The sports world has been changing throughout the history of our country yet the atmosphere remained the same. Some of the rules are different now, but the competition and love for sports and players is still there. Throughout the years sport teams and players have worked to create a better game for fans to watch. The advancements in technology have been used to help fuel our love for sports and competition. And new improvements of the twenty-first century like digital basketball scoreboards are loved by fans everywhere. The digital basketball scoreboard has impacted fans in new ways and has created a new relationship and attachment between fans and the game. Just like everything else in the world the relationship between sports fans and the sports world has evolved and changed. This is in part due to the fact that increases in technology have had huge impacts on the sports world throughout the years.
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Sue Bird, often called the best WNBA player during her career, came from a small town and from a family without any sports history. The Sue Bird basketball story has become well-known, rising from modest beginnings into an All-American with championship success at every level.
The NBA’s little brother known as the NBA D League Basketball has a variety of functions. It serves as a league where undrafted but talented college graduates can perform, get paid and hope to get brought into the NBA. It also serves as an in-season training for drafted NBA players who are not seeing much playing time with their clubs–they can be sent down to the D League. The 2008 2009 D League Basketball has grown into a sixteen team league and since its inception in 2001 there have been many successful basketball players who have had brief stints reassigned to the D League.
The history of american basketball is rich with personalities and success through its three different leagues: the NBA, the NCAA and, most recently, the WNBA. The origins of basketball in the US begin in Springfield, Massachusetts. Here James Naismith developed the game for young men attending the YMCA in order to deal with the harsh winters outside and their idle time inside. Naismith nailed up peach baskets to each end of the gym and gave the players a ball to try and throw in to the baskets. He sketched out the fundamental rules of basketball that day in 1891, which are still used today. The first professional league began seven years later and eventually evolved into the different leagues we have now.
Every time an NBA team loses a close game or, especially, a game with lopsided foul counts, fans half-heartedly cry that the game was fixed. That feeling deep in the pit of fans’ stomachs was churned into real worry when Tim Donaghy, an NBA official, admitted in 2008 that he had illegally manipulated some games he officiated to cover spreads. Of course, he has been sacked and is in federal prison now but before that referred to two pivotal games that he claims were fixed by his calls to provide the desired outcome.
GMs in the NBA get a bad rap. Fans dissect each move with the benefit of looking backwards and razz them unmercifully on forums and message boards for decades to come. But let’s face it: sometimes they deserve it. These are 10 draft picks that may be unforgivable because of what was known at the time about these players and the pick that got away.
The WNBA rookie of the year award has typically been an expected result. This year was no exception but the honor that went along with it was. Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks won the rookie of the year award in her basketball first year along with winning the Most Valuable Player of the Year award–which has never been given to basketball beginners. This feat has only been accomplished by 2 other players in basketball history: Wilt Chamberlain and Wes Unseld. After these accomplishments it wasn’t a surprise that Parker became the most recognized female athlete in the nation. Parker launched out of the gate as an exceptional player: fun to watch, a high scorer and team player with a recognizable smile.
The UCONN basketball history is rich with famous players, many titles and unrivaled success for their venerable, Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun. Under Calhoun’s watch, the Huskies have made it to the Sweet Sixteen in 12 of his 15 years and to the Final Four three times. Most impressively, two of those appearance became NCAA National Titles. Their teams have also featured UCONN basketball players who have gone on to have very successful professional careers, including: Ray Allen, Richard Hamilton and Clifford Robinson. Lately, though, times have been shaky for the Huskies as they have had to endure a firestorm of credibility issues including NCAA drug testing violations for some players and violating NCAA rules for recruitment.
The most valuable player basketball fans saw this year in the NBA was LeBron James and it was not even close. Though Kobe Bryant was maybe a better all around player than James, no player was more valuable to their team. Basketball most valuable players are typically those with great individual statistics and superb team records – James had both.
If there were an objective list of the 10 best basketball players ever, there is no doubt it would hold the most scoring players in NBA history. Those who ended their careers at the top of the all time NBA scoring list are also among the best basketball players ever. For all the talk of defense and strategy, basketball is a game of scoring which relies on players who can fill up the scoring column night in and night out. Here are the top 5 all-time scorers and some of the best players in NBA history:
When it comes to the tallest players in basketball history, Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain who stood at 7’1” wouldn’t even rate a mention. In a league where, as announcer Bill Walton has said many times, “You can’t teach height” many figurative and literal giants have played in the NBA. The tallest player in basketball title actually belongs to two individuals, who were the same height and played for the same team at different times.
The 2008 WNBA Draft picks were highlighted by the number one selection, Candace Parker. Parker was one of the best draft picks in the history of the WNBA, playing a rookie season that netted her Rookie of the Year and the Most Valuable Player award while on the Los Angeles Sparks. The 2009 WNBA draft picks may not have as much promise as Parker but it was still a loaded draft that will improve the teams that selected them.
Never one to sit on his laurels, NBA Commissioner David Stern is always willing to react to any problems he sees in the game of basketball and change the NBA rules. When Charles Barkley was dominating the game in the early 1990s, he changed the rules to only allow a player to dribble with his back to the basket for a three-count, eliminating Barkley’s favorite move. When, a few years later, Shaquille O’Neal dominated any single player sent to defend him, Stern changed the basketball player rules to effectively allow a zone defense. This helped other teams to defend him with multiple players before he even touched the ball. This also freed up other players to score and the game changed from a slow, grind-it-out game back into a high-scoring, fan friendly event.
Detroit’s William Davidson, owner of Pistons, the WNBA Shock and several other sports franchises over his rich life, passed away on March 13, 2009. Over his 87-year life Davidson had a profound effect on his native Detroit. Bill Davidson Pistons will be remembered as his most famous accomplishment but this man, who was ranked as the 68th wealthiest person on a recent Forbes list, had many successful ventures.
Ever since the inception of basketball as a sport in the later 19th century, height has been the one dominant trait that gives a clear advantage in playing. Since the basketball rim stands 10 feet above the ground, obviously the closer a player is, the easier it is to score and block baskets. The basketball player and later profuse television commentator Bill Walton is fond of quoting “You can’t teach height,” which succinctly points out the obvious advantage that height gives a player above all other skills. In basketball short players are a rare find and in the professional league, they are even rarer. The shortest basketball player to ever play in the NBA is Mugsy Bogues. 
Although officially a non-contact sport, basketball, especially NBA style, can be a dangerous game with frequent physical contacts. Each night basketball struggles between being a clean, finesse game and a rugged game with football-like bumping and shoving. Sometimes tempers boil over and a let’s fight at basketball game mindset takes over. Though this can happen in any game, some confrontations have gone on to be the most famous NBA fights. Here’s a look back at the five best basketball fights.
Shaquille O’Neal has been called a lot of names during his career: “Big Aristotle,” “Most Dominant Ever,” “Diesel,” and many others. The unique thing about Shaquille O’Neal is that he gave himself these nicknames and many others, often outwitting the journalists who write about him with his playful and jocular personality, which is one of a kind. The Shaquille O’Neal life has had a one-of-a-kind trajectory from military high school to the NBA to his affinity for being a volunteer sheriff. Shaquille O’Neal basketball is also unique: a dominant center who developed a mighty drop-step move which often ended in a slam dunk.
His airness Michael Jordan was in a league of his own throughout his career. Even before going pro or rolling out his exclusive Air Jordan’s, Michael was special. His time in his high school and college were remarkable by how unremarkable they were. Cut from the varsity Laney High School basketball team and later overshadowed at UNC by their star James Worthy, Jordan overcame struggles to show up when it mattered. Michael Jordan basketball history truly began in the NCAA finals during his college freshman year. UNC was playing future NBA star Patrick Ewing’s Georgetown Tarheels, when Jordan took over the game scoring 16 points with 9 rebounds and the game winning shot with 18 second left in the game.
At just 48 minutes of game time, the NBA basketball game is the shortest of all the major sports with a game clock that theoretically does not stop. Of course, it does stop quite a bit for fouls, timeouts, commercials and quarter breaks and it can have overtime periods if the score remains tied at the end of the game. The longest basketball game ever set the record longest basketball game by going into 6 overtime periods. Each overtime period adds 5 minutes to the game.
As the NBA season heads into overtime in 2009, there are many young rookies who show that they promising young players. Often rookie seasons can make or break the career of an NBA star: fumble out of the gate and your minutes get cut and you get buried on the bench and cut. It adds up to a lot of pressure just as a rookie is already dealing with the increased speed and size of pro ball. In 2009 promising young players from every position answered the call and should have excellent careers from here on out.
In the NBA, basketball coaching strategies are important to the outcome of the game. Substitutions, defensive or offensive plays required skilled players to understand and to be able to execute the plays. That is why players need to train in order to be physically prepared to execute basketball strategies when it comes to game time.
Doc Rivers career so far in the NBA has been about helping out: dishing assists as a player in the league and getting along well with players as their coach. But lately Doc has not been helping the officials or himself with repeated tirades after Doc Rivers Celtics take a loss in the regular season or the playoffs. So far in the 2009 NBA season and playoffs, Doc has collected $65,000 in fines.
Unlike many professional sports it is easy to identify where basketball came from and to track the evolution of basketball. It began with one man and grew into one of the one of the most popular sports in the world within the span of a century.
For Larry Bird basketball was the way out of a life of poverty. Growing up in rural Indiana, there was no early indication that the Larry Bird Hall of Fame would be a reality. In fact, even tough he was drafted by well-known Indiana University out of high school, it was too much for Larry-he dropped out and spent the next year working for the French Lick road and trash services.
Basketball is one of America’s favorite sports because it is fun but also because it requires so little equipment and it is inexpensive. The true cost of the sport may be the injuries in basketball, which happen because of the running, jumping, quick changing of direction, and physical contact. Ankle injuries are frequent and basketball knee injuries unfortunately are common and often very severe.
In NBA basketball high score is a way of life. Team routinely top 100 points per side during a 48 minute game and can combine for a point total somewhere in the mid 200s. In the most high scoring basketball game in history, though, the two teams took three extra periods to combine for 370 points. In the highest scoring NBA game ever completed in regulation time, the two opponents combined for a lofty 320 points.
Larry Brown basketball is like to that old saying: “A rolling stone gathers no moss.” Brown’s career in coaching basketball teams has been going since 1973 when he began in the now-defunct ABA league. Since then he has had terms with eleven different teams and for Larry Brown 2008 saw him begin a new journey with the Charlotte Bobcats after a tumultuous stint with the New York Knicks.
The NCAA basketball championship history has been alive and strong for 70 years. Masses of fans of the sport and rabid alumni from colleges across the country have made the March Madness tournament the highlight of the sports year. From the beginning of the basketball season when midnight madness 2008 begins until the Finals are played, college basketball has kept hearts beating and has been filled with close scoreboard action.
Knowing how to slam dunk in basketball is a critical step in being an offensive threat. Shooting jump shots is important but unless you can drive the lane and finish, a defender can stay on top of you and prevent you from getting a look at the basket. These are not NBA Live 08 dunk tips, these are tips for players who want to round out their game by adding the deadliest offensive weapon in basketball to their arsenal.These slam dunk contest tips will help a player win contests and respect on the court.
Mike Brown was named the NBA Coach of the Year for 2009 in a year when many coaches were deserving. Of course, Mike Brown could give out some basketball coaching tips since his team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, racked up the best record in the NBA over the past season. After playing basketball both in the US and overseas as a youth basketball coach Brown also played college ball before being elevated to coach.
The NBA is just like anywhere else you would work: Everyone makes at least $400,000, some make $20 million, you work about 3 hours a day, fans fawn on you, and you get whatever you want, right? Well, in one arena you are lucky your office isn’t like the NBA because no one would come to work–they’d all be stuck in jail. No, it’s not quite that bad but it’s not too far from the truth either. Read on.
Rather than just dishing assists or dunks, NBA players are dishing basketball rumors these days thanks to the new technology of the Twitter website. The players and other NBA insiders that use the service to pump out texting size blurbs known as tweets have many Twitter friends, fans and others who follow their daily exploits. It has become so popular with some players that they have had to crack down on players’ use of it.
The shooting form for successful players is uniform for basketball at all levels. Regardless of the basketball uniform design you are wearing or the level of the competition, the basics of the shooting touch are always the same. Once a player has mastered scoring from jump shots, he is an invaluable part of any basketball team, commanding more defense from the opponents and putting points on the scoreboard for his team.
Of all the sports that are played, basketball rules and regulations are probably the easiest to learn. The official basketball rules center around the smaller details of the game because the major rules involved are very simple. This is one of the reasons that basketball is so popular as a street sport since the rules are straightforward and consistent at all levels of the game.
