Zach Roman 4-10-19

English 10 Block 4

Basketball is very important to me and many other sports fans because there will never be

another game like it, it is also very exciting to watch due to the flashiness of the players. The

game has so many great values and fundamentals to it where you could really learn something by

giving it a try like I did. One important fundamental it can teach you is the value of

sportsmanship. There are so many interesting facts about the game that even the average fan

could find very exciting. This will ultimately be your start on becoming an avid fan of basketball.

The game of basketball has many rules that were either there from the inception of the

game or added as the years passed by. When the game was created in December of 1891 by an

unknown Canadian doctor by the name of Dr. James Naismith there were only thirteen rules

(History of Basketball). Now in 2019 the game has evolved and with the evolution came many

new rules that were instated which made the game faster, stronger, and helped it evolve

throughout the years. Today in 2019 there is many new rules but ten of the original thirteen

remain as official rules. In one of the original thirteen rules a player was not allowed to dribble a

basketball or even do a bounce pass, instead, a player could only move around the court while

taking more than two steps if they didn't have the basketball in their hands. But of course there

have been rules that have been taken out such as the previous rule that I just listed and the

inability to dunk a basketball. Players have also caused rule changes before, the great George

Mikan and Wilt Chamberlain have caused a very important rule change of widening the painted

area from ten to twelve feet. In the early 2000’s they added rules that limited your amount of

time in the painted area to only three seconds. By far the most important rule change of all time
occured in the middle of the 1954 NBA season. The league was struggling to sell tickets due to

very slow paced games so a genius named Danny Biasone proposed the idea of a shot clock of

24 seconds. He got 24 by adding up every second of the game into 2,880 and dividing it by 120.

Rules are very important to and apply to just about everything in life.

During the history of basketball there of been many great players with unique talents and

skills. One of the first players that ever changed the game was Wilt Chamberlain who was a 7

foot 2 inch center who played for the LA Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers, and the San Francisco

Warriors throughout the course of his career. Wilt Chamberlain held the scoring record until

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar broke it, Wilt also scored 100 points in a single game before which is the

most points ever scored in a game in NBA history. Another great player was unique skills was

Earvin “Magic” Johnson who is a 6’9” point guard who played for the Lakers in the 80s and 90s

Magic with such unique player because of his impact to affect the team as soon as he came into

the league 1979. He helped the Lakers with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to win a championship. Magic

was also a unique player because of his court vision that is high most point guards in the NBA or

only 6 foot one or 6 foot four in that range, he was as tall as some centers in the NBA and could

control the ball like a guard he also could shoot the ball pretty well and defend like the best of

them. Even though the last place that I mentioned were great the greatest of all time is Michael

Jordan. Michael is widely regarded as the greatest of all time because of his ability to defend

score and win. Michael in a perfect six for six in the finals which were 2 three peats in the

middle of the 90s. Another great player that is currently active in the NBA today is LeBron

James, LeBron won 4 MVPs and three championships and made eight straight finals appearances
which will be coming to an end this year same with a streak of not missing the playoffs since

2008. Every hobby or job in the world needs someone that is great at them in order to be

successful, the same could also be said with basketball.

In Basketball there are many records regarding the 5 main stats of the game. Those stats

are points, rebounds, blocks, assists, and steals. Those stats are stuffed in the box score by many

great players who have played the game ever since its creation. The record for scoring the most

points throughout a career is held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with 38,387 points (NBA Stats). The

record for assists is held by John Stockton with 15,806, he also leads in steals with a total of

3,265 (NBA Stats). The leader in rebounds is the late great Wilt Chamberlain with a grand total

of 23,924 (NBA Stats). The leader in blocks is Hakeem Olajuwon with 3,830(NBA Stats). There

are also single game records and single season records which features many of the names that I

just listed in the prior sentences. There is also all time per game averages which is pretty much

just adding the total amount together and dividing it by the amount of games that they played

that year. The best point per game average is held by the greatest player of all time himself

Michael Jordan with an average of 30.1 ppg. Other stats that can be recorded are total minutes

and the the total amount of games played. Stats are very important in the world of sports because

it often helps us determine if the player is good or not.

Basketball may only be a sport to some common fans but it is also a platform to the

players which gives them power in their own cities or even in their country such as the United

States of America. Most players in the NBA that receive a high salary usually give back to the

community and thank the fans for showing up to every game to support them. An example of this
is that organizations of the NBA will usually host community events for people who are in need

of assistance to help them get back on their feet. They usually give the people that attend the

event money, food, and gear to represent them at games which they also give them tickets to.

These events are often held on holidays and they can also pop up in random areas on the calendar

to create a charity events of various activities. This just goes to show that the NBA teams really

care about their communities and the people that represent them night in and night out.

Basketball is also used as a platform for players to voice their opinions on certain things

such as politics and problems that are going on throughout the world. Players do this because

they want to see a change in their local communities on the teams that they play for and most of

the time they bring up issues in the community that can easily be fixed by people in power. A

famous example of a player who does this is LeBron James. LeBron often talks about how he

doesn’t respect the man who is currently running the US right now and he often explains why.

LeBron also speaks about the issues going on in the community around them of Los Angeles and

brings awareness to issues and illnesses such as autism and cancer. He even built an elementary

school for poor families that was free of charge so the kids could receive a solid education and

potentially elevate their family out of that predicament that they’re stuck in at the moment.

there was Magic Johnson who was a phenomenal player, he contracted AIDS late into his career

and has helped raise awareness ever since. These examples just go to show how legendary

Basketball has been around since the late 1800s but the NBA’s records only day back to the late

1940s. The eras of basketball are usually disbursed by decades and amid those decades there of

been so many great and influential players of their era. In the 50s there was a center name

George Mikan who was the first ever to dunk a basketball, he was also a very dominant player in
his time. In the 60s it was so many great influential players but no one was as great and

influential as Bill Russell. Bill wasn’t only killing it on the court but he was killing it off the

court as well he was involved in many other civil rights movements in the late 1960s with Martin

Luther King Jr. In the 70s there was a dominant center who played for the Milwaukee Bucks and

Los Angeles Lakers who was formerly known as Lew Alcindor in the middle of his career he

changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar because of his recent change in faith. As of late

Kareem sold most of his memorabilia he gained throughout his career to pay for children’s

health and education, this example just goes to show how great of a guy he is. In the 80s and

early 90s players can be on and off the court throughout their careers and even after.

In basketball (especially the NBA) there is a lot at stake when you lace up your sneakers.

In the NBA players can find many motivations to try and play the game the whether they want to

use things like finances and competitiveness to win a championship. Most NBA players find

financial security to be a very important thing to them and their families which could motivate

them to play harder to value money rather than the teams success in winning which would

ultimately hurt the team. The lowest contract in the NBA today as of 4-12-19 is $1.48 million on

a veterans minimum. The highest recorded salary as of today is held by Russell Westbrook and

he is making around $40 million annually a season. The average salary for NBA players is

around $6.2 million per season which is the highest among the three major sports in the United

States. The three sports in order from greatest to least reads basketball, baseball, and football.

In sports, injuries can occur. It can be a freak accident or in some cases even performed

on purpose by the opposition. In basketball some of the most common injuries occur in the lower

extremities of the human body. These injuries could keep you out a couple days or even years it
all depends on the severity of the injury and where it occurred. Severe injuries can often harm a

players career or even destroy it. For example, a torn ACL or a ruptured Achilles’ tendon will

end someone's season. Some of these more severe injuries usually occur between the years of

25-40 years old, people 24 or younger usually have a lesser chance of tearing a ligament or

tendon (HealthGrades). A career that was ruined after the age of 25 due to injuries was Brandon

Roy, Roy was a phenomenal player as he was a three time All Star within his first four years in

the NBA (Basketball Reference). The cartilage in his knee started to deplete so his bones were

rubbing together night in and night out he had to call it quits after his sixth year at the age of 26

years old. Another NBA players career that was altered by injuries was Derrick Rose. Derrick

was an amazing young player he, similarly to Roy was a three time All Star within his first four

years in the NBA. In his fourth year he was crowned league MVP at the age of 22 which is the

youngest MVP of all time. But, he tore his ACL and was never the same player. Fortunately for

Derrick though, he encountered some recent success this year at the age of 30 years old. Injuries

in any sport have a significant chance to affect you physically and most of all mentally.

Basketball is a very important sport in many countries or continents such as Europe and

the United States. The game can help elevate people out of certain struggles in their lives that

they’ve encountered. A popular example of this is LeBron James who grew up in Akron, Ohio in

a very poor family with no father, now he is on the verge of becoming a billionaire. Therefore

this game of basketball is a very important thing that latches itself onto so many people and helps

them realize that it’s more than just a game, it's a way of life.