• NBA - Teams, Players, History, Timeline
• WNBA - Teams, Players, History, Timeline
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• Hall of Fame members
• College Basketball - Overview, NCAA, NAIA, NJCAA
• D-League - D-League Overview, Teams, Players
• High School Basketball (USA)
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• Streetball - Courts, Players
• Amateur Basketball (USA)
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• Breaking Down Barriers
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• The sport of basketball has been gracing postage stamps since 1934, when the U.S. administrators of the Philippines issued the 16 cent commemorative pictured at right.

This 12th Street YMCA team from Washington, DC was declared Colored Basketball World's Champions in 1910.

• The NBA traces its roots back to 1946 and the Basketball Association of America. But the first documented professional basketball game in the US took place in 1896, just five years after James Naismith wrote the rules. The first pro league -- the National Basket Ball League -- began operations in 1898.

It was a wild time, with barnstorming teams, leagues that came and went, and men who could play for three teams in three leagues at the same time. Read about the beginnings of pro ball in NBA Roots.

Smith College Class of 1895 team

• Basketball spread across the country like wildfire in the 1890s. Lots of people were looking for a competitive indoor game in the winter. But it wasn't just the guys. As soon as boys started playing, girls did, too. Read about the AAU Women's Champions. Or check out some of the other articles about the women's game.

• All articles on basketball's origins
• Early Leagues
• All articles on early teams

• Who was the first men's college national champ? Temple, winner of the 1938 National Invitation Tournament (NIT)? The Oregon Ducks, winners of the 1939 NCAA championship? The Helms Foundation picked mythical national champions for every season between 1901 and 1983. That expert panel picked Yale, 1901, as the first national champ. See if you agree with the Helms Foundation picks.

Nat Holman in his Original Celtics uniform, 1922.

• All articles about African-Americans and basketball

• "Why are they so good at basketball? They dominate the sport. They must have some innate physical advantage that the rest of us don't have." Sound familiar? But in the first half of the 20th Century "they" were Jews. Many of the top players were kids who grew up playing ball on the tough streets of New York and Philadelphia. Kids like Nat Holman (right), Barney Sedran, Bennie Borgmann, Max Friedman and Eddie Gottlieb, who all grew up to be Hall of Famers. To learn more about race and hoops, read Questions of Race.

• In 1898 the Amateur Athletic Union organized a tournament to determine a national men's basketball champion. They've been holding such tournaments ever since. For most of the first half of the 20th Century the AAU was the most prestigious championship there was. For a listing of all the championship games, go to AAU Men's Champions.

The Nankai Five Tigers: China's first dominating team, ca. 1896.

• Basketball is a world game. It is huge in China, and has been since the early 20th Century (left). Read about the beginnings of basketball in China. You might be surprised to learn that Professional Basketball in China started only in 1995.

• 1911 - Hall of Fame player Ernest Schmidt, who led Kansas State Teachers College to 47 consecutive wins, is born in Nashville, Kansas.

• 1917 - Hall of Famer Al Cervi, who coached the Syracuse Nationals to the 1955 NBA Championship, is born in Buffalo, New York.

• 1934 - Hall of Famer Bill Russell, the center who led the Boston Celtics to eleven NBA championships, is born in Monroe, Louisiana.

• 1949 - The New York Rens replace the Detroit Vagabond Kings (who folded) in the National Basketball League. The renamed Dayton Rens, coached by Hall of Famer Pop Gates become the first all-Black team to play in the otherwise all-White league.

• 1949 - "Pitchin' Paul" Arizin (right) scores 85 points for Villanova against the Philadelphia Naval Air Command team.

Nance in the 1984 NBA Slam Dunk Contest

• 1959 - 3 time All-Star Larry Nance winner of the 1984 NBA Slam Dunk Contest is born in Anderson, South Carolina.

• 1989 - A crowd of 44,735, the largest in NBA All-Star Game history, turns out at the Houston Astrodome to watch the West beat the East 143-134. Utah’s Karl Malone wins MVP honors by scoring a team-high 28 points.

• 1995 - Nat Holman passes away in the Bronx, New York at age 98. The Hall of Famer starred for the Original Celtics and will likely always be the only coach to win the NIT and NCAA championships in the same year.

• The English Basketball League (EBL) is a semi-professional and amateur basketball league in England.

• The Albany State Golden Rams are a college basketball team that play in the NCAA Division II.

• The Bristol Flyers are a professional basketball team playing in the English Basketball League in Bristol, England.

• The Brixton TopCats are a British basketball team based in the Brixton area of London, England.

• Basketball: The Basics
• Original Rules
• Right: Trent Tucker the New York Knick that spawned a NBA rule because of a game involving himself, the Chicago Bulls and one tenth of a second remaining on the game clock. Read more.
• NBA Rules
• NCAA Rules
• Common Basketball Terms
• Slang Basketball Terms
• Fantasy Basketball: The Basics
• All Articles

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