The longest NBA game in history had 6 overtimes and took 78 minutes of game-time.
Most people’s claim to fame is having a celebrity share their birth date.
Well, mine is that I share a birth date with the longest NBA game in history. On January 6th, 1951, the Indianapolis Olympians and Rochester Royals met in Edgerton Park Arena for a regular season game.
What happened next resulted in one of the most boring basketball games in the history of the world.
That’s a lot of hyperbolic words, but they’re all true.
A typical NBA game is set to last 48 minutes, but this was a marathon. The game went on to go 78 minutes, but it was not at all interesting.
The longest NBA game had six overtimes.
Six.
Overtimes.
However, there was no excitement. The final score of the game was 75-73. Remember this was four seasons before the shot clock came into play. The teams were holding the ball as long as possible before trying to score.
Think about how crazy that is!
The two teams were playing chess pretty much the whole time after overtime. They didn’t try to attack the basket, they tried to hold out and force a mistake off the ball.
It must have been miserable to watch if you were there.
I’d absolutely hate being at that game.
Think about all the other things someone could’ve done in that amount of time. The longest game in NBA history is the reason why Netflix was invented.
It’s the reason why people justify the amount of television time that golf gets.
It’s why the Hindenburg was considered top entertainment.
IT’S THE WORST GAME EVER.
For the Royals, it was a loss en route to finishing second in the Western Division, and ultimately beating the New York Knickerbockers in the Finals.
The Olympians, the winners of the marathon turtle race, went on to finish fourth in the division. They got bounced in the semifinals by the Minneapolis Lakers and star center George Mikan.
Let me tell ya… at first, I was pumped to have my birthday the same date as the longest game in NBA history.
Then I saw how the game went down.
Then I got sad.
While my mom was going into labor, my dad ran down to the hospital vending machine to get a snack. After a while, he chose Fritos. When he came back to the room, my mom berated him for eating Fritos while she was in labor.
That two minute exchange was absolutely more exciting than the 78-minute snore fest that happened at the Edgerton Park Arena in 1951. Possibly the saddest, but definitely the longest game in NBA history.
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