 as a highly-touted rookie with any of the four major sports, you're pretty much set for life. Back then, that wasn't the case. So the NBA in the 1940s, 50s, even into the 1960s, was a league that was looking for relevance. It was looking for a foothold into America's sporting culture. The NBA needed to make a leap to become legitimate. And by putting Larry O'Brien in that position,