pictured at right.

Origins of the Game

This 12th Street YMCA team from Washington, DC was declared Colored Basketball World's Champions in 1910.
Enlarge
This 12th Street YMCA team from Washington, DC was declared Colored Basketball World's Champions in 1910.

It was a wild time, with barnstorming teams, leagues that came and went, and men who could play for three teams in three leagues at the same time. Read about the beginnings of pro ball in NBA Roots.

Smith College Class of 1895 team
Enlarge
Smith College Class of 1895 team
  • Basketball spread across the country like wildfire in the 1890s. Lots of people were looking for a competitive indoor game in the winter. But it wasn't just the guys. As soon as boys started playing, girls did, too. Read about the AAU Women's Champions. Or check out some of the other articles about the women's game.
Nat Holman in his Original Celtics uniform, 1922.
Enlarge
Nat Holman in his Original Celtics uniform, 1922.
  • "Why are they so good at basketball? They dominate the sport. They must have some innate physical advantage that the rest of us don't have." Sound familiar? But in the first half of the 20th Century "they" were Jews. Many of the top players were kids who grew up playing ball on the tough streets of New York and Philadelphia. Kids like Nat Holman (right), Barney Sedran, Bennie Borgmann, Max Friedman and Eddie Gottlieb, who all grew up to be Hall of Famers. To learn more about race and hoops, read Questions of Race.
  • In 1897 the Amateur Athletic Union organized a tournament to determine a national men's basketball champion. They've been holding such tournaments ever since. For most of the first half of the 20th Century the AAU was the most prestigious championship there was. For a listing of all the championship games, go to AAU Men's Champions.
The Nankai Five Tigers: China's first dominating team, ca. 1896.
Enlarge
The Nankai Five Tigers: China's first dominating team, ca. 1896.

This Day In Basketball History

  • 1900 - Hall of Fame player Bennie Borgmann is born in Haledon, New Jersey. He was a scoring machine, averaging over ten points per game in an era when thirty points was a high team total.
Enlarge
  • 1950 - The Fort Wayne Pistons slows it down to keep the ball away from Minneapolis Lakers' star George Mikan (right). The strategy works as Mikan is held to 15 points and the Pistons win, 19-18, in the lowest scoring game in NBA history. The two teams score a total of eight field goals. This game caused NBA officials to consider rule changes, which ultimately resulted in the adoption of the 24-second clock.
  • 1994 - Golden State Coach Don Nelson becomes the first individual in NBA history to participate in 2,700 career games as a player or coach (including both regular season and playoff games).

Recent Additions

Basketball 101

How To Use Hoopedia


Retrieved from "http://hoopedia.nba.com/index.php?title=Main_Page"
Personal tools