Take the challenge to rank the 75 greatest players in NBA history – The Athletic

On the surface – and the weeds – it’s ridiculous to name and then rank the 75 best players in National Basketball Association History.

There is not even a general agreement that this is the 75th anniversary of the founding of the NBA.

Historian Curtis Harris has argued in a period of time The NBA just turned 72 years old, with the merger of two professional basketball leagues – the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League – occurring in 1949. However, the NBA claims that the BAA is a league. of the record when it came out. its history. And since the BAA started playing in 1946, the NBA is 75 years old.

BAA’s original teams include Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and Philadelphia (now Golden State) Warrior. The NBA therefore remains adamant that the BAA is the precursor to the NBA. The NBL, founded in 1936, also included franchises that became NBA teams, including the Syracuse Nationals (now the Philadelphia 76ers), the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (now the Philadelphia 76ers), and the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (now the Philadelphia 76ers).Detroit Pistons) and Rochester Royals (Sacramento Kings).

Additionally, the then Minneapolis Lakers began as an NBL franchise in 1947 when two Minnesota businesses purchased the defunct Detroit Gems NBL franchise and moved it to Minneapolis.