Who caused the NBA to widen the lanes in 1951?

Question

Which NBA player is primarily responsible for the NBA to widen the lanes from 6 feet wide to 12 feet wide in 1951?

In 1951, the "Mikan Rules" widened the NBA free throw lane from 6 to 12 feet.

In 1955 after Bill Russell led his University of San Francisco team to a NCAA championship, the NCAA in 1955 widened their lanes from 6 feet to 12 feet as a result of the "Russell Rules".

In 1955 when the NCAA made their lane rule change, Wilt Chamberlain was going to his senior prom in high school at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, PA.

Derroll O. is not entirely wrong in that Wilt Chamberlain (and to a lesser degree Bill Russell) caused the NBA to change their free throw rules which was one of the strangest rules at the time in the NBA back in the early 1960s which I have never seen discussed on these boards or written about on NBA.com as I was too young to remember the exact details but can make a guess in an hour or two. The free throw rule change caused primarily by Chamberlain, and to a lesser degree by Russell was almost as bizarre as the early to mid 1960s "no call" of a NBA center on a fast break not being required by the NBA referees if a NBA center (the overlooking of the NBA rule book did not apply to NBA forwards and guards) as if a NBA center was on a fast break, only a "center" was not required to dribble from half court for a "slam dunk". This rules seems to apply to the lesser centers of the league and not to Chamberlain or Russell (Russell only played defense and was not part of the Celtics fastbreak)

Answer 1

Geroge "Mr. Basketball" Mikan. Mikan became so dominant that the NBA had to change its rules of play in order to reduce his influence such as widening the lane from six to twelve feet ("The Mikan Rule"). He also played a role in the introduction of the shot clock, and in the NCAA his dominating play around the basket led to the outlawing of defensive goaltending. Mikan set the stage for the Modern Age of the NBA dominated by tall, powerful players.

Answer 2

I'm quite sure it was Wilt Chamberlain, although I don't think he played his first year in the NBA until 1959 so you might be a bit off on 1951 being the year that happened.

I looked Chamberlain up on Wikipedia to make sure I had my facts straight before posting a response. This is from the Wikipedia article:

"The two-time NBA champion and 1972 NBA Finals MVP is holder of numerous official NBA all-time records, establishing himself as a scoring champion, all-time top rebounder and setting yardsticks in field goal accuracy. He was also responsible for several rule changes, such as widening the lane, regarding inbounding the ball and shooting free throws."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilt_Chamberlain

Edit: I may be mistaken about the 1951 change and could be referring to a 2nd increase in lane width that widened it beyond 12 feet, so the earlier poster may be correct.

Answer 3

it came from really bad players