In many instances tracing the roots of a sport can be tricky. A sport’s creation is often not made in isolation but rather is the result of evolution of hundreds of years and countless iterations. Basketball is, however an exception. As a relatively new sport, we have a very clean lineage of the sport’s evolution from its humble beginning in 1891 to a global phenomenon that has created some of the richest sport stars the world has ever known.
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The creation of basketball is created to James Naismith, a Canadian physical education professor who taught at the International Young Men's Christian Association Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts. In an attempt to keep his gym class active during rainy days, Naismith began to devise a vigorous indoor game. After many failed attempts, Naismith wrote a basic set of rules and nailed two peach baskets to either end of a hall and the game of basketball was born.
The original rules of basketball
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Initially, the peach baskets retained their bottoms. This meant that the ball had to be removed after each point was scored. In an attempt to speed up play and keep the players moving, Naismith refined the design by removing the bottoms of the baskets. The game now closely resembled that of the modern game of basketball.
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Over the next couple years, the game was refined. The act of dribbling to move the ball up court was not a part of the original game however, by 1896 is was commonplace with the rule against double dribbling enforced in 1898. In 1906, the peach baskets were finally replaced by metal hoops with backboards, which were included to prevent interference from spectators. In the 1950s, Tony Hinkle introduced the orange ball in an attempt to make it more visible than the then traditional brown basketball.
Over the next 60+ years the game and its rules would be refined. Over this time, the sport would transform from an amateur pastime to a global profession that commands a base of fans more than 500 million strong.
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