---

The National Basketball League and the Basketball Association of America merged on August 3, 1949 to form the National Basketball Association.

At the time, no one involved could have dreamed of the sports powerhouse that the NBA would become, as television allowed games thousands of miles away to be viewed in fans' living rooms all over the country.

Along the way, names such as Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordon became super celebrities. Now, each game in the league draws more than 17-thousand fans a total of nearly 22-million for the season. The average NBA player makes a salary of 2.6-million dollars a year.