Larry Bird speaks during grand opening of museum named in his honor
Former Indiana State Sycamores and NBA great Larry Bird spoke in front of the crowd gathered for the grand opening of the Larry Bird Museum.
Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar
When many people think of basketball, they think of Indiana.
But one study said the Hoosier state is not the best in the country when it comes to basketball or even the second best. According to NBA experts at Fadeaway World, Indiana is the fifth best for basketball.
The study considered the birthplaces of NBA and WNBA players, Hall of Fame inductees, the number of G League teams and how many championships NBA and WNBA teams have won. California came in at No. 1 and was followed by Texas, New York and Illinois.
For how many NBA and WNBA players have been born in the state, Indiana has 202. That’s far behind California (553), Texas (283), New York (512) and Illinois (342). Those states also have more NBA, WNBA and G League teams.
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If you look at total populations in 2023, California, Texas and New York made up three of the top four states. Illinois was the sixth most populated state. Indiana came in at No. 17.
When it came to titles, Indiana has nine. The Indiana men’s basketball team won five championships, Notre Dame women won in 2001 and 2018, the Indiana Fever claimed the WNBA in 2012 and the Purdue women’s team was victorious in 1999. That number beat out Illinois (eight) and New York (four).
While the Indiana Pacers have three ABA titles, they are one of 10 teams without an NBA championship.