When most people hear the NBA they think of Three point shooting, dunking, and incredible plays. However, back in the 1950s this was not the case. The average height back then was only 6’4 compared to today’s 6’7. The guards back then were also extremely short compared to today’s guards. In today’s NBA most of the guards are 6’3 while back then most of them were under 6 foot.
The playstile back then was also extremely different. In today’s NBA spacing and shooting are probably the 2 most important things while back then big man ruled the league. Most of the offense revolved around the big man and posting up. In the 1950s the three pointer wasn’t even a thing so shooting outside was considered a bad shot. There were also only 11 teams making it a lot easier to win a championship then it is today. The league back then was also a lot less mixed then it is today. The main people who played the sport were whites and not many other countries or races were in the NBA making the competition much worse. The 11 teams during the 1950s which were the Philadelphia warriors, Boston Celtics, new York Knicks, Syracuse nationals, Baltimore bullets, Washington capitals, Minneapolis Lakers, Rochester royals, fort Wayne pistons, Indianapolis Olympians, and the tri city Blackhawks. This is wild as only 2 teams stayed the same which were the Boston Celtics and the new York Knicks.
This is also very funny as even though the Knicks have been in the league for 73 seasons they only have 2 championships. Overall the NBA was much different back then and it has changed so much for the better. From the introduction of the three pointer to better skill level the NBA has changed a lot.