HISTORY OF BASKETBALL

Basketball is a relatively new sport, invented in 1891. It has now

grown into one of the most popular sports in the United States.
A game that started with eighteen men in a YMCA gymnasium in
Springfield, Massachusetts, has grown into a game that more
than 300 million people play worldwide. The man who created
this instantly successful sport was Dr. James Naismith.
Under instructions from the head of physical education at the
School for Christian Workers, Naismith was given two weeks to
invent an indoor game that would provide an “athletic distraction”
for a rowdy class through the brutal New England winter. His
creation didn’t come easily. His first intention was to bring
outdoor games such as soccer and lacrosse indoors. These games
proved to be too physical and cumbersome.
After brainstorming some new ideas, Naismith developed
basketball’s original 13 rules and, consequently, the game of
basketball. The new indoor game was played with a soccer ball,
peach baskets, and nine to a side. This first contest is believed to
have been played on December 21, 1891.

Basketball was invented in December 1891 by Canadian James

W. Naismith. An instructor at the YMCA Training School in
Massachusetts, he sought a suitable indoor game to keep his
students fit and warm during the cold New England winters. He
formulated 13 rules, most of which still apply today. In 1893, the
first women’s game was played at the Smith College, in
Northampton, Massachusetts, USA.
PEACH BASKETS
Originally, basketball was played with peach baskets and balls
had to be retrieved manually after each score. Subsequently, a
hole was drilled into the bottom of the basket allowing the balls
to be poked out with a long rod. In 1906, the peach baskets were
finally replaced by metal hoops with backboards

ORANGE BALL
Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball. The first balls
made specifically for basketball were brown, and it was only in
the late 1950s that Tony Hinkle, searching for a ball that would
be more visible to players and spectators alike, introduced the
orange ball that is now in common use.

GLOBAL POPULARITY INCREASES

In the early 1900s, students from abroad who had studied in
Springfield, started to spread the game. In the 1920s, the first
international games were played and by 1950 the first World
Championship for Men was held in Argentina. Three years later,
in 1953, the first World Championship for Women took place in
Chile.

OLYMPIC HISTORY
Basketball made its appearance at the Olympic Games in 1904 in
St Louis as a demonstration sport, as the competition was held
between only American teams and counted as an event of the
Amateur Athletic Union (AAU of the USA) Championships.
At the Games in 1936 in Berlin, basketball joined the Olympic
programme, where it has remained to this day. Women’s
basketball debuted at the 1976 Games in Montreal.

The USA dominates international basketball and won all the titles
up to 1972, the year it was defeated by the Soviet Union at the
Munich Games. In the women’s event, the Soviets took gold in
1976, 1980 and 1992, and were later dominated by the
Americans between 1984 and 2008, except in 1992.

In 1992 at the Barcelona Games, famous players from the

National Basketball Association (NBA) were allowed for the first
time to represent the USA. This team, known as the “Dream
Team” in the international media, was undoubtedly the best
basketball team ever formed. It delighted the public and widely
dominated the Olympic tournament in 1992.