James Naismith: The National Basketball Association

Before Kareem Abdul-Jabbar spent 20 years in the national basketball association, he was Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. born in New York, New York. His father was a police officer whom only had one son. Ferdinand stood 5 foot 8 inches at just 9 years old and by time he got to the eighth grade he had already grown a foot, and could dunk a basketball. As a sophomore in highschool he averaged 19 points and 18 rebounds a game, his senior year he averaged 30 points a game. At Power Memorial Academy Ferdinand set New York city school records for scoring and rebounding, all while winning 71 straight games and winning 3 state titles. Given this it isn 't surprising Ferdinand got a scholarship to UCLA.

This was the first of several match-ups between the two teams. The Celtics beat the Lakers in a tight competition—four games to three—for the 1984 championship. The Lakers, however, took down the Celtics the following year in the finals. Johnson was named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history in 1996, and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002.

That NBA draft Kobe was drafted 13th overall by the Charlotte Bobcats, but then traded to the LA Lakers. In Kobe’s basketball career he went on to win 5 NBA Championships, 1 MVP award, NBA All-Rookie Team, 3 time All-NBA team, 3 time All-defensive Team, 2 time NBA finals MVP, 3 time NBA All-star game MVP, and the defensive player of the year. Outside of the NBA Kobe has won 2 Gold olympic medals for basketball. Ever since a young age Kobe knew that he was going to make it big. He did this all because of his amazing work ethic and love for the game.

He continued his basketball career to become one of the many basketball stars

The Boston Celtics coach caught up with Chamberlain while he was practicing, and had him go one on one with the NCAA champion from Kansas, B.H. Born. Chamberlain faced off against him and beat him in a score of 25-10. He had both coaches in awe as they couldn’t believe a high school student beat a NBA prospect and NCAA champion in a one on one match. Born was so upset at this loss that he didn’t even enter the NBA, and left to go be a tractor engineer.

At the end of the day I know by just reading a paper over basketball you won’t know everything about it. But with the little information that I could fit in to this paper hopefully you should know a little bit about the sport. High school, college, professional basketball are all popular sports to play today at this time. If it weren’t for James Naismith we wouldn’t have this great sport today that everyone

The 1930’s to the 1940’s saw little change to the game of basketball. It was considered a 3rd tier sport after football and hockey. In addition, there was a lot more going on in the world in terms of wars, and the Depression years. College basketball was still thriving but the pro game did not see much activity. This changed with the formation of the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the professionals and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for college.

Bird was pick 6th overall by the Boston Celtics. Bird spent 13 years as a Celtics(biography.com/larry bird ). He made the NBA All Star Team 12 years just missing out on one year due to an injury. Bird was also name NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 1982(biography.com/larry bird). Larry bird won only 3 championships in 5 appearances thought out his 13 years as a Celtics.(reference.com).After spending 13 years with the Celtics Larry Bird decided to retire in 1992.

Both teams had quite a few all stars on their roster the Warriors had 3 stars on the team and the Lakers had 2 stars. They both had role players that played a key role in their teams. One team averaged almost 105 points per game and the other team averaged 104 points. The Los Angeles Lakers finished the 2000-2001 season with a 56-26 record and went on the win the NBA Finals over the 76’ers.

American basketball star Michael Jordan was born on February 17, 1963, in Brooklyn, New York. Jordan left college after his junior year to join the NBA. Drafted by the Chicago Bulls, he helped the team make it to the playoffs. For his efforts there, Jordan received the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. With five regular-season MVPs and three All-Star MVPs, Jordan became the most decorated player in the NBA. The effect of Jordan’s game was so profound that the league changed its rules to make the games more enjoyable. This translated in outlawing defensive contact when a player is in the perimeter, which in turn allowed players to relentlessly attack the lane and score on spectacular layups or dunks in a manner similar to what Jordan popularized.

As the clock buzzed the basketball was in mid air. Russell Westbrook had just released a 36 foot three pointer on the move. The clock buzzed and the ball swished into the net. This shot lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to beat the Denver Nuggets. This shot also made Russell Westbrook break Oscar Robertson triple double record.

The Jordan Influence When most people think about Michael Jordan, they think about him as the greatest basketball player who ever played. However, Jordan was not only a basketball player, but someone who influenced the American culture and society. Jordan’s influence was one that had never been seen before. Whether it was through basketball or his own brand, Jordan was making everyone want “to be like Mike”.

He was named Rookie of the year. The next season his team finished the season 66-16 and flew through the playoffs. He also won an award called “Most Valuable Player Award”. He also received the first MVP honors during his long career. His career with the Milwaukee Bucks slowly faded away.

Jordan has another amazing record when he scored 63 points against the Boston Celtics in 1986. Jordan’s success in the finals and post-season was an amazing feat that’ll probably never come close to being accomplished ever again (Zachmo Marsupalami.) When focusing on the post season performances between the two

Topic-- basketball Why is this important to me? I love basketball. It is a hobby of mine and my family. It is also part of the culture of the US and want to see how it compares to the Netherlands Main question: What is the cultural impact of basketball in the Netherlands compared to the US? Sports are popular throughout the world today.