Basketball: The Evolution Of American Popular Culture

The History of Basketball

Basketball has been a part of American pastime throughout the many generations, but it wasn’t always loved and accepted by the American people. Throughout the many challenges that the game of basketball faced it still overcame adversity and turned into something so beautiful and successful. The evolution of American basketball can be read as a "text" to reveal the character of American popular culture during the 20th century. Through an analysis of the history of basketball, a generational "image" of the American people will be assembled. This paper will go over the ways in which popular culture, American identity, and basketball combine and reflect one another. “Basket Ball” was a big part of the Lost generation,
which was where it was first introduced by a P.E. teacher, Dr. James Naismith, for Springfield College that was at the time the YMCA training school for professionals. At Springfield College, James Naismith, with the help of Physical Education Specialist Luther Halsey Gulick, invented the game of “Basket Ball” in 1891. His inspiration came from a game he used to play as a young kid where he would try to knock a rock off an object by using another rock to knock it off and from that the game of basketball came about and evolved to what it was at the time. Who knew that with one idea you can create something that would change history as we know it. The first set of rules were created in 1892, where the object was for the teams of nine players to dribble a soccer ball on a court of unknown dimensions and to score points you would have the make the ball in a peach basket that was 10 feet from the ground. What seemed like such a simple game back in the day quickly grew in popularity by both men and women in YMCA’s all over the country. The first official game was played in January 20, 1892 with 9 players, on a court that was about half the size of a modern-day NBA court. In 1893, iron hoops and hammock-style baskets were introduced to the game since the peach baskets were not durable.

At the time, basketball was a very intense and rowdy sport and even though the YMCA’s discouraged the game, that didn’t matter to anybody watching or playing the game. Around 1895, the first backboard was introduced to prevent the fans from interfering with game since the baskets were usually hung on top of balconies. While the sport was growing rapidly, U.S. colleges were the first to accept the sport at their schools by 1896 for both men and women. The history of college basketball set off and the first men’s game took place on January 18, 1896 when the University of Iowa invited student athletes from the University of Chicago for an experimental game, which the final score of the game was: Chicago 15, Iowa 12. For the women the first official college game was in April of 1896 where it was a 9 on 9 between Stanford and Berkeley, in which Stanford won its’ first inter-collegiate game over Berkeley 2-1. At the time, men were boycotted from women’s games and were not allowed to watch the games because it wasn’t considered socially acceptable.

Later on in 1897, they officially set the standard for teams of five and it stuck from there on. Basketball was revolutionizing the country and was so popular that in 1898, the first professional league, National Basketball League, was formed in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and players would make $2.50 for home games and $1.25 for away games. That is so crazy to think that players got paid that much back in the days, to now where the players are getting multi-million dollar contracts like Lebron James, or even Kobe Bryant. In the years before WWI, the Amateur Athletic Union and the Intercollegiate Athletic Association seeked control over the rules for the game to change the game and make it less violent. In the years to come, the game of basketball would forever change into something so big no one at the time would ever think it would become.

With WWI escalating in Europe, the threat of it expanding throughout the world, many men including professional basketball players joined the military since they weren’t exempt from it at all. As the U.S. entered WWI, the shortage of athletes quickly grew and brought an end to two basketball leagues, which were the Interstate Basketball League and the New York State Basketball League. Many leagues failed as well because of the attendance was so small for games that the fans were occupied with the war so the sport’s popularity during the early 1900’s. There were only a few leagues that flourished and stayed around during the war like the New York Celtics, and the Barnstormers, but the Harlem area was the place where basketball gained the most popularity. It helped give the African Americans a sense of importance and also brought the racial tension down because Harlem was where some of the first interracial games were played between the blacks vs. whites. The Harlem Renaissance also gave birth to the New York Rens, who were the first fully black team and the Harlem Globetrotters, who are still around to this day. The New York Rens changed Americas game of basketball forever when they began to play white teams since it drew more crowds especially with the whites and it gave them the opportunity to show that they were the best in the nation. December 20, 1925, the Rens recorded their first victory over the white world champions, the New York Celtics. Once WWI ended, the professional basketball leagues started back up around 1919-1920.

During the G.I.
generation, basketball was only second tier sport and was only attended if there wasn’t a hockey game or football game. Since the attendance was so low it forced many teams, and leagues to shut down monthly, and only a select few were able to stay around, which were the New York Rens, New York Celtics, SPHA’s, and the Germans. When people thought all was lost and basketball could be the thing of the past, everything changed in 1925, when the American Basketball League was created. This league was made up of only a select few teams that were owned by small corporations like Firestone and Healey Motors and were pretty successful for the next couple years, but with the Great Depression starting most of the teams disbanded. They tried to keep the league alive while in the middle of the Great Depression, but it just wasn’t successful since Americans didn’t have the money to enjoy such luxurious things like a basketball game. The last straw was when the Stock Market Crash of 1929 eventually hit the league so hard they finally had to stop play during the seasons of 1931-32 and 1932-1933, since money was so scarce and those who had it held it
tight.
Yet during these hard times, somehow basketball still managed to survive. The result in making no money meant that the players sometimes had a shortage in uniforms or even basketballs and would have to play with half flat basketballs. The 1930’s didn’t really affect or change the game in any major way, but did add its’ own aspect to the game. After stopping 1933-34 season, the ABL decided to resume play again, but still faced low attendance from Americans, since they were more focused on eating and paying bills more than they were on watch a basketball game. One event that had a huge impact on basketball was the Dust Bowl in 1935, which was a huge storm that covered five states and was so bad that many people had to abandon their cars. The storm was so bad that a Regional Tournament at Garden City and Hays, in Kansas, had to suspend play because the dust was so bad that the visibility even with the lights made the games impossible to play. They also wanted didn’t want to endanger their players’ health.
As the leagues were slowly suffering one team had a great importance on American race and social equality, the New York Rens. This was the first all-black professional team that was actually very dominant in their time that in one season alone they went 112-7. Even though they were successful they weren’t accepted socially or professionally because of their race. This didn’t bother them at all and they kept doing what they do best, which was winning and with that eventually helped push social equality. The New York Rens helped make way for another all-black team to surface, the Harlem Globetrotters. The difference between these two was that the Rens played serious and the Globetrotters, formed by Abe Saperstein in 1927, were flashy and all for entertainment. These two teams weren’t really rivals, but when they played each other the games were memorable. One of those games was in the third round of the 1939 world professional basketball tournament in Chicago, where the Rens defeated the Globetrotters 27-23. The Rens would end up winning the tournament by defeating the Oshkosh All-Stars 34-25. Even though the Rens weren’t remembered as much as the Globetrotters, their importance and impact on social equality could be the main reason they were around.
With the failure of the American Basketball League arising, it actually helped another side of basketball to gain popularity during the 30’s, which was college basketball. In the late 1930’s was when Intercollegiate Athletic Association changed its’ name the National Collegiate Athletic Association or what we know as the NCAA. The new name of the NCAA also came with new ideas to boost popularity and help change the game of basketball. This generation was when March Madness and National Invitation Tournament was first born and soon to be one of Americans favorite events in the history of the US. Now many professional leagues were not afraid of the NCAA because amateurs were only eligible to play for 4 years and so they didn’t fear that it would affect them in anyway. One historic event in this time was in 1936 when James Naismith was invited to watch basketball become an Olympic sport in Berlin.
In 1937, the midcourt line was created to speed up the game and the National Basketball League was again created by three corporations: General Electric, Firestone and Goodyear. Both the NBL and the ABL were trying to appeal to different types of Americans whether they were the rich or just farmers and blue collar workers. In 1939 the father of basketball, James Naismith, passed away before actually seeing the game grow into what it has today. Around this time was when the first basketball game was televised in February 28, 1940 at Madison Square Garden between Fordham and the University of Pittsburgh. These leagues were still struggling with the poor economy and as well the threat of World War II happening. They had to shorten the amount of games from 33 to 16 in their seasons as well as for the playoffs in the 1940-1941 season.
When the next season came about both leagues hoped that this would be the season of change and that there would be more success. They began seeing more profit as well as the NCAA in the month of November and play since teams were equal and the games were more competitive. Everything was going great until Monday December 8, 1941 when people woke up to read the newspaper and saw that Japan had attacked the US Navy Fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor. This was when the US had no choice but to enter WWII , and with that the leagues temporarily stopped play since many players enlisted for the war. Weeks later they tried to resume play but it really didn’t catch the eye of many Americans since they were so preoccupied with the war, and the NBL was the only league to really have any success at all. It wasn’t until 1945-1946, when WWII finally ended with the US victorious once again, the birth of Basketball Association of America, which was a key piece to the creation of the “NBA.”
The silent generation was an era where once WWII was over people were able to go back to living normal lives and try doing the things they would before the Great Depression. One of those things that Americans would go back to doing was being able to have the luxury of watching basketball games. Also now that many soldiers were done with the war they were now able to have a chance of playing basketball, increasing the talent and players in all leagues including the NCAA. Bob “the Houdini of the hardwood” Cousy was one of the players that was dominating the college level for Holy Cross with his flashy style and George Mikan was another major player for the Chicago Gears in the ABL. With that and many other things, came a huge boost in the economy that looked very promising for America and its’ state of well-being.
While the NBL and the NCAA were flourishing with success, the ABL still had a tough time and since success was on their minds, the ABL owners of the major cities and one Canadian owner decided to create a league in 1946 to compete with the NBL and the ABL. And with that the Basketball Association of America was formed in hopes of being around for a long time. This was the first league to attempt to play mainly in large arenas in major cities. The BAA would pay their players $2,000 a season and another $2,000 if they won the title at the end of the season. The teams for the league were the Washington Capitols, the Philadelphia Warriors, New York Knickerbockers, Providence Steamrollers, Toronto Huskies, Boston Celtics(The Original Celtics), Chicago Stags, St Louis Bombers, Detroit Falcons, Cleveland Rebels and Pittsburgh Ironmen. The season was 60 games long and the playoffs were setup like the other leagues to where the division winners got a first round bye like the NBL, and the playoff seeds went by overall record not division standings like the ABL had. The Philadelphia Warriors won the first BAA title beating the Chicago Stags in an intense 5 games in 1946-47season.
The 47-48 season saw the most growth for the NBL compared to the other leagues and some teams changed their names as well. One of the teams that changed their names was the Detroit Gems that moved to Minneapolis and then renamed themselves the Lakers. Also they picked up George Mikan, a big man, who was the most dominate player of his time, ultimately leading the Lakers to the Championship easily defeating the Rochester Royals in 4 games. Around this time some of the rules had been changed like instead of having 5 fouls per game it was now 6 and also the team roster was increased from 10 to 12. While things started changing, the ABL was on its’ last leg just holding on for dear life since many of the leagues’ teams disbanded or left to the BAA. In the 48-49 season four teams of the NBL, which were the Minneapolis Lakers, the Rochester Royals, the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons and the Indianapolis Kautsky’s moved to the BAA. August 3, 1949 was the year when the ABL finally faded and the NBL was losing many teams, so the BAA agreed to merge with the remaining NBL teams creating the National Basketball Association.
The new league had seventeen teams at the beginning located through many large and small cities. African Americans still hadn’t made their way into the professional leagues even though there were teams like the Rens and the Globetrotters were playing against white teams. That all changed in 1950 when the first African American, Chuck Cooper, was drafted by the Boston Celtics and others joined him as well that year like Nat Clifton, who signed with the Knicks, and Earl Lloyd, who played for Washington. Earl Lloyd was the first African American to play in an NBA game. The racial tension was still around, but players like these eventually paved the way for racial equality as well as acceptance.
During 1953-1954, the NBA downsized their franchises from seventeen to eleven and then finally to eight teams, moving each team to a major city. Each player would be a paid $5,000 a season and since it wasn’t a lot the players would usually find other work in the offseason. Professional basketball was a rapid rise in the 50s, but college basketball was on a whole other level and that’s where all the fans were. In 1954, NBC paid $7,500 for the first national broadcast TV rights to an NCAA title game which in today’s dollars would’ve been right around $60,000. The NBA had some TV exposure on the Dumont Network, but at the time it was a second-tier sport compared to college basketball or any other sport for that matter like baseball, and football. Some of the reasons why the fans were turning to college basketball were because they were turned off by the NBA and the way game was changing. The Lakers were a dominating force winning 5 of the 6 seasons and championships from 1949-1954.
Even with the league changing its’ rules the Lakers was still the best, but it made the game harder to watch since they had a lack of rules that would limit fouls and the stalling. The games became more like a rough-housing, dragged out game that became more like a free-throw shooting contest. The way the players played the game, holding the ball for the whole game, upset the fans since they paid to see an entertaining game and instead it was the opposite. The game’s image was being ruined by this and another thing that didn’t help either was when a basketball player, Jack Molinas, was caught gambling on his own team, which was the first time something like this had ever happened in pro basketball. He was banned from the sport by Commissioner Maurice Podoloff, but the damage was done to the sport and something had to be done to get the fans back.
1954-1955 was the turning point for the NBA when they signed a contract with NBC for one season after the Dumont Network folded. Even with TV exposure the NBA was slowly failing because of the way the game was played. One of the games that had a chance for some TV exposure was the Knicks vs. the Celtics, which ended in a 95 foul game, embarrassing the NBA’s image and was switched even before the game was over. It wasn’t until the owner of the Syracuse Nationals, Danny Biasone, introduced the idea of the 24 second shot clock as well as the foul limit in hopes of bringing the fans back. The team foul limit was stated as only a certain amount of fouls could be committed in a single quarter, and after the limit was reached any foul after would result in free throws. These concepts really saved professional basketball and changed the way the game was played for the better. Now that the players couldn’t hold the ball for the whole game, scoring went up dramatically making the game a lot more entertaining to watch.
On April 29, 1956, Bill Russell was drafted by the Boston Celtics, marking the beginning of what would be an amazing career for him. He was so good that he was MVP and rookie of the year in the same year, something that has only been done by one other person later on, Wes Unseld. In the 1959 NBA Draft, another NBA legend, Wilt Chamberlain, was drafted by the Philadelphia Warriors. These two players dominated the game for the next 10 years and could be considered the first rivals of the game that helped put the NBA on the map, helping to popularize the sport to levels never seen before they were around. With the breaking of the color barrier the NBA was dominated by black stars like Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, and Oscar Robertson. There were some white stars as well including Jerry Lucas and Jerry West. 1959 was also the year that the Basketball Hall of Fame was founded in Springfield, Massachusetts. 1960 was another significant year when the USA basketball team won the Olympics behind Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas and Walt Bellamy.
In the 1962-63 season Bob Cousy, a legendary white player, retired as well as Coach Red Auerbach who won a record 9 titles with the Celtics.
Another historic event was on March, 2 1962 when Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a game over the New York Knicks and no one would ever beat this record to this day. As the NBA grew more and more with huge success as attendance was higher than it has ever been as well television ratings. With that the increase in revenue was massive especially in television and with more money coming in; problems between the owners and players started arising. This historic event would soon change the wages of professional basketball players forever. That would give rise to the Baby Boomer generation and the NBA would soon rise to the
top.
During the Baby Boomer generation, in 1963-64 the NBA’s television exposure was rapidly increasing and the revenue was increasing as well and this created problems for the players as well since they felt they should get a cut of the profits that were being made. Going into the All Star Game in Boston, players complained about their low wages, extended traveling, and no pension at all. Two hours before the game started the All-Star players let Commissioner Walter Kennedy know that they wouldn’t play the game if there was no pension plan implemented with the owners. As if that weren’t the only problem, ABC said that if the players didn’t play then they would scratch the whole TV contract. That didn’t give the commissioner much of a choice and he then told the players that he would construct an agreement to make it happen. This was literally the first victory for the NBA’s Player’s Association as well the first player’s union victory in American sports history. The NBA Players Association was also the first union to create the collective bargaining agreement with the owners of the league. This resolved many problems for the players of the time, but there was still a problem with racial equality. With the 60s being a time of integration, it was still a divided nation and while the American fans of the NBA were mainly white, the game of basketball was growing with more and more flashy black stars every day, creating a problem. Regardless of the problem the NBA still succeeded with attendance of games topping 2.5 million and with that the ABC signed a contract worth $4 million for a five-year TV deal. TV exposure was a big part of the game evolving it and having a huge part on the player’s salaries as well as keeping the league afloat. Many teams like the Minneapolis Lakers and the St. Louis Hawks relocated to from small market cities to Los Angeles(Lakers), and Atlanta(Hawks). There wasn’t really a justified explanation how their TV exposure would change by moving there, but I’m pretty sure now there is no need for explanation. In 1967 the NBA faced a challenge with two leagues being created, which were the ABL and the ABA. Even though the ABL only lasted about a year and a half because they didn’t get the promotion and sponsors they needed, the ABA created the most challenges for the NBA and its’ success. George Mikan was the first commissioner for the ABA, and they landed Rick Barry as their first player to sign with the Oakland Oaks. The ABA had eleven franchises, trying to lure the NBA players away and the rookies out of college. The difference between the NBA and ABA was that players from college couldn’t enter the NBA until they finished 4 years of college and the ABA had no such clause. This difference right here was a major factor for star college players that didn’t want to stay in college for that long and since they were rejected by the NBA they would end up in the ABA. One example would be Spencer Haywood from University of Detroit, who tried to leave college after his second year of college but was rejected by the NBA because of their clause and the ABA immediately claimed him. The NBA saw this as a huge advantage for the ABA and signing away top players so they had to do something. During this time in 1969 the NBA created its now famous logo with Jerry West being the iconic image on it. In 1971 after many talks and negotiations the two leagues came to an agreement and a merger was formed where the NBA would take ten of the eleven franchises and in result the ABA would drop its antitrust suit against the NBA. In 1972, Julius “Dr. J” Erving was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks for the ABA league, and would soon be thought of to be a main reason for the merger for his style of play and flashy dunks. When everything seemed to go right the Player’s Association were against the merger, and filed a lawsuit known as the Oscar Robertson suit that lasted five years. Spencer Haywood eventually went to the NBA after being in the ABA for a year, even though they didn’t usually take players that didn’t finish four years of college, being signed by the Seattle Supersonics. In 1974, Utah drafted big man Moses Malone straight out of high school, ending the ban on drafting high school players or even players that haven’t played four years of college. With the Oscar Robertson suit still lingering on and the ABA enticing NBA players to join their league, making their league very successful, the NBA had to do something quick. By the summer of 1976 the NBA got sick and tired of waiting for this all to come to an end and so an agreement was reached. Only four ABA franchises joined the NBA, which were Denver, New York, San Antonio, and Indiana. Each franchise had to pay $3.2 million to enter the league, and couldn’t receive any TV revenue for three years or take part in the 1976 draft. In the agreement the NBA also agreed to get rid of the reserve clause and allow free agency in the league and with that salaries began to increase rapidly even more. The NBA hoped with this resolved that they could go back to normal, but they were in for another surprise. Teams were being added by team by the expansion and the merger, and even some of the big stars took the stage, but all was not well the league. The NBA’s contract with ABC expired and they didn’t want to renew another one so the only choice they had was to go with CBS. The only downfall was that they wouldn’t promote their league like ABC did since college football and the Wide World of Sports had more of the focus, both having higher ratings than the NBA. The NBA was falling in darkness with drugs becoming a huge problem in the sport, with drugs, and fighting occurring often. The 70s were known as the “Cocaine Era” for the NBA. In 1977, a game between Lakers and the Houston Rockets, a fight broke, and Houston’s Rudy Tomjanovich ran towards the huge brawl, only to be met with a fist in the face by Lakers Kermit Washington. Tomjanovich was in the intensive care for two weeks with a broken jaw, nose, a fractured face, and skull from hitting the ground so hard he could taste his spinal fluid. What also didn’t help the league was that Washington was black and Tomjanovich was white. Attendance was dropping fast as well as television ratings, hurting the NBA’s image once again. It was so bad that the CBS would tape delay NBA’s games, and playoffs, meaning most people saw these games on TV after midnight. One important event that gave the NBA some hope would be on September 7, 1979, a new cable television network called ESPN had its debut. It was a 24 hour sports channel with a program that came on nightly called Sportscenter that showed highlights from different sports, which definitely helped out the NBA the most by far. In the 1979-1980 season the three-point line was introduced, giving the game a new and exciting identity that took some time to get used to. This season also saw the arrival of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, who would set the tone for fame and stardom in this decade. These two players would also be another great rival of their time in the NBA. The league would endure a dark age and it wouldn’t be until the 80s that they would be able to come back from this and change its image altogether.
Now that the merger was in full effect the NBA could finally focus on what it set out to do and only look up from here. With the 80s and 90s being an important part for the game of basketball and its’ growth, this was only the beginning of what was known as Generation X. The early 80s came with NBC signing the NBA from CBS for $750 million over four years. The NBA’s popularity was on an unexpected rise after the merger, but there were still the problems lingering from the 70s that were faced like, drugs, players’ wages, and the image of the NBA. It wasn’t until 1983 that the NBA and the players’ union signed a collective bargaining agreement. This now introduced two key components to the game, which the first was the salary cap. This eliminated any franchise to buy a championship as well as drag someone’s contract out like Magic Johnson’s contract when he was got $25 million over 25 years. That is insanely ridiculous especially because it was rare to see any player play for that many seasons period. It also helped to level the playing field to where each team now had a fair chance at signing a star player for their franchise in hopes of winning a championship. The second component that was introduced was a new drug policy that consisted of the “Three Strikes” method. The first strike was suspension, the second would be suspension and the teams’ option to waive the player, and if there was a third strike then it would be a ban from the game forever that could be reviewable by the league after two years. They hoped by implementing this new policy that this would slowly rebuild their image into something positive again. While the NBA was still trying to rebuild its image, the rivalry of superstars Larry Bird and Magic Johnson would help them to recover for the next decade with their entertaining battles. The Lakers and Celtics would be the two most dominant teams in the 80’s, with the Lakers winning 5 championships and the Celtics winning 3. Now between the two players Bird and Magic would win six MVPs in the 80s as well. They were the superstars of the time, but as their dominance remained, one man would soon surpass everyone to becoming a legend and the best player ever to play the game of basketball. This man would be Michael Jordan who would be drafted 3rd overall by the Chicago Bulls in 1984 after what would be now know as the most controversial 2nd pick of Sam Bowie by the Portland Trailblazers. Before even joining the NBA he already inked a deal with Nike to market his own brand of shoes and that was something that had never been done before. On the court, Michael Jordan did not waste any time on showing the NBA what he could by leading the Bulls in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals, but it still wasn’t enough to help cure them of their losing ways. He won Rookie of the Year and was selected as an All-Star after showing a high level of basketball talent in his first year. In Jordan’s second year in 1986, only 3 games into the season he broke his leg. He had to sit out for 80% of the season, but then returned to action after management suggested he sit out the rest of the season. That was something he didn’t want to hear even though he could possible hurt his career if hurt again. With only 15 games left he was faced with a challenge to get his team into the playoffs and he did just that. Even though they were swept by the Celtics in the first round, the third game of the series definitely showed that Jordan would make his presence known in the game by scoring 63 points in double OT before they ended up losing. Everyone was amazed of what Michael Jordan did and Larry Bird said, “He is the most exciting, awesome player in the game today. I think it’s just God disguised as Michael Jordan.” The Celtics would end up winning the championship. This was only the beginning for Jordan and his greatness on the court and off the court with his brand. The Celtics were the main reason why the Bulls never made it to the finals in the 80s. In the late 80’s the Detroit Pistons with Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Bill Laimbeer, and Dennis Rodman were the “Bad Boys” squad that silenced Michael Jordan and ran away with two titles. Even with the ups and downs, Michael was still thirsty and determined to win a championship.
Bird and Johnson’s dominance began to fade in the late 80s and as that happened; the 90s belonged to other starts like Clyde Drexler, Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, John Stockton, Kareem Abdul-Jabar, but mainly Michael Jordan and the Bulls. They won 6 titles in the 90s doing two three-peats, the first one was from ’91-‘93 and the other ’96-’98. During that time Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, and the Rockets won two titles in between those three-peats when Michael Jordan retired for almost 2 years after his father was murdered. Another significant event during the Bulls era was in 1992 when the Olympics in Barcelona were near and the Dream Team was formed. The Olympic teams usually consisted of college players, but this year was different when instead they assembled a group of the best US players in the world to create the “Dream Team.” The roster consisted of Jordan, Magic, Bird, Barkley, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen (Jordan’s Bulls teammate), Stockton, Chris Mullin, Clyde Drexler and Christian Laettner who was the only college senior. They dominated the Olympics winnings games by an average of 44 points eventually winning gold. They set out what they wanted to accomplish, which was to help the game grow worldwide. While at the Olympics, Barcelona treated the Dream Team like superstars especially Michael Jordan, who couldn’t walk out in public without getting surrounded by hundreds of fans. Jordan was a huge star all over world at the time and everybody wanted to “Be Like Mike,” buying his shoes, and anything that had to do with him. This opened the doors for many present and future athletes to do the same and make revenue from endorsements other than just their NBA salary.
The 80s were where endorsements for players like shoe deals and other things that started to surface and players like Julius “Dr. J” Erving had his own with Converse, but it wasn’t until the late 80s early 90s when the shoe game exploded. Michael Jordan was a global icon and a key to it all with his enticing commercials and advertising for his shoes. Every year since 1985, they came out with a new Air Jordan that was a must on everyone’s shopping list. In 1991, he also had an endorsement deal with Gatorade that helped spark their popularity as well. Now there were other stars like Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, Penny Hardaway, Magic Johnson, Scottie Pippen, and many more that had their own shoe deals, but none of their sales compared to what Jordan’s brand brought in. His shoes were such a hit that in1997 Jordan broke all ties with the Nike and set off to create his own brand that would later become a billion dollar company. The 90s was definitely the Jordan Era because what he brought to the game and to the players as well makes him a legend forever on and off the court to this day.
1995 marked a place in history when Kevin Garnett went from high school to the NBA, being the 1st person in 20 years to be drafted into the NBA straight from high school. There was no rule against, and Garnett was drafted 5th by the Minnesota Timberwolves. The next year another soon to be basketball legend Kobe Bryant was to enter the draft straight out of Lower Merion High School and get drafted to the Charlotte Hornets and then traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. This brought more of the top talent out from high school to join the NBA, ultimately hurting the college game. Many of the players that came out of high school didn’t do too well either mainly due to the fact of immaturity and just thinking of the money to provide for their families.
In 1996, the Chicago Bulls defeat the Washington Wizards to finish 72-10, which was the best record ever. This was the same year that the Women’s National Basketball Association was created. In 1998 following the 1997-98 season there were problems between the owners and the players and the tension grew fast. NBA players were now the highest paid athletes in the U.S. with an average salary of $1.8 million compared to other sports like $1.2 million for baseball, $650,000 for football, and $600,000 for hockey. Even though there was a salary cap in place it still wasn’t strict one and there was a divide in the league between big-market teams who had money and the small-market teams that didn’t have convenience because of financial restrictions. Since no one could come up with an agreement, on July 1, 1998, the owners locked out the players. Both sides continued to meet during the summer, but no agreement could be reached on a new collective bargaining agreement, and eventually the following season games were slowly cancelled putting the whole season in jeopardy.
Commissioner David Stern then imposed a January 7th deadline, saying if no agreement would be made then the entire season would be cancelled. January 6th, was the day that David Stern and the head of the players’ union agreed to a deal. When the deal was signed on January 20th the season finally began in February 5th with a 50 game season, in which the Spurs won the NBA championship that season. With the new deal there was still no “hard cap” put into place that restricted how much a team could spend on players, only salary limitations. This lockout hurt the NBA and everyone knew it was a loss for the league in general and for the next 5 years TV ratings dropped.
Jordan’s era finally came to an end during The Millennial generation started with what was a huge mark in history when Michael Jordan retired in 1999, ending the Jordan Era after his last championship of six with the Bulls victory over Karl Malone, John Stockton and the Jazz. Television ratings for the NBA weren’t the same after Jordan’s departure, in which the league could see Jordan’s impact on the game and wondered if they could ever find a player that would appeal to fans once again. In 1999 the NBA started its own television channel called NBA TV that was leased to Turner Broadcasting system. This channel was dedicated to American basketball and was first called nbatv.com. In 2003 the channel was expanded to about 45 million American homes and 30 other countries as well after a deal with Time Warner Cable and Cox Productions. Once NBA TV gave over most of its control to Turner Sports the channel was renovated and then re-launched in 2008, having major cable and satellite companies like DirectTV, Verizon FiOS, Dish Network, and some others signed deals to add the channel. This ended up turning into a major success with the NBA and its expansion. While Jordan retired the 20th century saw a big rebirth of basketball superstars like Kobe Bryant, traded by the Charlotte Hornets, and Shaquille O’Neal, who was the most dominant big man of his era, when they were acquired by the Lakers in the same year. Championship basketball was now back in Los Angeles with the Lakers when Phil Jackson became the coach for the Lakers and they won the NBA finals in 2000.
Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant would become one of the greatest duos in history, along with other duos such as Karl Malone and John Stockton, Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, and Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. They eventually won 3 championships together for the Lakers with historical performances. Their dominance couldn’t be stopped until Tim Duncan and David Robinson known as the “Twin Towers” and the Spurs ended their title run winning 3 of the titles in the next six years. The other three years during that time were won by a different team each season like the Detroit Pistons winning the 2003-04 season defeating the Lakers, the Miami Heat winning the 2005-06 defeating the Mavericks, and then the Boston Celtics defeating the Lakers. After the Shaq and Kobe Era, Kobe Bryant took over the Lakers as his own and Jerry Buss built a championship team around him hoping for more championship rings. Like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant had the same mindset and was determined to the get the Lakers back in to the championship race. With the addition of Pau Gasol in 2008 in trade with the Memphis Grizzlies, Kobe knew his time was near. The Lakers presence was felt all throughout this decade and it wasn’t until the 2008-09 season that Kobe would bring them back to the finals and win the Championship and follow up with doing the same in the 2009-10 season. Kobe’s greatness has always been compared to the likeness of Michael Jordan on and off the court.
The new millennium brought it with new talent and many young players that were expected to rise to the occasion and be like Michael Jordan receiving huge contracts in return. Michael Jordan actually tried to come back to the league in 2001 after giving up his part of his share of the Washington Wizards and signed a two year contract for the league minimum. In his last 2 years of the league the Wizards never made the playoffs but only drew in fans to watch Jordan play. In 2003 there were two players that had probably the biggest hype of all time in NBA history a year before they even entered the NBA draft was close. You had the high school basketball star, Lebron “King” James, from Akron, Ohio, that was expected to dominate the NBA when he entered. The other was Carmelo “Melo” Anthony, a freshman for Syracuse University, who won the National Championship as a freshman and was awarded the Final Fours’ Most Outstanding Player of the tourney. They both had huge sponsors waiting for the two players to sign some endorsement deals worth millions of dollars. Lebron James became an instant millionaire before even playing in the NBA by signing a massive contract with Nike for $90 million over 7 years. Lebron James was drafted 1st overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers and Carmelo Anthony was drafted 3rd by the Denver Nuggets fueling the fire for yet another legendary rivalry for the new millennium. Neither player disappointed in their rookie year with Carmelo Anthony averaging 21.0 points per game and Lebron James averaging 20.9 points per game outlasting Carmelo for the Rookie of the Year Award. These two players have continued to dominant the NBA throughout the 20th century, both being the best at their respected positions and loved by the fans being all-stars every year since they have been in the league except the 2009 season when Carmelo wasn’t selected. Lebron James has won MVP three times and finally won his first Championship a year after signing with the Heat in the 2011-12 season defeating the Oklahoma Thunder.
Since the NBA has grown so much with fans globally, 2011 would mark another event in history when the first regular season games were ever played in European soil at London’s O2 Arena with the Toronto Raptors vs. New Jersey Nets. It was an epic showdown between both teams ending in two great games with the Nets winning both. This was something that David Stern looked at this as an opportunity to promote basketball ahead of the 2012 London Olympics. This event brought forth many other games in the upcoming years in London bringing the game to new heights. As the 2012 London Olympics came around the US was figuring out who was going to be on this roster. After weeks of tryouts and scrimmages, USA basketball announced their 2012 roster with the following players: Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Russell Westbrook, Kobe Bryant, James Harden, LeBron James, Andre Iguodala, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, Tyson Chandler and soon to be NBA rookie Anthony Davis. This team had so much talent that they were quickly compared to the 1992 Dream Team and some would say that they might even be better. There was so much criticism about this statement that many people said just wait until the Olympic games start and see what happens. The USA men’s basketball team finished the Olympics with an 8-0 record winning the gold, beating their opponents by an average of 32.1 points per game. Their offense was so ridiculous in each game that they average 115.5 points a game as well and had a 1.8 points a game margin difference between the 1992 Dream Team. The 2012 team was so talented that they ranked first in every offensive team statistical category except for free throw percentage. Their stats spoke for the team itself and showed how dominant they were in the 2012 London Olympics, giving the NBA more exposure.
More recently this past week has been a huge turning point in the NBA when Jason Collins, a player from the Washington Wizards, became the first the active athlete from any of the major four sports to come out publicly gay. He was automatically shown support from his teammates, the white house and even tennis legend Martina Navratilova, who is a pioneer for gay athletes in sports. He revealed his secret in a published article in Sports Illustrated, saying he became frustrated with the fact of him having to keep quiet about his sexuality and finally came out and said “I 'm a 34-year-old NBA center," his essay began. "I 'm black. And I 'm gay." Jason Collins isn’t a star or well-known player, but with this incident it definitely brought him some fame and spotlight as well. It is also an important part of history in professional sports and the Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual, and Transgender Community breaking barriers that have in the past might have never been accepted or understood. Jason’s courage and the guts to come out like this has changed the game of basketball forever as well as its image.
The NBA is now bigger than ever and is now one of America’s favorite sports of all time. It only took so long for the NBA to achieve this goal that they’ve been trying to achieve when the NBA first started. This game has grown so much over the years and turned into something so loved by fans not only in America, but all over the world. It gave fans role models to look up to and want to be like them when they were growing up. This game that once started off with an old soccer ball and peach baskets in a small playing court, transforming into a genuine leather stitched basketball and a steel rim, playing in huge arenas like Madison Square Garden. The sky’s the limit for the NBA with its growing potential and who knows how the game will be like 20 years from now. Looking back at how basketball has evolved through years makes you appreciate how the generations impacted the game and made it what is today.

Works Cited

"A Brief History of Basketball." History Of The Game Of Basketball. Copyright © 2013
Saperecom LLC, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.

Aufses, Michael. "The NBA 's Best Decade? The 1980s." Dime Magazine. N.p., 19 Jan. 2011.
Web. 30 Apr. 2013.

"Basketball History." BallHistory. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2013.

"Basketball Historian - Part of the Sports Historian Network." Basketball Historian. Copyright © 2006 - 2013 Basketballhistorian.com, n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2013.

"Basketball Origins, Growth and History of the Game." ThePeopleHistory. Copyright © 2004 / 2013, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.

"Basketball Origins, Growth and History of the Game." ThePeopleHistory. Copyright © 2004 / 2013, n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.

"Basketball Origins, Growth and History of the Game." ThePeopleHistory. Copyright © 2004 / 2013, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2013.

Bellis, Mary. "History of Basketball - James Naismith." Inventors.about. Copyright 2013 About.com, n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2013. Chandler, Helen. "London Hosts First Regular-season NBA Game Played in Europe." CNN. Cable News Network, 07 Mar. 2011. Web. 02 May 2013.

Faurschou, Bran. "The History of the NBA: Part II." NBAHoopsOnline. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.

Faurschou, Bran. "The History of the NBA: Part II." NBAHoopsOnline. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.

"First College Basketball Game." Americas Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2013.

"Games of the XXXth Olympiad -- 2012." USA Basketball:. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2013.

"History of Basketball." Articlesbase. Copy 2005-2013 Free Articles, 04 Oct. 2007. Web. 05 Apr. 2013.

"History of Basketball." Articlesbase.com. © 2005-2013 Free Articles, 04 Oct. 2007. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.

"How Carmelo Anthony Changed the NCAA Tournament Forever." Bleacher Report. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2013.

Jessop, Alicia. "London Calling: NBA Stages Possible European Expansion With NBA London Live 2013." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 17 Jan. 2013. Web. 02 May 2013.

"Jordan Brand History." JordanLuver17. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2013.

K, John. "Vintage 1993 Nike Basketball Comic Book Ads." Sneaker News. N.p., 24 Mar. 2013. Web. 30 Apr. 2013.

"Lakers Acquire Gasol From Grizzlies." NBA.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2013.

"Lebron James Bio." ESPN. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2013.

Linden, Julian. "Breaking a Sports Barrier, NBA 's Jason Collins Comes out as Gay." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 29 Apr. 2013. Web. 04 May 2013.

Molina, John. "The History of Women 's Basketball." Womens Basketball Museum. Copyright 2005 Molina Collection, n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2013.

"NBA.com: Most Valuable Player." NBA.com: Most Valuable Player. Copyright 2013 NBA Media Ventures, LLC | Turner Sports Interactive, Inc, n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.

"NBA.com: NBA Finals: All-Time Champions." NBA.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2013.

"NBA.com: The First Game." NBA.com: The First Game. Copyright 2013 NBA Media Ventures, LLC | Turner Sports Interactive, Inc., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.

"NBA Is Born." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.

"NBA TV." Cable.TV. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2013.

Robertson, Stephen. "Basketball in 1920s Harlem." Digital Harlem Blog. N.p., 03 June 2011. Web. 07 Apr. 2013.

Sachare, Alex. "NBA.com: Michael Jordan Career Retrospective." NBA. Copyright 2001 NBA Media Ventures, LLC, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2013.

Sarmento, Mario R. "The NBA on Network Television: A Historical Analysis." Thesis. University of Florida, 1998. Print.