The History of Basketball

A game that started with 18 men in a YMCA gymnasium in Springfield, Mass, eventually developed into a game that more than 300 million people play worldwide. The man who created this instantly successful sport was Dr James Naismith. Given orders from his principal, Dr Luther H Gulick, he designed a energetic amusement appropriate for indoor winter play.

The game borrowed ideas from American football, soccer, and hockey, and basketball was first played with a soccer ball. After brainstorming some new ideas, Naismith derived basketballs original 13 rules and subsequently, the game of basketball. The first basketball contest was played with a soccer ball, vegetable baskets and nine members in each side.

This first contest is believed to have been played Dec. 21, 1891. Basketballs first official match was played in the YMCA gymnasium on January 20, 1892 with nine players, on a court about half the size of todays Streetball or National Basketball Association (NBA) court. "Basket ball",a name proposed by one of Naismith's students, was well liked from its introduction. Teams had nine players, and the goals were vegetable or peach baskets which were attached to the wall.

The first public game was in Armory Hill YMCA on March 11, 1892, with a crowd of 200 on hand, as the students winning over the teachers 5-1; Amos Alonzo Stagg got the only basket for the teachers. The first women�s game was March 22, 1893 at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Colleges first basketball match occurred on Feb. 9, 1895 Minnesota State School of Agriculture beat Hamline 9-3. The first women�s basketball college match happened April 1895 between Stanford and California. Professional basketball begun their league in 1898 calling itself the National Basketball Association (different body to todays nba). The first national AAU basketball tournament was in 1897.

Wisconsin claims to be the first state with a high school state tournament, which was won by Fond du Lac in 1905. High school basketball attracted national attention 12 years later in 1917. By 1897-1898, teams of five was promoted to the norm. Basketballs first devotees were sent out to YMCAs throughout the United States, and it quickly spread through the usa and canada.

By 1895, it was firmly installed at several women's high schools. Basketball became popular nationwide and to Canada and other parts of the world, played by both women and men; it also became a cherished informal outdoor game. Women's basketball began in 1892 at Smith College when Senda Berenson, also a sports instructor, adapted Naismith's rules for women. In the years before World War I, the Amateur Athletic Union and the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (forerunner of the NCAA) vied for control over the rules for the game.

U.S. servicemen in world war ii (1939-1945) advanced the sport all over the world. A number of U.S. colleges adopted the game between about 1893 and 1895. In 1934 the first college games were staged in New York City's Madison Square Garden, and college basketball attracted a bigger following. By the 1950s basketball had become a major college sport, thus paving the way for a greater public demand in professional basketball.

Intriguing Basketball facts

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 currently used. Dribbling was not part of the original game except for the "bounce pass" to team mates. Passing the ball was the primary means of ball movement. Dribbling was finally established but limited by the asymmetric shape of early balls. Dribbling only was promoted to a major part of the game around the 1950s as manufacturing helped in the design of the ball.

Basketballs first professional league, the National Basketball League, began life in 1898 to protect players from exploitation and to advance a less rough game. This league only lasted five years before breaking up; its demise spawned a number of loosely devised leagues throughout the northeastern United States. One of the first and greatest pro teams was the Original Celtics, organized about 1915 in New York City. They played as many as 150 games a season and dominated basketball until 1936.

The Harlem Globetrotters, founded in 1927, a notable exhibition team, became famous for their pleasing court antics and astonishing teamwork. Basketball was first played in the olympic games in 1936, in Berlin, when the USA winning over Canada 19-8 for the gold medal. The first olympic final was played outdoors, in the mud and rain, on a tennis court. In 1949 two subsequent professional leagues, the National Basketball League (formed in 1937) and the Basketball Association of America (1946) merged to create the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Boston Celtics, led by their center Bill Russell, dominated the NBA from the late 1950s through the 1960s. By the 1960s, pro teams from coast to coast played in front of audiences of millions every year. Wilt Chamberlain, a center for the Los Angeles Lakers, was one more top basketball player during the era, and his games aginst russell were massively popular. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, also a center, established himself during the 1970s. Jabbar perfected his famed "sky hook" shot while playing for the Los Angeles Lakers and dominated the opposition.

The NBA lost popularity in the late 1970s, though came back primarily through the increased magnetism of its generally celebrated players. Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics, and Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers are renowned for injecting excitement into the league in the 1980s through their incredible team skills and decade-long rivalry. For the time of the late 1980s Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls became a superstar and catapulted the bulls to domination of the NBA for the time of the early 1990s. A new generation of stars, including Shaquille O'Neal of the Orlando Magic and Larry Johnson of the Charlotte Hornets, have sustained the NBA's growth in popularity.

In 1959 a Basketball Hall of Fame was founded in Springfield, Massachusetts. Its rosters include the names of great players, coaches, referees, and people who have contributed significantly to the development of the game. Although no-one is sure that basketballs origins was founded in the ancient Mesoamerican ballgame, an understanding of that game was obtainable for at least five decades prior to Naismith's creation in the writings of John Lloyd Stephens and Alexander von Humboldt. Stephen's works especially, which included drawings by Frederick Catherwood, were available at most educational institutions in the 19th century and also had wide popular circulation.

The history of Basketball is as fascinating as any other sport and today has become one of the most popular games in the world.