1950 NBA Finals Puns

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1. The Minneapolis Lakers dynasty had Hall of Fame players at point guard, small forward, power forward, and center. Shooting guard rotated between a bevy of players throughout the years: Don "Swede" Carlson started from 1947-48 to midway through 1949-50, Bob Harrison started from midway through 1949-50 to 1950-51, Arnie Ferrin started during the 1950 playoffs, Whitey Skoog started during the first half of 1951-52, Pep Saul started from midway through 1951-52 to 1952-53, and Whitey Skoog took back over from 1953-54 until 1955-56, after which the dynasty was decidedly over. Harrison is the best-remembered of those five players, as he had the longest and most successful NBA career and is known for one dramatic moment in particular.

2. That moment can be seen right here, when he made a last-second shot from just inside of half-court to win Game 1 of the 1950 NBA Finals by a score of 68-66. Reports from the time dispute whether it was literally at the buzzer or if there was time for Paul Seymour (who, coincidentally, was Harrison's high school teammate and childhood neighbor/friend) to launch a full-court shot that missed, and 00:20 of that video makes it appear that the latter is the case since a Nationals player caught the ball and begins to head to the baseline. Special recognition also belongs to George Mikan for scoring a game-high 37 points and blocking the Al Cervi layup attempt that led directly to Harrison's shot, as well as to future Hall of Fame football coach Bud Grant (who was only in the rotation at all because of an injury to Tony Jaros, and only playing that late in the game because Vern Mikkelsen fouled out), who made the all-important game-tying one-handed set shot a minute earlier, his only points of the game.

3. Harrison was part of the most drastic mid-dynasty retooling in possibly all of NBA history. Having just won two consecutive championships in the franchise's only two years of existence, the Lakers added Vern Mikkelsen, Slater Martin, and Bob Harrison in the same draft, all of whom would end up being important figures for them both immediately and for the rest of their reign. There's also a very good chance no other team's had a better draft from top to bottom than the Lakers had in 1949: all four of the players they selected – those three plus

Taken from a Stew Thornley story in 1989:

> Fort Wayne controlled the jump and Mikan, flanked by Pollard and Mikkelsen, lumbered into defensive position. But as the trio turned around, they saw Pistons center Larry Foust standing at mid-court with the ball on his hip. And that’s where Foust—and the ball—stayed. Foust was under strict orders from Mendenhall to do nothing until the Lakers came out to play man- to-man.

>The officials—Stan Stutz and Jocko Collins—screamed at Mendenhall and the Pistons to play ball. Mendenhall fired back that Minneapolis was playing an illegal zone defense, a charge that Lakers coach Kundla denied.

>Meanwhile, the Auditorium crowd of 7,021 began to boo and stomp their feet in response to the inactivity. But Fort Wayne stuck to its game plan as they held the ball for as long as three minutes at a time. When one playing got tired of holding the ball, he’d flip it to a teammate, who would then tuck it under his arm.

>Every so often, a bored Slater Martin would press and try to force a turnover. When he was successful in doing so, the Lakers would hustle downcourt and, after three passes (the last one usually to Mikan), put up a shot.

>The standoffs were thus interrupted by brief flurries of action—enough to give Fort Wayne an 8-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

>The stall was producing the desired effect for the Pistons, as it seemed to unnerve Minneapolis, even on the few occasions when the Lakers had possession. Martin missed a fast-break layup in the first period, and Bob Harrison missed another in the second.

>A free throw by Mikan with 1:55 left in the half gave Minneapolis an 11-10 lead. After the Pistons retied the game, Mikan pushed in another basket with a half minute to go, and the Lakers carried a 13-11 edge into the locker room. Twelve of the Lakers’ 13 points in the half had been scored by Mikan.

>Fort Wayne continued its tactics in the second half, even though they were trailing. “We thought ‘Why go after them?C,” recalled Vern Mikkelsen. “As long as we were ahead and they were holding the ball, there was no point in our trying to create anything.”

>The Lakers edge stood at 17-16 entering the fourth quarter. A free throw by Foust tied the scored with 6:10 to go in the game. But Jim Pollard dropped a free throw 12 seconds later to put the Lakers back out front, 18-17.

>That score remained as the game entered the final minute. Now it was the Lakers’ turn to stall as Fort Wa

Three black players joined the NBA on April 25, 1950, and all three achieved something different that gives each a stake in the "first black player in the NBA" discussion. In the 2nd round of the 1950 NBA draft (held on April 25), the Celtics selected Chuck Cooper, making him the first black player drafted into the NBA. Later in the 9th round, the Washington Capitols (a team that dissolved in '52) selected Earl Lloyd, who on October 31 became the first black player to play in an NBA game. Also on April 25, 1950, the Knicks purchased the contract of Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton from the Harlem Globetrotters, making Clifton the first black player signed to an NBA team. All three played in the league in 1950-51 and for at least 6 seasons, and all three are in the basketball Hall of Fame.

Between 1947 and 1950, the Chicago Stags went 145-92 (.612) and outscored opposing home teams by 119 points while on the road.

In 2nd place are the Anderson Packers with a net difference of -34 while on the road.

The closest modern team is the Oklahoma City Thunder at -406 on the road.

The Chicago Stags might be a greater what if than the OKC Big 3.

Obviously I haven't seen any of these games but with the help of advanced technology, stats are now available. With these, I examine who would have been awarded the MVP if it existed those days. Of course I pick the MVP from the winning team and then from there I look at who had the better numbers, with points per game as a huge factor but if the gap wasn't too wide then we give it to the best overall stats. This is just for fun so we're open to discussion. My choices were number-based and didn't undergo the eye test, so obviously there would be some disagreements. Greer or Chamberlain? Cousy, Russell, Jones, or Heinsohn? Let's talk.

1950 - George Mikan (Minneapolis Lakers)

1951 - Arnie Risen (Rochester Royals)

1952 - George Mikan (Minneapolis Lakers)

1953 - George Mikan (Minneapolis Lakers)

1954 - George Mikan (Minneapolis Lakers)

1955 - Dolph Schayes (Syracuse Nationals)

1956 - Paul Arizin (Philadelphia Warriors)

1957 - Bob Cousy (Boston Celtics)

1958 - Bob Pettit (St. Louis Hawks)

1959 - Tom Heinsohn (Boston Celtics)

1960 - Bill Russell (Boston Celtics)

1961 - Bill Russell (Boston Celtics)

1962 - Bill Russell (Boston Celtics)

1963 - Bill Russell (Boston Celtics)

1964 - Sam Jones (Boston Celtics)

1965 - Sam Jones (Boston Celtics)

[1966](http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/NBA_1966_fi

Thought it'd be interesting to see the distribution by decade of each of the 75 players. Here's how many players on the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team entered the league each decade:

• 1940s (1)
• 1950s (9)
• 1960s (16)
• 1970s (10)
• 1980s (16)
• 1990s (12)
• 2000s (8)
• 2010s (4)

DISCLAIMER: This is only for the finals since the NBA-ABA merger, keep in mind that there are things such as fluke runs, injuries and other stuff that prevents a team that was considered "elite" from actually reaching the finals and teams that weren't considered "elite" can also take advantage of that. I also only chose the finals because i'm lazy, and, well, elite teams can reach the finals anyways. All the data is from BBallRef

Hi everyone, i currently don't have anything to do so i've decided to check Phil Jackson's "a team is elite if they can reach 40 wins before 20 losses in the regular season" statement, studying each NBA finals since the NBA-ABA merger and see if it holds true:

(PJ status = team reached 40 wins before 20 losses in the regular season, bold are PJ-positives and non-bold are PJ-negatives)

The story you generally hear when you try to learn about the history of the NBA's integration from mainstream or official sources often feels like it goes something like this.

"First, only white people were allowed to play. Then, three guys whose names and stories may or may not be worth mentioning depending on my particular bias as a writer poofed into existence out of nowhere and the NBA had black people with no objections from anyone involved with the league whatsoever except for some rogue fans."

Earlier in the year, I tackled the big picture of professional basketball's complicated and long history regarding race and wrote an overview of the history of the integration of basketball, chronicling many of the most important events in basketball's integration beginning in 1902-03 and ending with the sort of depressing note of the league dropping below 25% of coaches being black in 2017-18 for the first time since the early 90s. I'm glad to report that, after this offseason's coaching carousel, that number is up all the way to 13 out of 30, just one off of the most the NBA's ever had in one season.

Today I'm going to take a different approach and write about a much smaller segment of time – what could easily be regarded as the most important event in basketball's history of race relations, the formal integration of the NBA in the 1950-51 season.

The Background: Race was not the first thing on the minds of most people involved with the NBA in 1950. Far from it. The 1950 offseason served as, more than anything, the formal end of a peace treaty in professional basketball's civil war.

After three years of "open warfare" from 1946-47 to 1948-49, the Atlantic Coast-centric metropolitan powers of the BAA and the Midwest-centric small-city businessmen of the NBL had completed a merger on August 3, 1949, which led to an "unwieldy" 17-team, three-division league that most critics (and NBA President Maurice Podoloff himself, as it eventually came out) were surprised made it through the season without any teams folding midseason. It was actually the case that one team, the Chicago Stags, were on track to fold midseason that year but Podoloff gave them a cash influx to stop that from happening.

Between the end of the season and the main part of the offseason, the NBA cut down the number of teams from 17

It is also the first regular season triple-double since LeBron James against the Philadelphia 76ers on April 6, 2018.

source: https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/1463870088277340174

The Golden State Warriors' current winning percentage is 88.9% which extrapolated over 82 games is equivalent to 72.9 wins, just short of their 15-16 season record. Their next game is against Portland for a chance to surpass that winning percentage

Olá

Em 1950 o Brasil sediou a Copa do Mundo e que também foi para a sua primeira final

como a maioria das pessoas sabem o brasil levou 2-1 do Uruguai que ficou conhecido como Maracanaço

percebi que o jogo completo não esta disponível atualmente mais possuímos o audio completo da partida e vários video e fotos mais nada do jogo completo

link do audio:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVhM2RZho_o

With the exception of the 2004 Lakers (#6 in offensive rating), 2011 Mavericks, and 2020 Heat, every team that has made the NBA Finals has been top 5 in either offensive or defensive rating before the All-Star break since the NBA has kept track of this stat (since the 1996-1997 season). I call this the BARBER line, Before All-Star Reveals Best Expectancy for Ringz. Here is every teams ranking below (Champions listed first, anomalies highlighted):

1997: Chicago Bulls (1st in OFFRTG, 3rd in DEFRTG) vs Utah Jazz (4th in OFFRTG)

1998: Chicago Bulls (3rd in DEFRTG) vs Utah Jazz (1st in OFFRTG)

1999: San Antonio Spurs (4th in DEFRTG) vs New York Knicks (5th in DEFRTG)

2000: Los Angeles Lakers (5th in OFFRTG, 1st in DEFRTG) vs Indiana Pacers (2nd in OFFRTG)

2001: Los Angeles Lakers (1st in OFFRTG) vs Philadelphia 76ers (4th in DEFRTG)

2002: Los Angeles Lakers (3rd in OFFRTG, 3rd in DEFRTG) vs New Jersey Nets (1st in DEFRTG)

2003: San Antonio Spurs (2nd in DEFRTG) vs New Jersey Nets (1st in DEFRTG)

2004: Detroit Pistons (5th in DEFRTG) vs Los Angeles Lakers (6th in OFFRTG, 9th in DEFRTG)

2005: San Antonio Spurs (1st in DEFRTG) vs Detroit Pistons (2nd in DEFRTG)

2006: Miami Heat (5th in OFFRTG) vs Dallas Mavericks (2nd in OFFRTG)

2007: San Antonio Spurs (3rd in DEFRTG) vs Cleveland Cavaliers (5th in DEFRTG)

2008: Boston Celtics (1st in DEFRTG) vs Los Angeles Lakers (5th in OFFRTG)

2009: Los Angeles Lakers (1st in OFFRTG) vs Orlando Magic (5th in OFFRTG, 3rd in DEFRTG)

2010: Los Angeles Lakers (2nd in DEFRTG) vs Boston Celtics (1st in DEFRTG)

2011: Dallas Mavericks (9th in OFFRTG, 11th in DEFRTG) vs Miami Heat (4th in OFFRTG, 4th in DEFRTG)

2012: Miami Heat (1st in OFFRTG, 5th in DEFRTG) vs Oklahoma City Thunder (2nd in OFFRTG)

2013: Miami Heat (1st in OFFRTG) vs San Antonio Spurs (3rd in DEFRTG)

2014: San Antonio Spurs (5th in DEFRTG) vs Miami Heat (3rd in OFFRTG)

2015: Golden State Warriors (4th in OFFRTG, 1st in DEFRTG) vs Cleveland Cavaliers (5th in OFFRTG)

2016: Cleveland Cavaliers (4th in OFFRTG) vs Golden State Warriors (1st in OFFRTG, 3rd in DEFRTG)

2017: Golden State Warriors (1st in OFFRTG, 3rd in DEFRTG) vs Cleveland Cavaliers (3rd in OFFRTG)

2018: Golden State Warriors (2nd in OFFRTG) vs Cleveland Cavaliers (5th in OFFRTG)

2019: Toronto Raptors (5th in OFFRTG) vs Golden State Warriors (1st in OFFRTG)

2020: Los Angeles Lakers (2nd in OFFRTG, 5th in DEFRTG) vs **Miami Heat (9th in OFFRTG,

Russell Westbrook loooves this shot. Since his MVP season, Westbrook has taken more tie or go-ahead 3-pointers in the final minute of games than any other NBA player. His stats on those shots:

8-for-42 19.0 3FG%

(via @stathead) https://twitter.com/tomhaberstroh/status/1456600950307758082?s=21

The warriors have won 13 straight games against the cavs since that loss, through eras of tank, mediocrity, and title contention. And one... erm... epic (?) NBA finals moment by none other than JR Smith. Let's revisit every game in that streak since that loss...

2017 NBA Finals Game 5, June 12th, 2017 at GS: 129-120. Warriors fans were a bit concerned about this game, having previously been up 3-1 against the same team only to blow the series in 7. These concerns appeared justified as the warriors trailed 41-33 with 10:14 left in the second quarter, but the warriors recovered, went on a run, and held the cavs at arms length the rest of the game.

December 25th, 2017 at GS: 99-92. The warriors went in missing Steph, while the cavs came in missing IT, who was still coming off his injury in Boston. Fairly close game throughout, was tied in the last 2 minutes at 92 before the warriors pulled a way to win. The reffing in this game resulted in some controversy, with the cavs complaining about multiple missed calls against the warriors that would have put them at the free throw line, including a kd foul on lebron that resulted in warriors regaining possession on replay review as no-calls were not reviewable on replay.

January 15th, 2018 at CLE: 118-108. Steph was back for this game, but IT was still missing at the time. The cavs led 64-57 at the half, but a 61-44 second half by the warriors enabled them to win the game fairly comfortably.

2018 NBA Finals Game 1, May 31st, 2018 at GS: 124-114 (OT). The warriors and the cavs entered this game after both surviving game 7s in their respective conference finals on the road. Despite the warriors being massively favored in this series, the cavs were able to hang with the warriors throughout the game. The warriors led 107-106, when LeBron whipped a pass to a cutting George Hill underneath the basket, and Klay was forced to foul to prevent the easy bucket, sending Hill to the line with 4.7 seconds to go. The rest is history... in a way. Hill hits the first free throw to tie the game, but misses the second, where a make would have likely won the cavs the game, but the cavs get another opportunity to close out the game when the warriors fail to box out JR Smith, who grabs the rebound. What follows is probably the most infamous moment in all of NBA finals history; instead of going for the go-ahead put-back jumper, or passing to an open teammate, JR Smith, for whatever reason, (the popular theory is that he

In the 1950 NBA season only 2 players averaged over 20 PPG, only 5 players shot above 40% (3 of the players that were all-NBA first team shot under 35%) and no one averaged over 6 assists per game.

I think most colleges would be able to easily win the finals.

Three black players joined the NBA on April 25, 1950, and all three achieved something different that gives each a stake in the "first black player in the NBA" discussion. In the 2nd round of the 1950 NBA draft (held on April 25), the Celtics selected Chuck Cooper, making him the first black player drafted into the NBA. Later in the 9th round, the Washington Capitols (a team that dissolved in '52) selected Earl Lloyd, who on October 31 became the first black player to play in an NBA game. Also on April 25, 1950, the Knicks purchased the contract of Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton from the Harlem Globetrotters, making Clifton the first black player signed to an NBA team. All three played in the league in 1950-51 and for at least 6 seasons, and all three are in the basketball Hall of Fame.

Three black players joined the NBA on April 25, 1950, and all three achieved something different that gives each a stake in the "first black player in the NBA" discussion. In the 2nd round of the 1950 NBA draft (held on April 25), the Celtics selected Chuck Cooper, making him the first black player drafted into the NBA. Later in the 9th round, the Washington Capitols (a team that dissolved in '52) selected Earl Lloyd, who on October 31 became the first black player to play in an NBA game. Also on April 25, 1950, the Knicks purchased the contract of Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton from the Harlem Globetrotters, making Clifton the first black player signed to an NBA team.

With the exception of the 2004 Lakers (#6 in offensive rating), 2011 Mavericks, and 2020 Heat, every team that has made the NBA Finals has been top 5 in either offensive or defensive rating before the All-Star break since the NBA has kept track of this stat (since the 1996-1997 season). I call this the BARBER line, Before All-Star Reveals Best Expectancy for Ringz. Here is every teams ranking below (Champions listed first, anomalies highlighted):

1997: Chicago Bulls (1st in OFFRTG, 3rd in DEFRTG) vs Utah Jazz (4th in OFFRTG)

1998: Chicago Bulls (3rd in DEFRTG) vs Utah Jazz (1st in OFFRTG)

1999: San Antonio Spurs (4th in DEFRTG) vs New York Knicks (5th in DEFRTG)

2000: Los Angeles Lakers (5th in OFFRTG, 1st in DEFRTG) vs Indiana Pacers (2nd in OFFRTG)

2001: Los Angeles Lakers (1st in OFFRTG) vs Philadelphia 76ers (4th in DEFRTG)

2002: Los Angeles Lakers (3rd in OFFRTG, 3rd in DEFRTG) vs New Jersey Nets (1st in DEFRTG)

2003: San Antonio Spurs (2nd in DEFRTG) vs New Jersey Nets (1st in DEFRTG)

2004: Detroit Pistons (5th in DEFRTG) vs Los Angeles Lakers (6th in OFFRTG, 9th in DEFRTG)

2005: San Antonio Spurs (1st in DEFRTG) vs Detroit Pistons (2nd in DEFRTG)

2006: Miami Heat (5th in OFFRTG) vs Dallas Mavericks (2nd in OFFRTG)

2007: San Antonio Spurs (3rd in DEFRTG) vs Cleveland Cavaliers (5th in DEFRTG)

2008: Boston Celtics (1st in DEFRTG) vs Los Angeles Lakers (5th in OFFRTG)

2009: Los Angeles Lakers (1st in OFFRTG) vs Orlando Magic (5th in OFFRTG, 3rd in DEFRTG)

2010: Los Angeles Lakers (2nd in DEFRTG) vs Boston Celtics (1st in DEFRTG)

2011: Dallas Mavericks (9th in OFFRTG, 11th in DEFRTG) vs Miami Heat (4th in OFFRTG, 4th in DEFRTG)

2012: Miami Heat (1st in OFFRTG, 5th in DEFRTG) vs Oklahoma City Thunder (2nd in OFFRTG)

2013: Miami Heat (1st in OFFRTG) vs San Antonio Spurs (3rd in DEFRTG)

2014: San Antonio Spurs (5th in DEFRTG) vs Miami Heat (3rd in OFFRTG)

2015: Golden State Warriors (4th in OFFRTG, 1st in DEFRTG) vs Cleveland Cavaliers (5th in OFFRTG)

2016: Cleveland Cavaliers (4th in OFFRTG) vs Golden State Warriors (1st in OFFRTG, 3rd in DEFRTG)

2017: Golden State Warriors (1st in OFFRTG, 3rd in DEFRTG) vs Cleveland Cavaliers (3rd in OFFRTG)

2018: Golden State Warriors (2nd in OFFRTG) vs Cleveland Cavaliers (5th in OFFRTG)

2019: Toronto Raptors (5th in OFFRTG) vs Golden State Warriors (1st in OFFRTG)

2020: Los Angeles Lakers (2nd in OFFRTG, 5th in DEFRTG) vs **Miami Heat (9th in OFFRTG,