NBA Basketball In The 50s and 60s

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NBA Basketball In The 50s and 60s

Players That Impacted The Game (Why)

George Mikan: He led both of his teams to NBA championships. He won 7 in all. He was the main reason for the foul lane change from 6 to 12 feet. he also was one of the reasons for the add of goal tending. He impacted some other rules but mainly these two considering his defensive aggressiveness.

Rule Changes

Bob Pettit: He was an outstanding scorer, rebounder, and also picked up many assists during his playing time in the NBA. He got signed to the Hawks in the beginning of his career. He acquired 4 all-star game mvp awards, 2 regular season awards, and 2 scoring titles. He lead his team to many wins and was one of the best players of his time. He was the first player to have more than 20,000 career points on top of it.

• Lane widened from 6 to 12 feet: This relates mainly to the dominance of George Mikan (1951)
• 24 second shot clock is added: This eliminates the reason for the trailing team to deliberately foul, since they will get the ball back in 24 seconds. (1954)
• A penalty free throw is awarded to a team that is fouled 6 times in a half: This gives the team with less fouls an advantage. (1954)
• Lane widened from 12 to 16 feet: This relates mainly to the dominance of Wilt Chamberlain (1964)
• Offensive fouls are made violations and count towards a players 6 fouls (1954)

Wilt Chamberlain: He was one of the only players that realized that wait lifting and nutrition was important. He is recognized today for his amazing blocking ability. Unfortunately, blocks were not recorded back then. He also was very high scoring and focused on the idea of "boxing out" for rebounds. He was an impact on the reason for the 3 second violation to be created.

Records

How these rules impact the game

These rules give a different twist to the game. Some of the rule changes in the 50s and 60s effect certain players abilities to play the game. They effect coaches too. These rules changed the way teams play, and how people watch these teams play. It also makes the game more fun and interesting for people

• Lowest scoring game: 19 to 18 (Fort Wayne vs. Minneoplis) (1950)
• Longest game: Indianapolis defeats Rochester in 6 overtimes (1951)
• Wilt Chamberlin holds the rebound record (in 1960 grabbing 55) and the point record (in 1962 scoring 100) for one game
• The Lakers win their third NBA championship in a row, the only team to do so in the 50s and 60s (1954)

First Evers

• Earl Lloyd becomes first black NBA player (1950)
• All star game is played (1951)
• Bobby Wanzer becomes the first person to have a free throw percentage higher than 90% (1952)

• The Lakers win their third NBA championship in a row (1954)

• Oscar Robertson becomes the first person to average more than 10 assists in a season (1961)

Image by Tom Mooring