The History of Basketball
Basketball, a popular sport worldwide was created by a man named James Naismith. He combined lacrosse, rugby, football, and soccer to create this wonderful game. Throughout history the games has changed in so many ways. Even though it has changed the principle of the game stayed the same and is still loved by people.
James Naismith the creator of basketball was born and raised in Canada and the United States. Naismith went to college at McGill University in Montreal, where he became involved in athletics. He graduated in 1887 and was in the top ten percent of his class. Naismith was able to watch the game of basketball become a worldwide sport and watch the sport change from people throwing a ball into a basketball to players competing at a high level. He lived to watch first Olympic basketball game in Berlin in 1936. Naismith also was the athletic director at the University of Kansas and worked there for thirty-nine years (“Basketball,” 2007, pp. 69-72) (George, 2013, pp. 690-691).
In 1891 Dr. Luther Halsey Gulick asked James Naismith to create a new indoor game, which was different from gymnastics and calisthenics. When the game was first created, players would bounce a soccer ball and pass it to try and score points by throwing a ball into a raised goal. That winter Naismith decided to create thirteen rules to set guidelines for the players. All the students who played the game wanted it to be called “Naismith Ball,” but he chose to call it basketball. Then championships were created and started to outburst in the country, while thew first was played in New York, 1908 (Applin II, 2001).
Once the game was created, people all around New England and in the Northeast wanted to play. The creators then decided to make the game more of a competition and would have games between the various YMCAs. These games quickly got