Basketball History
Essays on the defining eras, games, rivalries, and off-court moments in basketball's 130-year history.
History of the three-point line
The three-point line did not start in the NBA. A close history of the arc, the 1961 American Basketball League origin, the ABA's 25-foot ado…
How the 24-second shot clock saved the NBA
A close history of the 24-second shot clock. The Fort Wayne Pistons 19, Minneapolis Lakers 18 stall game on November 22, 1950, the lowest-sc…
Magic vs Bird: The Rivalry That Saved the NBA
From the 1979 NCAA championship game through three NBA Finals meetings in four seasons, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird produced the most impor…
The 1992 Dream Team: The Greatest Basketball Team Ever Assembled
The first Olympic basketball team permitted to include NBA players went 8–0, won gold by an average of 43.8 points a game, and became the mo…
The Decision: LeBron James and the 2010 Miami Move
On July 8, 2010, LeBron James announced on a live ESPN special, in 75 minutes of broadcast, that he was signing with the Miami Heat. The mos…
The illegal defense rule: history, death in 2001, and the modern defensive three-second violation
For 54 seasons the NBA banned zone defense through a rulebook construction called 'illegal defense.' The rule was introduced in amended form…
The Invention of Basketball: December 1891 in Springfield
James Naismith invented basketball in a Springfield, Massachusetts gymnasium in December 1891 after his supervisor, Luther Gulick, assigned …