James Naismith Basketball

Dr. James Naismith created the game of basketball in 1891 when he was the physical education teacher at Springfield College. Naismith yearned for a new sport that his students could play indoors because New England winters were bitterly cold. Therefore, he created basketball and it only took fourteen days. The original basketball teams started in 1801 where they had nine players instead of five. Also, the baskets were made from peach baskets. After each score a player had to climb up then retrieve the ball. Since this was complicated, iron hoops were introduced in 1893. Naismith probably would have never guessed his sport would become so popular, but now thousands of teams across the world play his