History of Basketball

677 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Brief history and development of basketball

History of Basketball

“According anywhere from Australia to the United States and everywhere in between the game of basketball is played.” (Faurschou, “History of basketball”). The game is played anywhere where you can get a ball and something to throw the ball through. “G.L Pierce patented basketball on June 25, 1929.” (Bellis, “Basketball-James Naismith”). Basketball became an official Olympic sport in the 1936 game.

“Both the Aztecs and the Mayans had a version of the game of basketball. The Mayans played the first basketball game around 500 years ago, although their ball was a human skull of a conquered foe!” (Faurschou, “History of basketball”). Aspects of the games included today’s basketball, American football, and soccer.

The game of basketball originated with thirteen rules in 1891 by James Naismith. James combined elements from different sports to make basketball, which include soccer, lacrosse, and a game he played as a kid called duck on a rock. “Duck on a rock was a game in which a person would throw rocks at a target that was on the top of a boulder.” (Laughead Jr. History of basketball”).

“ The first game was played on January 20th 1892 in Springfield, Massachusetts. The game was invented for the YMCA during the winter months. The game was first played with 9 people on each team.” (Faurschou, “History of basketball”).

“In 1896 enough colleges had formed teams to form the first competition. The game was played with only 5 members on each team. ” (McNamee, “A Brief History of Basketball”). Two years after this the first professional league was formed.

“Additions of nets to the rim was made to speed up the game before the addition the ref would have to clime up a ladder and get the ball. Anoth...

... middle of paper ...

... best scoring game (100) and the highest field goal percentage (.727). Wilt is also the only player in the NBA to average more then 48 minutes in a season 48.5 due to overtime games.

Basketball today remains very close to James Naismith’s original game. Who knew that a simple idea like throwing a ball through a hoop would become so popular?

Work Cited

http://nbahoopsonline.com/Articles/History1.html

http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blbasketball.htm

http://nbahoopsonline.com/Articles/2008-09/Mesoamericanball.html

http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2013/04/history-basketball-time-final/

http://www.remembertheaba.com/

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nba-is-born

http://www.kansasheritage.org/people/naismith.html

http://www.remembertheaba.com/

Show More
Related

  • How To Play Basketball: The History Of Basketball

    1390 Words  | 3 Pages

    Basketball has been around for a long while. It was first established in 1891 by James Naismith. James Naismith was once the basketball coach at Kansas University. When he invented the sport he used a peach basket as the goal. When it first originated every time they would score they’d be required to call the janitor out with a ladder to get the ball down. After a few months they cut the bottoms of the basket out.

    Read More

  • Pickleball Research Paper

    434 Words  | 1 Pages

    The first “hoops” were actually peach baskets and the first backboards were made out of wire. The game became an official olympic sport in Germany 1936. The chicago bulls have been one of the best basketball team to hit the court, they have one all six of the NBA finals which they have appeared. There is a memorial of the founder is located in Springfield, Mass, The Naismith Basketball Hall Of Fame.

    Read More

  • First African Americans In Basketball History Essay

    781 Words  | 2 Pages

    Backstory of Basketball Basketball has been played since 1891, and still continues to be played today as well. Basketball is an intriguing game played by 2 teams with 5 players from each team on the court at the same time. Basketball, as it started out in 1891 had no African American athletes in the sport. That was still going on, even as late as the 1950’s.

    Read More

  • Professionalism In Baseball And Baseball

    719 Words  | 2 Pages

    Status and prowess that inherently came from playing competitive sports and recreation also came out of convenience. As sports and recreation became integral in American everyday life, there was a problem in the north. It became too cold to play baseball and football outside, but it was wasn’t possible to play these sports inside as it just resulted in injuries to players and the facilities where they attempted to play them. Therefore, basketball was invented as a game where you couldn’t run with the ball and scoring was upright in hopes to decrease the amount of violence but also provide men with recreation in the winter. Soon, basketball just like cycling, football, prize fighting and baseball became a competitive sport and turned into a business where status and prowess become the significant. There were handbooks written to guide people to play and watch basketball and prove its status as a serious sport; “physical judgment is required and cultivated in handling the ball, receiving it from one of your own side, and eluding an opponents” (Naismith 5). Basketball, just like other sports required prowess, physical fitness and understanding of the game in order to defeat the

    Read More

  • The Similarities And Differences Between Basketball And The NBA

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    Since its creation in 1893, the sport of basketball has been one of the most popular sports in the United States. One wouldn’t have to search long to find a basketball court and a pickup game in most American cities. Many people around the world look up to the stars of the National Basketball Association as role models. Despite the vast popularity of basketball, there is only one major league in America: The National Basketball Association, to be referred to in this work as the NBA.

    Read More

  • Development of Basketball

    1120 Words  | 3 Pages

    The thing that has changed is that, “The game sped up when the center jumped after every basket was eliminated” (Carnagie 1). when the center jump was eliminated, it helped the game of basketball a lot better. The Rens have been through a lot to be one of the top teams in the 1930s on how, “the bias of many officials and bigoted spectators were just a part of the working circumstances that the Rens had to accept” (New York Rens). The head coach of the Harlem Rens “tried to join the highly respected basketball league American Basketball League (ABL) several times” (New York Rens). They were refused by the ABL for more than 20 years.

    Read More

  • An Essay On The History Of Basketball

    1729 Words  | 4 Pages

    Basketball originated in 1891 when future Presbyterian minister named James Naismith (1861-1939) was assigned to teach a P.E. class at Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) training school in Springfield, Massachusetts. The class had been noted for being disorderly, and Naismith was told to invent a new game to keep the young men occupied. Since it was winter and very cold outside, the game had to be played indoors was desirable. Naismith had a flashback to his childhood in Canada, where he and his friends had played "duck on a rock,”. The game involved trying to knock a large rock off a boulder by throwing smaller rocks at it. He also recalled watching rugby players toss a ball into a box in a gym. He had the idea to nail up boxes and the players would attempt to throw a ball. When he couldn't find boxes he used peach baskets. According to Alexander Wolff, in his book 100 Years of Hoops, Naismith drew up the rules for the new game in "about an hour." Most of them still apply in some form of todays. Basketball was a simple game that could be played indoors during winter. Naismith spread the rules freely, and there was a need for Naismith's legacy included the first great college basketball coach, Forrest "Phog" Allen (1885-1974), who played for Naismith at the University of Kansas and went on to win 771 games as a coa...

    Read More

  • 1930's Basketball History

    509 Words  | 2 Pages

    What if basketball was never invented? What would kids do in their free time instead of basketball? To understand the origins of basketball and how it developed over the years, a closer look at basketball history is necessary.

    Read More

  • Basketball

    657 Words  | 2 Pages

    On November 6, 1861 the great James Naismith was born in Ontario, Canada to Mr. and Mrs. John and Margaret Naismith. As a child James wasn’t very successful in school but excelled in physical activates, this triggered him to drop out of school and become a lumberjack. Soon after this he realized that he needed to turn his life around, so he went back to school to receive a degree in physical education. He later earned a job at a local YMCA in Springfield and was immediately put in task of finding a way to keep men in shape during the winter seasons. After many unsuccessful attempts he finally decided on a sport in which the players must throw a soccer ball into a peach basket on either side of the gymnasium. So on December 21, 1891 the newly formed game known as basketball had its first official game, the final score 1-0. As time passed different basketball leagues were formed the Basketball Association of America was founded in 1946 by owners of the major ice hockey arenas in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Canada. In 1949 the BAA joined another basketball league, the NBL, to create the currant league, the NBA. The NBA was a great success with many people. This success would led it to what it is today, a multi-billion dollar association known for consisting in a wide variety of elite athletes.

    Read More

  • Basketball As A Discourse Community In High School Basketball

    1288 Words  | 3 Pages

    Basketball is defined as a game where two teams of five play each on a rectangular court, usually indoors (Basketball/Sport). Basketball was invented by James Naismith on December 1, 1891 (Basketball/Sport). The object of basketball is to shoot the basketball through the opposing team’s basket and to out-score them by end of the regulation time limit. If the score is tied at this time, the game will go into overtime until one team wins. While reading about basketball, I found it interesting that when the sport was invented they would nail baskets to balconies with no backboards. This made it easy for spectators (in the balcony) to help their team by either swatting the

    Read More

  • Basketball: The Evolution And Evolution Of Basketball

    1139 Words  | 3 Pages

    Basketball is a popular sport that millions of people play around the world but does everyone know how basketball started and how it evolved throughout history? “Many people do not know that basketball was around since the early 1890s. In 1891, James Naismith, a Canadian-American sports teacher invented this simple sport”(Livestrong.com). Certainly the rules and the style of play wasn’t similar as today’s game. When it was first played in the early ages, there were more carrying the ball and tackling other players in order to get the ball.

    Read More

  • The History Of Basketball

    1005 Words  | 3 Pages

    Basketball has become an international sport. People all around the world enjoy playing it with friends, or even competing for a championship. But haven’t you always wondered where it all began, who were the first people to play it, and who thought of something as simple as putting a ball through a hoop?

    Read More

  • Women and Sports

    3158 Words  | 7 Pages

    Basketball was created as a sport in 1891 by James Naismith, and it quickly became popular among both men and women. It initially started with the same rules for each gender, but according to Patricia Cain in her article, “Women, Race, and Sports: Life Before Title IX,” the rules quickly changed for women. Cain (2001) states that, “Almost immediately, however, some educators began changing the rules of basket...

    Read More

  • The Impact of Michael Jordan

    1010 Words  | 3 Pages

    December 21, 1891- The birth of basketball. It has been changed from simply shooting a soccer ball into a peach basket to dunking a seven pound, leather ball into an iron rim. In the early years of the game, basketball was not as popular as other sports. In the 1985 NBA draft all this would change with the emergence of a 6'6" basketball phenomenon from Wilmington, North Carolina. Although going third in the draft, he recreated the game and is known as the best player to ever touch a basketball; he is Michael Jordan.

    Read More

  • Essay On Basketball Then And Now

    1085 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although many sports are not considered American-made, basketball is one of the few that began in America. In fact it is the only major sport that can be considered American-made (Encyclopedia.com, Basketball). The inventor of basketball was Dr. James Naismith, who created the sport in 1891(History.com Staff, NBA is Born). This was all the way back when there were only forty-four states(nbahoopsonline.com, NBA History). He made the sport in Springfield, Massachusetts(History.com Staff, NBA is Born). Naismith invented this sport because he was P.E. teacher seeking a sport with limited physical contact, but it contained running, jumping, shooting, and hand-eye coordination(Encyclopedia.com, Basketball). The game first used peach baskets and a soccer like ball(History.com Staff,

    Read More

More about History of Basketball

Open Document