History of Basketball

The "history of basketball" begins with the invention of the game in 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts in the United States. Canadian James Naismith invented the first basketball game. The game became established fairly quickly, becoming very popular as the 20th century progressed, first in America and then throughout the world. After basketball became established in American colleges, the professional game followed; the American National Basketball Association (NBA), established in 1949, grew to a multi-billion dollar enterprise by the end of the century, and basketball became an integral part of American culture. FIBA (the International Basketball Federation) was founded in 1932, basketball became an Olympic sport in 1936, and non-American teams and players progressed to match and sometimes exceed American standards of play in the later 20th century and the 21st. The game of basketball, as we know it today was created by Dr. James Naismith in 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts, to condition young athletes during the winter. It consisted of peach baskets and a soccer style ball. He published 13 rules for the new game. He divided his class of 18 into 2 teams of 9 players each and set about to teach them the basics of his new game. The objective of the game was to throw the basketball, into the fruit baskets nailed to the lower railing of the gym balcony. Every time a point was scored, the game was halted so the janitor could bring out a ladder and retrieve the ball. After a while, the bottoms of the fruit baskets were removed. The first public basketball game was played in Springfield, Massachusetts, on March 11, 1892.