All u need to know about N.B.

A
-Sve sto treba da znate o N.B.A-ju

Ime i prezime:Vladimir Filipovic

Regionalni centar za talente

Mentor:Nenad Pavlovic

Contents

1.Abstract/ Apstrakt......................................................................................................... 3
2.Introduction/ Uvod........................................................................................................ 4
3.History/Istorija...............................................................................................................4
4. Celtics' dominance,new rivalry/Dominacija Seltiksa,nova rivalstva............................5
5.Big three/Velika trojka...................................................................................................8
6.New Era/Nova Era..........................................................................................................9
7. The greatest players of all-time/Najbolji igraci svih vremena.....................................11
8.Literature/Literatura13

Abstract

Apstrakt

Introduction
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball
league and one of the Big Four major sports leagues in North America. With thirty franchised
member clubs (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada), the NBA is widely considered to be the
premier men's professional basketball league in the world. It is an active member of USA
Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by FIBA (also known as the International Basketball
Federation) as the national governing body for basketball in the United States. The NBA is one
of the four major North American professional sports leagues. NBA players are the world's best
paid sportsmen, by average annual salary per player.
The league was founded in New York City on June 6, 1946, as the Basketball Association of
America (BAA). The league adopted the name National Basketball Association in 1949 after
merging with the rival National Basketball League (NBL). The league's several international as
well as individual team offices are directed out of its head offices located in the Olympic Tower
at 645 Fifth Avenue in New York City. NBA Entertainment and NBA TV studios are directed out
of offices located in Secaucus, New Jersey.
History

The Basketball Association of America was founded in 1946 by owners of the major ice hockey
arenas in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Canada. On November 1, 1946, in
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the Toronto Huskies hosted the New York Knickerbockers at Maple
Leaf Gardens, in a game the NBA now regards as the first played in its history.[4] Although there
had been earlier attempts at professional basketball leagues, including the American Basketball
League and the NBL, the BAA was the first league to attempt to play primarily in large arenas in
major cities. During its early years, the quality of play in the BAA was not significantly better
than in competing leagues or among leading independent clubs such as the Harlem Globetrotters.
For instance, the 1948 ABL finalist Baltimore Bullets moved to the BAA and won that league's
1948 title, and the 1948 NBL champion Minneapolis Lakers won the 1949 BAA title.
On August 3, 1949, the BAA agreed to merge with the NBL, creating the new National
Basketball Association.The new league had 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 195354, when the league
reached its smallest size of eight franchises, all of which are still in the league (the New York

Knicks, Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Royals/Kings, Detroit
Pistons, Atlanta Hawks, and Nationals/76ers).
Although Japanese-American Wataru Misaka technically broke the NBA color barrier in the
194748 season when he played for the New York Knicks, 1950 is recognized as the year the
NBA integrated. On April 26, 1950, Harold Hunter signed with the Washington Capitols,
becoming the first African American to sign a contract with any NBA team in history.Hunter was
cut from the team during training camp, but several African American players did play in the
league later that year, including Chuck Cooper with the Celtics, Nathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton
with the Knicks, and Earl Lloyd with the Washington Capitols. During this period, the
Minneapolis Lakers, led by center George Mikan, won five NBA Championships and established
themselves as the league's first dynasty. To encourage shooting and discourage stalling, the
league introduced the 24-second shot clock in 1954.If a team does not attempt to score a field
goal (or the ball fails to make contact with the rim) within 24 seconds of obtaining the ball, play
is stopped and the ball given to its opponent.

The headquarters of the National Basketball Association in the Olympic Tower

Celtics' dominance,new rivalry

The 1960s were dominated by the Celtics. Led by Russell, Bob Cousy and coach Red Auerbach,
Boston won eight straight championships in the NBA from the 195966. This championship
streak is the longest in NBA history. They did not win the title in 1966-67, but regained it in the
1967-68 season and repeated in 1969. The domination totaled nine of the 10 championship
banners of the 1960s.
Through this period, the NBA continued to strengthen with the shift of the Minneapolis Lakers to
Los Angeles, the Philadelphia Warriors to San Francisco, the Syracuse Nationals to Philadelphia
to become the Philadelphia 76ers, and the St. Louis Hawks moving to Atlanta, as well as the
addition of its first expansion franchises. The Chicago Packers (now Washington Wizards)
became the ninth NBA team in 1961. From 1966 to 1968, the league expanded from 9 to 14
teams, introducing the Chicago Bulls, Seattle SuperSonics (now Oklahoma City Thunder), San
Diego Rockets (who relocated to Houston four years later), Milwaukee Bucks, and Phoenix
Suns.
In 1967, the league faced a new external threat with the formation of the American Basketball
Association (ABA). The leagues engaged in a bidding war. The NBA landed the most important
college star of the era, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor). However, the
NBA's leading scorer, Rick Barry, jumped to the ABA, as did four veteran refereesNorm
Drucker, Earl Strom, John Vanak, and Joe Gushue.
In 1969, Alan Siegel, who oversaw the design of Jerry Dior's Major League Baseball logo a year
prior, created the modern NBA logo inspired by the MLB's. It incorporates the silhouette of the
legendary Jerry West based on a photo by Wen Roberts, although NBA officials denied a
particular player as being its influence because, according to Siegel, "They want to
institutionalize it rather than individualize it. It's become such a ubiquitous, classic symbol and
focal point of their identity and their licensing program that they don't necessarily want to
identify it with one player." The iconic logo debuted in 1971 and would remain a fixture of the
NBA brand.

The ABA succeeded in signing a number of major stars in the '70s, including Julius Erving of the
Virginia Squires, in part because it allowed teams to sign college undergraduates. The NBA
expanded rapidly during this period, one purpose being to tie up the most viable cities. From
1966 to 1974, the NBA grew from nine franchises to 18. In 1970, the Portland Trail Blazers,
Cleveland Cavaliers, and Buffalo Braves (now the Los Angeles Clippers) all made their debuts
expanding the league to 17. The New Orleans Jazz (now in Utah) came aboard in 1974 bringing
the total to 18. 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 franchises added were the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Indiana
Pacers, and New York Nets (now the Brooklyn Nets). Some of the biggest stars of this era were
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Rick Barry, Dave Cowens, Julius Erving, Elvin Hayes, Walt Frazier,
Moses Malone, Artis Gilmore, George Gervin, Dan Issel, and Pete Maravich. The end of the
decade, however, saw declining TV ratings, low attendance and drug-related player issues both
perceived and real that threatened to derail the NBA.

Bill Russell Wilt Chamberlain rivalry

Big Three
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. In 1984 they played against each other for the first time in
the NBA Finals. Johnson went on to lead the Lakers to five titles, and Bird went on to lead the
Celtics to three. Also in the early '80s, the NBA added one more expansion franchise, the Dallas
Mavericks, bringing the total to 23 teams. Later on, Larry Bird won the first three three-point
shooting contests. Current league commissioner David Stern took office on April 1, 1984, and
oversaw the expansion and growth of the NBA to a global commodity.
The 1992 Olympic basketball Dream Team, the first to use current NBA stars, featured Michael
Jordan as the anchor, along with Bird, Magic, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippen,
Clyde Drexler, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Chris Mullin, Charles Barkley, and Christian
Laettner. Eleven players on the Dream Team have been inducted into the Basketball Hall of
Fame.
In 1995, the NBA expanded to Canada with the addition of the Vancouver Grizzlies and the
Toronto Raptors. In 2001, the Vancouver Grizzlies relocated to Memphis, which left the Raptors
as the only Canadian team in the NBA. In 1996, the NBA created a women's league, the
Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). 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 (61% of a normal season), and the All-Star
Game was cancelled. The San Antonio Spurs won their first championship, and first by a former
ABA team, by beating the New York Knicks, who were the first, and to this date, the only, eighth
seed to ever make the NBA Finals.

Big three:Larry Bird,Michael Jordan,Magic Johnson

.New era
Since the breakup of the Chicago Bulls championship roster in the summer of 1998, the Western
Conference has dominated, with the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs combining to
win the title in nine of fourteen years. Tim Duncan and David Robinson won the 1999
championship with the Spurs, and Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant started the 2000s with
three consecutive championships for the Lakers. The Spurs reclaimed the title in 2003 against the
Nets. In 2004, the Lakers returned to the Finals, only to fall in five games to the Detroit
Pistons.Kobe and Shaq were greatest duo of all time.Best big man and little man combination.

Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant

After the Spurs took home the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy in 2005, the 2006 Finals
featured two franchises making their inaugural Finals appearances. The Miami Heat, led by their
star shooting guard, Dwyane Wade, and Shaquille O'Neal, who had been traded from the Lakers
during the 2004 summer, won the series over the Dallas Mavericks in 6 after losing the first two
games. The Lakers/Spurs dominance continued in 2007 with a four-game sweep by the Spurs
over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were led by LeBron James. The 2008 Finals saw a rematch of
the league's highest profile rivalry, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, with the Celtics
prevailing, for their league leading 17th championship, thanks to their new big three of Paul
Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett.

In 2009, the Lakers with Kobe Bryant returned to the Finals, this time defeating the Dwight
Howard-led Orlando Magic. Kobe Bryant won his first Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable
Player Award award in his 13th season after leading the Lakers to their first NBA championship
since the departure of Shaquille O'Neal.
The 2010 NBA All-Star Game was held at Cowboys Stadium in front of the largest crowd ever,
108,713.At the end of that season, the Celtics and the Lakers renewed their rivalry from 2008
when they met again in the NBA Finals for a record 12th time. The Lakers won the title in Game
7, 8379. Before the start of the 201011 season the NBA had an exciting summer with one of
the most anticipated free agent classes of all time. Two of which signed, and one resigned, with
the Miami Heat, leading to a season that was heavily centered on their eventual success or failure
at taking home the championship. The Heat, led by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris
Bosh, did in fact make the Finals against the Dallas Mavericks, in a rematch for the franchises of
the 2006 Finals. The Mavericks, led by Dirk Nowitzki (the eventual NBA Finals MVP), took the
series in six games. This was the Mavericks' first title. Other veterans like Shawn Marion, Jason
Kidd, and Jason Terry also won their first titles with Nowitzki.
On July 1, 2011, at 12:01 a.m., the NBA announced another lockout. After the first few weeks of
the season were canceled, the players and owners ratified a new collective bargaining agreement
on December 8, 2011, setting up a shortened 66-game season. Following the shortened season,
the Miami Heat made a return to the Finals with the trio of Dwyane Wade, Lebron James and
Chris Bosh against Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. The
Heat went on to defeat the Thunder in 5 games, capturing their second NBA title in 6 years.

New big three:Lebron James,Dwyane Wade,Chris Bosh

The greatest players of all-time

5. Bill Russell

Points Rebound
s

Assists Steals Blocks FG %

FT %

Titles

MVP
s

Finals MVPs

15.1

4.3

.561

11

N/A

22.5

N/A

N/A

.440

Russells monstrous rebounding numbers need to be put into the context of the era he was
playing, but nonetheless the truth is that he and the Boston Celtics dominated that era. 11 titles
and 5 MVPs? Bill Russell is top five but not higher because although his rebounding and
defensive presence was unparalleled, his offensive skill set was not as impressive. The four
players ahead of him on this list were better combinations of offensive and defensive greatness.
4. Magic Johnson

Points Rebound
s

Assists Steals Blocks FG %

FT %

Titles

MVP
s

Finals MVPs

19.5

11.2

.848

7.2

1.9

0.4

.520

An NBA Finals MVP and the greatest playoff performance in his rookie year provided a hint at
how special Earvin Magic Johnson was. The 69 point guard could truly do it all, and he had
over 10,000 assists in his career which was good for fourth-best all time. However, none of the
three players ahead of Magic had more than 13 points per game over the course of their career
(Jason Kidd, John Stockton, and Mark Jackson)

3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Points Rebound
s

Assists Steals Blocks FG %

FT %

Titles

MVP
s

Finals MVPs

24.6

3.6

.721

11.2

0.9

2.6

.559

Combine a 72 sky-hook with a 69 point guard and you have the dominant Lakers of the
1980s. Winning five championships from 1980-1988, this combination of talent was unparalleled
considering the two are where they are in the discussion for greatest of all time. Abdul-Jabbar
ekes out Magic because he earned twice as many MVP honors, had more titles, and was a more
dominating player. 15 career games of at least nine blocks? Incredible.
2. Kobe Bryant

Points Rebounds

Assists Steals Blocks FG %

FT %

Titles

MVPs

Finals MVPs

25.5

4.7

.838

5.3

1.5

0.5

.453

Kobe Bryants place among the greatest NBA players is a heated debate. His place is often blown
out of proportion because of the comparisons to Michael Jordan. Because the two do have
similar playing styles. What he is doing at this stage in his career is amazing. He belongs in the
top 10 as one of the greatest players of his generation,and greatest players of all-time.He scored
24 game-winning shots,driving the crowd and fans crazy.Well known for his amazing footwork.
His scoring at age 34 is amazing and never seen in NBA and basketball history.

1. Michael Jordan

Points Rebound
s

Assists Steals Blocks FG %

FT %

Titles

MVP
s

Finals MVPs

30.1

5.3

.835

6.2

2.3

0.8

.497

Game changer only begins to describe what this man has done for basketball. Air Jordan got the
NBA to where it is today. Nobody before him did that and nobody after him can do that. In that
regard, MJ is something to be looked up to. All of the reasons why his on-court performance are
so heralded take pages to describe but let the table above suffice for the purposes of this debate.
Michael Jordan is the standard for all those seeking NBA immortality.

Literature:
,,The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to The Sports Guy- Bill Simmons
,,The Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia- Jan Hubbard and David J. Stern
,, The NBA's Greatest Players- John Fawaz
www.nba.com
Wikipedia