Who scored the first goal in NBA history?

The NBA named the 1996- 1997 season as "golden season", which indicated that the most successful professional sports league in the world had gone through 50 years of ups and downs. Today's NBA has gone far beyond the scope of sports competition itself. In terms of popularity and business income, among the four major professional sports organizations in the United States, basketball, baseball, ice hockey and rugby, the shortest NBA has topped the list. The emergence and development of NBA is the inevitable product of the accumulation and precipitation of basketball in the first 50 years. Therefore, in the 50-year history of NBA, we must first understand the history of the first 50 years of basketball. Through the development and changes of basketball for more than a century, we can better understand the historical context of NBA. 189 1 65438 In February, Dr. naismith invented basketball in Springfield College, Massachusetts, USA, and it became popular all over the world. Naismith's original intention is to find a way for students to do indoor physical exercise in winter. This is also the task assigned to him by the school principal. He nailed two wooden baskets full of peaches to the wall of the school gymnasium, and divided the students in the class 18 into two teams, according to the number of times each team threw a temporary substitute football into the wooden baskets. Basketball was officially born. Basketball soon swept the United States. At that time, games were all entertaining. No one can imagine that 100 years later, the NBA has turned basketball into a huge industry with an annual output value of 4 billion US dollars. 1898, a team in Trenton, New Jersey, USA rented a local auditorium for $25 and sold tickets to the audience. In the bonus after the game, Captain Cooper made great contributions in organizing the competition, and first won $65,438 +0. Then give each player 15 dollars. This "paid basketball game" was recognized as the first "professional basketball game" by Encyclopedia Britannica, and Cooper became the first "professional player" to earn money from basketball games. The real contribution of this game lies in discovering and realizing the market value of basketball. The investment of $25 is related to income. It was impossible to investigate the number of players from both sides in the audience at that time. If each team has at least five players (this is the minimum number of players on one side). Then there are 10 players on both sides, and each player gets 15 dollars, so the total income is 150 dollars. Together with Captain Cooper's bonus of 1 USD, the investment of $25 will bring 1 USD. After 1999, 15 1 USD has grown to over USD 4 billion. The basic concepts and principles used by NBA are the same as Cooper's idea of renting an audience. After Trenton Competition, "Payment Competition" quickly spread throughout the United States. In order to protect the interests of players participating in "paid games", the first professional basketball organization-"National League" (NL) was established by teams all over the country from 65438 to 0898. Because the economic strength and technical level of each team are far from each other, and there is no mature market operation experience and rules, NL will exist in name only after three or four seasons, and its competitive level and management level are very low. After the establishment of NL, many similar professional basketball organizations appeared in the United States, but they were all gone, leaving them to fend for themselves. In 1930s, NL revived in some small and medium-sized cities and held some small-scale leagues. However, due to the lack of sufficient funds and promotion, the influence of basketball has never been formed. At that time, the most popular sports for Americans were still baseball, American football and ice hockey.

(B) the predecessor of the NBA-BAA

NBA is the abbreviation of National Basketball Association, which is translated into Chinese as "National Basketball Association". However, when the NBA was founded on June 6, 1946, it was not called BAA-American Basketball Association, but was founded by the owners of eleven ice hockey stadiums and gymnasiums. They formed a professional basketball league, the original purpose is to prevent the stadium from being idle outside the ice hockey game. Because the Second World War had just ended, people had to relax from the tense atmosphere of the war, and entertainment and sports became new consumption hotspots at that time. The owners of these gyms are all experts in running the sports market. At that time, the best professional basketball league was the National Basketball League (NBL), which was founded in 1937. However, after analyzing the market, the owners of these ice hockey teams think that NBL teams are mostly concentrated in the central and western regions, and most of them are in some small and medium-sized cities, so they are only regional alliances. Their newly-built BAA basketball league was first of all a concept of a national basketball organization, and at the same time it was clearly stated that local famous teams must be established in the big cities at that time. When BAA was founded, there were 1 1 teams. They are new york Knicks, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bucks, Cleveland Rebels, Detroit Falcons, Philadelphia Warriors, Pittsburgh Iron Man, Providence Steam Engine, St. Louis Bomber, Toronto Eskimos and Washington Congress. BAA's birth was different from other basketball leagues at that time in three obvious characteristics. First, the owners of eleven teams all have their own gyms, so that the teams have their own business territory. Until now, this is one of the important conditions for NBA expansion. When the NBA accepted two Canadian teams, Toronto Beast and Vancouver Brown Bear, on 1994, it was a condition that both teams must build their own 20,000-seat stadiums. Secondly, all the players in BAA are basketball players who have just graduated from college, because the amateur league which adopted the home and away system at that time has been very successful, and it is the best basketball league in the eyes of Americans. Thirdly, from the beginning, BAA league drew lessons from the schedule of ice hockey league at that time, and divided the team into two leagues, the eastern league and the western league, and then divided them into several divisions according to their geographical location. In the regular season, teams in each league will play two home and away games, and teams in another league will play one home and away game. Finally, according to the results, the teams entering the playoffs are ranked, and only the teams entering the playoffs can hope to win the championship. Walter A. Brown is one of the main founders of BAA, the owner of Boston Garden Gymnasium and the theoretical founder of BAA. Based on the problem that the development of professional basketball is always difficult to form scale benefits, he put forward a new concept of professional basketball. The new concept first puts forward that the owner of the team must have a certain scale of assets. Professional basketball must have strong financial support, especially in the poor period when the league has just started. Only when high income ensures that athletes devote themselves to training and competition and are not trapped by their livelihood can we ensure the high level of the league, attract spectators and develop the market. A player can only play for one club and sign a strict contract. The league should also establish a player reserve system. In case the active players are injured or unable to play for some reason, the overall strength of the team will not be lost. A Brown and BAA's contribution lies in introducing huge funds and legal restrictions into professional basketball, laying two cornerstones for the future development of NBA: high salary system and contract system. With the development of NBA, the league has further improved the selection of rookie to ensure that the weakest team can get the best young players from college students every year, thus ensuring the close and balanced strength of each team. In order to prevent teams with strong financial resources from monopolizing excellent players with the strategy of "silver bullet", the NBA also stipulates the total salary ceiling of each team. In addition, NBA is different from ordinary amateur basketball in terms of game rules. In order to make the game more exciting and beautiful, the NBA divides a game into four segments, each segment is 12 minutes. Only man-to-man defense is allowed, and regional joint defense is not allowed; One side must shoot within 24 seconds after getting the ball. These unique restrictions and rules of the game make the competitiveness and appreciation of NBA league highly unified. After four months of planning and formation, the first competition of BAA finally kicked off in Toronto, Canada. 1946 1 1. The opponents are the Toronto Eskimos and the new york Knicks. 1996, 1 65438+1October,1,the NBA specially arranged for the new york Knicks and Toronto Beast to put on the jerseys of those two teams and played the opening game of the golden season of the 50th anniversary of the NBA. It is worth mentioning that new york Knicks is still the original Knicks (Knicks is short for Nicole bocks). Of the 29 NBA29 teams, only the new york Knicks and Boston Celtics are eleven ancestor teams, while the Eskimo, the "ancestor" of Toronto Beast, quit BAA after only one season and was dissolved on the spot.

From BAA to NBA

Professional basketball often faces survival problems in its initial stage. After the first season of BAA League, four teams were dissolved. Besides Toronto Eskimos, there are Detroit Falcon, Pittsburgh Iron Man and Cleveland Rebels. The original 1 1 team has 7 teams left. In order to keep the league going, BAA brought a team from Baltimore from another professional league at that time, the American Basketball League, and at the same time had to reduce the scale of the game from 60 to 48. It's not that BAA's thinking is wrong. In order to make the league look good, they specially invited experts to inspect the very successful home and away game system of college basketball at that time and decided to play according to the rules of college basketball. BAA players are mainly college graduates. However, BAA has also made many changes on the basis of college basketball rules. For example, a game is played for 48 minutes instead of 40 minutes, and it is stipulated that you can't play joint defense, but only play defense; Due to the extra 8 minutes in the game, the number of fouls by players increased from 5 to 6. BAA's strategy of occupying metropolis is also correct. However, in the first quarter, the "metropolis" strategy did not show such an effect as it does today. At that time, new york was called the Mecca of American basketball. The famous Madison Square Garden Gymnasium is always crowded with students, but the BAA Games are rarely crowded with spectators. Most of BAA's competitions are arranged in a small gymnasium with only 5000 seats. The advantages and disadvantages of BAA's professional basketball concept were very obvious in the first season. Its advantage lies in: 1 1 Gym owners are experts in how to operate and sell, and the whole plan has more ideas and vision than any previous basketball promoter. But BAA bosses are amateurs about how to maintain a high level of basketball games, which is the advantage of established professional leagues such as NBL. They had the highest level of professional players at that time, and knew how to train and train athletes and how to attract audiences. Therefore, at that time, the resources of American basketball were in a state of division-big bosses with financial resources and courage and talented and famous professional players could not really be combined.

(4) Pudor Love changed his land.

BAA suffered heavy losses in the first two seasons. After losing four teams in the first season and reducing the league size from 60 to 48 games, the ticket income of BAA dropped sharply, and the reduction of games also affected the expansion of new teams in the league. In a dilemma, Dollof, president of BAA, decided to poach George McCann, the star player of NBL team. Because this giant with a height of 2.08 meters was the "cash cow" on the basketball court at that time. Dolf 1890 was born in August, and immigrated to the United States with his parents since childhood. The lawyer who graduated from Yale University is very smart and very good at negotiating and solving difficult problems. Although he knew little about basketball, his family was closely connected with the ice hockey world, and he was also the president of the American Ice Hockey Association at that time. Therefore, ice hockey team owners naturally let their most trusted friends run a new basketball league for them. In fact, it is the decisiveness and foresight of Dolph, who is short in stature, that makes the NBA embark on the smooth road of steady development from the difficult period of starting a business. In the process of implementation, the efforts to win McCann turned into a bigger expansion plan. Dollof, who is good at diplomacy, persuaded all parties concerned to "rebel" McCann and his four teams, Minneapolis Lakers and fort wayne Pistons, Rochester Royals and Indianapolis Pacers, from NBL to BAA. Results 1948~ 1949 season, McCann's Lakers defeated the Washington congressional team and won the BAA championship this season. With the addition of four NBL teams, the BAA League has increased to 12 teams. In the following season 1949~ 1950, all the other six teams in NBL joined BAA. The Providence steam engine team, one of the founding teams of BAA, announced its dissolution. After BAA annexed NBL, in order to avoid possible legal troubles, BAA officially changed its name to National Basketball Association, which is the NBA we are familiar with today. The combined league system, rules and leading bodies are the continuation of the original BAA, and Pu Dollof continues to be the president of NBA. From the season of 1949~ 1950, the NBA 17 team was divided into three divisions, which started a new development course of American professional basketball.

Competition between NBA and ABA

After the merger of BAA and NBL, professional basketball did not flourish. From 1949 to 1966, the development of NBA is very slow. After the 1960s, although two superstars, Chamberlain and Russell, appeared in NBA, NBA professional basketball was far inferior to professional baseball and professional football in terms of overall appreciation and fans' enthusiasm in the market competition. 1966, there were only 10 teams left in the NBA. Most of the games were dull and the audience was deserted. The average salary of a player is 10000 USD. Players have to pay for their own sneakers, and few games are broadcast nationwide throughout the season. The NBA is struggling. On February 2nd, 1967, another American professional basketball league ABA (American Basketball Association) was announced in new york. As a result, two professional basketball organizations began a nine-year competition. "I know the NBA situation is not good." Dennis Murphy, one of the main founders of ABA, recalled the American sports market before and after the birth of ABA. "So we don't want to form a basketball league. What we want to do most is to form another American football league. " Murphy didn't have much money at that time, but he knew some rich people. In the mid-1960s, Murphy found several investors who were ready to put their money into the professional sports market. However, before them, someone had already established an AFL and an old NFL, so Murphy had to change his mind and create a third NFL. Murphy recalled the scene at that time and said, "We don't want to set up another door in baseball, so there are only two choices left: basketball and ice hockey. I know a little about basketball, so we decided to start a new professional basketball league. " 1On February 2nd, 967, ABA was officially announced after Murphy and several investors held a three-day meeting in new york Kale Hotel. In order to increase the popularity of the league, ABA specially hired George Macon, a famous NBA center 20 years ago, as its president. However, this has not changed the fundamental difference between the birth of ABA and the birth of NBA: there is no feasibility investigation, no market evaluation, and no strong partners and sponsors. The emergence of ABA is a bit like a fun game of a group of children: "Let's go to the garage to perform a program! Let's sell tickets! Maybe someone will come in to watch our performance! " It was this randomness and entertainment when ABA was founded that made NBA officials not take this competitor seriously from the beginning. Because at that time, the highest level professional players in the United States played in the NBA, and in the eyes of fans, it seems that only the NBA is the orthodox and highest level basketball. At that time, the NBA's attitude towards ABA was dismissive: "There is no audience for NBA games. Who will go to ABA games?" Even if ABA hires Macon as the president, there is no need to worry. If they can play Macon, that's the most worrying thing. "Macon, 43, is no longer the hero who dominated the game 20 years ago. He is a lawyer by profession and the owner of a travel agency in Minneapolis. NBA officials firmly believe that no fan will spend even a dime to see how ABA president goes to work.

(6) Innovative tricolor ball

Although McCann can't play basketball, his unique feeling about basketball is beyond others' reach. The legendary center, who is 2.08 meters tall, did the first thing when he took office. He changed his brown basketball into red, white and blue. He even insisted on using tricolor basketball as a condition for his chairmanship of ABA. "Brown basketball can't be seen clearly on TV (it was mostly black and white TV at that time), and you often can't see clearly where the ball is sitting in the box on the second floor of the stadium. I want to find an eye-catching logo for our new alliance. Since we are called the American Basketball Association, the color of the United States is red, white and blue, so we must use red, white and blue balls. " McCann insisted on his innovation, ABA also needed celebrity effect like McCann at that time, so it adopted tricolor ball as its official competition ball. But the tricolor ball was immediately ridiculed by the NBA. Alexei Hannumo, a senior NBA coach, even said, "It's like the kind of thing that seals play with their noses up. Is this a basketball league or a circus? " At that time, some of the 1 1 teams when ABA was founded really sounded like a circus, such as the Dallas Xiaoxie Forest Team. Moreover, the team played a joke in the first ABA draft on 1967: the team owner took a draft list given to him by the head coach in order to save money, and as a result, four of the top five players he selected according to the list order were mediocre! Because the list set by the coach is arranged according to the English order of the players' names, which has nothing to do with the ability level. Of the five people, only Pat Riley was a good college player at that time, but this handsome young man who would become a generation of NBA was also selected by the San Diego Rockets of NBA at that time and never played in Aba. The second reform after McCann took office is to open the door of the league to all basketball players, especially those who have not graduated from college. This has put a lot of pressure on the NBA. Because at that time, the NBA stipulated that only players who had entered the university for four years were eligible to join the NBA league; Other players who have been rejected by the NBA because of their excellent skills but bad reputation, such as Kearney Huggins and Roger Brown, have also been welcomed by ABA. As a result, Huggins led the Pittsburgh Pipeline Team to win the ABA championship with 1969, and moved to the NBA Phoenix Suns in the same year. In order to increase the excitement of the game, ABA also adopted the three-point rule of all-star game and dunk contest. At that time, ABA game was characterized by fast break and many passes. You could shoot three points and dunk in various ways. As long as you can do movements, you can give full play to them. ABA tricolor ball immediately swept the United States, almost becoming the most fashionable mass sporting goods in the 1960s and 1970s. Numerous factories all over the country are making tricolor balls, but without patent protection and market development, ABA didn't make a penny from Macon's tricolor balls. Economic depression is one of the important reasons why ABA was annexed by NBA nine years later.

(7) From University to Court

McCann's ABA recruits college students and worries the NBA. Soon, a series of lawsuits broke out between the two leagues against college players and players from both sides. Most NBA players are mature players. Young players come here to sit on the bench for several years. ABA is a new league, and college students can play the main force as soon as they come. In order to compete for talents, the two alliances began to raise the contract amount for each other. For the first time, players found that they might get a more objective contract after becoming free men. The first player to join ABA without finishing college was Heywood of Detroit Mercy University. 1969 Heywood, 19 years old, dropped out of school as a sophomore to join the Denver Rockets. As a result, NCAA and NBA jointly brought Heywood to court. However, the result of the trial was unexpected. The judge thinks that athletes must spend four years in college before they can participate in the professional basketball draft. There is no legal basis for Heywood to participate in ABA competitions. The impact of this trial continues to this day. Although the NBA still encourages college students to become professional players after four years of enrollment after losing the case, today, 27 years later, almost 80% of NBA freshmen are freshmen in the second and third years. What's more, in the draft of 1996, a record five high school graduates directly entered the NBA. The first job-hopping lawsuit between NBA and ABA happened to white star Rick Barry. His father-in-law is also his college coach Bruce Heller. He is the head coach of ABA Oakland Oaks, and Barry is the main striker of NBA San Francisco Warriors. 1967, in the first season of Aba, my father-in-law encouraged my son-in-law Barry to jump ship from samurai to Oak Park. The NBA pursued the complaint and the court could not make a decision at the moment. As a result, Barry can only sit on the sidelines as the audience of his father-in-law in ABA season 1. But what makes people laugh and cry is that when Barry was finally able to play in Aba the next year, his father-in-law was fired by Oaks. The new coach is none other than Alexei Hannimo, a famous NBA coach who laughed at the red, white and blue tricolor ball a year ago. However, after all, Hannibal had a good command and led Oaks to win the ABA championship with 1969 in his first season. After playing in Aba for four seasons, Barry 1972 returned to NBA and joined Golden State Warriors. From 65438 to 0975, Barry won the NBA championship for the Warriors. Barry not only left a trophy for ABA and NBA, but also left two "tigers" for today's NBA: Jon, the boss, played for Atlanta Hawks defender, and Brent, the second, played for Los Angeles Clippers defender. This is the champion of 1996 NBA dunk contest. This skinny white man like his father is the third person who can make free throws after Dr. J Owen and Michael Jordan.

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