History:
The Basketball Association of America was founded in 1946 by the owners of major sports arenas in the Northeast and Midwest. The ABA had lots of financial problems, that’s why the NBA assumed it. The NBA emerged from the ABA and the BAA. At the beginning the NCAA dwarfed the NBA, but after a huge bribery-affair the National Basketball Association became more and more popular. The logo shows the silhouette of Jerry West, a famous player of the L.A. Lakers. The first black player who joined the NBA was Earl Lloyd in the year 1950. Four years later Danny Biasone coined the shot clock to make the game more interesting. 1976 the NBA accepted the 3-point-line and the slam-dunk contests. In 1996 the WNBA (Women-NBA) was founded. There are also many foreign players like Dirk Nowitzki or Yao Ming. In 1998 there were only 50 games played because of the lock-out (financial troubles).
Teams:
The NBA consists of two conferences, the western and the eastern conference. Every conference is composed of three divisions. In the west there are the northwest, the pacific and the southwest division. In the south there are the Atlantic, the central and the southeast division. Before a player can play in the NBA he has to get a stipendium of a university, playing in the NCAA, and has to be signed for the NBA-draft.
Season & play-offs:
In a regular season every team plays four games against the teams, which are in the same division, the teams, that play in their conference and the teams of the other one.
The teams who placed from first to the eight rank, are qualified to the play-offs. These games are played in a best of seven systems. The winners of the east and the west conference meet in the final to fight for the right to call his team the NBA champion.
The most famous players:
- George MIKAN( ‘48-’54 ;first Superstar in the NBA)
- Jerry WEST( ’60 – ’64; he is the silhouette of the NBA-logo)
- Magic JOHNSON( ’79 – ’91; the best player in the eighties)
- Michael JORDAN( ’84 – ’03; the best player in the nineties)
- Wilt CHAMBERLAIN(’59-’74;100 points in a game,23.9 Rpg)
- Larry BIRD(’79-’92;one of the best shooter and clutch performer in the NBA)
Most important Awards:
- NBA Champion
- Trainer of the year
- MVP(MostValuablePlayer)
- Slam Dunk Champion
- 3-Point Champion