History
The first basketball court: Springfield College.In early December 1891, Dr.
James Naismith,[1] a Canadian physical education student and instructor at
YMCA Training School[2] (today, Springfield College) in Springfield,
Massachusetts, USA, sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students
occupied and at proper levels of fitness during the long New England winters
to keep the students in shape. After rejecting other ideas as either too
rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and
nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot (3.05 m) elevated track. In contrast
with modern basketball nets, this peach basket retained its bottom, and
balls had to be retrieved manually after each "basket" or point scored, this
proved inefficient, however, so a hole was drilled into the bottom of the
basket, allowing the balls to be poked out with a long dowel each time.The
peach baskets were used until 1906 when they were finally replaced by metal
hoops with backboards. A further change was soon made, so the ball merely
passed through, paving the way for the game we know today. A soccer ball was
used to shoot goals. Whenever a person got the ball in the basket, they
would give their team a point. Whichever team got the most points won the
game.[3]
Naismith's handwritten diaries, discovered by his granddaughter in early
2006, indicate that he was nervous about the new game he had invented, which
incorporated rules from a children's game called "Duck on a Rock", as many
had failed before it. Naismith called the new game 'Basket Ball'.[4]
The first official game was played in the YMCA gymnasium on January 20, 1892
with nine players and the game ended at 1-0 and the shot was made from 25
feet, on a court just half the size of a present-day Streetball or National
Basketball Association (NBA) court. "Basket ball", the name suggested by one
of Naismith's students, was popular from the beginning. By 1897-1898 teams
of five became standard.
Women's basketball began in 1892 at Smith College when Senda Berenson, a
physical education teacher, modified Naismith's rules for women. Shortly
after she was hired at Smith, she went to Naismith to learn more about the
game. Fascinated by the new sport and the values it could teach, she
organized the first women’s collegiate basketball game on March 21, 1893,
when her Smith freshmen and sophomores played against one another. Her rules
were first published in 1899 and two years later Berenson became the editor
of A.G. Spalding’s first Women's Basketball Guide, which further spread her
version of basketball for women.
Basketball's early adherents were dispatched to YMCAs throughout the United
States, and it quickly spread through the USA and Canada. By 1895, it was
well established at several women's high schools. While the YMCA was
responsible for initially developing and spreading the game, within a decade
it discouraged the new sport, as rough play and rowdy crowds began to
detract from the YMCA's primary mission. However, other amateur sports
clubs, colleges, and professional clubs quickly filled the void. In the
years before World War I, the Amateur Athletic Union and the Intercollegiate
Athletic Association of the United States (forerunner of the NCAA) vied for
control over the rules for the game. The first pro league, the National
Basketball League, was formed in 1898 to protect players from exploitation
and to promote a less rough game. This league only lasted 5 years.
By the 1950s, basketball had become a major college sport, thus having the
way for a growth of interest in professional basketball. In 1959, a
basketball Hall of Fame was founded in Springfield, Massachusetts. Its
rosters include the names of great players, coaches, referees and people who
have contributed significantly to the development of the game.
Basketball was originally played with an association football ball. The
first balls made specifically for basketball were brown, and it was only in
the late 1950s that Tony Hinkle, searching for a ball that would be more
visible to players and spectators alike, introduced the orange ball that is
now in common use. Dribbling was not part of the original game except for
the "bounce pass" to teammates. Passing the ball was the primary means of
ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the
asymmetric shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a major part of the
game around the 1950s as manufacturing improved the ball shape.
Basketball, netball, dodgeball, volleyball, and lacrosse are the only ball
games which have been identified as being invented by North Americans. Other
ball games, such as baseball and Canadian football, have Commonwealth of
Nations, European, Asian or African connections. Although there is no direct
evidence as yet that the idea of basketball came from the ancient
Mesoamerican ballgame, knowledge of that game had been available for at
least 50 years prior to Naismith's creation in the writings of John Lloyd
Stephens and Alexander von Humboldt. Stephen's works especially, which
included drawings by Frederick Catherwood, were available at most
educational institutions in the 19th century and also had wide popular
circulation.
College
basketball and early leagues
Naismith was
instrumental in establishing college basketball. He coached at the
University of Kansas for six years before handing the reins to renowned
coach Forrest "Phog" Allen. Naismith's disciple Amos Alonzo Stagg brought
basketball to the University of Chicago, while Adolph Rupp, a student of
Naismith's at Kansas, enjoyed great success as coach at the University of
Kentucky. In 1892, University of California and Miss Head's School, played
the first women's inter-institutional game. Berenson's freshmen played the
sophomore class in the first women's collegiate basketball game at Smith
College, March 21, 1893. The same year, Mount Holyoke and Sophie Newcomb
College (coached by Clara Gregory Baer) women began playing basketball. By
1895, the game had spread to colleges across the country, including
Wellesley, Vassar and Bryn Mawr. The first intercollegiate women's game was
on April 4, 1896. Stanford women played Berkeley, 9-on-9, ending in a 2-1
Stanford victory. In 1901, colleges, including the University of Chicago,
Columbia University, Dartmouth College, University of Minnesota, the U.S.
Naval Academy, the University of Utah and Yale University began sponsoring
men's games. By 1910, frequent injuries on the men's courts prompted
President Roosevelt to suggest that college basketball form a governing
body, resulting in the creation of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association
of the United States (IAAUS). In 1910, that body would change its name to
the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The first Canadian interuniversity basketball game was played in Kingston,
Ontario in December, 1902, when McGill University visited Queen's
University; McGill won 10-6.
Teams abounded throughout the 1920s. There were hundreds of men's
professional basketball teams in towns and cities all over the United States
and little organization of the professional game. Players jumped from team
to team and teams played in armories and smoky dance halls. Leagues came and
went. And barnstorming squads such as the Original Celtics and two all
African American teams, the New York Renaissance Five ("Rens") and (still in
existence as of 2006) the Harlem Globetrotters played up to two hundred
games a year on their national tours. Women's basketball was more
structured. In 1905, the National Women's Basketball Committee's Executive
Committee on Basket Ball Rules was created by the American Physical
Education Association. These rules called for six to nine players per team
and 11 officials. The International Women's Sports Federation (1924)
included a women's basketball competition. 37 women's high school varsity
basketball or state tournaments were held by 1925. And in 1926, the Amateur
Athletic Union backed the first national women's basketball championship,
complete with men's rules. The first women's AAU All-America team was chosen
in 1929. Women's industrial leagues sprang up throughout the nation,
producing famous athletes like Babe Didrikson of the Golden Cyclones and the
All American Red Heads Team who competed against men's teams, using men's
rules. By 1938, the women's national championship changed from a three-court
game to two-court game with six players per team. The first men's national
championship tournament, the National Association of Intercollegiate
Basketball tournament, which still exists as the National Association of
Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) tournament, was organized in 1937. The
first national championship for NCAA teams, the National Invitation
Tournament (NIT) in New York, was organized in 1938; the NCAA national
tournament would begin one year later.
College basketball was rocked by gambling scandals from 1948 to 1951, when
dozens of players from top teams were implicated in match fixing and point
shaving. Partially spurred by an association with cheating, the NIT lost
support to the NCAA tournament.
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U.S. high school
basketball
Before widespread school district consolidation, most United States high
schools were far smaller than their present day counterparts. During the
first decades of the 20th century, basketball quickly became the ideal
interscholastic sport due to its modest equipment and personnel
requirements. In the days before widespread television coverage of
professional and college sports, the popularity of high school basketball
was unrivaled in many parts of America.
Today virtually every high school in the United States fields a basketball
team in varsity competition. Basketball's popularity remains high, both in
rural areas where they carry the identification of the entire community, as
well as at some larger schools known for their basketball teams where many
players go on to participate at higher levels of competition after
graduation. In the 2003–04 season, 1,002,797 boys and girls represented
their schools in interscholastic basketball competition, according to the
National Federation of State High School Associations. The states of
Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky are particularly well known for their
residents' devotion to high school basketball, commonly called Hoosier
Hysteria in Indiana; the critically acclaimed film Hoosiers shows high
school basketball's depth of meaning to these rural communities.
National
Basketball Association
Main article: National Basketball Association
In 1946, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) was formed, organizing
the top professional teams and leading to greater popularity of the
professional game. The first game was played in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
between the Toronto Huskies and New York Knickerbockers on November 1, 1946.
Three seasons later, in 1949, the BAA became the National Basketball
Association (NBA). An upstart organization, the American Basketball
Association, emerged in 1967 and briefly threatened the NBA's dominance
until the rival leagues merged in 1976. Today the NBA is the top
professional basketball league in the world in terms of popularity,
salaries, talent, and level of competition.
The NBA has featured many famous players, including George Mikan, the first
dominating "big man"; ball-handling wizard Bob Cousy and defensive genius
Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics; Wilt Chamberlain, who originally played
for the barnstorming Harlem Globetrotters; all-around stars Oscar Robertson
and Jerry West; more recent big men Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone;
playmaker John Stockton; crowd-pleasing forward Julius Erving; European
stars Dirk Nowitzki and Drazen Petrovic and the three players who many
credit with ushering the professional game to its highest level of
popularity: Larry Bird, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, and Michael Jordan.
The NBA-backed Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) began in 1997.
Though it had an insecure opening season, several marquee players (Sheryl
Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Sue Bird among others) helped the league's
popularity and level of competition. Other professional women's basketball
leagues in the United States, such as the American Basketball League
(1996-1998), have folded in part because of the popularity of the WNBA.
In 2001, the NBA formed a developmental league, the NBDL. The league
currently has eight teams, but added seven more for the 2006-2007 season.
International
basketball
XX. Olympic games Munich 1972 Krešimir Ćosić of Yugoslavia (blue shirt) vs.
Petr Novicky of CzechoslovakiaThe International Basketball Federation was
formed in 1932 by eight founding nations: Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece,
Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania and Switzerland. At this time, the
organization only oversaw amateur players. Its acronym, in French, was thus
FIBA; the "A" standing for amateur.
Basketball was first included in the Olympic Games in 1936, although a
demonstration tournament was held in 1904. The United States defeated Canada
in the first final, played outdoors. This competition has usually been
dominated by the United States, whose team has won all but three titles, the
first loss in a controversial final game in Munich in 1972 against the
Soviet Union. In 1950 the first FIBA World Championship for men was held in
Argentina. Three years later, the first FIBA World Championship for Women
was held in Chile. Women's basketball was added to the Olympics in 1976,
with teams such as the Soviet Union, Brazil and Australia rivaling the
American squads.
FIBA dropped the distinction between amateur and professional players in
1989, and in 1992, professional players played for the first time in the
Olympic Games. The United States' dominance continued with the introduction
of their Dream Team. However, with developing programs elsewhere, other
national teams started to beat the United States. A team made entirely of
NBA players finished sixth in the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis,
behind Yugoslavia, Argentina, Germany, New Zealand and Spain. In the 2004
Athens Olympics, the United States suffered its first Olympic loss while
using professional players, falling to Puerto Rico (in a 19-point loss) and
Lithuania in group games, and being eliminated in the semifinals by
Argentina. It eventually won the bronze medal defeating Lithuania, finishing
behind Argentina and Italy.
Worldwide, basketball tournaments are held for boys and girls of all age
levels. The global popularity of the sport is reflected in the nationalities
represented in the NBA. Players from all over the globe can be found in NBA
teams. Chicago Bulls star forward Luol Deng is a Sudanese refugee who
settled in Great Britain; Steve Nash, who won the 2005 and 2006 NBA MVP
award, is Canadian; Kobe Bryant is an American who spent much of his
childhood in Italy; Dallas Mavericks superstar and 2007 NBA MVP Dirk
Nowitzki is German; All-Star Pau Gasol of the Los Angeles Lakers is from
Spain; 2005 NBA Draft top overall pick Andrew Bogut of the Milwaukee Bucks
is Australian; 2006 NBA Draft top overall pick Andrea Bargnani of the
Toronto Raptors is from Italy; Houston Rockets center Yao Ming is from
China; All star and former three point champion Peja Stojakovic is Serbian;
All star Andrei Kirilenko is Russian; Phoenix Suns guard Leandro Barbosa and
Denver Nuggets forward Nenê are Brazilian; Cleveland Cavaliers big man
Zydrunas Ilgauskas is Lithuanian; and the San Antonio Spurs feature Tim
Duncan of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Manu Ginobili of Argentina (like Chicago
Bulls player Andrés Nocioni) and Tony Parker of France. (Duncan competes for
the United States internationally, as the Virgin Islands did not field a
basketball team for international competition until well after Duncan
started playing internationally, and all U.S. Virgin Islands natives are
United States citizens by birth.) Even in the 90's, many non-american
players made their names in the NBA, such as Yugoslavs Drazen Petrovic, Toni
Kukoc and Vlade Divac, as well as Lithuanian Arvydas Sabonis.
The all-tournament teams at the two most recent FIBA World Championships,
held in 2002 in Indianapolis and 2006 in Japan, demonstrate the
globalization of the game equally dramatically. Only one member of either
team was American, namely Carmelo Anthony in 2006. The 2002 team featured
Nowitzki, Ginobili, Yao, Peja Stojakovic of Yugoslavia (now of Serbia), and
Pero Cameron of New Zealand. Ginobili also made the 2006 team; the other
members were Anthony, Gasol, his Spanish teammate Jorge Garbajosa and
Theodoros Papaloukas of Greece. The only players on either team to never
have joined the NBA are Cameron and Papaloukas. The strength of
international Basketball is evident in the fact that the last three FIBA
world championships were won (in order) by Serbia (Yugoslavia in 1998) and
Spain.
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