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Basketball was invented at the International YMCA Training School Springfield (today, Springfield College), Massachusetts, USA in 1891. The man who invented the game was Dr. James A. Naismith, a Canadian-born and Physical Education instructor at the college. At the request from Dr. Luther Gulick, the head of Physical Education at the college, James was given 14 days to create an indoor game that would provide an “athletic distraction” for a rowdy class through the brutal New England winter.

Naismith’s invention didn’t come easily. He tried many ideas, modified outdoor games such as soccer and lacrosse, but all these games were not suitable for indoor. Getting close to the deadline, James recalled a childhood game that required players to use finesse and accuracy to become successful. After brainstorming his new idea, James developed basketball game with 13 rules.

In the very first game, Dr. Naismith used a soccer ball and attached two peach baskets to the balcony at each end of the gymnasium. The bottoms were left in the basket at first and the balls would have to be retrieved by climbing a stepladder when a goal is made. It started with just 18 men.

The new game spread rapidly and was soon being played across the United States and in many other countries, now it is one of the most popular games in the world with more than 300 million players. Basketball is a popular spectator sport in America today, and through the Olympic Games, it is gaining international interest with more than 200 nations playing the game.

Interesting facts for students:

1.Canadian James Naismith, a PE teacher at a YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, is credited with inventing basketball in 1891.

2.The first basketball game was played on a court that was half the size of courts today. Only one point was scored in the whole match. In this game, there were nine players in each team. A number that was based on the standard number of players on a baseball team. Later, the teams were reduced to five players on the court.

3.The first basketball hoops were peach baskets with the bottom intact. Officials had to get the ball out after each basket using stepladder. The first string nets were used in the early 1900s.

4.Early basketball games used soccer balls (1891–1950s). Players would rub coal dust on their hands to grip the ball better.

5.Basketball became popular in high schools of USA before television started to cover national level matches.

6.In 1932, the International Basketball Federation was formed by representatives from Italy, Greece, Argentina, Portugal, Czechoslovakia, Latvia, Romania, and Switzerland. Its acronym is actually FIBA and was taken from the French Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur.

7.The game became an official Olympic event at the Summer Games in Berlin, Germany in 1936.

8.Michael Jordan is considered a legend in the world of basketball. Exceptionally talented, Michael Jordan has led the US team in Olympics that won gold medals in 1984 and 1992. Michael Jordan’s career score is 32,292, this is after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387), Karl Malone (36,928), Kobe Bryant (33,643), and LeBron James (32,543). His record total career playoffs score of 5,987 in NBA was only broken recently by LeBron James (6,911).

9.Kareem Abdul-Jabbar holds the record for highest score of career points, i.e., 38,387 in the history of NBA. He played for the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers.

10.The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is located in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA.

11.The Harlem Globetrotters are a world famous exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theatre, and comedy in their style of play. They have been entertaining fans since they were formed in 1926. This popular team has played more than 26,000 games in 124 countries as of 2019. They are not part of the NBA.

12.Wang Zhizhi—not Yao Ming—was the first Chinese player to compete in the NBA. He was a 7′0″centre and played his first NBA game for the Dallas Mavericks in the 2000–2001 season.