The NBA has been around long enough that its history is filled with stories that seem impossible in the modern league. Everyone knows Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points and the Celtics won eight consecutive championships, but what about the strange stuff? There have been NBA teams in Waterloo, Iowa, and Sheboygan, Wisconsin, along with countless bizarre players, records and events.

NBA history is filled with championships, legendary performances and unforgettable rivalries, but it also includes gambling scandals, premature deaths, devastating injuries, violence, labor disputes, controversial ownership and events that threatened confidence in professional basketball.

Russell Westbrook's NBA career was never quiet. For 18 seasons he played with an intensity that could make an ordinary January game feel like Game 7. He attacked the rim, rebounded like a power forward and accumulated triple-doubles at a rate once thought impossible.

Former NBA players Royce White and Enes Kanter Freedom put themselves back into the basketball conversation with announcements involving the 2027 WNBA Draft, creating another unusual intersection between professional basketball, politics and public debate.

The American Basketball Association operated from 1967 to 1976 and became the most important rival the NBA ever faced. The ABA popularized the three-point shot, introduced its famous red, white and blue basketball and showcased stars including Julius Erving, Rick Barry, Connie Hawkins, George Gervin and Artis Gilmore.

The Baltimore Claws were one of the shortest-lived franchises in professional basketball history. The team played only three preseason exhibition games before being expelled from the ABA in October 1975, providing an early warning of the financial disaster that overwhelmed the league during its final season.

The Chicago Stags were one of professional basketball's strongest early franchises, but their history did not end immediately when the club folded after the 1949-50 season. Their final chapter involved Harlem Globetrotters owner Abe Saperstein and an unusual attempt to preserve professional basketball in Chicago.

Only a handful of NBA rosters have featured several former No. 1 overall draft picks at the same time. This history looks at the teams that assembled the largest collections of first overall selections on one roster.

Just five years after entering the NBA, the Minnesota Timberwolves came dangerously close to leaving Minneapolis. In 1994 the financially troubled franchise nearly relocated to New Orleans in one of the forgotten near-moves of modern NBA history.

Before becoming the Philadelphia 76ers, the franchise was one of professional basketball's pioneering clubs in Syracuse, New York. Founded by Danny Biasone and Leo Ferris, the Nationals began in the National Basketball League and became one of the early NBA's strongest franchises.

Las Vegas has become one of the most discussed potential NBA expansion markets. Beyond ownership, arenas and expansion fees, one of the most interesting questions is what a future franchise would actually be called and how that name would represent Las Vegas.

Every year NBA Hoops Online staff and fans select the end-of-season awards. The tradition has now reached its 25th season.

Basketball's story stretches from James Naismith and the creation of the game in 1891 through early professional leagues, barnstorming teams, the NBL and BAA, the creation of the NBA, the ABA and the modern international game.

On November 2, 1946, the Providence Steamrollers defeated the Boston Celtics 59-53 before roughly 4,000 fans. Nobody in the building could have known that the losing club would eventually become one of the greatest dynasties in professional sports.

The New York Knicks are one of the NBA's oldest franchises. Despite a complicated history of championship runs, rebuilding periods and missed opportunities, the organization has produced generations of memorable players.

Few things reshape the NBA faster than a blockbuster trade. From unexpected superstar deals to franchise-changing swaps, league history is filled with moves that stunned fans and completely altered the direction of teams.

Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game is basketball's most famous individual performance, but another extraordinary night in 1968 may have been even more complete as Chamberlain dominated nearly every statistical category against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Celtics, Knicks and Warriors date to the BAA's first season, but several current franchises trace their histories even further back through the National Basketball League and earlier professional organizations.

LeBron James has broken many of basketball's longevity records, but the record for the oldest player in NBA history has an unusual origin involving Providence Steamrollers coach Nat Hickey.

Team USA entered the Paris Olympics with a roster loaded with MVPs, champions and future Hall of Famers, including Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and another generation of elite American stars.

The 2016 Olympic team continued the revival of USA Basketball behind Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony and another deep collection of NBA stars as the Americans pursued a third consecutive Olympic gold medal.

NBA franchises have used hundreds of logos over the decades. Some became timeless symbols of their teams and cities while others disappeared almost as quickly as they arrived.

The Providence Steamrollers disappeared after the 1948-49 season, but that was not quite the end of their story. Attempts to restore professional basketball to Providence created another largely forgotten chapter from the NBA's formative years.

Basketball logos evolved from simple letters and local symbols into some of the most recognizable identities in professional sports. Their development also mirrors the growth of basketball from regional clubs into a global game.