Danny Biasone
Danny Biasone | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 22, 1909 Miglianico, Chieti, Italy |
| Died | May 25, 1992 (aged 83) Syracuse, New York, U.S. |
| Nationality | Italian American |
| Occupation | Sports manager |
Daniel Biasone (February 22, 1909 – May 25, 1992) was the founding owner of the Syracuse Nationals, an NBA team now known as the Philadelphia 76ers. Biasone, who was a childhood immigrant to the United States from Italy, was mostly known for advocating the use of the shot clock in basketball. Biasone was posthumously inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000 for his contributions to the sport.
Although he did not originate the idea of a shot clock, he strongly supported its adoption in professional basketball. Biasone successfully lobbied the NBA to institute the shot clock in 1954. With Syracuse Nationals general manager Leo Ferris, Biasone was responsible for establishing the NBA shot clock at 24 seconds, where it has remained to this day.[1] He supported the 24-second rule on the basis of his observations, experience, and basic arithmetic. Biasone asserted that basketball proved most exciting when it achieved a balance between stalling contests and wild shootouts. He envisioned a well-paced match-up in which each team took around 60 shots per game. Given that professional basketball games lasted 48 minutes. Ferris divided 2880 (the number of seconds in 48 minutes) by 120 (the total number of shots taken per game when each team attempted 60 shots) and arrived at a figure he considered optimal: one shot every 24 seconds.[2] He was also a primary force in convincing the NBA to adopt the backcourt foul rule in 1953.[citation needed]
Biasone was featured in the book Basketball History in Syracuse, Hoops Roots by author Mark Allen Baker published by The History Press in 2010. The book is an introduction to professional basketball in Syracuse and includes teams like (Vic Hanson's) All-Americans, the Syracuse Reds and the Syracuse Nationals (1946–1963).
References
- ^ "Long-forgotten Leo Ferris helped devise NBA's 24-second clock, first used 61 years ago today". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-01-19.
- ^ "The day time stopped: How the shot clock came to Syracuse, and changed basketball". syracuse.com. Retrieved 2017-01-19.
Further reading
- Araton, Harvey (1992-05-28). "Biasone as Visionary Is N.B.A. Loss". The New York Times.
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External links
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- 1909 births
- 1992 deaths
- Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
- American people of Italian descent
- Italian emigrants to the United States
- National Basketball Association executives
- National Basketball Association owners
- National Basketball League (United States) owners
- 20th-century American businesspeople
- Businesspeople from Syracuse, New York
- People from Chieti
- American basketball biography, pre-1910 birth stubs