History of Basketball

Today I am going to inform you about the game of basketball.   The game of basketball has evolved a great deal through the years. Basketball was invented on December 21, 1891. The inventor of the game was a Canadian clergyman, James Naismith. There has been no question that basketball was first played in the United States. In fact, the first game was played at the International Young Men's Christian Association Training School, now called Springfield college. Basketball was a simple game, which consists of a ball and a basket. The very first ball that was used was a soccer ball until 1894 when an actual "basketball" was invented, The basketball was slightly smaller, about 30 inches in diameter. While the first baskets that were used were two peach baskets that were hung from the balcony of a gymnasium. In 1906, the peach baskets were replaced by metal baskets with holes at the bottom.   These holes were placed in the basket so a long pole could be used to poke the ball out of the basket. Finally in 1913 a hoop with a net was invented so the basketball could fall freely to the ground. This was a big step in the game because it allowed the ball falling free to the ground and increased the tempo of the game. Due to the fans interfering with the game the backboard was invented. The first backboard was made of wire mesh, then wood, and now glass so the fans can clearly view the game.

As the game of basketball was developing, Naismith introduced the 13 original rules for the game in which 12 out of the 13 original rules still were used up until 1934. The only rule which was changed, was that a player was now allowed to dribble a basketball. The rule of dribbling the basketball was first used in 1896 at a basketball game at Yale University. With the introduction of the 13 original rules, Naismith created four fundamental principles which stayed in the game from 1891 to 1937. These four fundamental principles stated, Players with the ball must not make progress un less... [continues]

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