The NBA was played in two completely different styles during the first and second halves of the 1950's. The first few years of the league featured stagnant offense, low scoring, and many, many fouls. After the shot clock and foul limit were introduced, the approach players took to win flipped. The game sped up, resulting in more shots, and therefore, more points. However, the way players tried to score the ball did not shift. Everything was big man-dominated throughout the decade, as the objective was to get inside and tally up buckets from a foot outside the basket (essentially how George Mikan made his money).
A considerable amount of statistics supports the advancement of the game during the 50's. If the restrictions put into effect in 51' (paint changed to 12 feet) and 54' (shot clock and foul limit) did what they were supposed to do, then there would for certain be more possessions per game. The more possessions each team got, the more numbers each would be generating. |
George Mikan Many basketball experts agree that the greatest and most influential (on the future of the player from the 1950's era was George Mikan. Playing the center position, Mikan stood six feet ten inches tall, which is important to note, as players were much shorter 60 years ago than they are today. The man controlled the league for the first half of the 50's (he retired in 1954), winning two scoring championships and bringing home four league championships for the Minneapolis Lakers. George's best season was from 1950-51, when he averaged 28.4 points and 14.1 rebounds per game.
Mikan overwhelmed defenders with his size and finishing prowess around the rim. If you're a basketball player, you might've heard of the Mikan Drill; all you do is practice shooting layups on both sides of the hoop. With his touch underneath the basket and extraordinary height, he led the charge for new rules and adjustments in the NBA, such as goal tending and the width of the paint. George Mikan can be credited as the main contributor for the evolution of basketball during this time period. |
"Bob made 'second effort' a part of the sport's vocabulary. He kept coming at you more than any man in the game. He was always battling for position, fighting you off the boards." - Bill Russell. Bob Pettit was a baller from the beginning of his career, earning the Rookie of the Year award his first year and league MVP his second. As a 6'9" Power Forward, he put up numbers that George Mikan couldn't even do (although the game was much, much more sluggish when Mikan played), averaging 26.4 points and 16.2 rebounds for his career. To make that sound even more impressive, he never had a season in which he averaged less than 20 points and 12 rebounds. Pettit was an All-Star all 11 seasons he played, All-NBA First Team ten times (Second Team once), won two total MVP's, and one NBA championship. The accolades just keep adding up more and more.
Often times Pettit doesn't get enough credit for his greatness, as he played between two different times of basketball: Mikan and Russell. Mikan gets all of the fame for being the first dominant force in the league, and Bill Russell emerged as the new top player just a few years into Pettit's prime. There isn't much else to note about Bob Pettit. The main point to take away from this is that Bob is underrated and overlooked by experts who judge the early stars of the NBA. |
Meet Dolph Schayes, a 6'8" Power Forward/Center with an unparalleled offensive skill set for the 1950's. Dolph was a good finisher and rebounder, like most NBA stars back in the day. In addition, he possessed the unique ability to hit outside shots, something almost unheard of for early big men. He averaged 18.5 points and 12.1 rebounds per contest over his career, which lasted from the 1949-50 season to 1963-64. Schayes could attack the rim as good as anyone could, and as a result, would get to the free throw line a large number of times. Because of the slow style of play and lack of rules, games often turned into free throw shooting battles; Dolph just happened to be an excellent shooter for his era, shooting 84.9% from the stripe during his career. This skill helped him immensely, as roughly 1/3rd of his career points were off of free throws. He was an all-star every season during the 50's, made the All-NBA First Team six times, and won one championship with the Syracuse Nationals. In the end, Schayes gave us a glimpse of the future with a knack for putting the ball in the hoop from both inside and out.
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All of these players have one key thing in common: their skin. Notice how not a single one of the best players in the 1950's was African-American. The 50's were owned by tall, white men. Which is very much different from the NBA today, being made up of about 80% black players. It is a known fact that black players faced heavy amounts of racism, and did not get equal opportunity for success that a white player would've received. If you think about how people viewed race decades ago, it's actually not that strange to see discrimination come about. The civil rights movement was nearing its beginning, and our country was racist in every facet of society.
In 1950, the Boston Celtics drafted an African-American man by the name of Chuck Cooper. Cooper became the first non-white player to play in the league. Walter Brown, owner of the Celtics, faced abundant amounts of criticism for his choice. One owner even asked him, "Walter, don’t you know he’s a colored boy?" It took many years for the integration of black players in the NBA to have an impact and make a name for themselves; Bill Russell was the first true African-American superstar, and he was drafted six years after Cooper. |
Pictured above: Chuck Cooper, First African-American to play in the NBA
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1949-50
Finals: Minneapolis Lakers 4-2 Syracuse Nationals George Mikan leads the Lakers first NBA title, defeating Dolph Schayes and the Nationals. The Lakers win three out of the next four championships. 1950-51 Finals: Rochester Royals 4-3 New York Knicks 1951-52 Finals: Minneapolis Lakers 4-3 New York Knicks 1952-53 Finals: Minneapolis Lakers 4-1 New York Knicks 1953-54: Finals: Minneapolis Lakers 4-3 Syracuse Nationals 1954-55 Finals: Syracuse Nationals 4-3 Fort Wayne Pistons With Mikan's retirement, Dolph Schayes wins Syracuse a championship, marking the end of Minneapolis' mini dynasty. |
1955-56
Finals: Philadelphia Warriors 4-1 Fort Wayne Pistons Regular Season MVP: Bob Pettit Bob Pettit wins the league's first MVP award in just his second season. Pettit is able to showcase his dominance for a few years before Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain step into the picture. 1956-57 Finals: Boston Celtics 4-3 St. Louis Hawks Regular Season MVP: Bob Cousy 1957-58 Finals: St. Louis Hawks 4-2 Boston Celtics Regular Season MVP: Bill Russell Russell falls short of the championship, but like Pettit, wins MVP in his sophomore season. He redeems his loss by supplying the Celtics with the next eight titles. 1958-59 Finals: Boston Celtics 4-0 Minneapolis Lakers Regular Season MVP: Bob Pettit |
Pictured above: the paint on a basketball court when it was six feet wide.
By the third season of the NBA's being, considerable adjustments were already implemented. Some notable rule changes during the 1950's were . . .
1951-52: The paint is widened from six to 12 feet. The deciding factor that prompted this rule change was George Mikan's dominance inside. 1954-55: The 24-second shot clock is made standard. This is probably the single most important rule change, or creation in this case, in the history of basketball. Without the shot clock, basketball might not be around anymore. Fans were tired of witnessing games that were decided by whoever scored the first points. It might be obvious, but the new rule forced teams to shoot in less than 24 seconds every possession, compared to just sitting on the ball for minutes at a time. Within the first year of the shot clock era, teams were scoring 93.1 points per game, whereas just a year before they were putting up 79.5. That's a huge difference. By the 1958 season, average points per game was up over 100. The shot clock revitalized the game of basketball. |
The early years of the NBA were flawed in several ways. Without restrictions on chewing the clock and late-game fouling, and a six foot wide lane, the game was becoming tedious and boring to watch. The league was losing out on money they could easily be making if they only had some good rules. Slowly, but surely, the NBA started to figure out some solutions to the defects in their game.
Another important rule was added for the 1954-55 season: The foul limit. If a team committed six or more fouls in a quarter, the other team would be given a free throw. The shot clock and foul limit went hand in hand, patching up the issues with the other. The NBA Rules History explained this by stating, "The time limit made in unnecessary for the trailing team to foul deliberately, since it would get the ball after 24 seconds. The foul limit made it too costly to foul to prevent a chance at a basket." Without the abuse of the old rules, the game of basketball became more fun for the players and the spectators. Both the shot clock and foul limit still exist today. The shot clock is still 24 seconds, while the foul limit has decreased to four.
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