I did some research and found out that in the early 1950's, the professional basketball was struggling. Since
there was no time limit to make a shot, the sole tactic was to get
the lead and freeze the ball until the time runs out. The other team's
only option is to make a foul thus the games became not only slow but
also physical, rough and have resulted into some sort of a free throw
contest instead of a full court game. This eventually made the games
too boring to watch. That's why in 1954, Syracuse Nationals owner Danny Biasone, invented the shot-clock. He pitched the idea of giving a team 24 seconds to attempt a shot otherwise they will lose the possession of the ball. He wanted to force teams to pick up the pace of games and increase the scoring levels. To complement the invention of the shot-clock, the Board of Governors also adopted foul limitations per team per quarter to deal with the excessive fouling matter.
But let's get back to my question, why 24???
Simple! It is based on Biasone's judgement through his observations, experience and simple arithmetic.
He surveyed the games and found out that most of the well-paced games he enjoyed, each team took about an average of 60 shots. With 120 shots per game, he divided the 48 minutes- the duration of Professional Basketball games (12 minutes per quarter)- with it and the result was 24.
2,880 seconds (the number of seconds in 48 minutes. Whereas: 48 minutes x 60 seconds)
÷
120 shots (the average number of shots per game. Whereas: 60 shots per team x 2 teams)
=
24 Seconds
Simple, Clear and On the dot!
It's a good thing that we don't have to experience watching the boring game of freeze and foul.
Big Thanks to Biasone!
Ciao Bz!
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