FROM SYRACUSE TO PHILADELPHIA PHILADELPHIA’S LOVE SCULPTURE IN JOHN F KENNEDY PLAZA WAS INSTALLED IN 1976 8 FROM SYRACUSE TO PHILADELPHIA
WILT CHAMBERLAIN With the exception of Boston Massachusetts no American city is more closely associated with the establishment of the United States than Philadelphia whose name means City of Brotherly Love The Declaration of Independence was signed there on July 4 1776 The city hosted the convention that drafted the U S Constitution Philadelphia was the home of Benjamin Franklin and other Founding Fathers Millions of visitors flock to the city to see revolutionary era landmarks such as Independence Hall Congress Hall and the Liberty Bell Not all the city’s landmarks are connected to that era Fairmount Park the largest landscaped urban park in the U S is home to the country’s oldest zoo The house where Edgar Allan Poe wrote some of his most famous 9
ALEX HANNUM BECAME THE FIRST COACH TO WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS WITH TWO NBA TEAMS works attracts many visitors There are more outdoor statues and other forms of public art in Philadelphia than in almost any other city in the world And perhaps most recognizable of all are the steps leading up to the Philadelphia Museum of Art which actor Sylvester Stallone made famous in the 1976 film Rocky A bronze statue of Rocky stands nearby The steps and statue reveal another side of Philadelphia that is perhaps as obvious as its historical importance It is a city with a passion for sports Philadelphia is one of just four American cities to have franchises in all four major professional sports located within its city limits football’s Eagles baseball’s Phillies hockey’s Flyers and basketball’s 76ers The history of pro basketball in Philadelphia began with the Warriors formed in 1946 as an original member of the Basketball Association of America BAA The Warriors won the league’s first championship and when the BAA merged with the rival National Basketball League NBL in 1949 to form the National Basketball Association NBA Philadelphia continued its winning ways In 1956 the Warriors captured the NBA championship But in 1962 the team and its star player center and Philadelphia native Wilt 10
JRUE HOLIDAY COURTSIDE STORIES The Shot Clock Begins Ticking In the NBA’s early days fans disliked the slow pace As Sports Illustrated writer Leigh Montville explains The strategy of the day had become inaction Get a lead Hold the ball Go to the foul line Make the foul shots Teams were deciding to stall earlier and earlier in the game Fans stayed away in droves threatening the league’s very existence Syracuse Nationals owner Danny Biasone believed that forcing teams to take more shots would generate the excitement that would fill the seats Teams were taking about 60 shots in a game if nobody screwed around he said He wanted to double that number So he divided 2,880 seconds the length of a game by 120 to get 24 The 24-second shot clock was instituted at the start of the 1954 55 season and average combined scores increased by more than 14 points a game that season While the game has undergone many other rule changes the shot clock has remained at 24 seconds It’s one of those intrinsically perfect wonderfully illogical perfectly imperfect numbers like 9 innings in baseball and 18 holes in golf says former NBA guard Mike Newlin It’s an orphan number that fits perfectly into the family of basketball 11 The Shot Clock Begins Ticking
