All About Basketball

Basketball was invented in December 1891 by the Canadian priest, teacher and physician James Naismith. Naismith introduced the game when we had an instructor at the Young Men's Christian Association School (now Springfield College) in Springfield, Massachusetts. At the request of his superior, Dr. Luther H. Gulick, he organized a vigorous recreation suitable for indoor winter play. The game involved elements of American football, soccer and hockey, and the first ball used was a football. Teams had nine players and the goals were wooden peach baskets affixed to the walls. By 1897-1898, teams of five became standard. The game rapidly spread nationwide and in Canada and other parts of the world, played by both women and men, and it was also a popular informal outdoor game. American soldiers in World War II (1939-1945) popular sport in many other countries.

After serving as McGill's Athletic Director, James Naismith moved to the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA in 1891 where the sport of basketball was born. In Springfield, Naismith was faced with the problem of finding a sport that was suitable for play inside the Massachusetts winter for the students at the Institute for Christian workers. Naismith wanted to create a game of skill for the students instead of one based solely on strength. He needed a game that could be played indoors in a relatively small space. The first game was played with a football and two peach baskets used as goals. Naismith joined the University of Kansas faculty in 1898, teaching physical education and is a pastor.

A number of American universities took over the game between about 1893 and the 1895th In 1934 became the first school play was staged in New York's Madison Square Garden, and college basketball began to attract increased interest. 1950s basketball had become a major college sport, thus paving the way for a growing interest in professional basketball.

The first pro league, National Basketball League was formed in 1898 to protect players from exploitation and to promote a less rough game. This league only lasted five years before the dissolution, his death spawned a number of loosely organized leagues throughout the northeastern United States. One of the first and greatest pro teams was the Original Celtics, organized around the 1915 New York City. They played as many as 150 games a season and dominated basketball until the 1936th Harlem Globetrotters, founded in 1927, a major exhibition team, specializes in amusing court antics and expert ball handling.

In 1949, (after two professional leagues (National Basketball League formed in 1937) and the Basketball Association of America, 1946) merged to create the National Basketball Association (NBA). Boston Celtics, led by their center Bill Russell, dominated the NBA from late 1950 through the 1960th By the 1960s, pro teams from coast to coast played before crowds of tens of millions of years. Wilt Chamberlain, a center for the Los Angeles Lakers, was another leading player in an era and his struggle with Russell was eagerly anticipated. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, also a center, was known in the 1970s. Jabbar perfected his famed "sky hook" shot while playing for the Los Angeles Lakers and dominated by the opposition.

NBA suffered a drop in popularity in the late 1970s but was revived, largely through the increasing popularity of its most prominent players. Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics and Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers are credited with the injection of excitement in the league in the 1980s through their superior skills and decade-long rivalry. In late 1980 Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls rose to stardom and helped the Bulls dominate the NBA in the early 1990s. A new generation of basketball stars, including Shaquille O'Neal of the Orlando Magic and Larry Johnson of the Charlotte Hornets, the NBA's little growth in popularity.

In 1959, was 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.

James Naismith developed a set of thirteen rules of basketball:

Ø The ball can be thrown in all directions in one or both hands.

Ø The ball is at least in all directions in one or both hands, but never with the fist.

Ø A player can not run with the ball. The player must throw it on the spot where he catches it, the height of a man who runs with good speed.

Ø The ball must be kept within or between the hands. Arms or body must not be used to hold it.

Ø No assumption hold, pushing, striking or tripping in any way by an opponent. The first violation of this rule by one person should be counted as an error and the second should disqualify him until the next goal is made, or if there was a clear intention to hurt the person in the entire game. Substitution is not allowed.

Ø A bug is hitting the ball with the fist, violations of lines 3 and 4, and as described in the 5th line

Ø If both sides have three consecutive fouls it shall count as a goal for the opponents (consecutive means without the opponents in the meantime make a mistake).

Ø Targets must be made when the ball is exposed, or at least from the ground into the basket and stay there, providing those defending the goal do not touch or disturb the goal. If the ball lies on the edge and the opponents move the basket, it shall count as a goal.

Ø When the ball goes out of bounds, it shall be thrown into the box and played the first person to touch it. In case of dispute the umpire shall throw it directly into the field. The thrower-in is allowed five seconds. If he holds it longer, it must go to the opponent. If one side continues to delay the game, the referee shall call a foul on them.

Ø The referee must judge of men and shall note the error and notify the referee when three consecutive fouls have been made. He shall have power to disqualify men according to the 5th line

Ø The referee shall be judge of the ball and decide when it is in play in bounds, to which side it belongs, and keep time. He shall decide when a goal has been made and keep account of the objectives of other tasks normally performed by a judge.

Ø The time shall be two 15-minute halves with five minutes rest between.

Ø The side making the most goals in that time shall be declared winners.

Besides the creation of the basketball, James Naismith graduated as a doctor, primarily interested in sports physiology and what we would today call sports science and as Presbyterian minister with a keen interest in philosophy and clean living. Naismith watched his sport, basketball, introduced in many nations, the YMCA movement as early as in 1893. Basketball was introduced at the Berlin Olympics in 1936. Naismith was flown to Berlin to watch the games. He died in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1939.Today basketball has grown to become one of the worlds most popular sports.