The NBA has been around for over 50 years, but gaining a slight edge over your opponent by any means necessary has been around for even longer. In this installment of Penny and Paper, I will be taking a look at some old-school, and new-school forms of gamesmanship in the NBA.

Gamesmanship in the NBA is most closely associated with its originator of competitive advantage, Red Auerbach. The Boston Celtic legend was known to turn up the heat in the opposing team's locker room to the point where even reports would end up sweating after spending just a few minutes inside conducting interviews. In fact, the old Boston Garden is almost synonymous with the word gamesmanship, as stories still linger to this day that claim the Celtics knew where dead-spots in the famous parquet floor were located. But as NBA locker rooms and courts are now subject to strict guidelines by the league, gamesmanship mostly occurs on the floor these days. Except in  certain circumstances where fans can also partake in the fun, here's a quick rundown of some of the best forms of gamesmanship that have been on display in the NBA.

Routinely, you will see players on a particular team's bench jump up screaming and waving towels in an effort to distract an opposing team's player who is taking a shot near the bench. Shooting an open corner-three can quickly turn into a situation where you feel like you have seven defenders on you, plus the water boy.

But gamesmanship doesn't just happen between players, fans can get involved too. On a recent trip to Orlando, the Detroit Pistons found themselves looking for a gym to practice in, as the facility usually reserved for the road team had a schedule-conflict that prevented the team from getting gym time. In an effort to get some practice time in prior to the contest, a Pistons representative phoned the sports director at the local YMCA.  As a huge fan of the Magic, the YMCA employee made the executive decision to disallow the rival Pistons into his gymnasium, thus leaving them out in the cold and without an opportunity for ample preparation. The Pistons lost the game to the Magic by 7 points, I wonder if a little extra practice might have changed the outcome?

Most recently, Ron Artest put more of his unique character on display in a home contest against the Houston Rockets. As a scuffle for a rebound was taking place in the paint, Rockets swingman Trevor Ariza lost one of his shoes. After the Lakers came up with possession of the ball, Artest boxed out Ariza for possession of the shoe. He picked up the sneaker and threw it out of bounds, forcing Ariza to make the one-sock trek to the baseline in order to retrieve his kick. Houston had to play its offensive possession 4-on-5 and the Lakers eventually brought the ball back down the court and swung the ball over to a wide-open Ron Artest who knocked in a 3-point basket. How was Artest so open for the shot? Ariza was on the baseline still working on wedging his foot back into his shoe. Now that's gamesmanship.