Remember that the NBA didn't exist until the 49-50 season. Prior to that there was the BAA and the NBL as pro leagues. I don't think dunking was ever illegal in the pros. I started watching the NBA in the late 1950s when the games were on ABC with Chris Schenkel and Jack Twyman. It seemed like Boston was on every week and I remember that they dunked the ball.
BTW - goaltending was legal at all levels until 1944. This rule change was because of George Mikan. Also, it was Mikan, not Wilt Chamberlain, that first caused the pro lane to be widened from 6 to 10 and then 12 feet in 1951. It went to 16 feet in 1964, possibly because of Wilt. Widening the lane only dropped Mikan's scoring average 3.5 points, and he was still the most dominant player in the game by far. Frankly, if you compare players of other eras logically (that is, how much better were they than others that played when they did), you could make a very strong arguement that Mikan was a greater player than Michael Jordan.
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Tue Feb 22, 2000, 01:10am
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