History of basketball

Basketball was invented in December 1891 by the Canadian clergyman, educator, and physician James Naismith. Naismith introduced the game when we was an instructor at the Young Men's Christian Association Training School (now Springfield College) in Springfield, Massachusetts. At the request of his superior, Dr. Luther H. Gulick, he organized a vigorous recreation suitable for indoor winter play. The game involved elements of American football, soccer, and hockey, and the first ball used was a soccer ball. Teams had nine players, and the goals were wooden peach baskets affixed to the walls. By 1897-1898, teams of five became standard. The game rapidly spread nationwide and to Canada and other parts of the world, played by both women and men; it also became a popular informal outdoor game. U.S. servicemen in World War II (1939-1945) popularized the sport in many other countries. A number of U.S. colleges adopted the game between about 1893 and 1895. In 1934 the first college games were staged in New York City's Madison Square Garden, and college basketball began to attract heightened interest. By the 1950s basketball had become a major college sport, thus paving the way for a growth of interest in professional basketball. The first pro league, the National Basketball League, was formed in 1898 to protect players from exploitation and to promote a less rough game. This league only lasted five years before disbanding; its demise spawned a number of loosely organized leagues throughout the northeastern United States. One of the first and greatest pro teams was the Original Celtics, organized about 1915 in New York City. They played as many as 150 games a season and dominated basketball until 1936. The Harlem Globetrotters, founded in 1927, a notable exhibition team, specializes in amusing court antics and expert ball handling. In 1949 two subsequent professional leagues, the National Basketball League (formed in 1937) and the Basketball Association

of America (1946) merged to create the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Boston Celtics, led by their center Bill Russell, dominated the NBA from the late 1950s through the 1960s. By the 1960s, pro teams from coast to coast played before crowds of many millions annually. Wilt Chamberlain, a center for the Los Angeles Lakers, was another leading player during the era, and his battles with Russell were eagerly anticipated. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, also a center, came to prominence during the 1970s. Jabbar perfected his famed "sky hook" shot while playing for the Los Angeles Lakers and dominated the opposition. The NBA suffered a drop in popularity during the late 1970s, but was resuscitated, principally through the growing popularity of its most prominent players. Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics, and Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers are credited with injecting excitement into the league in the 1980s through their superior skills and decade-long rivalry. During the late 1980s Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls rose to stardom and helped the Bulls dominate the NBA during the early 1990s. A new generation of basketball stars, including Shaquille O'Neal of the Orlando Magic and Larry Johnson of the Charlotte Hornets, have sustained the NBA's growth in popularity. In 1959 a Basketball Hall of Fame was founded in Springfield, Massachusetts. Its rosters include the names of great players, coaches, referees, and people who have contributed significantly to the development of the game.
Walter A. Brown Trophy
The Walter A. Brown Trophy was a trophy awarded to the BAA/NBA champions from 1949 to 1977. The trophy was kept by the winning team for one year and given to the winning team of the following year's finals, unless the previous team won again, much like the NHL's Stanley Cup, which continues that tradition to this day. The trophy was originally referred to as the NBA Finals trophy, but was renamed in 1964 after Walter A. Brown, the original owner of the Boston Celtics who was instrumental in merging the BAA and the National Basketball [14][15] League into the NBA in 1949. A new trophy design was created for the 1977 NBA Finals, although it retained the Walter A. Brown title. Unlike the original championship trophy, the new trophy was given permanently to the winning team and a new one was made every year. It was renamed the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy in 1984 to honor former NBA commissioner Larry [16][17][18] O'Brien. The inaugural winner of the trophy was the Philadelphia Warriors, who defeated the Chicago Stags. The Boston Celtics won the trophy 14 times, the most in league history. From 1957 to 1969, they won the NBA Finals 11 out of 13
[19] [13]

times, including eight consecutive wins. The final recipient of the trophy was thePhiladelphia 76ers, who defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1983 NBA Finals.

Philippine Basketball Association

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of ten company-branded franchised teams. It was the first professional basketball league [1] in Asia and is the second oldest in the world after the NBA. The league's regulations are a hybrid of rules from FIBA and the NBA. The league played its first game at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City on April 9, 1975. Its individual team offices are directed out of PBA head offices located in Eastwood City in Quezon City. The league is currently headed by Commissioner Chito Salud. The Philippine Basketball Association was founded when nine teams left the now-defunct Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association (MICAA), which was tightly controlled by the Basketball Association of the [3] Philippines(BAP; now defunct), the FIBA-recognized national association at the time. With the BAP controlling the MICAA, the league was de jure amateur, as players were only paid allowances. This is much like what was done in other countries to circumvent the amateur requirement and to play in FIBA-sanctioned tournaments such as the Olympics. With the PBA out of the BAP's control, they could freely pay salaries to their players, making the PBA the oldest professional basketball league outside the United States. However, this also led to the league's players being barred from playing in FIBA-sanctioned tournaments. Leopoldo Prieto, the coach for the Philippines at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, was appointed as the first commissioner and Domingo Itchon of Tanduay was chosen as the league's first president. The first game of the league was held at theAraneta Coliseum on April 9, 1975, featuring Mariwasa-Noritake and Concepcion Carrier.
[2]

Season format
Unlike other leagues, there is no "season champion" of the PBA. Instead, the season is divided into conferences or tournaments (not to be confused with the definition of a "conference" in a sporting context as a grouping of teams based on geography or historical affiliation), wherein the teams compete for a conference cup. The winners of the conference cups do not face each other at the end of the season to determine the season; instead all conference champions are league champions, with the Philippine Cup being the most prestigious conference of the season. A season was usually composed of three conferences. From the 2010-11 season, the conferences were named Philippine, Commissioner's and Governors' Cups, usually ending in a best-of-seven series where the winner took the conference cup. If the same team won all of the conferences, the team was said to be the "Grand Slam" champion. A draft was held in August, with the season-ending Governors Cup ending in July. An opening ceremonies is held before the start of the first game of the season.

Teams
All franchises are owned by corporations. They are not based on geographic locale, so they do not play in a "home stadium." The league rents the different stadiums in which the teams play.

A team's name is often divided into three parts; the first is the company name, then the product, then a nickname - usually connected to the business of the company. For example, the Petron Blaze Boosters is a team owned by San Miguel Corporation, with the " boosters" nickname denoting the Petron's Blaze product. Product names are sometimes omitted or merged with the team's nickname. Though the company name rarely changes, the product name and nickname change frequently, maximizing the publicity that the league can give to a company's goods.

Rules
[15] The PBA has a hybrid of FIBA and NBA rules: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. A game consists of four 12-minute quarters, the NBA standard. The three-point line's distance is set back to 6.75 m (22.1 feet), which is the FIBA's three-point distance for international competitions. Post up players can now muscle their way into the basket without automatically getting a foul called. A player can now hang on the rim after a dunk without getting called for a technical foul.

Zone defenses are allowed, the FIBA standard.

A team enters the penalty situation after the fifth foul in a quarter, with each successive foul entitling the fouled player to two free-throw attempts. In the last two minutes of regulation, both teams are only allowed one foul to give, as in NBA rules. Overtime periods allow each team two fouls in the first three minutes and one foul in the last two minutes, as in NBA rules. Newcomers enter the league via a draft. Non-Filipinos can play as "imports" and only in certain conferences. Currently in the of unlimited height are allowed to play. In the Governor's play.

7. 8.

Commissioner's Cup, imports Cup imports within the height limit of 6'5" are allowed to

9.

The league implements the Trent

Tucker Rule.

10. An advantage foul, similar to the "unsportsmanlike foul" of FIBA rules, is called when the offensive player is fouled by an opposing player while in a fastbreak situation without going for the ball. The offense is given two free throws and regains the ball.

Players
Main article: List of Philippine Basketball Association players Most of the league's present star players are also members of the Philippine national team. In a 38-year historical period, Filipino basketball fans have seen the likes of Samboy Lim, Allan Caidic,Hector Calma, Ramon Fernandez, Robert Jaworski, Benjie Paras, Ronnie Magsanoc, Alvin Patrimonio, Vergel Meneses, Johnny Abarrientos, Danny Seigle and Danny Ildefonso take center stage. Ramon Fernandez and Alvin Patrimonio are the only players to win four Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards. Benjie Paras was the first and only player to win the league Rookie of the Year and MVP awards in the same year (1989). Vergel Meneses is the only player to win four All-Star MVP awards, while Danny Ildefonso is the only player to have won five Philippine Basketball Association Best Player of the Conference Awards. Main article: List of current PBA team rosters

PBA champions
Main article: List of Philippine Basketball Association champions The San Miguel-Petron franchise (under the names Beermen and Blaze Boosters) currently is the winningest team (19 championships) followed by Alaska Aces with 13 crowns. Among disbanded teams,

the Crispa Redmanizers have the most championships (13), while rival Toyota Super Corollas ended with [18] nine. The Jun Bernardino Trophy is awarded to the winner of the Philippine Cup while the Commissioner's and Governors' cups were awarded to their respective tournament winners. ]PBA

records and clubs

There are all-time records written in Philippine Basketball Association records, as well as distinctions like the PBA 2,000 Assists Club, PBA 500 Three-Point Club, PBA 600 Most Game Club, andPBA Top 40 Rebounder.