Invention of the game

The game of basketball as it is known today was created by Dr. James Naismith in December 1891 in Springfield,
Massachusetts to condition young athletes during cold months. It consisted of peach baskets and a soccer style ball. He
published 13 rules for the new game. He divided his class of eighteen into two teams of nine players each and set about
to teach them the basics of his new game. The objective of the game was to throw the basketball into the fruit baskets
nailed to the lower railing of the gym balcony. Every time a point was scored, the game was halted so the janitor could
bring out a ladder and retrieve the ball. After a while, the bottoms of the fruit baskets were removed. The first public
basketball game was played in Springfield, Massachusetts, on March 11, 1892.[1]

Original rules

There were only thirteen rules of "basket ball":

1. The ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands.

2. The ball may be batted in any direction with one or both hands.

3. A player cannot run with the ball, the player must throw it from the spot on which he catches it, allowance to be
made for a man who catches the ball when running at good speed.

4. The ball must be held in or between the hands, the arms or body must not be used for holding it.

5. No shouldering, holding, pushing, tripping or striking in any way the person of an opponent shall be allowed. The
first infringement of this rule by any person shall count as a foul, the second shall disqualify him until the next
goal is made, or if there was evident intent to injure the person, for the whole of the game, no substitute.

6. A foul is striking the ball with the fist, violation of rules 3 and 4, and such as described in rule 5.

7. If either side makes three consecutive fouls it shall count a goal for opponents.

8. A goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from grounds into the basket and stays there. If the ball
rests on the edge and the opponent moves the basket it shall count as a goal.

9. When the ball goes out of bounds it shall be thrown into the field and played by the person first touching it. In
case of a dispute, the umpire shall throw it straight into the field. The "thrower-in" is allowed five seconds. If he
holds it longer it shall go to the opponent. If any side persists in delaying the game, the umpire shall call a foul
on them.

10. The umpire shall be the judge of the men and shall note the fouls, and notify the referee when three
consecutive fouls have been made.

11. The referee shall be the judge of the ball and shall decide when the ball is in play, in-bounds, and to which side it
belongs, and shall keep the time. He shall decide when a goal has been made and keep account of the goals with
any other duties that are usually performed by a referee.

12. The time shall be fifteen-minute halves, with five-minute rests between.

13. The side making the most goals in that time shall be declared the winner. In the case of a draw, the game may,
by agreement of the captains, be continued until another goal is made.[2]

The first basketball game

The first basketball court: Springfield College

On December 21, 1891, James Naismith published rules for a new game using five basic ideas and thirteen rules.[3] That
day, he asked his class to play a match in the Armory Street court: 9 versus 9, using a soccer ball and two peach baskets.
Frank Mahan, one of his students, wasnt so happy. He just said: "Harrumph. Another new game".[4] However, Naismith
was the inventor of the new game. Someone proposed to call it "Naismith Game", but he suggested "We have a ball and
a basket: why dont we call it basketball?"[5] The eighteen players were John G. Thompson, Eugene S. Libby, Edwin P.
Ruggles, William R. Chase, T. Duncan Patton, Frank Mahan, Finlay G. MacDonald, William H. Davis and Lyman Archibald,
who defeated George Weller, Wilbert Carey, Ernest Hildner, Raymond Kaighn, Genzabaro Ishikawa, Benjamin S. French,
Franklin Barnes, George Day and Henry Gelan 10.[6] The goal was scored by Chase.[7] There were other differences
between Naismiths first idea and the game played today. The peach baskets were closed, and balls had to be retrieved
manually, until a small hole was put in the bottom of the peach basket to poke the ball out using a stick. Only in 1906
were metal hoops, nets and backboards introduced. Moreover, earlier the soccer ball was replaced by a Spalding ball,
similar to the one used today.[8][9]

Professional leagues, teams, and organizations

The first professional league was founded in 1898. Six teams took part in the National Basketball League, and the
first champions were the Trenton Nationals, followed by the New York Wanderers, the Bristol Pile Drivers and the
Camden Electrics. The league was abandoned in 1904.[13] Then, many small championships were organized, but
most of them were not as important as some teams who played for money against challengers.
The Original Celtics, for instance, are considered the "fathers of basketball"[14] and were presented as "Worlds
Basketball Champions";[14] the players had to sign a contract to play with them, and Jim Furey organized matches as
a circus, moving daily from town to town. The Celtics became the strongest team, and their successes lasted from
1922 until 1928, when the team disbanded due to ownership problems. The Original Celtics are sometimes
incorrectly thought of as forebears of the current Boston Celtics of the NBA; in reality, they share only a name, as
today's Celtics were not founded until 1946, nearly two decades after the demise of the Original Celtics. In 1922, the
first all-African American professional team was founded: the Rens (also known as New York Renaissance or
Harlem Renaissance).[15] The Rens were the Original Celtics usual opponent, and for their matches a ticket cost
$1.[16] They took part in some official championships and won the first World Professional Basketball Tournament in
1939. The team disbanded in 1949.
In the 1920s and 1930s, Eastern Basket Ball League (founded in 1909),[17] Metropolitan Basketball League (founded
in 1921)[18] and American Basketball League (founded in 1925)[19] were the most important leagues.
Dr. James Naismith is known world-wide as the inventor of basketball. He was born in 1861 in Ramsay township, near
Almonte, Ontario, Canada. The concept of basketball was born out of his early school days when he played a simple
game known as duck-on-a-rock outside his schoolhouse. The game involved attempting to knock a "duck" off the top of
a large rock by tossing another rock at it. This is the beginning of a brief history of basketball as we know it.

Naismith served as at the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA in 1891, and this is where the sport
of basketball was born. Naismith was faced with the challenge of finding a sport that was suitable for play inside during
the winter for the students. Naismith wanted to create a game of skill that could be played indoors in a relatively small
space. The very first game of basketball was played with a soccer ball and two peach baskets used as goals. The history
of basketball started right here.

James Naismith devised a set rules for these early games as follows:

"? The ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands.

"? A player cannot run with the ball, but instead the player must throw it from the spot on which he catches it.

"? The ball must be held in or between the hands, not any other body parts.

"? No shouldering, holding, pushing, striking or tripping in any way of an opponent is permitted. The first infringement of
this rule by any person shall count as a foul; the second shall disqualify him until the next goal is scored.

"? If either side make three consecutive fouls it shall count as a goal for the opponents (consecutive in these rules means
without the opponents in the meantime making a foul of their own).

"? A goal is scored when the ball is thrown from the ground into the basket and stays there. If the ball rests on the edge
of the basket and the opponents move the basket, it shall also count as a goal.

"? When the ball goes out of bounds, it shall be thrown into the field and played by the first person touching it.

"? The umpire shall be judge and have the power to disqualify or foul players as required.

"? The referee shall be the judge of the ball and decide when it is in play in bounds, to which side it belongs, and shall
keep the time.

"? The time shall be two 15-minute halves with five minutes' rest between.

"? The side scoring the most goals in that time shall be declared the winners.

Today basketball has grown to become one of the world's most popular sports, all thanks to Dr Naismith.

Basketball is one of the few sports whose exact origin is definitely known. In the winter of 18911892, Dr. James
Naismith, an instructor in the YMCA Training College (now Springfield College) at Springfield, Mass., deliberately
invented the game of basketball in order to provide indoor exercise and competition for the students between the
closing of the football season and the opening of the baseball season. He affixed peach baskets overhead on the walls at
opposite ends of the gymnasium and organized teams to play his new game in which the purpose was to toss an
association (soccer) ball into one basket and prevent the opponents from tossing the ball into the other basket. Because
Dr. Naismith had eighteen available players when he invented the game, the first rule was: There shall be nine players
on each side. Later the number of players became optional, depending upon the size of the available court, but the
five-player standard was adopted when the game spread over the country. U.S. soldiers brought basketball to Europe in
World War I, and it soon became a worldwide sport.