This article contains everything you need to know about The Origin of Basketball (NBA). You will also find information about College basketball in America, National Basketball Association (NBA), Original rules of Basketball from Naismith and much more.
Origin Of Basketball (NBA)
James Naismith, a Canadian physical education teacher from Springfield, Massachusetts, created basketball in 1891 as a less dangerous sport than football. When Naismith developed the indoor sport to keep sportsmen indoors during the winter, he was a doctoral student of 31 years old. As the 20th century went on, the game established itself quite fast and gained enormous popularity, first in America and then everywhere in the world. The professional game of basketball emerged after it gained popularity in American colleges. Basketball became ingrained in American society and the American National Basketball Association (NBA), founded in 1946, expanded into a multibillion dollar business by the turn of the century.
Invention of Basketball
In order to keep young sportsmen in shape throughout the chilly months, Dr. James Naismith invented basketball as we know it today in Springfield, Massachusetts, in December 1891. In Springfield, Massachusetts, at the YMCA International Training School, which is now Springfield College, Naismith taught physical education. Naismith became tasked with developing an indoor sports game at the request of his supervisor in order to aid sportsmen in staying in condition over the winter.
It comprised a soccer-style ball and fruit baskets. 13 rules for the new game were issued by him. He formed two teams of nine players each out of his eighteen students and began instructing them in the fundamentals of his brand-new game. The goal of the game was to lob the basketball into the fruit baskets that were affixed to the gym balcony’s lower railing. The game stopped every time a goal was made so the janitor could get a ladder and get the ball. The fruit baskets’ bottoms were eventually taken off. On March 11, 1892, a basketball game was played in front of the general public in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Original rules of Basketball from Naismith
There were just thirteen “basketball” rules.
1. With one or both hands, the ball may be thrown in any direction.
2. With one or both hands, the ball may be hit in any direction.
3. Players are not allowed to run with the ball; instead, they must throw it from the spot where they caught it, with an exception provided for players who catch the ball while sprinting quickly.
4. The hands must be used to hold the ball; neither the arms nor the body may be utilized to do so.
5. No pushing, tripping, shouldering, holding, pushing, or other forms of contact with an opponent’s person are permitted. Any person who violates this regulation more than once is considered to have committed a foul and is ineligible to play until the next goal is scored, or the entire game if there was clear intent to cause harm.
6. A foul is when someone strikes the ball with their fist, violates rules 3 and 4, or does something else as specified in rule 5.
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7. If any side commits three straight fouls, the other team scores.
8. A goal is scored when the ball is thrown or batted into the goal area and remains there. When an opponent moves the basket while the ball is on the edge, it counts as a goal.
9. The player who touched the ball first when it crossed the line of play must toss it into the field and play it. The umpire is required to hurl it directly onto the field in the event of a dispute. Five seconds are given for the “thrower-in.” If he keeps it for too long, the opponent will win. The umpire will declare a foul on a team if they continue to cause the game to be delayed.
10. The referee is notified when three consecutive fouls have been committed, and the umpire serves as the judge of the men.
11. The referee will judge the ball, determine when it is in play, in bounds, and which team it belongs to, as well as keep the score. He will determine when a goal has been scored, keep track of the goals, and carry out any other tasks that a referee would typically carry out.
12. The time will be divided into fifteen-minute halves, with five-minute breaks.
13. The victor will be the team that scores the most goals within that period. In the event of a tie, the captains may decide to extend the game until a goal is scored.
The first basketball game
Naismith released five core concepts and thirteen rules for a new game on December 21, 1891.
He instructed his class to play a game of 9 vs. 9 using a soccer ball and two peach baskets on the Armory Street court that day. One of his classmates, Frank Mahan, wasn’t too pleased. Harrumph, he just said. Another brand-new game when the term “Naismith Game” was suggested, he countered, “We have a ball and a basket: why don’t we call it basketball?” The 18 players, who lost 1-0 to George Weller, Wilbert Carey, Ernest Hildner, Raymond Kaighn, Genzabaro Ishikawa, Benjamin S. French, Franklin Barnes, George Day, and Henry Gelan, were John G. Thompson, Eugene S. Libby, Edwin P. Ruggles, William R. Chase, T. Duncan Patton, Frank Mahan, Finlay G. MacDonald, William H. Davis, and Lyman Archibald.
Chase was the one who made the goal. Between Naismith’s original concept and the game that is played today, there were other differences. Until a little hole was made in the bottom of the peach basket to allow the ball to be prodded out with a stick, the peach baskets were closed and balls had to be retrieved manually. Metal hoops, nets, and backboards weren’t adopted until 1906. The soccer ball became replaced in 1894 by a ball Naismith had Spalding manufacture.
YMCA and the US Army promote development
Basketball became widely practiced in the United States, Canada, and other countries thanks in large part to the YMCA. Mel Rideout organized the first European game in Montmartre, Paris, in 1893. At the same time, Genzabaro Ishikawa traveled to Japan, C. Hareek to Persia, Duncan Patton to India, Bob Gailey to Tientsin, China and others.
The First World War began in 1914, and in 1917 the American Army began operations in Europe. The American Expeditionary Force brought basketball with them wherever they went during World War I. There were thousands of basketball-savvy physical education teachers present along with the military. During that time, Naismith also worked with the YMCA for two years in France.
Leagues, teams and organizations from the early professional era
In 1898, the first professional league became established. The National Basketball League included six teams, with the Trenton Nationals emerging as the league’s first champions, followed by the New York Wanderers, the Bristol Pile Drivers, and the Camden Electrics. In 1904, the league became disbanded. Then, numerous small championships were held, but most of them were not as significant as certain teams’ contests with rivals for cash.
For instance, Jim Furey organized games as a circus, traveling daily from town to town, and the Original Celtics became promoted as the “World’s Basketball Champions”. They became regarded as the “fathers of basketball”. The Celtics rose to the top of the league and enjoyed success from 1922 to 1928, when ownership issues forced the team’s dissolution. Since the current Boston Celtics of the NBA were created in 1946, over two decades after the collapse of the Original Celtics, they merely share the name.
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The Original Celtics are occasionally mistakenly thought of as the forerunners of the current Boston Celtics of the NBA. The Rens, the first exclusively African American professional team, were established in 1922. (also known as New York Renaissance or Harlem Renaissance). The Original Celtics’ regular rival was the Rens, whose games had a $1 ticket price. They competed in a few legitimate competitions and won the inaugural World Professional Basketball Tournament in 1939. In 1949, the team was disbanded.
The most significant leagues in the 1920s and 1930s were the American Basketball League (established in 1925), Metropolitan Basketball League (formed in 1921), Eastern Basket Ball League (started in 1909) and Metropolitan Basketball League (created in 1921).
College basketball in America
American colleges saw the highest level of early basketball activity outside of YMCAs. On February 7, 1893, the local YMCA in Nashville, Tennessee, hosted Vanderbilt University, the first known American college to field a basketball team against an outside foe. The second game of organized collegiate basketball took place on April 8, 1893, in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, between Geneva College and the New Brighton YMCA. Geneva won 3-0.
The first game between two collegiate teams became played on February 9, 1895, when Minnesota A&M and Hamline University squared off (which later became a part of the University of Minnesota).
The game, which they played under regulations permitting nine players per side, won by Minnesota A&M 9-3.
The University of Chicago and the University of Iowa’s game on January 18, 1896, at Iowa City, Iowa, frequently cited as the first intercollegiate match to use the contemporary rule of five players per side.
James Naismith taught the game to Amos Alonzo Stagg at the Springfield YMCA, and Stagg organized the Chicago team, which went on to win 15-12.
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(According to some accounts, Yale and Penn played in a five-on-five intercollegiate game in 1897. This is because the Iowa squad that played Chicago in 1896 comprised University of Iowa students but did not serve as an official team of the university; instead, it became organized through a YMCA.) Basketball had become popular at colleges all around the nation by 1900.
By 1897, the YMCA had relinquished control of basketball-related activities to the U.S. Amateur Athletic Union (AAU).
The collegiate “Basket Ball Rule Committee” became established in April 1905 when delegates of fifteen universities took individual management of the intercollegiate game.
In 1909, the committee became also incorporated into the organization that would later become the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). In 1939, the NCAA men’s basketball tournament was established.
New International competitions
After reaching Europe, basketball soon advanced. The first international game, played in Saint Petersburg in 1909, when the Mayak Saint Petersburg squad won against the YMCA American team. In 1919, during the Inter-Allied Games in Joinville-le-Pont, close to Paris, the first major European tournament took place. Max Friedman, a future Hall of Fame player, led the United States to victories over France and Italy before Italy defeated France. Basketball quickly gained popularity in France and Italy. Players on the Italian side were Arrigo and Marco Muggiani, Baccarini, Giuseppe Sessa, Palestra, Pecollo, and Bagnoli. They wore white shirts with the House of Savoy shield on them.
Establishment of FIBA
World basketball was expanding, but it wasn’t until June 18, 1932 that a true international organization was established to oversee competitions and teams. On that day, the following representatives of the 8 national federations established the International Basketball Federation: Attilio PONISIO (Argentina), Simeon MAVROSKOUFIS (Greece), Count Giorgio ASINARI DI SAN MARZANO (Italy), Joseph SHADEIKO (Latvia), Henry BRANDT
Its efforts were crucial to basketball’s initial admission in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. Sam Balter, Ralph Bishop, Joe Fortenberry, Tex Gibbons, Francis Johnson, Carl Knowles, Frank Lubin, Art Mollner, Donald Piper, Jack Ragland, Willard Schmidt, Carl Shy, Duane Swanson, Bill Wheatley, and the team’s coach James Needles brought home the country’s first Olympic gold medal. On a clay court outside, Canada finished in second place. Argentina hosted the inaugural World Championship in 1950.
NBA
On June 6, 1946, in New York City, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) was first established.
After combining with the rival National Basketball League, the league took the name National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1949. (NBL). In terms of fandom, earnings, talent, and degree of competitiveness, the NBA is the most major professional basketball league in the world as of the early 21st century. Adam Silver is the commissioner of the NBA, and his responsibility is to direct all organizational activities. Since the beginning of professional basketball, numerous rule modifications have taken place, changing the game into what it is today.
These rules became modified over time to fit the evolving playing style rather than all at once. This modification, which began with the free-throw lane’s widening in 1951 and continued with its extension in 1964, became created to lessen the sway of centers who played in the Post Position, or with their backs to the basket, on the game. The 24-second shot clock became adopted in 1954. By requiring the team possessing the basketball to shoot the ball before the 24-second timer expires, they did this to speed up the game. In the 1979–80 season, the NBA finally adopted the three-point line. They did this to spread out the players, who primarily played beneath the hoop at the time, and to make the game more challenging.
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The surge of black athletes in the late 1950s and early 1960s boosted interest and revived the NBA. At this point, the majority of the league’s players were African Americans, as were the majority of its top stars. However, the NBA’s popularity was once more in jeopardy in the late 1970s due to a fall in attendance and television viewership. The TV audience for the NBA decreased by 18% in 1979.
Earvin “Magic” Johnson of Los Angeles, a former college great, and Larry Bird of Boston once altered the way they played the game. Johnson and Bird, both 6 feet 9 inches (2.06 meters) tall, could fill several roles that were previously only available to players who were lower. According to some, they are two of the top 50 NBA players in history. [Reference needed] Johnson and Bird provided the NBA a new major game to boost its waning appeal right when it needed a new force. Superstars like Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, and Michael Jordan joined the league during and after that time.
Contemporary NBA
Basketball has become more widely known thanks to the NBA. This is mostly because of the transcendent stars who have participated in the game over the years. Particularly on the 1992 United States men’s Olympic basketball squad, nicknamed as the Dream Team, Michael Jordan’s play helped basketball start to gain international acclaim.
After his final victory and second retirement in 1998, there remained a vacancy over the future of basketball’s public face. Soon after, Kobe Bryant went on to win three consecutive championships with the Los Angeles Lakers from 2000 to 2002 with the aid of Shaquille O’Neal. This helped basketball become more well-liked all around the world, most notably in China. More victories in 2009 and 2010 have boosted his popularity. He declared that the following season will be his last in 2015. By then, he would have played in 20 seasons.
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LeBron James was a great player that transformed the sport of basketball. The Cleveland Cavaliers selected him with the first overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, and he has since risen to prominence as the league’s and basketball’s global face. In what became known as “The Decision,” he left the Cavaliers in 2010 to sign with the Miami Heat alongside fellow stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. He won back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013 before going back to the Cavaliers in 2014, where he won a third title in 2016. On July 1st, 2018, he joined the Los Angeles Lakers.
Many international players have contributed to the game’s globalization. Yao Ming stands out as the most prominent. He became the first Chinese player ever to be chosen by the Houston Rockets as the first overall choice in a draft in 2002. His NBA performance and presence raised awareness of basketball in Asian nations.
Basketball has changed over the years as well. Basketball historically valued large men, especially in the 1990s and 2000s. Ball movement and team play are more prevalent now as a result of groups like the San Antonio Spurs and the Golden State Warriors. The speed of the game has also accelerated. The use of three-pointers in the professional game has expanded recently because to stars like Stephen Curry.
Basketball Association of America (BAA)
In 1967, when the NBA gained popularity, the American Basketball Association (ABA) became established as a rival to the NBA. The ABA provided a different game style and mentality in addition to some rule modifications. As the best player in the league, Julius Erving played a key role in the development of the contemporary game’s emphasis on leaping and play above the rim. His talent on the court contributed to the legitimacy of the American Basketball Association.
The league placed a strong emphasis on energy and liveliness, whether it be in the three-point shot, play style, or ball color (red, white, and blue). Low national awareness and earnings forced the league to search for solutions to its issues. The solution was to merge with the more established and prosperous NBA. The New York Nets, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, and San Antonio Spurs were the ABA’s four most prosperous franchises when it became merged into the NBA in the summer of 1976. The NBA adopted the brash, loose manner of play as well as the three-point shot.
Basketball Among African Americans
Many-black basketball teams (Black Fives) became founded in 1904 as a result of racial segregation having an impact on all aspects of public life in the United States, including sports.
The Black Fives Era saw the emergence of numerous all-black teams in places including New York, Washington, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and others.
The first fully established autonomous all-black basketball teams known as the St. Christopher Club in New York City and the Smart Set Athletic Club in Brooklyn, both of which became founded in 1906. These were amateur teams.
The Jersey City Colored YMCA, Smart Set Athletic Club, St. Christopher Club, Marathon Athletic Club, and the Alpha Physical Culture Club came together to form the amateur, all-black Olympian Athletic League in 1907 in New York City. The Smart Set Athletic Club of Brooklyn traveled to Washington, DC to face the Crescent Athletic Club in 1907, marking the first inter-city basketball match between two black teams.
The first colored basketball world champion, known as Smart Set Athletic Club of Brooklyn, a team in the Olympian Athletic League, in 1908. The first varsity basketball team at Howard University became established in 1910.
The Commonwealth Five, the first all-black professional sports team, became established in 1922. In 1923, the New York Renaissance became established.
In the World Professional Basketball Tournament in 1939, the all-black New York Renaissance defeated the all-white Oshkosh All-Stars.
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The African American Harlem Globetrotters began traveling successfully in the late 1920s and won the WPBT in 1940.
In 1942, the Toledo Jim White Chevrolets and the Chicago Studebakers, two teams in the predominantly white National Basketball League, welcomed 10 black players, marking the start of the league’s racial integration. Only two years after its inception, the NBA integrated, with three black players each hitting a significant milestone in the process. Chuck Cooper became selected by an NBA team as the first black player in the draft held just before that season. Nat Clifton was the first black player to sign an NBA contract soon after the draft. Earl Lloyd finally made history by playing in the first black NBA game because his team began the season before Cooper’s or Clifton’s.
The Harlem Globetrotters began concentrating on worldwide touring and exhibition performances, including comedic routines, when the NBA integrated. The Globetrotters gained a reputation as basketball’s goodwill ambassadors as a result of these trips, which contributed to basketball’s international popularization.
Olympic Basketball
The Hawks were the only NBA team that the Olympic host city of Atlanta had as well. In Atlanta and Sydney, respectively, Yugoslavia and France came in second and third, with Lithuania taking home bronze each time.
After losing to Puerto Rico and Lithuania in the preliminary rounds, the Americans barely advanced to the semifinals in 2004, when Argentina overcame them to earn the gold medal. Argentina went on to defeat Italy in the final to become the fourth team to win the Olympic championship.
In a dramatic gold medal match, the Americans regrouped in 2008 and defeated the incumbent FIBA world champions, Spain. In the bronze medal match, the Argentines defeated the Lithuanians. During the 2012 gold medal match, the Americans and Spaniards once again faced off, with the Americans coming out on top, albeit by the narrowest of margins. After eliminating the Spaniards, who took home bronze, the U.S. triumphed once more in 2016, defeating the Serbians in the gold medal game, a rematch of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup Final.
The 1976 Summer Olympics hosted the first women’s competition. The Soviet Union won five games in a row to claim the first title. The six-team round-robin format, used for the following two competitions, with the Soviet Union defending its championship in 1980 despite an American boycott and the United States triumphing against South Korea in 1984 despite a Soviet boycott. The competition included eight teams in 1988, and the Americans defeated Yugoslavia in the gold medal match. The former Soviet republics’ Unified Team defeated China in the gold medal match in 1992. The U.S. won 48 straight games and swept every tournament since the tournament’s 12-team format became established in 1996.
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This article contains everything you need to know about The Origin of Basketball. You will also find information about College basketball in America, National Basketball Association (NBA), Original rules of Basketball from Naismith and much more.