Copyright © 2015 Bert N. Langford (Images may be subject to copyright. Please send feedback)
Welcome to Our Generation USA!

This Web Page covers 
Basketball,
including the National Basketball Association (NBA)
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BasketballPictured below: Coronavirus updates: 2020 NCAA Men's and Women's College Basketball Tournaments canceled
​Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately 9.4 inches (24 cm) in diameter) through the defender's hoop (a basket 18 inches (46 cm) in diameter mounted 10 feet (3.048 m) high to a backboard at each end of the court) while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own hoop.

A field goal is worth two points, unless made from behind the three-point line, when it is worth three. After a foul, timed play stops and the player fouled or designated to shoot a technical foul is given one or more one-point free throws. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but if regulation play expires with the score tied, an additional period of play (overtime) is mandated.

Players advance the ball by bouncing it while walking or running (dribbling) or by passing it to a teammate, both of which require considerable skill. On offense, players may use a variety of shots—the lay-up, the jump shot, or a dunk; on defense, they may steal the ball from a dribbler, intercept passes, or block shots; either offense or defense may collect a rebound, that is, a missed shot that bounces from rim or backboard. It is a violation to lift or drag one's pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling.

The five players on each side fall into five playing positions the tallest player is usually the center, the tallest and strongest is the power forward, a slightly shorter but more agile player is the small forward, and the shortest players or the best ball handlers are the shooting guard and the point guard, who implements the coach's game plan by managing the execution of offensive and defensive plays (player positioning). Informally, players may play three-on-three, two-on-two, and one-on-one.

Invented in 1891 by Canadian-American gym teacher James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, basketball has evolved to become one of the world's most popular and widely viewed sports.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the most significant professional basketball league in the world in terms of popularity, salaries, talent, and level of competition.

Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the EuroLeague and the Basketball Champions League Americas.

The FIBA Basketball World Cup and Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament are the major international events of the sport and attract top national teams from around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for national teams, like EuroBasket and FIBA AmeriCup.

The FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup and Women's Olympic Basketball Tournament feature top national teams from continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA (NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship is also popular), whereas strongest European clubs participate in the EuroLeague Women.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlink for more about Basketball:







National Basketball Association (NBA) including the NBA Hall of Fame
YouTube Video of Michael Jordan - The Last Shot! Last minute of the 1998 NBA Finals
Pictured: LEFT: Two of today’s top NBA players: Standing side-by-side are LeBron James (when he was with the Miami Heat: he is now with the Cleveland Cavaliers) and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers; RIGHT: Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson won 6 NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls. (Getty)
Click here the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame including Inductees.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America, and is widely considered to be the premier men's professional basketball league in the world.

It has 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada), and is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by FIBA (also known as the International Basketball Federation) as the national governing body for basketball in the United States.

The NBA is one of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. NBA players are the world's best paid sportsmen, by average annual salary per player.

The league was founded in New York City on June 6, 1946, as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The league adopted the name National Basketball Association on August 3, 1949, after merging with its rival National Basketball League (NBL).

The league's several international as well as individual team offices are directed out of its head offices located in the Olympic Tower at 645 Fifth Avenue in New York City. NBA Entertainment and NBA TV studios are directed out of offices located in Secaucus, New Jersey.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for amplification:

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NCAA Men's March Madness
YouTube Video: Villanova vs. North Carolina: Final minutes of national title game
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), to determine the national championship.

The tournament was created in 1939 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, and was the idea of Ohio State University coach Harold Olsen. Played mostly during March, it is known informally as March Madness or the Big Dance, and has become one of the most famous annual sporting events in the United States. The NCAA has credited Bob Walsh of the Seattle Organizing Committee for starting the March Madness celebration during 1984.

The tournament teams include champions from 32 Division I conferences (which receive automatic bids), and 36 teams which are awarded at-large berths. These "at-large" teams are chosen by an NCAA selection committee, then announced in a nationally televised event on the Sunday preceding the First Four play-in games, currently held in Dayton, Ohio, and dubbed Selection Sunday.

The 68 teams are divided into four regions and organized into a single elimination "bracket", which pre-determines, when a team wins a game, which team it will face next. Each team is "seeded", or ranked, within its region from 1 to 16.

After an initial four games between eight lower-ranked teams, the tournament occurs during the course of three weekends, at pre-selected neutral sites across the United States. Teams, seeded by rank, proceed through a single game elimination bracket beginning with a first round consisting of 64 teams, to a "Sweet Sixteen", and for the last weekend of the tournament, a Final Four. The Final Four is usually played during the first weekend of April.

These four teams, one from each region (East, South, Midwest, and West), compete in one centralized location for the national championship.

The tournament has been at least partially televised since 1969. Currently, the games are broadcast by CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV by the trade-name NCAA March Madness. Since 2011, all games are available for viewing nationwide and internationally, such as in the Philippines and Canada. As television coverage has grown, so too has the tournament's popularity. Currently, millions of Americans fill out a bracket, attempting to correctly predict the outcome of all 67 games of the tournament.

With 11 national titles, UCLA has the record for the most NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championships; John Wooden coached UCLA to 10 of its 11 titles.

The University of Kentucky is second, with eight national titles, while the University of North Carolina, Duke University, and Indiana University are tied for third with five national titles.

The University of Connecticut is sixth with four national titles. After that the University of Kansas and University of Louisville are tied with three championships.

Since 1985, when the tournament went to 64 teams, Duke has won five championships; Connecticut has four; Kentucky and North Carolina have three; and Kansas, Louisville, Florida and Villanova have two; UCLA, Indiana, Arkansas, Maryland, Syracuse, and Michigan State have one. Also Michigan, UNLV, Arkansas, Arizona, Maryland, and Syracuse all won their first championship (as did Duke, Connecticut, and Florida).

Click here for further amplification.







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​The Harlem Globetrotters
YouTube Video: Harlem Globetrotters Set 9 Guinness World Records!
The Harlem Globetrotters are an exhibition basketball team that combines athleticism, theater, and comedy. Over the years they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 122 countries and territories.

The team's signature song is Brother Bones's whistled version of "Sweet Georgia Brown". Their mascot is an anthropomorphized globe named Globie.

The team plays over 450 live events worldwide each year. The team is currently owned by Herschend Family Entertainment. The executive offices for the team are located in suburban Atlanta.

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​Michael Jordan
[Early in our marriage, my wife and I came to terms with the role that sports (of any kind) would play in our entertainment. I discovered early on I am no athlete and that suited her. The sole  exception is Michael Jordan, whom Ev and I enjoyed watching his time with the Chicago Bulls: Jordan's mastery of gravity is incredible to watch! (see above picture).

With the recent release of the documentary series "The Last Dance": see end of this topic covering Jordan's incredible career!]  

Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials, MJ, is an American retired professional basketball player, businessman, and principal owner and chairman of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Jordan played 15 seasons in the NBA for the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards. His biography on the NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time." Jordan was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation and was considered instrumental in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s.

Jordan played three seasons for coach Dean Smith at the University of North Carolina. As a freshman, he was a member of the Tar Heels' national championship team in 1982. Jordan joined the Bulls in 1984 as the third overall draft pick. He quickly emerged as a league star, entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring. His leaping ability, demonstrated by performing slam dunks from the free throw line in slam dunk contests, earned him the nicknames Air Jordan and His Airness.

Jordan also gained a reputation for being one of the best defensive players in basketball. In 1991, he won his first NBA championship with the Bulls, and followed that achievement with titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a "three-peat".

Although Jordan abruptly retired from basketball before the beginning of the 1993–94 NBA season and started a new career playing minor league baseball, he returned to the Bulls in March 1995 and led them to three additional championships in 1996, 1997, and 1998, as well as a then-record 72 regular-season wins in the 1995–96 NBA season. Jordan retired for a second time in January 1999, but returned for two more NBA seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the Wizards.

​Jordan's individual accolades and accomplishments include the following:
Among his numerous accomplishments, Jordan holds the NBA records for highest career regular season scoring average (30.12 points per game) and highest career playoff scoring average (33.45 points per game).

In 1999, Jordan was named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN, and was second to Babe Ruth on the Associated Press's list of athletes of the century. Jordan is a two-time inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame, having been enshrined in 2009 for his individual career, and again in 2010 as part of the group induction of the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team ("The Dream Team"). He became a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2015.

Jordan is also known for his product endorsements. He fueled the success of Nike's Air Jordan sneakers, which were introduced in 1985 and remain popular today. 

Jordan also starred in the 1996 film Space Jam as himself. In 2006, he became part-owner and head of basketball operations for the then-Charlotte Bobcats, buying a controlling interest in 2010. In 2015, Jordan became the first billionaire NBA player in history as a result of the increase in value of NBA franchises. He is the third-richest African-American, behind Oprah Winfrey and Robert F. Smith.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Michael Jordan:
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​The Last Dance (TV series)

The Last Dance is a 2020 American sports documentary miniseries co-produced by ESPN Films and Netflix.

Directed by Jason Hehir, the series revolves around the career of Michael Jordan, with particular focus on his last season with the Chicago Bulls. The series features exclusive footage from a film crew that had an all-access pass to the Bulls, as well as interviews of many NBA personalities including Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Steve Kerr, and Phil Jackson.

The series aired on ESPN from April 19 to May 17, 2020 in the United States, while its episodes were released on Netflix internationally the day after their US airings; beginning on May 23, two episodes were aired back-to-back on ESPN's corporate partner ABC. It received critical acclaim, with praise for its directing and editing.

​Synopsis:

The docu-series gives an account of Michael Jordan's career and the Chicago Bulls, using never-before aired footage from the 1997–98 Bulls season, his final season with the team.

​Interviews

Click here for the list of the 90 persons interviewed for the documentary, ordered by air time.

Click here for a synopsis of the 10 episodes making up this documentary series.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "The Last Dance":






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NCAA Division I Men's Basketball TournamentPictured below: Bracket Watch: A Preseason Projection of 2019’s Field of 68*
* -- Sports Illustrated
The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, also known and branded as NCAA March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), to determine the national championship.

The tournament was created in 1939 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, and was the idea of Ohio State coach Harold Olsen. Played mostly during March, it has become one of the most famous annual sporting events in the United States.

The tournament teams include champions from 32 Division I conferences (which receive automatic bids), and 36 teams which are awarded at-large berths. These "at-large" teams are chosen by an NCAA selection committee, then announced in a nationally televised event on the Sunday preceding the "First Four" play-in games, currently held in Dayton, Ohio, and dubbed Selection Sunday.

The 68 teams are divided into four regions and organized into a single-elimination "bracket", which pre-determines, when a team wins a game, which team it will face next. Each team is "seeded", or ranked, within its region from 1 to 16.

After the First Four, the tournament occurs during the course of three weekends, at pre-selected neutral sites across the United States.

Teams, seeded by rank, proceed through a single-game elimination bracket beginning with a "first four" consisting of 8 low-seeded teams playing in 4 games for a position in the first round the Tuesday and Wednesday before the first round begins, a first round consisting of 64 teams playing in 32 games over the course of a week, the "Sweet Sixteen" and "Elite Eight" rounds the next week and weekend, respectively, and – for the last weekend of the tournament – the "Final Four" round.

The Final Four is usually played during the first weekend of April. These four teams, one from each region (East, South, Midwest, and West), compete in a pre-selected location for the national championship.

The tournament has been at least partially televised since 1969. Currently, the games are broadcast by CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV under the trade-name NCAA March Madness.

Since 2011, all games are available for viewing nationwide and internationally. As television coverage has grown, so too has the tournament's popularity. Currently, millions of Americans fill out a bracket, attempting to correctly predict the outcome of 63 games of the tournament (not including the First Four games).

With 11 national titles, UCLA has the record for the most NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championships; John Wooden coached UCLA to 10 of its 11 titles.

The University of Kentucky (UK) is second, with eight national titles. The University of North Carolina is third, with six national titles, and Duke University and Indiana University are tied for fourth with five national titles.

The University of Connecticut is sixth with four national titles.

The University of Kansas & Villanova are tied for 7th with three national titles.

Since 1985, when the tournament expanded to 64 teams, Duke has won five championships; North Carolina and Connecticut have each won four; Kentucky & Villanova have three; Kansas & Florida have two; and UCLA, Indiana, Michigan State, and Louisville have one. Since 1985, the following 10 teams have all won their first championship (and some even more):

    Villanova, 
    Michigan, 
    UNLV,
    Duke, 
    Arkansas, 
    Arizona,
    Connecticut, 
    Maryland, 
    Syracuse,
    and Florida.


​Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament:

    Current tournament format
        Qualifying
        Regions
        Rounds
            First Four
            First and Second Rounds
            Regional semifinals and finals
            Final Four
    Winners
        Titles by year
        Titles by school
    Tournament history
    Evolution of the Tournament
        Expansion of field
        Seeding history and statistics
        Other changes
        Other notes
            Home court advantage
            Flag controversy
            House Bill 2
    Rituals and influence
        Cutting down the nets
        Team awards
        Most Outstanding Player
        Influence on the NBA draft
    Television coverage and revenues​
    Tournament statistics
    Host cities
    Popular culture
        Bracketology and pools
        Tournament associated terms
            March Madness
            Sweet Sixteen
            Final Four
            Cinderella team







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