50's & 60's

    Just before the 50's, in 1946, different owners of the halls hosting hockey games (NHL) decided to meet in New-York to agree on the creation of a professional basketball league, the BAA. 11 franchises participated in this first edition, 3 of which still exist today, the Celtic's, the Knicks and the Warriors who were in Philadelphia at the time. In 1949 different leagues will be sucked with their teams by the BAA to form the organisation we all know, the NBA!

    

The 50's

    From the beginning of the 50's the Minneapolis Lakers (who later moved to Los Angeles) dominated the league with the first superstar of the league, George Mikan, as the figurehead. He represents the basketball of those years, big and strong, he is the one who attracts the public in the rooms and guides the rules of the whole sport. That's why the biggest stars of the time were mainly pivots like Bob Petit, who won the very first Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in 1956, or Dolph Shayes, the best scorer of the decade. On the social side, in 1950, Earl Loyd was the first African-American to join the league, a community that today represents 75% of all players, a pioneer who suffered violent discrimination wherever he travelled with his team. However 2 players will arrive in the league and will forever change the image of this sport

The 60's

    This decade will be dominated by just one team, the Bill Russell's Celtic's, From 1959 to 1969 this team won 11 titles, 8 of which were consecutive (1959 to 1966) leaving only the 1967 title to the Philadelphia Warriors. Celtic's defensive game is formidable and leaves very little chance for opponents, the coach, Red Auerbach is considered one of the best of all time and will advance basketball both technically and socially. Indeed, Auerbach is considered as a madman when he entrusts his team to Bill Russel, a black player, one of the two players I mentioned earlier. Russel will pass above the social prejudices of the time so much his talent and comprehension of the game are undeniable, one does not win 11 title by chance, which makes him the player having the most ring of all times. The second player I wanted to talk about is not the greatest winner but arguably the most impressive athletic monster of all time, Wilt Chamberlain. This college high jumping phenom is going to do a tour with the Harlem Globtrotters before entering the NBA. He remains to this day the only player to have put up 100 points in a game, he had the 4 best scoring seasons in history,... He would have so many records that we could blog about it. The duality of these 2 players will remain the first and one of the greatest in history even if Russel won much more.