Shot Clock

June 2009, BradMandell June 2009, BradMandell

A 24-Second Shot Clock is the central focus of Armory Square Park. Unveiled on March 26, 2005 the clock is a monument to the local inventor of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 24 Second Clock and to the city where it was first used. Ed Basta, the landscape architect who designed the 4,000 square-foot park in 1989, was not as happy with the decision. ¹

"Before the twenty-four second clock, pro basketball was a slow-moving game dominated by pasty white ballplayers. The shot clock has allowed for faster games dominated by athletic black ballplayers. Ironically, on Saturday in Syracuse, pasty white ballplayers Dolph Schayes, John Havlicek and Bill Walton were on hand to pay tribute to the paradigm shifting clock.

Walton was quoted as saying, "This is one of the most important days in the history of the game because it credits the evolution, it credits the teaching, it credits the chance for people's dreams to come true." [03/27/2005]²