Basketball is considered one of the best sport created in the world. In United States, Basketball is the second best sport next to Football.
In Europe, Basketball is also the second best sport tied to Tennis, both next to Football. Basketball is played in most, if not all, of the countries in the world. Thus, basketball has already been a part of our daily lives.
So, who do we give our credits to? We give our credits to the inventor of basketball, James Naismith. Let us get to know him more and let us altogether know the story behind the invention of one of the world’s greatest invented sport.
The Inventor
So, who is James Naismith? James A. Naismith was born on the 6th day of November, 1861 in Ramsay Township, near Almonte, Ontario, Canada. Yes, that’s right! James Naismith is a Canadian . He studied at McGill University, in Montreal Quebec, and graduated on April 30, 1887 as one of the top ten of his class.
After graduation, James Naismith attended the Presbyterian College which is the largest theological school affiliated with his previous school, McGill University.
In the Presbyterian College, he earned a degree in B.A in Physical Education. In the year 1890, he went to Springfield, Massachusetts to teach Physical Education.
The Invention
What is James Naismith’s invention? On December 21, 1981, while teaching Physical Education at the YMCA International Training School, he was asked to make a game that would not occupy so much space and that can be played indoors because it was winter then.
Inspired by the Canadian game “Dock on the Rock”, which he played himself as a child, he place two peach baskets at the opposite sides of the court. There were two teams with nine players each and the ball used was not basketball, but soccer ball.
The ball would be moved up a court through a pass. There was no such thing as dribble yet. Everytime a team scores, there would be a jump ball in the middle of the court to decide who should have ball possession. One interesting rule was that: the first player to retrieve the ball received possession.
James Naismith’s invention was a hit in both the United States and Canada. On January 15, 1892, James Naismith published the rules of basketball. Most of the rules that James Naismith made are still used in the National Basketball Associaton up until now.
Career after the Invention
In 1893, Basketball was introduced internationally by the YMCA movement. Then he went to study at Denver and earned a medical degree. After James Naismith invention, the Basketball, in 1898 he went to the University of Kansas and became a professor and became the first basketball coach of of the University. His coaching career was a success, he evan has one of the greatest coaching legacies in the history of basketball.
James Naismith invention of basketball may be considered as one of the best games invented in the history of Sports. Can you imagine your life without basketball?
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