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NBA laid key foundation during 1960s amid off-court chaos

FILE - Martin Luther King, Jr. crosses the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., heading to the capitol in Montgomery on March 21, 1965. (AP Photo/File) FILE - A depiction of George Floyd is seen on the shoes of Denver Nuggets' Jamal Murray (27) during the second half an NBA first round playoff basketball game against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File) FILE - NBA basketball player Russell Westbrook joins demonstrators June, 7, 2020 in Compton, Calif., during a protest over the death of George Floyd who died May 25 after he was restrained by Minneapolis police. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File) FILE - Boston Coach Red Auerbach and Bill Russell watch action as they shake hands on the bench in the final seconds of the Celtics' 112-99 win over the Lakers in an NBA playoff game at Los Angeles April 23, 1965. Russell had just left the game -- for the first time -- with less than a minute to play. (AP Photo/Ed Widdis, File) FILE - New Jersey Nets Len Elmore, right, trips over downed Cleveland Cavalier Geoff Huston as they both chased a loose ball in an NBA game Nov 6, 1982, in the Richfield Coliseum in Akron, Ohio. The Nets handed the Cavaliers their 24th straight loss. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan, File) FILE - Bill Russell smiles during an announcement that he had been named coach of the Boston Celtics basketball team, April 18, 1966. Russell, 32, former University of San Francisco star become the first black coach in NBA history. (AP Photo/File) FILE - Bill Russell, left, star of the Boston Celtics is congratulated by coach Arnold "Red" Auerbach after scoring his 10,000th point in the NBA game against the Baltimore Bullets in Boston on Dec. 12, 1964. (AP Photo/Bill Chaplis, File) FILE - Martin Luther King, Jr. crosses the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., heading to the capitol in Montgomery on March 21, 1965. (AP Photo/File) FILE - Clouds of tear gas fill the air as state troopers, ordered by Gov. George Wallace, break up a demonstration march in Selma, Ala., March 7, 1965, on what became known as "Bloody Sunday." The incident is widely credited for galvanizing the nation's leaders and ultimately yielded passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. (AP Photo/File) FILE - Boston Celtics player Bill Russell receives "Player of the Year" award from National Basketball Association Commission Walter Kennedy during halftime of the All-Stars game at Boston Garden on Jan. 14, 1964. (AP Photo/File) FILE - Boston's Sam Jones, left, drives past the Lakers' Jerry West (44) and drives along the baseline toward the basket in the teams' NBA playoff game in Los Angeles on May 2, 1968. (AP Photo/File) FILE - In this April 24, 1963, file photo, Bill Russell, right, embraces teammate Bob Cousy in the Boston dressing room after the Celtics won their fifth consecutive NBA championship, beating the Lakers in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ed Widdis, File) FILE - Wilt Chamberlain, of Philadelphia, shoots in an NBA playoff game against the Boston Celtics, March 19, 1960. The 1960s was the decade Chamberlain scored 100 points, the Celtics-Lakers rivalry took flight and the NBA's second dynasty reigned on the Boston Garden's parquet court. (AP Photo/Sam Myers, File)
NBA laid key foundation during 1960s amid off-court chaos