NBA's Warriors Add Golden State; Drop San Francisco

On July 16, 1971, the National Basketball Association San Francisco Warriors, add Golden State, and take away San Francisco from their name.

The San Diego Evening Tribune reports that the San Francisco Warriors will play half of their home games on the 1972 schedule in Oakland, with the other half to be played in San Diego. With the team moving out of San Francisco, it was also reported that the team would be changing its name to the "Golden State Warriors," so as to identify with both the cities of Oakland and San Diego.

As it turned out, the Warriors only played six games in San Diego that year, and then switched to playing in Oakland full-time. But they kept the "Golden State" name anyway, making them the only team in the NBA to not include their city or state in their name (although California's state motto was "the Golden State.")

The team would also change their logo, which was supposed to compensate for the confusion some fans had when they asked, "Where do the Golden State Warriors play?" The Warriors' new logo featured the outline of California, and had a blue star positioned on the edge of the state where the Bay Area was located.

As unique as it was, the Warriors weren't the only Oakland sports team to go this route.

One year earlier, the Oakland Seals of the NHL changed their name to the "California Golden Seals." Besides dropping the "Oakland" from their title, the Seals had also moved out of San Francisco.

In 1976, the Seals moved east and became the Cleveland Barons, where they lasted for two seasons before folding.

However, the Golden State might drop from the teams name as the team has proposed to build a 17,000-to-19,000-seat waterfront arena on Piers 30 and 32 in San Francisco on a 13-acre site near the Bay Bridge they hope to finish in time for the 2017-18 NBA season, when the team's lease at the Oracle Arena in Oakland expires

Since being named the Golden State Warriors, the Bay Area’s sole basketball franchise has won one NBA Championship coming in the 1974-1975 season, where the team beat the Washington Bullets in a four-game sweep, with home games being played in Oakland and San Francisco.

Since that 1974-1975 season the Warriors have struggled to get back to the NBA Finals obtaining only one Division Title coming in 1976.

Last years playoff appearance for the Warriors was only their third in the last 20 years, and second in the last two years. However, this year they were unable to reach the second round again falling to the higher seeded Los Angeles Clippers

This off-season the Golden State Warriors have made and have tried to make several more moves to bolster their lineup for the upcoming season including trying to trade for Kevin Love who the Warriors General Manager Bob Myers said is the right piece to put the Warriors over the hump and playing for the Western Conference Championship, similar to what he said last year when the club signed Andre Iguodala.

Golden State Warriors Upset The Dallas Mavericks

On May 3, 2007, the Golden State Warriors completed one of the biggest upsets in sports history with a game-six win, taking the Western Conference Quarterfinals from the NBA Leading Dallas Mavericks.

It all started in April though, the Golden State Warriors were done. After a one-point loss in Washington, where the deciding point came from a technical foul by head coach Don Nelson in the final seconds, the Warriors had lost six in a row. They were nine games under .500 and Nelson was already looking ahead to the next season.



The Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Dallas Mavericks in 2007.

But in their next game, the team - fresh off of a trade in which they acquired Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington. They Warriors into Detroit, one of the best teams in the NBA at the time, and destroyed them, leading by 26 at point.

Golden State won 16 of their final 21 games and nine of their last ten to advance to the postseason for the first time in 13 years.

The Warriors met the Dallas Mavericks in the first round, a team Don Nelson had coached only a few years earlier. The Warriors were the only team to beat the Mavericks three times and had won six of the last seven meetings with them.

But with the Warriors as an eight-seed, and the Mavericks as the best team in basketball, no one gave them much of a chance.

Nevertheless, the upset took place. Backed by a raucous home crowd, the Warriors defeated the Mavericks in just six games. Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson, and Matt Barnes had the series of their lives, while the Mavericks appeared rattled by the Warriors’ unorthodox style.

 Baron Davis and the "We Believe" crowd at Oracle after a Game 6 upset of the Dallas Mavericks.

Nelson went small-ball on the Mavs, playing small forward Al Harrington at center, shooting guard Stephen Jackson at power forward, and Monta Ellis at shooting guard.

In the end, their frenetic style was simply too much for the Mavs. On May 3, the Warriors completed the upset by crushing the Mavericks, 111-86 in Game 6. It was the first time in American sports that a team that won 25 games less than its opponent went on to win the playoff series.

In the second round they faced Jerry Sloan's Utah Jazz, who muscled their way to a five-game series win. It was a one-shot wonder for the Warriors, who lost most of their roster only a few years later. As for the Mavs, they remained competitive, but another early exit in 2008 cost head coach Avery Johnson his job.

The Golden State Warriors once again made the playoffs this year, the second time in as many years, and once again faced an uphill battle against the Los Angeles Clippers.

However this year the Warriors playoff series was almost derailed by the shameful remarks that former Clippers owner Donald Sterling made.

Game 7 of the series between the Warriors and Clippers is tonight at the Staples Center in L.A.

Chicago Bulls Win 72 Games

April 21, 1996, the NBA's Chicago Bulls win, a still NBA record, 72 games.

The Bulls are the only team in NBA history to win 70 games or more in a single season.

Dennis Rodman (left) gives Michael Jordan (right) a fist bump in a Bulls game in 1996. Swing man Scotti Pippen (center) prepares to give Jordan a second first bump.

The Bulls also hold many other records including

·  Hold the record for most consecutive home games won (44 from 1994–95 through 1995–96).

·  Hold the record for most consecutive home games won, start of season, 37 in 1995–96.

·  Hold the record for most road games won and best overall road record in standard 41 road games, 33–8 in 1995–96.

·  Hold the record for the fewest points per game in a season after 1954–55 (81.9 in 1998–99).

·  Hold the record for the fewest points in a game after 1954–55 (49, April 10, 1999).

·  Hold the record for largest margin of victory in a NBA Finals game (42; defeated the Utah Jazz 96–54).

·  Hold the record for fewest points allowed in a NBA Finals game (54 against the Utah Jazz).

·  Highest defensive rebound percentage in a playoff game (.952 against the Golden State Warriors on April 30, 1975).

·  Dennis Rodman, most offensive rebounds in a NBA Finals game (11 twice against the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 NBA Finals).

And share several other NBA records including:

·  Share lowest free throw percentage by two teams in one game (.410 with the Los Angeles Lakers, February 7, 1968).

·  Share record for most personal fouls by two teams in one game (87 with the Portland Trail Blazers, March 16, 1984).

·  Share the No. 2 best overall win–loss home record with 39–2 (with the Cleveland Cavaliers), achieved in both 1995–96 and 1996–97.

·  Shared record: Will Perdue for fewest minutes played by a disqualified player in a playoff game (7 against the New York Knicks, May 14, 1992).

·  Shared record: Two teams with the fewest players to score more than ten points in a playoff game (4 with the Miami Heat, May 24, 1997).

·  Shared record: Highest free throw percentage by one team in a playoff game (1.000 against the Cleveland Cavaliers on May 19, 1992).

The Bulls are also one of the most winningest teams in NBA history earning six NBA Finals Championships, all while Jordan was on the team, for two three-peats from 1991-1993, and 1996-1998.

The Chicago Bulls are the third NBA franchise in Chicago, after the Packers–Zephyrs (now the Washington Wizards) and the Stags (1946–50). The Bulls' founder, Dick Klein, was the only owner to ever play professional basketball (for the Chicago Gears). He served as the Bulls' president and general manager in their first years.

The team started in the 1966–67 NBA season, and posted the best record by an expansion team in NBA history. Coached by Chicagoan and former NBA star Johnny "Red" Kerr, and led by former NBA assist leader Guy Rodgers and forward Bob Boozer, the Bulls qualified for the playoffs.

Air Jordan and Derrick Rose have both won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award while playing for the Bulls, for a total of 6 MVP awards. Jordan has earned five, while Rose, one.

But the awards for Bulls’ players don’t end their, the Bulls have had three Rookies of the Year awarded, including Jordan, Rose and Elton Brand in 2000.

They have had the NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 1995 with Tony Kukoc and 2005 with Ben Gordon as well as the NBA Coach of the Year in 1967, Johnny “Red” Kerr, 1871, Dick Motta, 1996 Phil Jackson and 2011 Tom Thibodeau.

The main rivalries for the Chicago Bulls are the Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers and the Utah Jazz. All of whom became bigger rivalries during Jordan’s era with the Bulls.

The Bulls have retired four jersey’s in franchise history including guard Jerry Sloan’s number 4 jersey. Forward Bob Love’s number 10 jersey. Jordan’s iconic number 23 jersey as well teammates Pippen’s number 33 jersey.

As well jerseys have been retired for head coach Phil Jackson, who led the Bulls to all six Finals Championships, and franchise employees Johnny Kerr and Jerry Krause, the later the NBA Executive of the Year in 1988 and 1996.

As of 2012, the Bulls were estimated to be the third most valuable NBA franchise according to Forbes, with an estimated value of $800 million, earning an estimated $34.2 million in operating income in 2012.

Magic Johnson To Coach Los Angeles Lakers

On March 22, 1994, the Los Angeles Lakers announce that Magic Johnson will replace head coach Randy Pfund, who was fired after compiling a 66-80 record in less than two seasons. Johnson, only 34, had retired in 1991 when he learned he was HIV-positive.

Los Angeles Lakers great Magic Johnson (right) talking with James Worthy (left) after he was appointed to the head coaching position during the 1993-1994 season.

Johnson discovered immediately that coaching wasn’t in his heart. Things got off to a solid start, as the Lakers won five of their fist six games under their new coach. But the Lakers closed out the season with 10 consecutive losses, the longest losing streak in franchise history, finishing the season with a 33-49 record – missing the playoffs for the first time since 1976.

Not even a month after taking the job, Johnson announced in the middle of April that he wouldn’t be returning for the 1994-1995 season.

Magic’s brief coaching stint ended with a 5-11 record, however, Johnson became a part owner of the Lakers that summer.

Los Angeles Declares March 5, "Derek Fisher Day"

 On March 5, 2008, the city of Los Angeles declared it “Derek Fisher Day” in praise of his work in the community, his love of his family and his commitment to his teammates.  Fisher was honored downtown at a City Hall ceremony where he gave a speech and was presented with a scroll.

Derek Fisher with the NBA Finals trophy after the Los Angeles Lakers won the title in 2010.

A perfect example of Derek’s devotion to his family and his dedication to his teammates came in 2007 when he announced his daughter had a rare form of eye cancer.  Fisher would be by his daughter’s side in New York while she underwent surgery and then later that day would fly to Salt Lake City to play in his Utah Jazz’s Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinal against the Golden State Warriors.

Derek would arrive to the game late in the third quarter to a standing ovation.  He would help send the game into overtime and would hit a late three-pointer to seal the victory for the Jazz, giving them a 2-0 series lead.

Fisher has enjoyed a great career in the NBA including winning five NBA Championships from 2000-2002 with the Los Angeles Lakers, and 2009-2010 with the Lakers again. He was also the NBA Shooting Stats champion in 2004.

Currently Fisher is playing with the Oklahoma City Thunder, his second stint with the team after playing with them for a short period in 2012.

Olajuwon Records Quadruple-Double

On March 3, 1990, Hakeem Olajuwon, then known as Akeem Olajuwon, briefly records a quadruple-double in a 129-121 victory over the Golden State Warriors.

Hakeem Olajuwon (left) with teammate Clyde Drexler (right) in 1990 on the Houston Rockets.

Olajuwon compiled 29 points, 18 rebounds, 11 blocks, nine assists and five steals. However after the game, members of the Rockets’ scoring crew went back and reviewed the tape of the game. They decided that he had not been rightfully given an assist on a first quarter shot by Buck Johnson, so they have him the tenth assist.

With the updated stat Olajuwon had recorded a quadruple-double, which only two others had done before him, Nate Thurmond and Alvin Robertson. It was short lived though as NBA vice president Rod Thorn looked over the game and decided to remove the additional assist.

The decision would have been a bad footnote in Olajuwon’s career, however just 26 days later Olajuwon recorded a quadruple-double against the Milwaukee Bucks, going for 18 points, 16 rebounds, 11 blocks and 10 assists – that quadruple-double was league approved.

Lenny Wilkens Sets NBA Record

On March 1, 1996, NBA head coach Lenny Wilkens becomes the first coach in NBA history to record 1,000 regular season NBA victories. Wilkens would go on compile 1,332 wins and be the winningest coach of all time until the 2009-2010 season, when former Golden State Warriors head coach Don Nelson would pass him with 1,335.

Lenny Wilkens in 2004 as a coach for the New York Knicks.

After 30 seasons as an NBA head coach, Wilkens left the bench with his last stop being the Toronto Raptors in the 2002-2003 season. He would come back in the 2004-2005 season to coach the New York Knicks, but after a slow start, would retire from the team on Jan. 22, 2005.

Wilkens, had coached 2,046 regular season games, 164 playoff games, and four NBA All-Star games, making him the only head coach in NBA history with more than 2,000 games under his belt.

Wilkens trailed only Major League Baseball’s, Connie Mack, 53 years, John McGraw 33 years, National Football League’s George Halas, 40 years, Curly Lambeau, 33 years, and Don Shula, 33 years, for the longest tenure as a head coach in a major professional sports league.

NBA Trade Deadline; Sochi Olympics; Spring Training Podcast

Scratch Hit Sports creator Stephen Langsam talk about the NBA All-Star Weekend with former co-host of the Sporting Hangover, Ryan Hilton, and dive in head first to talk about what we did and did not like about the All-Star Weekend, and what we thought about the trades made at the trade deadline.

After that we talk about the Sochi Olympics and finish up with some spring training talk with the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants.

LINK: SCRATCH HIT SPORTS PODCAST

NBA All-Star Weekend Podcast

Scratch Hit Sports creator Stephen Langsam talk about the NBA All-Star Weekend with former co-host of the Sporting Hangover, Ryan Hilton, and dive in head first to talk about the All-Star Game.

Topics to listen for: Dunk Contest, Three-Point Contest, All-Star Game Memories,

Our predictions of the game and who or what will make a major impact on the game.

We also dive into some other topics revolving around basketball and the Golden State Warriors, the Kevin Durant - Lebron James match up and more.

Scratch Hit Sports PODCAST LINK

NBA Christmas Special

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

Most fans of basketball do one thing on Christmas, sit down and watch the NBA games being aired that day. With such a special day upon us I wanted to go back and look into the history on the NBA playing on Christmas Day.

HISTORY OF NBA ON CHRISTMAS

The first NBA games played on December 25 came in 1947, a year after the NBA's inception, when the New York Knicks beat the Providence Steamrollers at Madison Square Garden 89–75.

In the early days, regional proximity dictated most of the matchups on Christmas Day. Teams would usually play their geographical rivals to cut down on holiday travel and allow them to have more time with their families.

According to Dr. Jack Ramsay, coach of the Portland Trail Blazers from their only championship season of 1976–77 to 1986: "Christmas meant being at home with the family and having a game we always won. That was a perfect Christmas to me.”

Dr. Jack Ramsay has the most coaching victories on Christmas Day, with 11, a record that Phil Jackson tied in 2008.

In the early 1980s, after three straight years of memorable moments involving the New York Knicks, including Bernard King scoring 60 points in 1984, the most ever scored by a player on Christmas Day, and with the advent of television, the NBA scheduled games over the holiday as a showcase featuring the best teams and players.

The Knicks have played the most games on Christmas Day, with 47, and are 22–25 on the holiday. The Knicks' 22 wins are the most by a team on Christmas Day.

Doc Rivers participated as a player with the Knicks in 1992 and as a coach with the Boston Celtics since 2008. Bryant has played 14 games on Christmas Day, the most of any player and more than he has on any other date on the calendar, playing his first in 1996, and most recently in 2011.

FANCY JERSEYS

Many teams and players that have played on this day have worn special uniforms and sneakers. Since 2009, the Knicks wear their third jersey, the green/orange alternate which they first used exclusively for St. Patrick's Day since the 2005–06 season. During the game between the Heat and the Lakers in 2010, players on both teams wore holiday sneakers, including lime-green Nike kicks on Bryant, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. LeBron James and Chris Bosh wore holiday-red shoes with garish green laces.

Since the 2008–09 season, teams playing on Christmas Day wear a patch featuring the NBA logo inside a snowflake. For the 2012–13 season games, special edition monochrome uniforms will be used. The uniforms, colloquially known as "Big Color", was designed by Adidas.

This year the NBA will be wearing the new sleeved jerseys made by Adidas, the Adi-zero jersey's which the Warriors debuted last year.

MEMORABLE GAMES

The NBA playing on Christmas Day has featured some of the most memorable games ever played, including Bernard King scoring 60 points for the New York Knicks in 1984, Patrick Ewing helping the Knicks come back to beat the Boston Celtics after trailing by 25 points in 1985, and again beating Michael Jordan and the Bulls on last second jumper in 1986, Scottie Pippen's last second block in 1994, the first showdown featuring Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal as opponents in 2004, Phil Jackson becoming the fastest coach to win 1,000 games in 2008, showdowns between LeBron James and Kobe Bryant in 2009 and 2010, and the opening of the 2011–12 season as a result of a lockout.

Rivalries have also been showcased during games played on this day. During the 1990s, each Christmas featured a game involving either the New York Knicks or the Chicago Bulls, with both teams playing against each other in both the Bulls championship season of 1992–93 and 1994, and would have played each other in 1998, if there had not been a lockout.

The only year during the 1990s in which neither team played on Christmas Day was during the Bulls first championship season in their second three-peat, in 1995–96.

During the 2000s, the NBA showcased the Shaq–Kobe feud. Since 1999, each Christmas has featured games involving either the Celtics or the Lakers, with the two teams playing on the holiday in 2002 and every year since 2008 and facing off against each other during the first of the Lakers' most recent back-to-back championship seasons of 2008–09, the first meeting between the two teams since that year's finals.

Today the Christmas NBA scene is set with five games this year starting at 9 a.m. with the Boston Celtics and the Brooklyn Nets. The second game of the day features the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers. The third game features the two teams returning from last years NBA Finals as the Oklahoma City Thunder face off in Miami against the Heat. The fourth game sees the Houston Rockets take on the Chicago Bulls. With the 2012 NBA Christmas Day finale being set up between the Clippers and Nuggets.

--

 

I hope everyone enjoys their holiday and watches some NBA hoops, which could be historical.

Bryant, Jamison Score 50

On Dec. 6, 2000, Antawn Jamison of the Golden State Warriors and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers each score 51 points in the game. It marked only the third time in NBA history that opposing players have scored at least 50 in a game. The previous time that happened was 38 years ago when Wilt Chamberlain scored 63 points and Elgin Baylor scored 50-points as the Bucks and Lakers played.

Jamison also scored 51 points in the game prior to the one he and Bryant both scored over 50.

While Antawn Jamison has gone on to be a NBA journeyman, Kobe Bryant has lit up the record books. Currently he is ranked fourth all-time in the NBA, with 31, 617 points. Bryant joins just four other players to score over 31,000 points in the NBA as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Michael Jordan are above him, and Wilt Chamberlain is behind him.

With Bryant on the comeback trail right now, he could possibly pass Jordan this year to take sole possession of third place in the NBA’s All-Time scoring leader list.

Barry Sets NBA Record

On Dec. 6, 1966, Rick Barry of the then San Francisco Warriors makes an NBA record 14 free throws in one quarter. Barry who used an unconventional style of free throw shooting, the granny shot, is the owner of several NBA records although his free throw percentage record was broken by a later Warrior, Mark Price.

Some of Barry’s records include being the youngest player to score 57 points in a game. He did so at age 21, 261 days. The record still stands today as the most a rookie has ever scored also.

Highest average of steals per game by a forward in a career, with an average of 1.99, 1,104 steals in 554 games.

While holding several playoff records including:

Scoring 30 or more points in all games, any playoff series: In the six game series against the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1967 Finals.

Field goal attempts in a six-game series: 235, in the 1967 Finals against the 76ers.

Field goal attempts in a game: 48, on April 18, 1967 in the Finals against the 76ers.

Field goal attempts in a quarter: 17, on April 14, 1967 in the Finals against the 76ers.

Barry also holds a few All-Star game records as well including, most field goal attempts in a game 27, in the 1967 All-Star game, most steals in a game, 8, 1975. Most personal fouls, six, twice, 1966 and 1978.

Spreewell Chokes Out Carlesimo

On Dec. 1, 1997, a bad season for the Golden State Warriors turned much worse when Latrell Spreewell choked P.J. Carlesimo during a team practice.

Apparently, the coach was critical of Spreewell's passing during the practice. At the time, the Warriors were 1-13 and looking into trading the already disgruntled star.

Sprewell was suspended for 10 games without pay. The next day, in the wake of a public uproar, the Warriors voided the remainder of his contract, which included $23.7 million over three years, and the NBA suspended him for one year. Sprewell took the case to arbitration, and, as a result, the contract voiding was overturned and the league suspension was reduced to the remaining 68 games of the season. He sought to vacate the arbitration contract under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.

 His case went through all appeals, and was remanded. During his suspension, Sprewell was charged with reckless driving for his role in a 90-mph accident that injured two people, and spent three months under house arrest as part of a no-contest plea.

It was not Spreewell’s first violent incident with the Warriors; in a 1993 practice, Sprewell fought with Byron Houston, who was 50 pounds heavier than Sprewell and had what many teammates describe as having a Mike Tyson-like demeanor and physique. Then in 1995, Sprewell fought with teammate Jerome Kersey and returned to practice carrying a two-by-four, and reportedly threatened to return with a gun.

After the Warriors suspension of Spreewell he was traded to the New York Knicks who he would help lead to the NBA Finals in 1999, making them the first eighth seeded team to reach the finals. He would spend a few years with the Knicks before being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he would finish his career.

Spreewell would finish his career as one of the NBA’s most prolific scorers totaling 16,712 points, with an average of 18.3 points per game, 3,664 assists, an average of 4.0 assists per game, and 1,294 steals averaging out to be 1.4 steals per game over the span of his career.

Spreewell was a four-time NBA All-Star in 1994-1995, 1997 and 2001. He was also voted to the All-NBA First Team in 1994, as well the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. In his rookie year he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in 1993.

The Knicks Open Up The Garden

On Nov. 11, 1946, the New York Knicks play their first game at Madison Square Garden.

Although the Knicks have played at Madison Square Garden since 1946, the location of the Garden has changed, twice before the Knicks began playing basketball in 1879, and 1890 before its location change in 1925 where the 1946 Knicks played.

The 1925 Garden was located on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets in Manhattan on the site of the city's trolley car barns. It was the first Garden that was not located near Madison Square. 

The Knicks would call this location their arena for home games, although if there was an important college game, they played in the 69th Regiment Armory.

Then in February 1968 the Garden moved to its current location, where it has been renovated three times in 1991, 2011, and 2012. 

The Garden is now the oldest active major sporting facility in the New York metropolitan area and is the oldest arena in the National Hockey League and the second-oldest arena in the National Basketball Association (after the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California). 

 The current configuration at the Garden has been host to several Knicks NBA Finals games including in 1970: when the Knicks won the NBA championship at Madison Square Garden.

The Garden was also host for the Knicks in the NBA finals in 1972, 1973, 1994 and1999: when the San Antonio Spurs won their championship at Madison Square Garden.

Chamberlain Scores 72

On Nov. 3 1962, Wilt Chamberlain scored 72 points for the San Francisco Warriors against the Los Angeles Lakers. This was one of four games in 1962 in which Chamberlain scored at least 72 points. The highlight was the 100 points he scored in March of 1962.

Chamberlain holds numerous NBA all-time records in scoring, rebounding and durability categories. He is the only player to score 100 points in a single NBA game or average more than 40 and 50 points in a season. He also won seven scoring, nine field goal percentage, and eleven rebounding titles, and once even led the league in assists.

Although he suffered a long string of professional losses, Chamberlain had a successful career, winning two NBA championships, earning four regular-season Most Valuable Player awards, the Rookie of the Year award, one NBA Finals MVP award, and being selected to 13 All-Star Games and ten All-NBA First and Second teams.

Chamberlain was subsequently enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, elected into the NBA's 35th Anniversary Team of 1980, and chosen as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History of 1996^.

After his basketball career ended, Chamberlain played volleyball in the short-lived International Volleyball Association, was president of the organization, and is enshrined in the IVA Hall of Fame for his contributions.

Basketball Association of America Is Born

On Nov. 1, 1946, professional basketball was officially born.

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 Nov. 1, 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.

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 1953–54, 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). 

The process of contraction saw the league's smaller-city franchises move to larger cities. The Hawks shifted from "Tri-Cities" (the area now known as the Quad Cities) to Milwaukee (in 1951) and then to St. Louis, Missouri (in 1955); the Royals from Rochester, New York to Cincinnati (in 1957); and the Pistons from Fort Wayne, Indiana to Detroit (in 1957).

Since the NBA has been formed the Boston Celtics have won the most titles with 17.

Inside Warriors Media Day

OAKLAND, Calif. – Last Friday, Sept. 27, 2013, the Golden State Warriors hosted their Media Day at the team’s practice facility in down town Oakland.

GEROME WRIGHT / Courtesy
Golden State Warriors players Andre Iguodala (left) and Klay Thompson (right) talked to media during the teams media day on Friday, Sept. 27, 2013.

The biggest story however wasn’t about the offseason acquisition of super star Andre Iguodala; it was over the undrafted free agent Seth Curry, younger brother of Warriors star guard Stephen Curry.

GEROME WRIGHT / Courtesy
Golden State Warriors guards and brothers Steph (left) and Seth Curry were in jerseys for the Warriors media day on Friday, Sept. 27, 2013.

The two brothers, sons of former NBA three-point sniper Dell Curry, look to be on the floor together when the Warriors suit up for the first game of the season come Wednesday, Oct. 30 when the Warriors host the Los Angeles Lakers.

"I don't think the Warriors would sign him if they didn't think so either," said Steph Curry. "Maybe they paid more attention to him because he's my brother, but nobody's going to throw money and an opportunity at somebody if they don't think he's got an opportunity to make the team out of camp and help the team down the road."

When healthy, the younger Curry, Seth is just as good a shooter as Steph, although the billing might be hard to fit. In his final season at Duke, the senior, Seth averaged 17.5 points on 46.5 percent shooting from the field.

His brother Steph, in his final season at Davidson, as a junior, averaged 28.6 points on 45.4 shooting.
While the numbers look different in terms of scoring, older brother Steph was the main option at Davidson whereas younger brother Seth was one of a few options under Coach Mike Krzyzewski at Duke.

Seth, who likely would have been drafted if he opted for an earlier surgery date, has no regrets on waiting until after the season was done.

"It was definitely disappointing," said Seth Curry. "The biggest thing was just not being able to go through the draft process. It was tough because I had surgery right after the season. I wasn't able to get in front of teams and work out and compete against guys in my draft class. But it was out of my control."

However, Seth will be looking to fill one of just a few open spots on the Warriors roster. With Kent Bazemore back, recently acquired free agent Toney Douglas in the mix, and drafted Nemanja Nedovic in the running too, Seth will have his hands full.

However if Seth doesn’t make the Golden State roster, the road might not take him too far, as the Warriors NBA D-League affiliate is in Santa Cruz, Calif.