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NBA Site is Now at thenbafan.com

The league added the ABA'ss innovative three-point field goal beginning in 1979 to open up the game. That same year, rookies Larry Bird and Magic Johnson joined the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, respectively, initiating a period of significant growth in fan interest in the NBA throughout the country and the world. Bird went on to lead the Celtics to three titles, and Johnson went on to lead the Lakers to five.



Michael Jordan entered the league in 1984 with the Chicago Bulls, providing an even more popular star to support growing interest in the league. By 1989, further expansion had raised the number of teams in the league to 27. During the 1990s, Jordan went on to lead the Bulls to six titles.(1991-1993,1996-1998)



The 1990s also saw greater globalization. The 1992 Olympic basketball Dream Team, the first to use current NBA stars, featured Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson. A growing number of NBA star players also began coming from other countries. Initially, many of these players, such as 1994 NBA MVP Hakeem Olajuwon of Nigeria, first played NCAA basketball to enhance their skills. An increasing number, though, have moved directly from playing elsewhere in the world to starring in the NBA, such as 2002 NBA Rookie of the Year Pau Gasol of Spain, first pick in the 2002 NBA Draft Yao Ming of China, 2002 World Championships and Eurobasket 2005 MVP Dirk Nowitzki of Germany, and 2004 Olympic Tournament MVP Manu Ginobili of Argentina. Today, young players from the English-speaking world tend to attend U.S. colleges before playing in the NBA (notable examples are 2005 and 2006 MVP Steve Nash, a Canadian, and 2005 top draft pick Andrew Bogut of Australia), while other international players generally come to the NBA from professional club teams. The NBA is now televised in 212 nations in 42 languages. In 1996 the NBA created a women'ss league, the Women'ss National Basketball Association, and in 2001 created an affiliated minor league, the National Basketball Development League.



In 1998 the NBA owners began a lockout which lasted 191-days and was settled on January 18, 1999. As a result of this lockout the 1998-99 NBA season was reduced from 82 to 50 games, which were all played in early 1999.



Today, the NBA has reached 30 franchises and continues to evolve as one of the premier sports leagues in the world.



On June 28th 2006, a new official game ball was introduced for the 2006-07 season. Manufactured by Spalding, the new ball features a new design and new material that together offer grip, feel, and consistency than the original ball. This marks the first change to the ball in over 35 years and only the second in 60 seasons. Also, the NBA has jerseys made by Adidas after Adidas purchased Reebok.



Now the site for NBA fans is now online and is at thenbafan.com. This site comes complete with news, commentary blogs, chat and video.

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