In a basketball scoreboards feature, we will look at the history of basketball in the US.
Basketball was invented in the late 1800s by the Canadian born James Naismith. He did this in response to the YMCA, who wanted an interesting form of indoor entertainment that could be played all year round. Initially, the game was played with 9 players per team, there was a peach basket instead of hoops, and the ball was smaller and similar to a soccer ball.

The all-dominant NBA was not formed until 1946, and it took it a while to become successful. There were a few early stars and competitive games were held, but the sport did not get much exposure. It took more than 15 years for the popularity of the game to explode and for the league to expand. The basketball scoreboards showed that Bill Russel was the first great star, and he lead his team the Boston Celtics to no less than eight consecutive championships.
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Here is a list of the top foreign players to have played in the NBA.

20) Vlade Divac, Serbia – An intelligent center who played in two very talented teams; Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings. He had fantastic passing skills for a center.

19) Hedo Turkoglu, Turkey – Despite an unsuccessful season with the Raptors last year, he was a key shooter for the Sacramento Kings, and an important player for the Orlando Magic as they got to the finals.
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Basketball scoreboards east coast bad team of the decade: The New York Knicks in the 2007-08 season. A pitiful performance from a team which had a massive payroll. The average margin of loss was only 6.6 points per game, and they did win 23 games, which is not TOO bad a record. With the finances the team had, however, and the general ridiculousness surrounding the behavior of the coach and team as a whole, the Knicks are definitely the worst NBA team the east coast saw in the last decade.
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The best games in NBA history combine drama (no one sided games), with the result being not clear until right to the very end. Many of them had great individual performances as well. Here are the games that I consider to be the 5 best 7 gamers ever.

1. St. Louis vs Boston, NBA Finals, April 12th, 1957
It took no less than two overtimes for the Celtics to beat the Hawks with the basketball scoreboards showing 125-123. The then rookie of the year – Tommy Heinsohn, scored 37 points in Game 7. Heinsohn was extremely important, as Sharman and Cousy could only shoot for 5-for-40. Russell did well, scoring 19 points, and making 33 rebounds and 5 blocks.
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This top 6 list of NBA teams was chosen by a panel of media experts just over 10 years ago. Voters were asked to call in and select their top list too. The final list, the best teams in NBA history, are given below:
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A regular on the basketball scoreboards for nearly two decades, Shaquille O’Neal has won the NBA champion no less than four times. He recently said that he will be playing next season, and would prefer to hang up his boots for good than play internationally. When the time comes for the great Shaq to retire, he said that he will do so in style, and have a huge party to celebrate.
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Larry Joe Bird was born on December 7th, 1956. As a young child he showed signs of greatness and by the time he was in high school he was breaking all kinds of records. His performances at Spring V. High School got him a scholarship at the University of Indiana. In his senior year, Bird inspired as he led his team to an NCAA Championship, with the basketball scoreboards showing 89-77 in the final against the Michigan State Spartans.
Continue reading “Larry Bird – The Boston Celtic`s greatest ever player.” →