Basketball culture of America

Basketball Culture of America

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Basketball, the world's greatest sport ever, and of course one of the top sports in America, has an unbelievable affect on culture. Being an sport that dominated America, basketball is considered as a prime label of American culture.

Nowadays, if basketball is talked, the NBA (National Basketball Association) can’t be ignored. The 2010 NBA All-Star Game was held at Cowboys Stadium in front of the largest crowd ever, 108,713. The 2010 playoffs began on April 17, 2010. The eight Eastern Conference teams that made it to the playoffs were the Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, and Charlotte Bobcats.[13] The qualifying Western Conference teams were the Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz, San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets, and the Dallas Mavericks.[13] The Cleveland Cavaliers finished the season with the best record in both the east and the entire NBA, but were eliminated by the Boston Celtics in the Conference Semi-Finals. The Los Angeles Lakers finished with the best record in the west. The Lakers beat the Suns in 6 games, advancing to the NBA Finals for the 31st time. The Boston Celtics also advanced to the NBA Finals, defeating the Orlando Magic in 6 games. The Celtics and the Lakers renewed their rivalry from 2008 when they met again in the NBA Finals for the 12th time. The Lakers won the title in the

7th game, 83-79. Kobe Bryant won his second Finals MVP award.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America which consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada. It is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB),[1] which is recognized by the International Basketball Federation as the National Governing Body (NGB) for basketball in the United States. The NBA is one of the four major North American professional sports leagues, which include Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Football League (NFL), and the National Hockey League (NHL).

The league was founded in New York City on June 6, 1946 as the Basketball Association of America (BAA).The league adopted the name National Basketball Association in 1949 after merging with the rival National Basketball League (NBL). The league's several international as well as individual team offices are directed out of its head offices located in the Olympic Tower at 645 Fifth Avenue in New York City. NBA Entertainment and NBA TV studios are directed out of offices located in Secaucus, New Jersey.

The history of basketball is tightly related to NBA. The ABA, a former professional basketball league, lived for nine seasons (1967-1976). At the time of its inception, the NBA only had 10 teams. NBA expansion was needed but, due to enormous financial demands, wasn't happening. So, the ABA was formed.

The ABA had major style. The basketball was wild, with patriotic red white and blue colors, as thought of by George Mikan, the first ABA commissioner. The players were wild as well, showcasing cool moves, fashionable (often ridiculously so) clothes and a bad attitude (in a good way). Many NBA stars first played in the ABA - Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Connie Hawkins, Artis Gilmore, George Gervin and Dan Issel, to name an impressive handful.

Other ABA stars were: Rick Barry, Spencer Haywood, Bobby Jones, Maurice Lucas, Billy Cunningham and Steve Jones. The ABA coaches list includes such stars as Larry Brown, Hubie Brown, K.C. Jones, Lou Carnesecca, Al Bianchi and Doug Moe.

The ABA brought cool nicknames: Bad News. Slick. Dr. J. The Iceman. Fatty. The American Basketball Association had all the flair everyone wanted the NBA to have. ABA games were more wild. Lots of running. Fast breaks everywhere. The ABA had runners and gunners - guys would fly up and down the court, attacking the basket one minute and firing 3-pointers the next (yes, the ABA had the 3-point basket while the NBA did not). The 3-point line tended to force defenders to step out and guard respectable outside shooters, opening up the lane for drives.

The NBA only had the two-point shot, so defenses tended to huddle closer to the basket, encouraging outside shots and not allowing as much to develop close to the basket. Also, there was no fouling out in the ABA. So, while NBA stars would sometimes be forced to sit down due to foul trouble, ABA stars were on the court as much as their bodies and coaches would allow.

The NBA, however, had all the money. And therefore, it could advertise, bringing fans and media coverage. The ABA lacked funds, and therefore lacked the means to draw fans and receive the attention it deserved.

The ABA was definitely not as good as the NBA when it was first created. Occasional ABA vs. NBA games were played, and NBA teams dominated. Over time, the quality of the ABA talent pool increased dramatically. While it's no longer a big deal for current NBA teams to draft high school players, NBA teams never did that years ago. ABA teams did, and therefore got the jump on a lot of talent that would have gone to the NBA if given the choice. In the later years of the ABA, ABA teams usually beat NBA teams in inter-league competition.

Despite the rise in quality of the American Basketball Association teams as time went on, the NBA still had all the fame and fortune. The ABA was struggling. The league managed to prove itself in many ways - competitive, exciting games, and top notch basketball stars, but it was unable to prove itself as a business. The logical solution - merge with the NBA.

The ABA - NBA merger took place in 1976, with four successful ABA teams - the San Antonio Spurs, New York Nets, Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers - joining the NBA. The rest of the ABA shut down for good.

Almost half of the players in the first NBA All-Star game after the merger were former ABA players.

One person made his great contribution to the powerful affection of the NBA, yes, the "Fly-by-night" Michael Jordan. 1984 23:45 with the first round of the third place was the Chicago Bulls selected on October 6. Americans in the top 10 "cultural icons", basketball emperor -- Jordan ranked sixth night. It is said that their selection criteria is : as long as he or she mentioned the name, people will think of the United States; Whether people like or hate in the eyes of other people, they are representatives of the United States; Only real people are eligible to be elected to literary and artistic works, which no figures for the election; elected to be "authentic" Americans. In accordance with these criteria, the final selection was as follows:

10 Ronald Reagan

9 Hemingway

8 Frank Sinatra

7 James Dean

6 Michael Jordan

5 Martin Luther King

4 John Wayne

3 Elvis Presley

2 Marilyn Monroe

1 John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Fast Runner "Jordan -- a set elegance, power, art, the ability to improvise an outstanding athletes, He redefined the NBA superstar meaning, he is recognized by the world's best basketball players. he lived not only in the times, but the entire NBA history the very best. Joining Chicago Bulls, Jordan won the NBA champion for 6 time, and won five most valuable player (MVP) title. He has a famous saying: "I can accept failure, but could not accept to give up."

By the way, the American basketball especially the NBA games have influenced a whole Chinese generation. In the eighties NBA games were televised on Australian television and developed quite a following. The local professional league, the NBL, was well attended and televised during this period and into the next decade however since the turn of the millennium basketball in Australia has seen a sharp decline in popularity. It would best be considered a minority sport today, comparable with lawn bowls and netball. Many Chinese people started to watch NBA games since the mid 1990s, and the NBA games had inspired many young Chinese basketball fans to become professional players. As a result, Jordon is probably the first basketball superstar in every Chinese basketball fan at that time.

NBA also has a great impact on the rules and managing system of our CBA games. Our CBA Games learn much from NBA and has grown to be an influence league all across Asia.

The economic impact of basketball is very huge. basketball provides for ratings in sport channels, ticket sales at stadiums, building stadiums, and many more. the NBA itself employs many people. the commercials ad products made are perhaps the

biggest income for basketball. it is also safe to say that basketball is a plus for traveling companies because they need to get their players around as well as the fans.

Cultural diversity does come about in basketball. basketball started out with only whites playing because the U.S. was a white enriched country at the time. However, once African Americans and ethnicities of all kind started coming over to the United States from countries all over the world, the cultural diversity was huge.

African Americans are now a big majority of basketball players, helping the diversity of culture. Many Chinese began picking up the game as well as dozens of European countries, leading to a huge cultural diversity in the game of basketball. Most basketball players in America are black, for example Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Lebron James etc. They are all superstars in the field. It proves that black people are good enough to do anything well and locate at the top of the social ladder. They inspire black people to work hard and gain a better life on their own. The NBA somehow eases the conflict between the white and the black.

Basketball has brought the world together, similar to what many other sports have done. Anyone can get together, regardless of race, religion, and ethnicity, and play a simple game of basketball.