Origins of Speed The Coach Who Invented the modern NBA 🏀

2025-12-19

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Send us a textThe NBA is faster than ever. Data shows players are running further and faster than at any point in history. But where did this obsession with speed come from?It started with a "jailbreak." In an era of peach baskets and standing still, Coach John B. McLendon introduced a radical system: press, run, and shoot in under 8 seconds.In this Episode How the 1944 "Secret Game" (88-44 score) foreshadowed the high-scoring blowouts of the modern NBA.Why McLendon's "full court pressure" philosophy is the ...

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The NBA is faster than ever. Data shows players are running further and faster than at any point in history. But where did this obsession with speed come from?

It started with a "jailbreak." In an era of peach baskets and standing still, Coach John B. McLendon introduced a radical system: press, run, and shoot in under 8 seconds.

In this Episode

How the 1944 "Secret Game" (88-44 score) foreshadowed the high-scoring blowouts of the modern NBA.
Why McLendon's "full court pressure" philosophy is the ancestor of today's defensive schemes.
The direct link between a 1940s "lab" in Durham and the fast-paced highlights you watch on your phone today.

Speed isn't new. It was just waiting for the world to catch up.

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