Basketball: Olympic Handbook of Sports Medicine

Keith Thompson

Upon its establishment in 1946 the NBA – via its forerunner the Basketball Association of America – became the 21st professional basketball league to be formed in the U.S., and the one that would outlast all the others. In addition, since 1896 when professional basketball began in Trenton, New Jersey thousands of players have competed in a pro game, and generated countless hours of debate as to who the best players are in the history of the sport. In fact, precisely 3572 players and 439 All-stars have graced the courts of the NBA and the American Basketball Association when it was in operation between 1967 and 1976. And until now there has never been a truly scientific method of evaluating their performances on a basketball court, and determining who is the all-time best. Finally, after 109 years, such a measure has been created. This book, Heroes of the Hardcourt: Ranking Pro Basketball’s 100 Greatest Players identifies and profiles the 100 greatest players to play...

Hal Wissel

Master all the important skills of basketball and take your game to the next level. Basketball: Steps to Success provides in-depth, progressive instruction in techniques and tactics, including detailed tutoring on shooting and 111 drills featuring a scoring system to gauge your progress. As you build your skill base, you’ll learn how to make all the right moves in game situations, whether it’s executing the correct footwork when defending screens or making the right pass for a winning basket. Highly regarded coach, teacher, and clinician Hal Wissel will help you execute each technique proficiently and consistently on the court. Improve your game. Basketball: Steps to Success will help you develop the total package of tools to achieve your goals on the court.

The Los Angeles Lakers, 2009 NBA Champions and one of the most storied and illustrious franchises in the National Basketball Association, celebrate 50 years in Los Angeles in 2010. Since moving from Minneapolis in 1960, pioneering the NBA s expansion to the West Coast, The Lakers have won 10 NBA Championships, 24 Western Conference/Division titles, and 20 Pacific Division titles, and finished in the playoffs all but four seasons in the last half century. Some of the greatest players in NBA history have worn the Lakers jersey including Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Gail Goodrich, James Worthy and four of the NBA s Most Valuable Players Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O Neal and Kobe Bryant. Seven LA Lakers were inducted into the Hall of Fame, as were head coaches Bill Sharman, Pat Riley and Phil Jackson. The team holds the record for the longest consecutive win streak in professional sports (33) and several NBA records including the most regular season wins and highest...

Kyle Wright

What NBA team was the greatest ever? For basketball fans, that question can lead to widespread debate. Sports journalist and basketball enthusiast Kyle Wright has created a new and unique computer formula to rank every team in NBA history. Coining it as the POST formula, Wright assigns ratings to all NBA teams based on how they stack up to other comparable teams during any year—from the number of wins and losses to points scored and points allowed. The result is a complete ranking that takes you from number one to number 1,153.

James Naismith

James Naismith was teaching physical education at the Young Men’s Christian Association Training College in Springfield, Massachusetts, and felt discouraged because calisthenics and gymnastics didn’t engage his students. What was needed was an indoor wintertime game that combined recreation and competition. One evening he worked out the fundamentals of a game that would quickly catch on. Two peach half-bushel baskets gave the name to the brand new sport in late 1891. "Basketball: Its Origin and Development" was written by the inventor himself, who was inspired purely by the joy of play. Naismith, born in northern Ontario in 1861, gave up the ministry to preach clean living through sport. He describes Duck on the Rock, a game from his Canadian childhood, the creative reasoning behind his basket game, the eventual refinement of rules and development of equipment, the spread of amateur and professional teams throughout the world, and the growth of women’s basketball (at first...