3-person, when did it start?

[Dan_ref]

Originally posted by Back In The Saddle
Earl Strom (Stromm?) talks a bit about it in his book. As I recall from reading it, the NBA played with it for a while and let it drop, then tried it again in the early 80's. The second time stuck.

I've been told when 3 man started in the NBA that the C could not call fouls, only OOB & violatons. This was because they brought in a bunch of new guys & didn't trust them with foul calls. This meant there was no rotation, if you started the game at C you finished it at C.