NBA Dreams
In honor of the NBA Finals being played in a few days, I've been reading up on NBA history. Because, you know, I wouldn't be reading about this stuff without a very good excuse. Here are some things I've found:
1. The first minority to play in the NBA was not black, but a Japanese-American from Utah named Wataru Misaka. He played 3 games for the Knicks in the 1947-48 season (the same year that Jackie Robinson joined the MLB) and scored 7 points before being cut from the team. He eventually earned an engineering degree in an effort to defy being stereotyped as "just another Asian ballplayer."
2. The first African-American to play in the NBA was Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton (oldschool athletes definitely had the best names). He signed with the Knicks in 1950 after having played 2 and a half years for the Harlem Globetrotters, alongside Goose Tatum, Meadowlark Lemon, and Marques Haynes. We all need similar nicknames, like "Railyard" Gordon, "Tiny" Tyler, or "Bevan" Weissman.
3) From 1946-1949 Providence had its own pro basketball team, the Providence Steamrollers. Holding to the city's tradition of greatness, the Steamrollers compiled the all-time record for fewest wins in a season, with a final tally of 6 wins and 42 losses. At least Providence isn't the best at being the worst: the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76'ers had a season record of 9 wins and 73 losses
4) Eddie Curry has cardiomyopathy, a potentially lethal enlargement of the heart. Jamal Crawford is ugly... heart-stoppingly ugly. Both of them play for New York - compound that with the fact that coach Larry Brown is pushing 70 and seems to hate all of his players enough to murder them at a whim, and the Knicks might break the record for most members of the organization to die in a single season. Providence Steamrollers, your record 6 wins is going down.
Go Steamrollers! Enjoy the finals!
1. The first minority to play in the NBA was not black, but a Japanese-American from Utah named Wataru Misaka. He played 3 games for the Knicks in the 1947-48 season (the same year that Jackie Robinson joined the MLB) and scored 7 points before being cut from the team. He eventually earned an engineering degree in an effort to defy being stereotyped as "just another Asian ballplayer."
2. The first African-American to play in the NBA was Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton (oldschool athletes definitely had the best names). He signed with the Knicks in 1950 after having played 2 and a half years for the Harlem Globetrotters, alongside Goose Tatum, Meadowlark Lemon, and Marques Haynes. We all need similar nicknames, like "Railyard" Gordon, "Tiny" Tyler, or "Bevan" Weissman.
3) From 1946-1949 Providence had its own pro basketball team, the Providence Steamrollers. Holding to the city's tradition of greatness, the Steamrollers compiled the all-time record for fewest wins in a season, with a final tally of 6 wins and 42 losses. At least Providence isn't the best at being the worst: the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76'ers had a season record of 9 wins and 73 losses
4) Eddie Curry has cardiomyopathy, a potentially lethal enlargement of the heart. Jamal Crawford is ugly... heart-stoppingly ugly. Both of them play for New York - compound that with the fact that coach Larry Brown is pushing 70 and seems to hate all of his players enough to murder them at a whim, and the Knicks might break the record for most members of the organization to die in a single season. Providence Steamrollers, your record 6 wins is going down.
Go Steamrollers! Enjoy the finals!
