Timeline and History of Basketball

History of Basketball

What is Basketball?

Basketball is a team sport played by two teams of five players on a rectangular court. The objective is to shoot a ball through
a hoop 18 inches (46 cm) in diameter and mounted at a height of 10 feet (3.048 m) to backboards at each end of the court.

The game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, who would be the first basketball coach of the Kansas Jayhawks, one
of the most successful programs in the game's history. James Naismith (November 6, 1861 – November 28, 1939) was a
Canadian-American physical educator, physician, chaplain, sports coach and innovator.

Original Rules
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 (never with the fist.)
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 a good speed if he tries to stop.
4. The ball must be held in or between the hands; the arms or body must not be used for holding
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 player 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 allowed.
6. A foul is striking at the ball with the fist, violation of Rules 3, 4, and such as described in Rule 5.
7. If either side makes three consecutive fouls, it shall count a goal for the opponents (consecutive means without the
opponents in the mean time making a foul.
8. A goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from the grounds into the basket and stays there, providing those
defending the goal do not touch or disturb the goal. If the ball rests on the edges, 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 of play 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 that side.
10. The umpire shall be judge of the men and shall note the fouls and notify the referee when three consecutive fouls have
been made. He shall have power to disqualify men according to Rule 5.
11. The referee shall be judge of the ball and shall decide when the ball is in play, in bounds, 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 two 15-minute halves, with five minutes’ rest between. Comment: Game formats including length and
the number of periods played along with halftime periods vary according to level.
13. The side making the most goals in that time shall be declared the winner. In case of a draw, the game may, by
agreement of the captains, be continued until another goal is made.

 The First Ball The very first ball that was used was a soccer ball until 1840 when an actual “basketball” was invented. The
basketball was slightly smaller, about thirty inches in diameter

 The Basket The first baskets that were used were two peach baskets that were hung from the balcony of the gym By 1906,
the peach baskets were replaced by metal baskets with holes in the bottom. In 1913, a hoop with a net was invented so the
basketball could fall freely to the ground.

 Backboard In 1893, due to the overzealous spectators interfering with the basketball, the backboard was invented. The first
backboard was constructed out of wire mesh, and then wood and now it is made out of glass so the backboard does not
interfere with the viewing of the game

 The First Basketball Game On December 21, 1891, James Naismith published rules for a new game using five basic ideas
and thirteen rules. 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, wasn’t so happy. He just said: "Harrumph. Another new game".
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 don’t we call it basketball?“ 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 1– 0. The goal was scored by Chase. There were other
differences between Naismith’s 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.

 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. 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" and were presented as "World’s Basketball Champions"; 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). The Rens were the Original Celtics’ usual opponent, and for
their matches a ticket cost $1. 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), Metropolitan Basketball League (founded in 1921) and American Basketball League (founded in 1925) were the
most important leagues.

 First International Games After its arrival in Europe, basketball developed very quickly. In 1909 the first international match
was held in Saint Petersburg: Mayak Saint Petersburg beat a YMCA American team. The first great European event was held
in 1919 in Joinville-le-Pont, near Paris, during the Inter-Allied Games. United States, led by future Hall of Fame player Max
Friedman, won against Italy and France, and then Italy beat France. Basketball soon became popular among French and
Italians. The Italian team had a white shirt with the House of Savoy shield and the players were: Arrigo and Marco
Muggiani, Baccarini, Giuseppe Sessa, Palestra, Pecollo and Bagnoli.

 NBA The Basketball league was founded in New York City on June 6, 1946 as the Basketball Association of America (BAA).
The league adopted the name National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1949 after merging with the rival National
Basketball League (NBL). As of the early 21st century, the NBA is the most significant professional basketball league in the
world in terms of popularity, salaries, talent, and level of competition American Basketball Association The American
Basketball Association (ABA) was founded as an alternative to the NBA in 1967 at a time when the NBA was experiencing a
lot of popularity. The ABA offered an alternative ethos and game style as well as some changes in the rules. Julius Erving
was the leading player in the league, and helped launch a modern style of play that emphasizes leaping and play above the
rim. His playing strength helped legitimize the American Basketball Association. The league emphasized excitement and
liveliness, be it in the color of the ball (red, white and blue), the manner of play, wild promotions, or the three-point shot.
National recognition and earnings were low, leading the league to look for a way out of its problems. Merger with the more
established and very successful NBA was seen as a solution. The ABA was folded into the NBA in the summer of 1976, its
four most successful franchises (the New York Nets, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, and San Antonio Spurs) being
incorporated into the older league. The aggressive, loose style of play and the three-point shot were taken up by the NBA.

 Formation of FIBA World basketball was growing, but it was on June 18, 1932 that a real international organization was
formed, to coordinate tournaments and teams: that day, Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal,
Romania and Switzerland founded the International Basketball Federation (Fédération internationale de basketball
amateur, FIBA) in Geneva.[25] Its work was fundamental for the first inclusion of basketball in the Berlin Olympic Games in
1936. The first Olympic title was won by the U.S. national team: Sam Balter, Ralph Bishop, Joe Fortenberry, Tex Gibbons,
Francis Johnson, Carl Knowles, Frank Lubin, Art Mollner, Donald Piper, Jack Ragland, Willard Schmidt, Carl Shy, Duane
Swanson, Bill Wheatley and the trainer James Needles. Canada was runner-up;

TIMELINE (SUMMARIZATION)

1891
Invented in 1891 by Canadian-American gym teacher James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, basketball
has evolved to become one of the world's most popular and widely viewed sports. The National Basketball Association (NBA) is
the most significant professional basketball league in the world in terms of popularity, salaries, talent, and level of competition.
Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the EuroLeague and
the Basketball Champions League Americas. The FIBA Basketball World Cup and Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament are the
major international events of the sport and attract top national teams from around the world. Each continent hosts regional
competitions for national teams, like EuroBasket and FIBA AmeriCup.

December 1891
In December 1891, James Naismith, a Canadian professor of physical education and instructor at the International Young Men's
Christian Association Training School (now Springfield College) in Springfield, Massachusetts, was trying to keep his gym class
active on a rainy day. He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied and at proper levels of fitness during the
long New England winters. After rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he invented
a new game in which players would pass a ball to teammates and try to score points by tossing the ball into a basket mounted
on a wall. Naismith wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto an elevated track. Naismith initially set up the peach
basket with its bottom intact, which meant that the ball had to be retrieved manually after each "basket" or point scored. This
quickly proved tedious, so Naismith removed the bottom of the basket to allow the balls to be poked out with a long dowel after
each scored basket.

1892
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. However, the first women's interinstitutional game was
played in 1892 between the University of California and Miss Head's School. Berenson's rules were first published in 1899, and
two years later she became the editor of A. G. Spalding's first Women's Basketball Guide. Berenson's freshmen played the
sophomore class in the first women's intercollegiate 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.

January 20, 1892

Frank Mahan, one of the players from the original first game, approached Naismith after the Christmas break, in early 1892,
asking him what he intended to call his new game. Naismith replied that he hadn't thought of it because he had been focused on
just getting the game started. Mahan suggested that it be called "Naismith ball", at which he laughed, saying that a name like
that would kill any game. Mahan then said, "Why not call it basketball?" Naismith replied, "We have a basket and a ball, and it
seems to me that would be a good name for it." The first official game was played in the YMCA gymnasium in Albany, New York,
on January 20, 1892, with nine players. The game ended at 1–0; the shot was made from 25 feet (7.6  m), on a court just half the
size of a present-day Streetball or National Basketball Association (NBA) court.

February 09, 1895

James Naismith was instrumental in establishing college basketball. His colleague C. O. Beamis fielded the first college basketball
team just a year after the Springfield YMCA game at the suburban Pittsburgh Geneva College. Naismith himself later 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. On February 9, 1895, the first intercollegiate 5-on-5 game was
played at Hamline University between Hamline and the School of Agriculture, which was affiliated with the University of
Minnesota. The School of Agriculture won in a 9–3 game.

1898
Basketball's early adherents were dispatched to YMCAs throughout the United States, and it quickly spread through the United
States and Canada. By 1895, it was well established at several women's high schools. While 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 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 five
years.

1901
In 1901, colleges, including the University of Chicago, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, the University
of Minnesota, the U.S. Naval Academy, the University of Colorado and Yale University began sponsoring men's games. In 1905,
frequent injuries on the football field prompted President Theodore Roosevelt to suggest that colleges form a governing body,
resulting in the creation of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS). In 1910, that body changed its
name to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The first Canadian interuniversity basketball game was played at
YMCA in Kingston, Ontario on February 6, 1904, when McGill University – Naismith's alma mater – visited Queen's University.
McGill won 9–7 in overtime; the score was 7–7 at the end of regulation play, and a ten-minute overtime period settled the
outcome. A good turnout of spectators watched the game.

1904
FIBA (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,
derived from the French Fédération Internationale de Basket-ball Amateur, was thus "FIBA". Men's basketball was first included
at the Berlin 1936 Summer Olympics, 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 of these came in a controversial final game in Munich in 1972 against the Soviet Union, in which
the ending of the game was replayed three times until the Soviet Union finally came out on top. In 1950 the first FIBA World
Championship for men, now known as the FIBA Basketball World Cup, was held in Argentina. Three years later, the first FIBA
World Championship for women, now known as the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, was held in Chile. Women's basketball
was added to the Olympics in 1976, which were held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with teams such as the Soviet Union, Brazil
and Australia rivaling the American squads.

1905
Women's basketball development was more structured than that for men in the early years. In 1905, the executive committee
on Basket Ball Rules (National Women's Basketball Committee) 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
Edmonton Grads, a touring Canadian women's team based in Edmonton, Alberta, operated between 1915 and 1940. The Grads
toured all over North America, and were exceptionally successful. They posted a record of 522 wins and only 20 losses over that
span, as they met any team that wanted to challenge them, funding their tours from gate receipts. The Grads also shone on
several exhibition trips to Europe, and won four consecutive exhibition Olympics tournaments, in 1924, 1928, 1932, and 1936;
however, women's basketball was not an official Olympic sport until 1976. The Grads' players were unpaid, and had to remain
single. The Grads' style focused on team play, without overly emphasizing skills of individual players. The first women's AAU All-
America team was chosen in 1929. Women's industrial leagues sprang up throughout the United States, producing famous
athletes, including Babe Didrikson of the Golden Cyclones, and the All American Red Heads Team, which 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.

1929
There is currently no tournament to determine a national high school champion. The most serious effort was the National
Interscholastic Basketball Tournament at the University of Chicago from 1917 to 1930. The event was organized by Amos Alonzo
Stagg and sent invitations to state champion teams. The tournament started out as a mostly Midwest affair but grew. In 1929 it
had 29 state champions. Faced with opposition from the National Federation of State High School Associations and North
Central Association of Colleges and Schools that bore a threat of the schools losing their accreditation the last tournament was
in 1930. The organizations said they were concerned that the tournament was being used to recruit professional players from
the prep ranks. The tournament did not invite minority schools or private/parochial schools.

1937
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 began 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.

1946
In 1946, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) was formed. 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 merged
with the National Basketball League (NBL) to form the National Basketball Association (NBA). By the 1950s, basketball had
become a major college sport, thus paving the way for a growth of interest in professional basketball. In 1959, a basketball hall
of fame was founded in Springfield, Massachusetts, site of the first game. Its rosters include the names of great players, coaches,
referees and people who have contributed significantly to the development of the game. The hall of fame has people who have
accomplished many goals in their career in basketball. An upstart organization, the American Basketball Association, emerged in
1967 and briefly threatened the NBA's dominance until the ABA-NBA merger in 1976. Today the NBA is the top professional
basketball league in the world in terms of popularity, salaries, talent, and level of competition
.
April 09, 1975
In the Philippines, the Philippine Basketball Association's first game was played on April 9, 1975, at the Araneta Coliseum in
Cubao, Quezon City, Philippines. It was founded as a "rebellion" of several teams from the now-defunct Manila Industrial and
Commercial Athletic Association, which was tightly controlled by the Basketball Association of the Philippines (now defunct), the
then-FIBA recognized national association. Nine teams from the MICAA participated in the league's first season that opened on
April 9, 1975. The NBL is Australia's pre-eminent men's professional basketball league. The league commenced in 1979, playing a
winter season (April–September) and did so until the completion of the 20th season in 1998. The 1998–99 season, which
commenced only months later, was the first season after the shift to the current summer season format (October–April). This
shift was an attempt to avoid competing directly against Australia's various football codes. It features 8 teams from around
Australia and one in New Zealand. A few players including Luc Longley, Andrew Gaze, Shane Heal, Chris Anstey and Andrew
Bogut made it big internationally, becoming poster figures for the sport in Australia. The Women's National Basketball League
began in 1981.
1989
In 1989, FIBA allowed professional NBA players to participate in the Olympics for the first time. Prior to the 1992 Summer
Olympics, only European and South American teams were allowed to field professionals in the Olympics. The United States'
dominance continued with the introduction of the original Dream Team. 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. The Redeem Team, won gold at the 2008 Olympics, and the B-Team, won gold at the 2010 FIBA
World Championship in Turkey despite featuring no players from the 2008 squad. The United States continued its dominance as
they won gold at the 2012 Olympics, 2014 FIBA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.

1997
The NBA-backed Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) began in 1997. Though it had shaky attendance figures,
several marquee players (Lisa Leslie, Diana Taurasi, and Candace Parker among others) have 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 (1996–98), have folded in part because of the popularity of the WNBA. The WNBA has been looked at by many as a niche
league. However, the league has recently taken steps forward. In June 2007, the WNBA signed a contract extension with ESPN.
The new television deal ran from 2009 to 2016. Along with this deal, came the first-ever rights fees to be paid to a women's
professional sports league. Over the eight years of the contract, "millions and millions of dollars" were "dispersed to the league's
teams." In a March 12, 2009 article, NBA commissioner David Stern said that in the bad economy, "the NBA is far less profitable
than the WNBA. We're losing a lot of money among a large number of teams. We're budgeting the WNBA to break even this
year."

2001
In 2001, the NBA formed a developmental league, the National Basketball Development League (later known as the NBA D-
League and then the NBA G League after a branding deal with Gatorade). As of the 2021–22 season, the G League has 30 teams.

2011
Half-court basketball is usually played 1-on-1, 2-on-2 or 3-on-3. The latter variation is gradually gaining official recognition as
3x3, originally known as FIBA 33. It was first tested at the 2007 Asian Indoor Games in Macau and the first official tournaments
were held at the 2009 Asian Youth Games and the 2010 Youth Olympics, both in Singapore. The first FIBA 3x3 Youth World
Championships were held in Rimini, Italy in 2011, with the first FIBA 3x3 World Championships for senior teams following a year
later in Athens. The sport is highly tipped to become an Olympic sport as early as 2016. In the summer of 2017, the BIG3
basketball league, a professional 3x3 half-court basketball league that features former NBA players, began. The BIG3 features
several rule variants including a four-point field goal.

Early 2022
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. Whenever a person got the ball in the basket, his team would gain a point.
Whichever team got the most points won the game. The baskets were originally nailed to the mezzanine balcony of the playing
court, but this proved impractical when spectators in the balcony began to interfere with shots. The backboard was introduced
to prevent this interference; it had the additional effect of allowing rebound shots. 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.