In 1949,two leagues came together to form the NBA. In 1996the NBA created the WNBA, the Women's National Basketball Association. And in 2001 the NBA created a development league to help train future players. Today about one NBA player in five was born outside the US. The NBA currently has thirty teams, which is one of the four major professional sports leagues in the US. The others are the National Football league, the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball.
In 1992,the US Olympic men's basketball team was called the " Dream Team " . For the first time there were players from the NBA. The Americans brought home the gold medal that year from Barcelona.
It was during the 1990s that a growing number of top NBA players began to come from outside the US. In 2002,Yao Ming was the first choice in the NBA draft, who was picked by the Houston Rockets. He also became the third Chinese national ever to play in the NBA. The first was Wang Zhi-zhi, who joined the Dallas Mavericks in 2001.
The NBA may be the world's most famous basketball league. But the 28th Summer Olympics in Athens provided an example of how the game is improving internationally.
Argentina defeated the US men's basketball team in the semifinals, then claimed the gold medal over Italy. It was the first medal ever for Argentina in Olympic basketball. It was also the first loss for the American team since 1988 in Seoul. In fact, between 1936and 2000,there was only one other time when the US did not win. That was at the 1972 Munich Games. Both times the Soviet Union took home the gold.
From Paragraph 1,we can conclude that _________.
A.the WNBA is one of the four major professional sports leagues in the US |
B.about 80% of the NBA players come from the US |
C.the development league to help train future players doesn't belong to NBA |
D.the National Volleyball League belongs to the four major professional sports leagues in the US |
The US didn't win the gold medal in Olympic basketball EX-CEPT _________.
A.1972 | B.1988 |
C.1992 | D.2004 |
_________ won the men's basketball silver medal in the 28th Olympic Games.
A.The US | B.Argentina |
C.Italy | D.The Soviet Union |
The NBA players began to attend Olympic Games formally in _________.
A.1936 | B.1988 |
C.1992 | D.1996 |