Professional Basketball facts

While investigating facts about Professional Basketball, I found out little known, but curios details like:

When professional basketball player Kris Humphries was 10 years old, he was ranked the No. 1 swimmer for his age nationally. The person ranked No. 2 was a young Michael Phelps.

Becky Hammon became a Russian citizen purely to play basketball in the 2008 Olympics after she was cut from the USA Basketball team. The result? Tripling her salary as a professional and a bronze medal.

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across. Here are 33 of the best facts about Professional Basketball I managed to collect.

1. Professional basketball player Latrell Sprewell rejected a three year, 21 million dollar contract, for the reason that it wouldn't be enough to feed his children.

2. Prior to 1954 there was no shot clock in professional basketball, and if a team was winning, and they wanted to keep their lead, the team could literally hold on to the ball for ten minutes and run the clock out.

3. From the mid-1980s to the late 1990s Michael Jordan is considered to have dominated the professional sport of basketball.

4. Wataru Misaka, a Japanese-American drafted into the New York Knicks in 1947. He was the first non-Caucasian professional basketball player, and the first African-American player didn’t play in the NBA until three years later.

5. There is a Japanese professional basketball team who used to be named the "Panasonic Super Kangaroos"

6. Wilt Chamberlain played professional basketball at the age of 16 under the identity “George Marcus”. Playing for the Quakertown Fays, he averaged nearly 54 points per game and an astounding 74 point average in the playoffs. It was kept quiet as to not get in trouble with the NCAA.

7. In 2006 Michael's marriage ended in divorce. They had three children together, one of which who also wanted to become a professional basketball player and made the University of Illinois" team.

8. Native American athlete Jim Thorpe played professional football, baseball and basketball, as well as won two Olympic gold medals

9. Kobe Bryant's father was also a professional basketball player, named Joe "Jelly Bean" Bryant. This was the inspiration for Kobe's middle name.

10. The wife of professional Russian basketball player, Andrei Kirilenko, allows him to have sex with another woman once per year because "Male athletes in this country are extremely attractive. They get chased by women. It's hard to resist. It's the way men are by nature."

What is true about professional basketball?

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Boston's only semi-professional women's basketball team was, until only recently, named the "Boston Bombers"

The dunk was banned from professional basketball for years. It was eventually allowed back again and the three-point shot was added, which provided balance on the court and helped keep players from clumping up around the basket - source

Kia owns a professional basketball team in the Philippines simply called "Kia Sorento." - source

A professional basketball player in Europe smashed his head into the padded concrete goal post in anger because he received a foul. He severed his spine and never walked again.

In addition to winning two gold medals and playing professional baseball, football and basketball, Jim Thorpe won the 1912 inter-collegiate ballroom dancing competition. - source

Theres a professional basketball team in Japan called the Nara Bambitious, Nara is a city known for their deer population.

Jim Thorpe was a gold medal Olympian and played professional football, baseball, and basketball. His professional basketball career was mostly unknown until 2005.

R. Kelly Played Professional Basketball from 1997 to 1999

National Basketball Association is 74.4% black, making it the most densely black professional sports organizations in North America

Hafthór Björnsson (The Mountain-game of Thrones) used to be a professional basketball player until a severe knee injury at age 20

There is a professional Chinese basketball player who is taller than Yao Ming- the actor who played the kung fu giant in Rush Hour 3.