Wilt Chamberlain's dunk, Michael Jordan's mid-range shot, Shaqui O'Neal's dunk, Stephen Curry's three-pointer, the NBA's theme of the era is constantly changing, and there are more and more proficient and all-round players. In this era of outside supremacy, players who can't shoot three points will be greatly reduced regardless of their strength and value. But how many people can think that the weapon of the three-point shot actually comes from a big center of six feet and ten inches.
Heroes of the next generation
In the 1940s, basketball was still a small sport, and people felt that big men were not flexible enough to perform the duties of athletes. Until the appearance of George McCann, the "giant" used superhuman coordination and tenacious competitive spirit to make everyone realize that the big man was more suitable for the court, and opened a center boom.
Talking about it on paper is shallow, and three words and two words can't talk about the heartache and greatness of McCann's basketball road. When McCann was in his freshman year of high school, he never got the essentials of basketball, and he was wearing a pair of glasses at the time. The coach "bitterly" persuaded: "It's really a piece of rotten wood, you can't play with glasses, hand over the jersey and go home to study!" ”
Despite the ruthlessness of the words of others, McCann still insisted on refusing to give up. Every day he completed one-handed shots with his right hand under the basket, achieving the precision of a Swiss clock day after day. He's also a regular gym, working tirelessly to keep up with the little ones.
The elegant and handsome McCann often attended school dances, and in order to improve his pace, he often picked small girls to "get started". Echoing Einstein's line, "Genius is 1% talent, plus 99% effort." On the way to becoming the NBA's number one superstar, McCann put in thousands of times more effort. His mentor Ray Meyer once said, "When McCann no longer complains about himself, half a foot has stepped into the great hall."
In his second year with the Gears, McCann won his first championship. Soon after the NBA's predecessor, the NBL, rose, and the Minneapolis Lakers, the predecessor of the Los Angeles Lakers, paid a lot of money to invite McCann. This decision indirectly contributed to the rise of the NBL League, and because of McCann's presence, the NBA was born and grew.
With his tall stature, the speed of his defenders and his ability to project across the ages, McCann is a completely different dimension on the pitch. The Lakers, who have him in charge, won the NBL championship in the first year, won the BA championship the following year, and won another championship after the two leagues merged into the NBA. "Everybody wanted him to show up," McCann's teammate recalled, "and no matter where this guy showed up, it was going to be a big deal." With five championships in six years, he was the basketball god of that era.
To sum up, George McCann in the player era created a precedent for the dominant center, and the league directly doubled the three-second zone in order to limit his offensive power, seemingly reducing his strength, but actually continued the development of the basketball industry, more in line with the public's aesthetics and interests. To know that at that time, the U.S. basketball industry was in jeopardy because of chaos and disorder, and McCann and the Lakers as leaders defeated many opponents and leagues with strong strength, which was no less significant than the ancient generals who expanded their territory and unified mountains and rivers.
The origin of the three-point ball culture
McCann witnessed the Lakers' first decline after retiring, and then he transformed into the president of the NBA's nemesis ABA League. This incident caused a great shock at the time, and the always arrogant NBA began to pay attention to this revitalized competitor. In the 1967–68 season, McCann brought three-pointers into the ABA League, and since then Aba has relied on Dr. J's dunks, flower balls, and three-point and NBA competition. Three years later, aba was merged by the NBA, and they realized the visual impact of the three-point shot, but in order to maintain their dignity, the three-point line was introduced and expanded to 7.25 meters.
"Three-pointers are just sensationalism, and I'd rather shoot two points. If the opponent is there, we don't bother to pay attention. That's right, we Celts are so confident."
Larry Bird's remarks were later overturned by his teammate Chris Ford. On October 12, 1979, Ford made his first three-pointer in NBA history against the Houston Rockets, which happened to be the career debut of "Big Bird" Bird. Later, Green Army coach Kc Jones made some compromises on the three-pointer, and Celtic players began to shoot wildly on the outside. As a result, the overall strength of the Celtics jumped from the upper reaches of the league to the second place in the league, reaching the Finals for four consecutive years and lifting the O'Brien Cup for two years. Bird, who had been a fierce rejection of three-pointers, never shot less than 40 percent from three-point range since the 1984-85 season.
Despite the success of the "crab-first" Celtics, the three-pointer is still not taken seriously. In the 1983-94 season, the NBA shortened the three-point line distance, which suddenly triggered a hot outside trend. Although the league later changed the distance back, the normalization of three-point weapons is already the trend of the times. It wasn't until the 2015-16 season that Stephen Curry's outburst brought this once"hard-to-reach" scoring style to the peak.
Great basketball pioneer
In fact, McCann's influence on the NBA is by no means limited to three-pointers, 24 seconds violations, interference with the ball rules, hard-working McCann whether as a player, coach or basketball association president, will invest all his feelings. Fifty years ago, there was a lack of information, and if McCann's personal abilities were to be tapped into the course of history, he might not be able to compare with most superstars. But he was the first giant in professional basketball, and he gave guys over six feet seven inches to make a living.
Since the development of professional basketball, McCann's late 40s has been the most confusing and darkest beginning. Many rules and techniques are still in the exploratory stage, and the league's management of teams and players is still in the process of being explored. There are many superstars in the history of the NBA, but the first to shine is always George McCann. If it were not for his dominance to bring impact to the basketball market, the league executives would never have realized the importance of stardom and brand effects for the growth of the NBA.
In other words, after the emergence of McCann, each generation of NBA presidents will form a star arch moon for the sake of building the league's top card and a group of different talents. Dollars, attraction, attention from all over the world, it is not an exaggeration to say that MLB basketball can have today and McCann inseparable, it is he who uses love to make basketball more exciting.