Interesting Story Behind Basketball Invention

I bet you always wanted to know this.

It is pretty common that people want to know the humble beginnings of something that they love to occupy their time with.

Poetry, fiction, movies, T.V., favorite brand, sports… anything.

So, it is perfectly fine if you want to know how basketball was invented.

In this post, I am going to share the history of basketball, who invented it, how it all started and where was it played for the first time.

Do you find this interesting? Well, then keep on reading.

Who Invented Basketball?

Yes:

Who was the genius who thought that dribbling alone was not enough fun and coupled it with a hoop to dunk?

I mean basketball is not a game like soccer or baseball – it is not similar to any other game. It is has a league of its own.

Well, the person who invented basketball was a college teacher… who’d have thought, right?

His name was James Naismith and he was a Canadian teacher – actually a physical education instructor.

He worked at YMCA Springfield, Massachusetts campus.

How Was Basketball Invented

So:

This is pretty interesting.

You know how they say that basketball is the best game to burn off calories. As a matter of fact, it is the sport suggested to those who want to lose weight.

So:

This physical education teacher noticed that his young students were so full of energy and yet they cannot play outdoor because it was winter.

They were young and they wanted to vent it out, but indoor games were not enough for that.

So, the school asked Naismith to invent an indoor game that demanded the same level of physical exertion that other outdoor games did.

Naismith used to play a rock-tossing sport when he was a kid. The game was called “duck on the rock”. Now he wanted to do something similar with a ball.

The aim of the game was to dribble a ball to the basket and then dunk the hoop.

Eureka!

He and his students/colleagues contributed to the first 13 rules of the new game that he called “basketball”.

Why?

Because all it needed (apart from the players) was a ball and a basket.

In those times they did not have poles for the baskets. So Naismith just nailed baskets 10 feet above the ground (in the gym) and the first teams that played this sport consisted of 9 players each.

So:

The gym of YMCA Springfield, Massachusetts was the place where basketball took birth and the date was 21^st of December, 1891.

And then it spread like a jungle fire.

Naismith’s students and other people who saw them playing or learned from him become the first players and coaches of this game.

While he was alive and enjoying basketball, the game grew beyond the primordial ooze and witnessed some important changes.

For example, instead of an actual basket, they were not using a net and basketball got a ball that was made for dribbling and shooting.

So, how did you like the story of basketball? Do let me know in the comment box below.