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Monday, November 2, 2009 When I started at the NBA league office back in December of 1980, Cecil Watkins was right at my side. In a matter of minutes, we bonded and I could tell, I had met a man who was as sincere as he was connected, a man who knew the game and loved the game. Cecil was the Assistant Director of Officiating and ran the Pro-Am basketball program that was the major lifeline to identify, train and cultivate NBA officials before they would be game tested in the

by Thomas Beller, July 20, 2015, An article edited from "The New Yorker" magazine. Basketball is more than just a game; it's a vibrant tapestry woven into the fabric of New York City. The version we see on television is just one of many. Basketball can be played solo or in groups, indoors or outdoors, on full courts, half courts, or even makeshift hoops. N.B.A. players who venture abroad must adapt to the rules of FIBA, the international governing body. Remember Tim Duncan’

By Arthur Banton, Ph.D. On March 12, 1977, when DeWitt Clinton High School of the Bronx defeated McKee High School of Staten Island 73-67 in the New York City Public Schools Athletic League basketball championship game, it marked a turning point in the seventy-four-year history of the league. McKee was vying to become the first school from Staten Island to win the title in the history of the tournament and break the twenty-year stranglehold by the Brooklyn and Bronx schools.