10 Interesting Basketball Facts You May Not Know

Basketball has been around for around 130 years and the NBA was first introduced 75 years ago. A lot has changed in that time and several records have been set. Whether you’re looking to bet on basketball, take advantage of the various basketball betting offers available or simply improve your basketball knowledge, we’ve put together 10 interesting facts about the sport that you may not know.

1. Michael Jordan is one of basketball’s all-time greats and as well as being known for his skills on the court, his deal with Nike in 1984 to release a range of Air Jordans now earns around £3 billion. However, did you know that his Air Jordans were against the dress code of the NBA and originally, Jordan had to pay a fine in each match that he wore them? Rules were changed at a later date to allow Jordan to wear them.

2. Another all-time great, Shaquille O’Neal, is a 15-time NBA All-Star and four-time NBA champion. Therefore, it may surprise you to know that Shaq only ever made one three-pointer throughout his career. His three-pointer conversion rate was only 4.54% since he attempted 22 of them throughout his 19 years in the NBA.

3. Manute Bol is the tallest player ever to play in the NBA. The Sudanese player was 7ft 7in tall and unsurprisingly, renowned as a great shot-stopper. In the season of 1978-1988, Bol played for the Washington Bullets who Muggsy Bogues also played for. Bogues was the shortest player ever to play in the NBA being just 5ft 3in in height. Despite his height difference from other players, Muggsy blocked 39 shots during his time in the NBA.

4. Did you know that before Dave DeBusschere featured in the NBA, he played Major League Baseball? DeBusschere spent two years as a pitcher with the Chicago White Sox before moving onto basketball where he had a 12-year career.

5. Three-point shots were not introduced into the NBA until the 1979-1980 season. However, they did feature in the ABA which is where they were adopted from.

6. In December 1983, the Detroit Pistons played the Denver Nuggets in what resulted in the highest-scoring NBA game in history. The Pistons ending up winning the game by just a two-point margin with a score of 186-184.

7. In March 1962, Wilt Chamberlain, who played for the Philadelphia Warriors, scored the most points ever in an NBA game. Chamberlain notched up 100 points which helped them beat the New York Knicks 169-147.

8. NBA All-Star, Dennis Rodman, didn’t play high-school basketball. He was only 5ft 11in throughout high school and couldn’t make the team. However, he grew 8 inches after leaving high school which helped him get more court time.

9. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA’s all-time top scorer. Throughout his career playing for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers, Abdul-Jabbar picked up a total of 38,387. More than any other player in the history of the NBA. Karl Malone collected 36,928 points and Lebron James a total of 35,367 points.

10. Klay Thompson holds the record for the most three-pointers converted in a game. He found the net from outside of the D 14 times when playing against the Bulls on October 29, 2018.

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