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 From Chuck Taylors to Air Jordans, basketball shoes continue to help define a basketball player’s game – on and off the court.
By Michael J. Pallerino
The brand. The flash. The comfort. The hype. The mystique. There are many reasons basketball players choose the shoes they wear. Some might even say that basketball shoes – and the mass marketing appeal surrounding them – are as big as the game itself. Well, at least a big part of it. Ever since Chuck Taylor joined the Converse Rubber Company in 1918 with a devout passion to help spread the word on the new game he loved so much, basketball shoes have been helping define the sport and the players who wear them.
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The old ABA fueled fan interest by being innovative, flashy and different
The Doctor. The Skywalker. The A-Train. The Ice Man. Moses. Their names were as big as the game itself. And when these ABA stars – Julius Erving, David Thompson, Artis Gilmore, George Gervin and Moses Malone – took the court, people watched. Founded in 1967, the original ABA competed head-on with the well-established National Basketball Association in a time when America had opened its mind up to anything and everything. In its heyday, the ABA was a high-flying circus act of basketball, complete with a multi-colored ball, three-point line, 30-second shot clock and a host of flamboyant players. In 1976, its last year of existence, the ABA pioneered the now-popular slam dunk contest at its all-star game in Denver.
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From theology to inventor, James Naismith’s vision created a game that still values its founding principles
James Naismith did not set out to make history. That fact cannot be stated any more clearly. Born in 1861 in rural Ontario, Canada, he was orphaned at the age of 8 and went to live with his uncle. Any free time he had when he was not working on the farm was spent with a group of local boys. Their youthful, boundless energy was expended no differently than anybody else at their age. They wrestled. They swung from trees. And they played “Duck the Rock,” a game in which one boy placed a stone at the top of a big rock and guarded his “duck,” while the others tried to knock it off by throwing stones. In its crudeness was the foundation for the game of basketball – a foundation that Naismith would beckon years later.
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A recent listing by ESPN Rise highlighted the top 50 high school basketball players ever
You have been there before: You’re watching a game, and you think, “This kid could be the best player I’ve ever seen.” Well, hold that thought. ESPN Rise magazine published its “Best Ballers Ever” list. And even they couldn’t decide. Take a look at their list and see what you think.
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10 feet and little more … |
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 Did you ever wonder why the basketball goal is the height it is? The answer is in the asking.
The winter of 1891 was cold – real cold. Temperatures made it too inclement to play football or lacrosse, and curling just wasn’t an option for the more athletic students. With only a few options to work off their adolescent energy, the kids at the YMCA Training School (what is today known as Springfield College) in Springfield, Mass., were getting impatient.
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