NBA History at a Counter-Attacking Pace

By Angus Darby

WHO COULD HAVE GUESSED THAT SOMETHING AS "SIMPLE" AS PUTTING A BALL IN A BASKET WOULD TURN INTO SOMETHING AS SPECTACULAR AS THE NBA?

 

The world's premier basketball competition has become a passion for millions of people. But surely not even its creators imagined the impact of a championship created to fill the arenas during field hockey's off-seasons.

 

The dynasty of the Minneapolis Lakers and George Mikan, the first giant of the competition. Bob Pettit, the bomber of Baton Rouge. The mythical Celtis of Russell and Auerbach. Wilt Chamberlain and his 100 points in a game. Abdul-Jabbar's Sky Hook. The rivalry between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. The almighty Michael "Air" Jordan. The two towers of the Spurs: Duncan and Robinson. The legend of Kobe Bryant. Dirk Nowitzki, the most important European in NBA history?

 History is still being written with players like LeBron James, the most decisive player of the modern era, Stephen Curry's reinvention of the three-point shot or Giannis Antetokounmpo's breaking of the boundary between humility and glory.

 

These stories, along with many more, are what is collected in this book that aims to compile the most significant stages of the greatest show on earth, to be able to learn or remember them in a simple way in a light and pleasant walk through the history of the NBA.

In this book you will find:

- The 1940s: the origin of basketball of the future.

- George Mikan's first Minneapolis Lakers dynasty

- Bob Pettit, the bomber of the St. Louis Hawks

- The Celtics' reign of Bill Russell and Red Auerbach

- Wilt Chamberlain and the 100-point record

- The rivalry between the ABA and the NBA

- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's arrival in the NBA

- Larry Bird's Celtics

- The rivalry between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird

- Michael "Air" Jordan, the best player in history?

- The 1998 strike

- The San Antonio Spurs of the two towers: Duncan and Robinson

- The legend of Kobe Bryant and the new Lakers glory

- The Miami Heat of Dwyane Wade

- The resurgence of the Celtics of the Big Three: Garnett, Allen and Pierce

- Dirk Nowitzki's Mavericks

- The Oklamoa City Thunder of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden

- The Cavs' first title led by LeBron James

- The Warriors of Stephen Curry

- The outbreak of the coronavirus and its impact on the NBA

- Giannis Antetokounmpo, from humility to glory with the Bucks

 

Enjoy the wonderful history of the NBA in this must-see tour for any fan who wants to devour the true taste of what this legendary competition is all about and enjoy its past to the fullest.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Angus Darby
• Release date: Mar 24, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224765522

Book preview

Introduction

Who could have guessed that something as simple as putting a ball in a basket would turn into something as spectacular as the NBA? The world's premier basketball competition has become a passion for millions of people. But surely not even its creators imagined the repercussion that a championship created to fill the pavilions during hockey's rest periods would have.

The magic of the NBA is due to the great teams and fabulous players who have written the pages of NBA history with their talent.

The dynasty of the Minneapolis Lakers and George Mikan, the first giant of the competition. Bob Pettit, the bomber of Baton Rouge. The legendary Celtis of Russell and Auerbach. Wilt Chamberlain and his 100 points in a game. Abdul-Jabbar's Sky Hook. The rivalry between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. The almighty Michael Air Jordan. The two towers of the Spurs: Duncan and Robinson. The legend of Kobe Bryant. Dirk Nowitzki, the most important European in NBA history...

History is still being written with players like LeBron James, the most decisive player of the modern era, Stephen Curry's reinvention of the three-point shot or Giannis Antetokounmpo's breaking of the boundary between humility and glory.

These stories, along with many more, is what is collected in this book that aims to compile the most significant stages of the greatest show on earth, to learn or remember them in a simple way in a light and pleasant walk through the history of the NBA.

I hope you enjoy the following pages.

Angus Darby.

THE 40'S: The origin of the basketball of the future and the first champion in history

This week in Knicks history: New York beats Toronto in the first modern professional basketball game - Posting and Toasting

In 1946, several owners of the most important sports venues in the United States met with the aim of completing a sports calendar with which to give more use to their pavilions, which suffered a significant decrease in capacity especially after the end of the ice hockey season.

To do so, they opted for basketball as a new model of entertainment for American society, a sport that was not properly exploited. The competitions established at that time, the National Basketball League (NBL) and the American Basketball League (ABL) were content to participate in secondary halls without reaching the most important cities.

The BAA sought to remedy that. At that time, no one could have thought that the foundations were being laid for one of the greatest sports competitions in the world: the NBA.

Under the name Basketball Associaton of America (BAA), a private competition independent of the basketball federation, 11 teams accepted and joined this adventure: Pittsburgh Ironmen, Cleveland Rebels, Chicago Stags, Providence Steamrollers, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia Warriors, Washington Capitols, Toronto Huskies, St. Louis Bombers and Detroit Falcons. Of all of them, only 3 are still playing today.

Thus, on November 1, 1946 in Toronto, at Maple Leaf Gardens, the first game of this competition began between Toronto Huskies and New York, won by the New Yorkers by 68 to 66.

That day began a competition in which many franchises would dream over time of becoming champions. But only a few of them managed to put together a winning team.

El primer partido de la historia de la NBA no fue en Estados Unidos ~ el gurú del basket [1]

On November 1, 1946, Ossie Schectman made the first basket of the competition for the New York Knicks, in the first of 60 games each team played during the regular season.

The Washingtons Capitols won the East Division, while the Chicago Stags were champions in the West. Both played the first semifinal, with the Chicago Stags winning and qualifying for the final.

The other finalist was the Philadelphia Warriors, who beat New York in the other semi-final after defeating the St. Louis Bombers in the quarter-final runners-up clash.

Thus, Chicago Stags and Philadelphia Warriors played the first final in history. Philadelphia beat Chicago 4-1 to become the first NBA champion in history.

Aquellos Warriors de 1947, primeros campeones de la NBA (BAA)

[2]

––––––––

The Philadelphia Warriors coach was Eddie Gottlieb, and the most prominent players who led the Warriors to their first-ever win were Joe Fulks and Howie Dallmar.

Joe Fulks was nicknamed Jumping Joe for his hard-to-cap shooting style. After World War II, he had been a member of the All-Star Leathernecks, an all-Navy team, where Philadelphia coach Eddie Gottlieb met him and wanted him for his team. It took $8,000 and a new car to convince him, and Joe Fulks ended up becoming the leading scorer in the competition with 23.2 points per game (1,389 points in total).

El vintage de Flagrant: Joe Fulks el primer killer de la NBA - Pivot World 9

[3]

––––––––

Howie Dallmar, for his part, ended up becoming the best assist of the competition (120 assists). Limping and with a foot injury, nobody expected him to play, but despite the pain his coach counted on him in the last minutes of the last game, getting the winning basket in the last minute when the game was tied at 80 and giving the title to Philadelphia Warriors.

5contra5jugadores: Dallmar, Howie

[4]

––––––––

In the second season, 1947-1948, Pittsburgh Ironmen, Detroit Falcons, Toronto Falcons and Cleveland Rebels withdrew from the competition, reducing the number of participating teams to 7 and jeopardizing the championship. In order to have 4 teams per division, the Baltimore Bullets from the ABL were incorporated.

In this edition, Wataru Misaka became the first non-Caucasian (of Japanese descent) player in the competition and in professional basketball by participating with the New York Knicks, although it was not a widely accepted fact.

La breve historia de Wat Misaka en la NBA ~ el gurú del basket [5]

Philadelphia Warriors won the East Division and St. Louis Bombers were proclaimed champions of the West Division. Philadelphia won the duel between the two to qualify again for the finals.

The other finalist was Baltimore Bullets, after beating Chicago in the semifinals and New York in the quarterfinals. The victory in the final was this time for the Baltimore