Basketball Topics for a Research Paper

[GimmeThat]

I'm taking a Senior Seminar to finally finish up my history degree. In it I have to write a paper on a topic of my choice that is original work. Basically like a mini-thesis (18-30 pages) that proves I can be a real life historian and contribute in some manner to the field.

I have long wanted to do historical research in basketball, and this is a great opportunity to do so. I am having a hard time coming up with a topic at this juncture that I can explore in enough depth. So in order to help I would like to ask ISH:

What parts of basketball history interest you? What are some blind spots that you wish there was more information on. or something to be expanded on? Anything would be pretty helpful

when I read about someone's request to Spike Lee about doing an 80's documentary on a particular team, the first thing that came to mind was maybe doing the research about the papers that were written back then. It did came to my mind of how important it was for the old timers to rely on reading the news paper, listening to the radio etc to digest game play instead of having the luxury to watch the game in video. To add on, I would say that instead of just purely focusing on the game of basketball itself, maybe even draw out a timeline of a few specific events as to when did certain statistics/rules/criticisms that were never used before came into play. I think that for an 18-30 pages paper, this would suffice.

If you felt that with the time constraint as to how you would have to seek out these information renders some of these ideas useless, some other possible thesis could be the expansion of the league in general and how it attracted additional fans,audiences - people who choose to be involved with the game. Since not every basketball league across the globe is going to be set up similarly to the NBA.

[GimmeThat]

You could do a paper on how American sports, as a general, has changed. If you want to stick to basketball then that's all good. But, well... It's for history, I mean, athleticism is good and all. But if you wanted to talk about how the big American sports were strictly "white only", then I think that would be a good subject. There's a lot of information out there for it.

Could put within stuff like, by the time the NBA was being dominated by the African-American ethnicity, you had people like Larry Bird coming in as "the great white hope" or whatever he was being called. Because he was a buzz, and there was a buzz. A white man who plays just as good, if not better than everyone else. Etc.

Or op can even focus on Larry Bird himself as a story about him. Why, comparing to all the other white kids, there came this guy who not just loved the game, spent countless hour on the game, but also felt the need to dominate his opponents unlike any other white players that had been part of the league.

Essentially talk about how would a white kid in America felt the need to dominate a sport in which the African-American ethnicity dominated.

No need to call me black because I look at something from the other-side of it all as well.


As for the big American Sports were strictly white only, I wonder what were the criticisms coaches/owners received regards to their ambition to claim victory. op can even talk about Donald Sterling as a more specific case, unless you enjoy the smaller unknown struggles in which others don't know of.


thanks for your idea sportal, so I could spin it off for materials I'm interested myself

[blacknapalm]

if you want to explore controversy, there's always:

- the ref scandal

- seattle-gate

- the lockout (especially if you have any legal knowledge, this can be fascinating)

other ones...

- the history and emergence of basketball in europe and the influx of those players into the nba

- schematically, discuss how the game has evolved from an offensive standpoint. not sure this is ideal though...it's harder to do without visuals. maybe talk about how far ball movement, team sets and 3 point shooting has come along

- history of rules changes...motives, criticisms

- the onset of cable television during the bird-magic era and how it/they helped usher in the new era as a brand

- history of the aba

[I<3NBA]

Just copy and paste some of the Lazzerus Wilt essays

came in to say this

also, if you're serious, a study of the evolution of the game's rules would be great. how the game was first invented, what were the initial rules, what prompted the changes, what were the results, how did it change the game, yad, yada. would be a fun read for history buffs.

[bigt]

if you want to explore controversy, there's always:

- the ref scandal

- seattle-gate

- the lockout (especially if you have any legal knowledge, this can be fascinating)

other ones...

- the history and emergence of basketball in europe and the influx of those players into the nba

- schematically, discuss how the game has evolved from an offensive standpoint. not sure this is ideal though...it's harder to do without visuals. maybe talk about how far ball movement, team sets and 3 point shooting has come along

- history of rules changes...motives, criticisms

- the onset of cable television during the bird-magic era and how it/they helped usher in the new era as a brand

- history of the aba

Some really good suggestions here. I wrote a piece for a Media and Sport class revolving around Bird and Magic and how the media portrayed their battles throughout the 80's through their (and their team's) history, as well as racial elements. Was a very fun essay to write honestly

[jlip]

Bill Russell and the race revolution in basketball. He was more active and vocal in the Civil Rights movement than any other professional basketball player during the 60's. He was Muhammad Ali's hero and Jackie Robinson's favorite athlete. During his career the media was comparing his impact on race in the NBA to that of Jackie Robinson and Jesse Owens.

[Timmy D for MVP]

I appreciate the feedback. There are some interesting questions here.

[SpecialQue]

There's an entire book on that legendary game between the Harlem Globetrotters and the Lakers. Just covering the racial aspects of that game is enough meat for your paper. Hell, you can even just focus on the Globetrotters and how they influenced the NBA.

Not to mention the racial aspects of the 80s Magic/Bird rivalry...

[DonDadda59]

Bill Russell and the race revolution in basketball. He was more active and vocal in the Civil Rights movement than any other professional basketball player during the 60's. He was Muhammad Ali's hero and Jackie Robinson's favorite athlete. During his career the media was comparing his impact on race in the NBA to that of Jackie Robinson and Jesse Owens.

Russell was one of the most vocal athlete activists of the Civil Rights era. He participated in the March on Washington, publicly supported Ali during his Vietnam draft boycott, and championed many other causes. People forget, or most likely never knew that back then Black basketball players didn't really aspire to play in the NBA. Besides the pay being greater with other organizations like the Globetrotters, there was a general feeling that NBA teams had an unofficial quota of 4 Black players per team.

Mr. Russell, unlike most media/endorsement-conscious athletes, always spoke out about all the various issues of the day, still does. Boston has always been known as the most racist city in the North. Barry Bonds has said he hated going into that city when his father had to play at Fenway for that reason. And Russell became the first Black head coach in the league, winning multiple championships under those circumstances.

[Swedberg]

writemyessaysonline

Originally Posted by NBAstudent
Hi guys, I'm a student at UNC-Chapel Hill and I've a research paper due that should be about NBA players. What topic could be the most exciting to work on? Thanks.
Ian

Hi Ian,
I finished my research last week and I wrote about correlation between minutes played in a game and injuries (I can send you a doc, if you're interested). You may also choose economic aspects like economics of NBA expansion or economic impact of NBA players.