Nba In The 70's

The NBA of the 70’s greatly differs from what our expectations of today’s league, especially when evaluating the background in which the players came from. Recent statistics show that more than 90% of 70’s NBA players came from urban areas, but when compared to today’s league only about 34% of black players come from families in financial situations (Keating). The question that needs to be asked when observing these statistics is what happened to the league or basketball in general that subsequently pushed poorer players out of the league? When analyzing what has could have caused such a shift in the makeup of the NBA we have to observe the rise in popularity of basketball as the years have gone by. Since the 70’s, the NBA has grown exponentially into a 4.3 billion dollar industry with international reach (Plunkett Research) Much of this growth can be accredited to the creation of superstars
For example, looking at the quality of high schools that many great NBA players graduated from and how much money the schools focused into their basketball program. Researching the surge in athletes coming from abroad should also prove as a great factor when discussing the backgrounds of NBA players both because of the difference of life outside of America and the fact that American colligate basketball player now compete with them for a spot in the draft. The importance of basketball clinics and camps have also become more prevalent in today’s world with many of those considered to be “High quality” to have tuition that is hundreds of dollars. The great increase in salaries of NBA players also provide a great looking glass into why a spot on a team in the NBA would be so sought after and should be heavily researched; especially when considering that the average salary of a NBA player in the 70’s was about 35,000 (20