2009 Basketball

Nothing beats the excitement of sitting courtside to cheer on your favorite NBA or NCAA college basketball team. Thanks to Coast to Coast Tickets you can now enjoy the best basketball games in the country. Coast to Coast Tickets can put you courtside, behind the basket, or anywhere else you’d like to view the action.

In contrast to most of the other major North American sports, the origins of basketball have been well-documented. The game has been traced back to 1891 when James Naismith nailed a peach basket to a wall and instructed his YMCA students to throw a soccer ball into it. The peach baskets were soon replaced by open nets, but the name basketball stuck and caught on quickly. A year later, a woman’s version of the game was adopted at nearby Smith College.

Basketball became popular quickly, and many teams were created by colleges and high schools. Within a few decades many cities had established professional touring teams. One such team was the Harlem Globetrotters who were created in 1926 and have played 20,000 exhibition games since then. As the game has become more organized and sophisticated, the style of play has as well. Today’s game with its dribbling displays, high flying dunks, and baggy uniforms would be shocking to a player from early in the 20th Century.

It might not be just the play that shocks old timers but the popularity of basketball as well. The first Men’s Championship game was the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in 1938. Since then the NIT, though still played, has been eclipsed by the NCAA Final Four Tournament, also known as March Madness. This end of season college basketball tournament practically takes over the month of March. The tournament involves arguably the best 65 college teams in the country in a single elimination playoff which increases in popularity every year.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) was formed in 1946 and has also grown in popularity over the years. The current NBA is a reflection of the original League and its merger with the upstart American Basketball Association (ABA) in 1976. The NBA is known for having the best basketball players on the planet and in any given game you will see someone do something athletically amazing. Thanks to stars such as Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson, basketball and the NBA have become worldwide forces. Basketball is now a featured event in the Olympics and international stars such as Yao Ming, Tony Parker and Dirk Nowitzki are household American names.

Thanks to Coast to Coast Tickets you don’t have to miss the thrills of a Lebron James dunk, or the excitement of Chris Paul behind the back pass. You can watch Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant renew the drama of the Celtics-Lakers cross country rivalry. Or, see the next generation of stars lacing up their sneakers in college before they go pro. The excitement is there at every game…why aren’t you?