BASKETBALL
MAY 13, 2021
a short history of basketball
The history of basketball started in 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. A Canadian, James Naismith (1861 – 1939), created the indoor sport to keep athletes physically trained during winter seasons. Naismith was a 31 year old graduate student and an instructor in physical education.
At first, he set a fruit basket along with the wall and put a ball in the basket. Naismith set the rules of basketball and made thirteen basic rules for playing the game, he also suggested the name of the game himself.
The first ever basketball game was played on December 21, 1891 at the International Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) Training School (now Springfield College), Springfield, Massachusetts. On March 12, 1892, the first public game of basketball was played in a YMCA gymnasium. YMCA was founded by Sir George Williams in London and played an important role in the development of basketball.
The first modern college basketball game took place between the University of Iowa and the University of Chicago on January 18, 1896. Then in 1898 the first professional basketball league was formed. There were six teams and the name of the league was “National Basketball League”.
Basketball was officially recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1930. The international governing body of basketball is Federation Internationale de Basketball (FIBA) or International Basketball Federation.
Taken from their official website, the federation was founded on June 18, 1932 and there were eight countries in the federation as founding members : Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia and Portugal.
FIBA headquarter is in Geneva, Switzerland. The first Basketball World Cup tournament was played in Argentina in 1950 and the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup since 1953. The two events are now held regularly every four years.
In America the basketball association is called the National Basketball Association (NBA) and was founded in 1949. Many players from the league are worldwide sport stars such as Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and the late Kobe Bryant.
Today, basketball is played between two teams consisting of five players each on a rectangular court, indoors – mostly or outdoors. Each team gains score by throwing the ball into the opponent’s goal, an elevated horizontal hoop and flexible net called a basket.
In 1989, FIBA opened the door to professional players for Olympic participation and change its name from Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur to the Fédération Internationale de Basketball. In Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games the United States team consisted of NBA professional players and got the nickname “The Dream Team” for their extraordinary skills and performance during the event.
related post