85 Fascinating Facts about NBA

The guy featured in the NBA logo is former Laker Jerry West.

27. There is a Chinese company by the name of Qiaodan (pronounced cheow-DAN) that illegally named itself after Jordan and used a modified 'Jumpman' logo to sell basketball shoes. They have grown so big that they now advertise in actual NBA games.

28. The maximum possible salary in the WNBA is $101,500 compared to over $20 million in the NBA

29. Jeremy Lin's 89 points in his first three starts are the most by any NBA player since the NBA and ABA merged in 1976.

30. Paul Pierce was stabbed 11 times in the face, back, and neck and still played all 82 games of the 2000-2001 NBA Season

A 2013 survey showed 91% of Chinese people in support of a nationwide ban on the trade in shark fins, largely as a result of campaigning by ex-NBA player Yao Ming.

32. A man who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for shooting with intent to kill and robbery requested that his sentence was extended to 33 years, to match Larry Bird's NBA jersey number. The request was granted.

33. Physicists proved that shooting "granny style" is the absolute best technique to consistently score points on the line, but NBA players refuse to do it because it looks stupid.

34. When a 7ft NBA player named Reggie Harding attempted to rob a Detroit gas station with a mask, the attendant said "I know it's you, Reggie.", to which he replied "No, man, it ain't me"

35. Johnny Chan won the World Series of Poker in 87 & 88. After his 2nd win, Chan met Lakers owner Jerry Buss (who's team also won championships in 87 & 88) and Jerry promised Johnny he'd get him an NBA championship ring if he could win three in a row. Both Chen and Buss loss the following year.

The trend of baggy shorts in the NBA was started by Michael Jordan because he wanted to wear his UNC shorts under his Bulls shorts.

37. The drunk driver who killed NBA star Malik Sealy was arrested twice more for drunk driving after the fatal crash.

38. NBA players do not tend to come from poverty. Contrary to stereotype, "Growing up in a wealthier neighborhood is a major, positive predictor of reaching the N.B.A." Black NBA players are about 30% less likely to have an unwed or teenage mother.

39. The Boston Celtics have won slightly more than one out of every four NBA Championships, making them the most successful sports franchise in North American history.

40. Only 0.03% of high school basketball players make it to the NBA, and only 0.003% play at that level for longer than 4 years.

NBA star Bill Laimbeer came from a very wealthy family. Before he got a raise, the basketball player claimed: "I'm the only player in the NBA who makes less money than his father".

42. Until 1966, the NBA had Territorial Draft Picks. A team could forgo its first round pick and take any player within 50 miles of its location. They included Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson.

43. In 1977, NBA player Kermit Washington punched opponent Tomjanovich so hard that he needed facial reconstruction surgery. The damage was so bad that Tomjanovich tasted spinal fluid leaking into his mouth and the bone structure of his face detached from his skull.

44. North Korea wanted to be paid in wheat for allowing a 7'8½" (2.35m) tall Ri Myung-Hun to play in the NBA.

45. The first non-white player in the NBA was Wataru Misaka an Asian American from Utah.

LeBron and MJ are the only players to win a regular-season MVP, NBA Finals MVP, and an Olympic gold medal in the same year.

47. In 1948, before the NBA had any black players, the Harlem Globetrotters beat the NBA Champion Lakers in a straight up game.

48. NBA player Michael Kidd-Gilchrist watches the Lion King once a week because he used to watch it every day with his father until he was 3 years old when his father was shot and killed.

49. Only 3 white guys have won NBA MVP in the last 30 years

50. If five or more NBA players on a team die or become dismembered, the league enacts a "disaster draft" which allows the affected team to select five new players from any team in the NBA. Each team owner is permitted to protect only five of their players during the disaster draft.