basketball history

Basketball History

• In the 1990s, the Chicago Bulls twice
won three consecutive NBA titles. On all
six occasions, Michael Jordan was named
Most Valuable Player of the NBA Finals.

• In the 13 seasons from 1957 to 1969,
the Boston Celtics won 11 championships.

• In the 1980s, the Los Angeles Lakers
went to the NBA Finals eight times and
won five championships.

• When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar retired in
1989 at the age of 42, he was the NBA’s
all-time leader in scoring, blocked shots,
most valuable player awards, and appearances
in All-Star games. In college, playing
for UCLA and the legendary John
Wooden, Kareem played three years of
varsity basketball, leading the Bruins to
the national title each year and earning
the tournament’s most valuable player
award each year.

• In 1979, Magic Johnson and his
Michigan State Spartans defeated Larry
Bird and his Indiana State Sycamores for
the 1979 NCAA Championship. In 1984,
Bird avenged that loss when he led the
Boston Celtics to victory over Johnson’s
Lakers in the NBA Finals.

• Oscar “The Big O” Robertson averaged
30.8 points per game, 12.5 rebounds per
game, and 11.4 assists per game during
the 1961-62 season. To reach double figures
in three statistical categories is a
noteworthy accomplishment, and basketball
fans have a name for it – a triple-double.
Only “The Big O” was able to average
those kinds of numbers for an entire
season.

• Wilt Chamberlain once scored 100
points in a game, and on another occasion
he snagged an astounding 55 rebounds.


• For his career, Bill Russell averaged 22.5
rebounds per game. In 1966-67, Bill
Russell was player-coach of the Boston
Celtics, making him the first black coach
in NBA history. Under his leadership–on
the court and off–the Celtics won the
NBA Finals in 1968 and 1969.

• Paul Arizin, at the age of 24 and nearing
his prime, left the NBA and joined the
Marine Corps before the 1952-53 season.
He served for two years during the
Korean War but still managed to maintain
his skills while in the military. In 1954,
Arizin made a triumphant return to the
league, playing for the Philadelphia
Warriors. Arizin became only the third
player to reach the 15,000-point plateau
and left the NBA, at age 34, having
amassed 16,266 points, 6,129 rebounds
and 1,665 assists in 713 games. In 1996,
he was named to the NBA’s 50th
Anniversary All-Time Team.