Hosted by Rick Loayza · 🇺🇸 US · EN · 300 episodes
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I am your author and host, Rick Loayza. This is the blog and podcast where we bring to life some of the forgotten stories from basketball history.I love basketball. I love watching it. I love reading about it. I love learning about its history. I am, for all intents and purposes, a basketball junkie. I’ve coached all three of my kids in youth basketball. In fact, I still coach my youngest each winter. Something just happened to me when I was 11 where I was bitten by the basketball bug. And starting then, I just couldn’t get enough of this amazing game.And the purpose of this podcast and blog is to bring back some of the old stories from basketball’s history. I want to bring you a new story each week from the older days of basketball before there were 22 cameras and instant highlights on your device. Of course, any story from anywhere in basketball history is up for grabs. But I want the focus to be on those stories that are interesting and impactful but long forgotten.I’ll be coveri
Rick Loayza hosts Basketball History 101, a sports show with 300 episodes published.
College basketball had existed for over 40 years when the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament was created. But why did it take so long? Well, we have the NIT to thank for that. CREDITS Rick Loayza: Head researcher, writer,
Back in 1979, Magic Johnson defied basketball convention. Analysts at the time could not figure out which position he would play when coming to the NBA. Would he play point guard? His dribble wasn’t strong enough. What a
In 1985, Villanova University did the improbable. As the 8th seed, they toppled the heavily favored Georgetown Hoyas, led by the player of the year, Patrick Ewing. They are still the lowest seeded team to win the NCAA Ch
Johnny Beckman was one of the greatest players of the 1920s and 1930s. In fact, at the time he was considered the greatest player of all time and that is rarified air. Only a very few players ever carried the mantle of t
What if the modern NBA went back to just 8 teams like they had in the 1960s? Only 16% of the current players would still have a roster spot in a reduced league. Everyone else would have to play in the G-league, Europe, A
For decades Oscar Schmidt was the greatest scorer in basketball history, amassing over 49,000 points for club and country. He played for 29 years at the professional level. For many years he was considered the best playe
Charles “Tarzan” Cooper was the best center of the 1930s. He was only 6'3, but a hundred years ago that meant you were a big man. He played the center position like few others and scored almost at will. He also helped le
The 1984 Olympic Team played eight exhibition games against a team of NBA All-Stars to prepare for the LA Olympics. The Olympic team, made up of college amateurs, won all eight games. The NBA All-Star team included playe
Shawn Kemp should be in the Hall of Fame, if only his prime years could have lasted longer. He was unstoppable in the open court, but weight issues derailed his career when he should have been at his peak. This is the st
Julius Erving is better known as Dr. J, or just The Doctor. But where did that nickname come from? We answer that in today’s episode. CREDITS Rick Loayza: Head researcher, writer, and voice Jacob Loayza: Editor, producer
Connie Hawkins has a fascinating story of initially being banned by the NBA and later suing the league to be allowed to play. And it all started with a simple loan he took from gambler, Jack Molinas. We interview Bo Bela
David Robinson was an incredibly gifted student who had walked away from basketball at the age of 13 to focus on his studies and playing the saxophone. However, three years later the basketball coach at his high school c
Mike D’Antoni grew up in West Virginia with a dream of someday playing in the NBA. He achieved his dream by playing with the Kings. But he was out of the NBA in only three years. Then he had a chance to play in Italy whe
In 1978 Magic Johnson nearly left college early to go to the NBA. The Kansas City Kings were ready to take him with the 2nd pick in the draft. So what led to him waiting until 1979 before leaving for the NBA? That’s what
Max Zaslofsky led the NBA in scoring during the second season of the league in 1947-48. He put the Chicago Stags on the basketball map. Later he led the Knicks to three straight NBA Finals. He was one of the greatest pla
Thump & Bump was one of the most obscure duos of NBA basketball. It was a short lived era for the Philadelphia 76ers featuring Charles Barkley and Rick Mahorn. They never came close to a title, but they were fun to watch
Prior to 1950 the NBA did not even keep records of rebounds. Why was it not considered worthy of tracking? Why was the rebound under appreciated? We try to answer that question in this episode. CREDITS Rick Loayza: Head
The Sky Hook is arguably the most famous shot in NBA history. But how did Kareem Abdul-Jabber learn it in the first place? That is our story for today. CREDITS Rick Loayza: Head researcher, writer, and voice Jacob Loayza
From 1949 until 1965, the NBA employed the concept of the Territorial Draft Pick, which allowed team to automatically take a player that played their university basketball within 50 miles of the NBA team’s arena. It allo
For this Christmas week episode, we're re-airing Episode 177 from January 2, 2024. We had done a redux of our very first episode, telling the story of basketball's first game, and if you missed it then, this is our prese
Jerry West
former NBA player and executive
3 appearances on this show
Pistol Pete
Miami firearms
1 appearance on this show
Dennis Johnson
author of "Life with God: Daily Reflections with Walter Rauschenbusch" · Gap Center for Biblical Studies
1 appearance on this show
Dean Tolson
NBA Basketball Player and Author of the book Power Forward
1 appearance on this show
Pete Newell
former Director of the Army’s Rapid Equipping Force (REF), co-founder and CEO
2 appearances on this show
Oscar Robertson
4 appearances on this show
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Basketball History 101 is hosted by Rick Loayza. The show is categorised under sports (basketball) and has published 300 episodes.
Basketball History 101 has published 300 episodes.
Basketball History 101 regularly covers sports, basketball, history. It sits in the sports category, with a basketball focus.
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