I still remember the first time I walked into Madison Square Garden back in 2015, the energy hitting me like a physical force. The squeak of sneakers, the roar of the crowd, the sheer spectacle of it all made me wonder: who actually created this magnificent circus we call the NBA? Most fans would casually mention Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson if you asked them about basketball's origins, but the real story begins much earlier, in a smoke-filled New York office building back when television was still a novelty.
The year was 1946, and America was recovering from World War II. College basketball had gained popularity, but professional basketball? It was largely a regional affair with inconsistent rules and shaky finances. What changed everything was a meeting on June 6, 1946, at the Commodore Hotel in New York City. Eleven arena owners gathered there, led by Walter Brown of Boston Garden and Ned Irish of Madison Square Garden. They weren't dreaming of global domination initially - they simply needed events to fill their venues on hockey off-nights. The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was born that day, though it wouldn't become the NBA until three years later after merging with the National Basketball League.
Here's where the story gets fascinating. While the official narrative credits these arena owners as the architects, the true catalyst came from an unexpected source: the American Broadcasting Company. ABC executives had been experimenting with sports broadcasting and saw potential in basketball's fast-paced action. They quietly provided $75,000 in seed funding and guaranteed broadcast rights for the first season - a massive sum at the time. This television money gave the league the stability it desperately needed during those fragile early years. The question of who created the NBA isn't just about the names on the incorporation papers - it's about recognizing how television money shaped the league's DNA from day one.
I've always been fascinated by how accidental so many great institutions are. The NBA's creation story perfectly illustrates this. The owners initially planned for a 60-game season but scaled back to 48 when they realized travel costs would bankrupt them. The first game featured the New York Knicks versus the Toronto Huskies on November 1, 1946, with about 7,000 people in attendance - respectable but not spectacular. What saved the league was the 1949 merger with the NBL, which brought in small-market teams like the Minneapolis Lakers with their superstar George Mikan. Suddenly the league had its first true attraction.
A legend was born from there. That phrase perfectly captures how the NBA evolved from a business experiment into cultural phenomenon. I've spent hours in basketball archives, and what strikes me is how close the league came to folding multiple times in those early years. The 1954 introduction of the shot clock - invented by Syracuse Nationals owner Danny Biasone - literally saved the game from boring, stall-heavy basketball. Biasone calculated that 24 seconds per possession would create the ideal pace, and he was absolutely right. Scoring increased by 14 points per game almost immediately.
Basketball historian Dr. Michael Peterson shared an insight that changed how I view the league's origins. "We tend to think of the NBA as inevitable," he told me during an interview last spring, "but it was actually incredibly fragile until the 1980s. The merger with the ABA in 1976, the arrival of Magic and Bird in 1979, Stern becoming commissioner in 1984 - these weren't predetermined events. Any one of them going differently could have meant no global NBA as we know it." This perspective makes me appreciate David Stern's contribution even more - he didn't create the league, but he arguably saved it and turned it into the international powerhouse it is today.
Looking back, what amazes me is how many critical moments hinged on sheer luck. The coin flip that gave Milwaukee Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1969. The frozen envelope conspiracy theory around Patrick Ewing in 1985. Even Michael Jordan being drafted third rather than first in 1984. The league's creation was just the beginning of this rollercoaster. When I watch games today, I sometimes think about those early pioneers - they built something that would eventually generate $8.3 billion in annual revenue, though they probably never imagined such numbers.
The untold story behind who created the NBA isn't about any single person or moment. It's about the collision of vision, timing, television money, and pure chance. The arena owners provided the venues, television provided the funding, the merger provided the stability, and generations of players provided the magic. As I left Madison Square Garden that night in 2015, I realized the NBA's creation story continues to be written with every draft pick, every buzzer-beater, every generation that falls in love with the game. And honestly, that's what makes basketball's iconic league so special - it's never finished being born.