Preview

History Of Basketball Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
488 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
History Of Basketball Essay
History of Basketball

The first game similar to basketball may have been played by the early people of ancient Mexico as early as 500’s. The Mayan people used the decapitated skulls of their enemies as the ball. They also made sacrifices if you did not win the game. James Naismith was a man born on In 1861, James Naismith invented basketball. The idea of basketball came from Naismith's early school education. He used to play a game known as duck-on-a-rock. The idea was to knock a "duck" off a large rock by throwing another rock at it. While he worked at YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts he created basketball. In Springfield, he had to find a sport that could be played inside during the Massachusetts cold winter
…show more content…

Eventually, because of how rough the game became the YMCA banned it within 10 years. Groups started forming locally in larger cities such as New York and Boston. The first known professional game was between Trenton YMCA and Brooklyn YMCA. The players were paid fifteen dollars each for the game. Numerous leagues formed after that and seasons were short. In 1902, the first African American to play in a game was Bucky Lew. In 1901, colleges began playing basketball as well. The games were very rough and players were often injured as rules were not enforced and few trained referees. Theodore Roosevelt eventually had to step in and suggest the colleges form a governing body to help control the sport. Professional leagues were not as popular as college, but some independent teams such as the Harlem Globetrotters continued to exist. The NBA (National BAsketball Association) was formed with the merger of the NBL (National BAsketball League) and BAA (Basketball Association of America) in 1949. The new league started with 17 teams. As of 2010 the NBA has thirty teams in its league. Basketball had its early days in the school playground from its inception with James Naismith. It eventually was played in the Olympics in Berlin in 1936 and is played on college campus, high schools and in the professional realm of the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Naismith came up with an idea. He got two peach baskets and nailed one to each end of the gym, ten feet above the floor. He made rules about how the ball could be moved across the floor. His thirteen rules are still used in today’s basketball games. The team loved the game and basketball was born.…

    • 174 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    James Naismith was the creator of basketball. He created it in 1891 to condition young athletes in the winter. The “hoop” was a peach basket and the ball was a soccer styled ball. There were many rules for the new game. He created it in a YMCA gym in Springfield, Massachusetts. His team of eighteen was divided into two teams of nine and then the peach baskets were nailed above their heads. Every time one would score a basket, the game was stopped for the janitor to get up on a ladder and retrieve the ball. Later on, the bottoms of the “hoops” were taken out and they became a (sort of) real basket.…

    • 300 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dr. Naismith with all of his imaginative planning, could not have dreamed his “peach basketball” game would develop into the world biggest indoor sport. Basketball was made because of many reasons. For instance, when it’s too hot to play they used to go in their barn and nail a peach basket to the barn door at about 10 feet high. Although the original 13 rules turned into over 60.…

    • 1091 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Nba Research Paper

    • 479 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The NBA - National Basketball Association - was created on August 3, 1949, when the BAA - Basketball Association of America - merged with its erstwhile rival - the National Basketball League. The BAA had been around for three years previously, while the NBL was founded way back in 1937.…

    • 479 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The sport of basketball was invented by Dr. James Naismith in 1891. As the sport developed, players came and went, but a few legends remained. Of those legends, Michael Jordan is one who will always be remembered.…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    He wanted a game that could be played indoors all year to keep people healthy and was inspired with soccer balls and was first played with them utile 1929 (“Basketball Facts.”) . Soon in 1891 the wonderful sport of basketball was invented! He also helped invent the helmet in football (“James A. Naismith.”). Basketball made it frist big day view in the 1936 Olympics games in Berlin for man and in 1976 made it way into the Woman's division in the Montreal games (“Basketball Facts.”). Naismith made it into Canadian Sports Hall Of Fame and has changed millions of lives, basketball is now played in schools, for fun, competitively and gives scholarships to many students going into university and colleges both in Canada and the…

    • 1251 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    James Naismith

    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In December 1891, Canadian-born James Naismith, a physical education teacher at the YMCA training school, took a soccer ball and a peach basket into the gym and invented basketball. In 1893, James Naismith replaced the peach basket with iron hoops and a hammock-style basket. Ten years later came the open –ended nets of today. Before that, you had to retrieve your ball from the basket every time you scored.…

    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The game of basketball has grown rapidly since Dr. James Naismith invented the game at Springfield College in December 1891. Basketball is now the most popular indoor sport in the world, and it has made billions of dollars for leagues like the NBA (National Basketball Association). It has been over a century since the first game of basketball was played and throughout all of the different eras basketball has been through no player has been more dominant than Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan was like a lion in the jungle, the basketball court was his domain, his empire, his kingdom.…

    • 1547 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On 1950s Sports

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The national pastime aka baseball started integration with Jackie Robinson on the Brooklyn Dodgers. Every team integrated at their own pace, but after it was all said and done some real talent shined through it all. “Integration thrust some of the game’s greatest stars into the big leagues limelight,...” (Phil Rogers). Another sport that we love today was in the mists of change as well. Basketball’s biggest change during this time was the 24 second shot clock, this change brought back a huge audience since the scores were now getting higher. In the shot clocks first year the points per game went from 79.5 to 93.1 (¨Sports History¨). Some of the biggest names in both of the sports came about in these times. For baseball you have Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Mickey Mantle, and many more. For basketball the top talent went two players in particular Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, with Bill being a team player and Wilt being all about the personal stats (¨Sports History¨). Even though sports went through many changes in the 1950s, sports still remained as a popular pastimes and they started fine tuning the rules to make them more enjoyable for…

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Basketball is a game played between two teams in which they compete to shoot a ball into a netted hoop. In the 1930’s the rules of the…

    • 1007 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Basketball was invented in December 1891 by the Canadian clergyman, educator, and physician James Naismith. Naismith introduced the game when we were an instructor at the Young Men's Christian Association Training 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 soccer ball. 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 to Canada and other parts of the world, played by both women and men; it also became a popular informal outdoor game. U.S. servicemen in World War II (1939-1945) popularized the sport in many other countries.…

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    On a high school level it differs from college and professional because, in high school you have a drive and inspiration to do it. High school athletes do it because they like the game and its fun. Some kids look at it as an opportunity to do something with their life. Basketball wasn’t made for how it is now. High school basketball should be fun…

    • 1392 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the beginning, people played basketball in peach baskets, racquets were wooden and hydration was…

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The History of Baseball

    • 710 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The first league was formed in 1858 and it was called the National Association of Baseball Player, the (NABBP). They played under the Knickerbockers Rules. These rules limited the outfielders to three, and you tagged the runner instead of throwing the ball at him.…

    • 710 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The History Of Basketball

    • 719 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The first men to ever play basketball were a bit skeptical of the game to begin with, and basketball was seen as just “[a]nother new game” (Fox 15). However, author Larry Fox says, “The game was an immediate success … Word of the game began to spread around the campus. Before long the secretaries found themselves playing in front of an audience of fellow students”…

    • 719 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays