James Naismith: The Invention Of Basketball

During the winter of 1892 in a town in Massachusetts a physical education teacher, Dr. James Naismith, at a YMCA school created a game where young men could play indoors aside from going outside in the freezing cold. To be prepared for the game, Dr. Naismith came up with some rules for the game, gathered two peach baskets for hoops, a soccer ball, and coached the first basketball game in history.

“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.

Thesis: Basketball was invented by James Naismith in 1839. The objective was to throw the basketball into fruit baskets strapped to the railing of the gym balcony. As you can see the game of basketball has changed tons over the years and continues to grow.

We can all agree that basketball is almost becoming popular around the world. So many people play this sport but do people know how basketball started and how it evolute throughout the years since basketball was borned? So like every other sports and creations, there has to be a inventor and in basketball there was a man by the name of Dr. James Naismith. “Created in 1891 in a Springfield, Massachusetts YMCA gymnasium has grown into a game played worldwide by more than 300 million people”(historybits.com). So this game has been out for a very long period of time with many changing of the rules in basketball throughout the history. When it was first played in the late 1800s, there were different rules and even different looking basketball. As for the rules, originally there would be 10 people on the court but it first started with 18 people on the court which after couple of years it changed to only 10 people. Substitution was also different and the rule for this was at first no one can enter until the next game. “The rule was changed in 1920 to allow a player to re-enter the game one time. In 1934, the rule was expanded to allow players to re-enter the game twice, and, in 1945 the rule was finally changed to permit players to return to the game an unlimited number of times”(hooptactics.com). The first basketball looked very alike a football but round. The backboards were made out of straight wood and the baskets were made out of peach baskets or square boxes. There was only

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.

The game was first created by James Naismith of December in 1891 a man who wanted to follow his dreams of Physical Education.The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) gyms need a game to be played to condition young athletes because they couldn’t play any of the sports you would play outside like baseball and football during the harsh winters in Minnesota.

In 1891, Dr. James Naismith was teaching at a local YMCA when he came up with a game that could be played inside during the Winter (Laughead). The game that Naismith created would later be known worldwide as “basketball.” This game has greatly influenced the sports industry with fans, players, and professional teams all over the world. Basketball took a long time to develop into what it is today, but it is now one of the world’s most popular sports. Who was James Naismith and what all did he accomplish in his lifetime?

The first game of basketball was played in the beginning of 1891.Basketball has changed since all these years. By getting into basketball it could change your life forever. Basketball is a serious game to many people and they try their hardest to win a game. By this surprise Michael Jordan is one of these people that got his life changed when he went to basketball. To this day people still remember him as one of the greatest basketball players ever.

The game much of the world knows today as basketball has been played for years upon years. Ranging from small gym class games to the Olympic Summer games, the game has been played all over the world and has become a major part of some people's lives. It was invented by a great man named James Naismith. He created basketball and gave it the push it needed to become one of the biggest games the world holds dear today. James was Born on November 6, 1861 in Almonte, Ontario, Canada. His parents were John Naismith and Margaret Young. He attended grade school at Bennie's Corner just outside of Almonte in 1867. He finished his schooling in 1875. Sadly, two years before he was finished with his schooling his parents died as well as his grandmother. He Entered Almonte High School in 1875 and left the school

The National Basketball Association and the American Basketball Association also known as the ABA and the NBA. A hall of Fame player named George Mikan dominated the NBA and would lead his team to seven straight championships in the NBA. He helped boost the leagues ratings when basketball wasn’t all that popular back then and racked in lots of money for the league. He was considered a giant in the league and everyone just had to go pay to see him. The NBA even had to implement some rule changes to mitigate his dominance. Another league called the ABA then sprouted up to rival the NBA and recruited George Mikan to help them do

James Naismith was just 30 working as an athletic coordinator for the University of Kansas when he was told that he had 30 days to invent a game for the soccer and football players to play and stay fit during the winter. The game couldn't contain as much physical contact as football and soccer because the coaches did not want their players getting injured before the season started. ‘The invention of basketball was not an accident. It was developed to meet a need. Those boys simply would not play 'Drop the Handkerchief.’ And that is how one of the greatest games came to life.

Throughout the years, basketball has evolved into a thrilling sport enjoyed by millions worldwide. In 1891 Dr. James Naismith invented a physical activity that would eventually develop into the billion-dollar industry it is today. Basketball started out on the streets of cities like New York and Chicago. As the sport became more popular, entrepreneurs saw it as a business opportunity and created the National Basketball Association on July 6, 1946. In its early days, towering players like Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell dominated professional basketball. Centers were the focal point of basketball between 1946 and 1966. These players would bully shorter opponents with sheer height. Coaches often made players pass the ball to the center most of the game. This was a very common style of basketball in the early days.

He got to thinking and started combining ideas from other games to make the game of what it is known today as basketball. Naismith invented this game in 1891 (Faurschou).

The game was a hit, and through the YMCA, basketball saw a period of tremendous growth, just two years after its invention (Laughed). In 1896, the first college basketball game was played between the University of Iowa and the University of Chicago, and by the following year, teams of five became standard.

The game of basketball was invented by Dr. James Naismith. Naismith, a P.E. teacher from Canada, invented the game in 1891. At the time James Naismith as working at the YMCA Training School in Massachusetts ("Who Invented"). Wyckoff implies that James was great at teaching summer sports, but when winter came, there was a problem. The men at the college were