Why 24 Second Shot Clock?

The NBA in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s struggled to make it financially. They had many teams fold. 

The powerhouse of the NBA was the Minneapolis Lakers (later to be LA Lakers). The Lakers had the top player in the NBA- George Mikan. (Every young player has at some point learned to do “Mikan Layups.”) George was 6’10” slow but dominant. The Lakers walked the ball up the court to allow Mikan to get up the floor.

The Fort Wayne Pistons (later Detroit Pistons) were scheduled to play the Lakers in Minneapolis in 1950. The Pistons were big underdogs. The Lakers had a special father-son night and a huge crowd. To try to pull the upset, the Pistons settled on a strategy of slowing the game down even more than the Lakers normally slowed it down. The story is that the Pistons got the tip and held it for over 4 minutes before shooting.

The Lakers led 17-16 after three quarters. In this era it was not unusual on high school, college or pro levels for the team in the lead to go into a delay game in the fourth quarter. The Pistons outscored the Lakers 3-1 in the fourth quarter to win the game 19-18. This is the lowest scoring game in NBA history. 

The commissioner of the league and the owners realized this could not happen again. By a “gentleman’s agreement”, this strategy was not to be used again. But teams still would delay late in games when they led.

It took several years but the owner of the Syracuse Nationals (later Philadelphia 76er’s) came up with the concept of a shot clock. He came up with 24 seconds by looking at the average number of shots taken in games the year before. The average was 60 shots per game, so he multiplied it times 2 (for the 2 teams). He divided 48 minute game by the 120 shots, and the result was 24 seconds. 

The clock was adopted in 1954-5 season. The clock for decades was placed on the baseline, on the floor. After the implementation of the shot clock, no NBA franchise has ever folded. The NBA has never messed with 24 seconds. An ironic note is that in the first year of implementation- George Mikan elected to retire at 30 years old, and the team of the clock founder (Nationals) won the NBA title. 

OTHER TIMES IN BASKETBALL

Lane violation- 3 seconds,  Advance past half-court- 10 seconds,  Inbound the ball- 5 seconds. 

OTHER BASKETBALL SHOT CLOCKS

NBA, WNBA- 24 seconds,  College- 30 seconds,  HS- 35 seconds,  FIBA- 24 seconds,  FIBA 3x3- 12 seconds

OTHER SPORTS, OTHER CLOCKS

Lacrosse College Men’s Shot- 80 seconds,  Water Polo- 30 seconds, Bowling- 25 seconds,  Tennis- 25 seconds,  Billiards- 40 seconds, Poker- 30 seconds, Baseball Pitch w/ No one on Base- 15 seconds, NFL play clock from end of last play- 40 seconds,  NCAA Football from time ball set- 25 seconds, Boxing Knock Out- 10 count

MY MOTHER’S CLOCK

It should be noted that none of these rules or times are as strict as my mom. “If you aren’t headed to bed by the time I count to 3, you are going to be in trouble.”