Published February 21, 2017 Updated August 15, 2019. Early in the 1960s, 1950s-style baseball was still in charge. [6] But America of the 1960s evolved into a decade of quick change, if not complete metamorphosis. The Yankees continued to win pennants. Two players that were basketball’s first superstars. Much of the previous decade was spent in the shadow of College basketball but superstars like Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain brought attention and respect to the professional side of the game. The 1960s saw professional sports finally attain dominance in the hearts of American sports fans. 1960s Welcome to My Strike Zone. By Karin Lehnardt, Senior Writer. Fact 1 In the very beginning of basketball, the color of most basketballs was brown, but lately, it's more common to see an orange basketball. 1960s: Sports and Games. Fact 2 The first basketball game took place in 1892, where the court was half the size of today's courts. The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a 10-team rival league to the NBA that began play in the 1967-68 season and folded nine years later after the 1975-76 season. NBA Top Moments: 1960s ... NBA.com takes a look back at the top moments that define the history of the NBA. Two players that unquestionably shared the greatest individual rivalry in NBA history. 1960s Sports – Basketball finally came into it’s own spotlight.

Ted Williams, Warren Spahn and Stan Musial were still producing. The first company to produce a basketball for official use was Spalding, and they have produced the official NBA game ball since 1983. Two players that changed the game and made it the way it is today. The overlapping seasons of professional baseball, football, hockey, and basketball offered sports fans year-round entertainment, and television broadcasting increased in sophistication to make sports coverage more exciting. The 1960s (pronounced "nineteen-sixties", shortened to "the '60s") was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on 1 January 1960, and ended on 31 December 1969.. 91 Interesting Basketball Facts. Home whites and road grays remained in vogue. Wilt “The Big Dipper” Chamberlain and Bill Russell. No mention of 1960s basketball is complete without talking about the Boston Celtics. Four current NBA teams – Indiana, Denver, New York, and San Antonio – originated in the ABA. Canadian James Naismith (1861–1939)—a physical education teacher from Springfield, MA—invented the game of basketball in 1891 when he was looking for ways to keep his gym class busy on a rainy day. Two players that are possibly the greatest centers of all time.