This past weekend, the NBA's All-Star Weekend returned to the Big Apple. Many consider New York, with its myriads of basketball traditions, to be America's true basketball "mecca." With one of the most storied (and long-suffering) NBA franchises, a thriving youth ball scene, an iconic arena and a star-studded fanbase, NYC may well be the most famous basketball city in America.
But what about the country's other great basketball areas, such as Indiana, Kentucky, Kansas and California?
I decided to take a look at many factors that might define a great basketball state (I elected to use states eliminate the difficulties of measuring a city and its subjectively-defined surrounding areas). Such factors included having a Hall of Fame player born in the state, having a Hall of Fame player attend high school in the state, having a Hall of Fame player attend college in the state, having a Hall of Famer spend at least five seasons playing for a team in that state, having an All Star player born in the state, having an All Star player attend high school in the state, having an All Star player attend college in the state, having NBA teams located within the state win a championship, having college teams located within the state win a championship, having college teams located within the state reach the Final Four, having an NBA team located within the state, having a college Division 1 team located within the state, and having an NBA player born in the state (since 1980 - data before that got a bit fuzzy). I narrowed the states selected to 10 of the more highly-respected states in terms of basketball, including California, Michigan, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, Indiana and Texas.
So, without further ado, here's a chart showing the states ranked by the above categories:
But what about the country's other great basketball areas, such as Indiana, Kentucky, Kansas and California?
I decided to take a look at many factors that might define a great basketball state (I elected to use states eliminate the difficulties of measuring a city and its subjectively-defined surrounding areas). Such factors included having a Hall of Fame player born in the state, having a Hall of Fame player attend high school in the state, having a Hall of Fame player attend college in the state, having a Hall of Famer spend at least five seasons playing for a team in that state, having an All Star player born in the state, having an All Star player attend high school in the state, having an All Star player attend college in the state, having NBA teams located within the state win a championship, having college teams located within the state win a championship, having college teams located within the state reach the Final Four, having an NBA team located within the state, having a college Division 1 team located within the state, and having an NBA player born in the state (since 1980 - data before that got a bit fuzzy). I narrowed the states selected to 10 of the more highly-respected states in terms of basketball, including California, Michigan, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, Indiana and Texas.
So, without further ado, here's a chart showing the states ranked by the above categories: