Cool Facts About Basketball
- Basketball was created in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith.
- The National Basketball Association (NBA) was created in 1949 with the merger of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the National Basketball League (NBL).
- At the time of the BAA-NBL merger, the BAA was 3 years old and the NBL was 12 years old.
- The NBA has 30 teams in the United States and Canada.
- The NCAA Men's tournament was founded in 1939.
- The NCAA Men's tournament ("March Madness" or "the Big Dance") starts with 68 teams and ends with a National Champion.
- The first part of the NCAA Men's tournament is the First Four where number of teams is narrowed from 68 to 64.
- The next two rounds are known as the Round of 64, and the Round of 32.
- The round of 16 is known as the "Sweet Sixteen."
- The round of 8 is known as the "Elite Eight."
- The round of 4 is known as the "Final Four."
- The NBA holds a draft each year, usually in late June, known as the NBA Draft.
- Before the draft, there is a Draft Lottery to determine the team with the top pick.
- The team with the worst record at the end of the season has the highest chance to select first.
- There are 2 rounds in the NBA draft with 30 picks each for a total of 60 picks.
- NBA games are televised in more than 215 countries.
- At the beginning of 2014-15 NBA season, there was a record 101 international players from 37 different countries and territories.
- AAU stands for "Amateur Athletic Union."
- NCAA stands for "National Collegiate Athletic Association."
- The first Olympic basketball tournament was held during the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.
- The United States won the first seven gold medals.
- In 1968, the U.S. was banned from sending players from the NBA to the Olympics.
- In 1992, the U.S. was allowed to send players from the NBA again.
- The 1992 U.S. Olympic Men's team won the Gold medal and is now referred to as the Dream Team.
- The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) was founded in 1932.
- The Boston Celtics have the most NBA championships with 17; the Los Angeles Lakers have 16.
- The Boston Celtics won 11 championships from 1957 to 1969.
- Bill Russell has the most championships by a NBA player with 11 (2 as a Player-Coach).
- Kareem-Abdul-Jabaar (formerly Lew Alcindor) scored the most points in NBA history by a player with 38,387.
- John Stockton has the most assists (15,806) and steals (3,265) by a player in NBA History.
- Wilt Chamberlain has the most rebounds (23,924) by a player in NBA History.
- Spalding is the official game ball of the NBA.
- The professional basketball size is a circumference of 29.5 inches.
- Basketball is one of the most popular sports worldwide.
- The first BAA game was played on November 1, 1946; the Toronto Huskies hosted the New York Knicks.