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Message: <blockquote data-quote="shakespeare" data-source="post: 3398238" data-attributes="member: 134752">1940s and 1950s: The early years  Main article: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketball_Association_of_America_%28BAA%29" target="_blank">Basketball Association of America (BAA)</a>  The Basketball Association of America was founded in 1946 by the owners of the major <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey" target="_blank">ice hockey</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arena" target="_blank">arenas</a> in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeastern_United_States" target="_blank">Northeastern</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States" target="_blank">Midwestern</a> United States. On November 1, 1946, in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto" target="_blank">Toronto</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario" target="_blank">Ontario</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada" target="_blank">Canada</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Huskies" target="_blank">Toronto Huskies</a> hosted the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Knicks" target="_blank">New York Knickerbockers</a>, which the NBA now regards as the first game played in the league's history.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Basketball_Association#cite_note-firstgame-2" target="_blank">[3]</a> Although there had been earlier attempts at professional basketball leagues, including the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Basketball_League_%281925-1955%29" target="_blank">American Basketball League</a> and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Basketball_League_%28United_States%29" target="_blank">National Basketball League</a>, the BAA was the first league to attempt to play primarily in large arenas in major cities. During its early years, the quality of play in the BAA was not significantly better than in competing leagues or among leading independent clubs such as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_Globetrotters" target="_blank">Harlem Globetrotters</a>. For instance, the 1948 ABL finalist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_Bullets_%28original%29" target="_blank">Baltimore Bullets</a> moved to the BAA and won that league's 1948 title, and the 1948 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Basketball_League_%28United_States%29" target="_blank">NBL</a> champion <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Lakers" target="_blank">Minneapolis Lakers</a> won the 1949 BAA title. On August 3, 1949, the BAA agreed to merge with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Basketball_League_%28United_States%29" target="_blank">NBL</a>, creating the new National Basketball Association. The new league had seventeen franchises located in a mix of large and small cities, as well as large arenas and smaller gymnasiums and armories. In 1950, the NBA consolidated to eleven franchises, a process that continued until 1954, when the league reached its smallest size of eight franchises, all of which are still in the league (the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knicks" target="_blank">Knicks</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Celtics" target="_blank">Celtics</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_State_Warriors" target="_blank">Warriors</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Lakers" target="_blank">Lakers</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento_Kings" target="_blank">Royals/Kings</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Pistons" target="_blank">Pistons</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_Hawks" target="_blank">Hawks</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_76ers" target="_blank">Nationals/76ers</a>). The process of contraction saw the league's smaller-city franchises move to larger cities. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_Hawks" target="_blank">Hawks</a> shifted from "Tri-Cities" (the area now known as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quad_Cities" target="_blank">Quad Cities</a>) to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukee,_Wisconsin" target="_blank">Milwaukee</a> (in 1951) and then to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis,_Missouri" target="_blank">St. Louis</a> (in 1955); the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento_Kings" target="_blank">Royals</a> from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochester,_New_York" target="_blank">Rochester</a> to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati,_Ohio" target="_blank">Cincinnati</a> (in 1957); and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Pistons" target="_blank">Pistons</a> from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Wayne,_Indiana" target="_blank">Fort Wayne</a> to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit,_Michigan" target="_blank">Detroit</a> (in 1957). In 1960, the Lakers relocated to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles,_California" target="_blank">Los Angeles</a>, and the Warriors moved to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco,_California" target="_blank">San Francisco</a>, in 1963. The following year, the Nationals left upstate New York to bring basketball back to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia" target="_blank">Philadelphia</a>, changing their nickname from "Nationals" to "76ers." This means out of the original eight franchises, only the Knicks and Celtics have not relocated at any point. Although <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese-American" target="_blank">Japanese-American</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wataru_Misaka" target="_blank">Wataru Misaka</a> technically broke the NBA color barrier in the 1947–48 season when he played for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Knicks" target="_blank">New York Knicks</a>, 1950 is recognized as the year the NBA integrated. This year witnessed the addition of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American" target="_blank">African American</a> players by several teams, including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Cooper_%28athlete%29" target="_blank">Chuck Cooper</a> with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Celtics" target="_blank">Boston Celtics</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_%22Sweetwater%22_Clifton" target="_blank">Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton</a> with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Knicks" target="_blank">New York Knicks</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Lloyd" target="_blank">Earl Lloyd</a> with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Capitols" target="_blank">Washington Capitols</a>. During this period, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Lakers" target="_blank">Minneapolis Lakers</a>, led by center <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mikan" target="_blank">George Mikan</a>, won five <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_Finals" target="_blank">NBA Championships</a> and established themselves as the league's first <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynasty_%28sports%29" target="_blank">dynasty</a>. To encourage shooting and discourage stalling, the league introduced the 24-second <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_clock" target="_blank">shot clock</a> in 1954. If a team does not attempt to score a field goal (or the ball fails to make contact with the rim) within 24 seconds of obtaining the ball, play is stopped and the ball given to its opponent. In 1957, rookie center <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Russell_%28basketball%29" target="_blank">Bill Russell</a> joined the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Celtics" target="_blank">Boston Celtics</a>, who already featured guard <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Cousy" target="_blank">Bob Cousy</a> and coach <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Auerbach" target="_blank">Red Auerbach</a>, and went on to lead the club to eleven NBA titles in thirteen seasons. Center <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilt_Chamberlain" target="_blank">Wilt Chamberlain</a> entered the league with the Warriors in 1959 and became the dominant individual star of the 1960s, setting new records in scoring (100) and rebounding (55). Russell's rivalry with Chamberlain became one of the great individual rivalries in the history of American team sports.</blockquote>

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