History of Men’s Basketball and the influence
On American Society
Will have on College Sports

Abstract Basketball is an organized team sport which consists of 5 players from each team competing against each other. The object of the game is to shoot a round ball into a circular basket. Basketball can be played in an organized manner or at a park or local gym for recreational purposes. Over the past 100 years the game of basketball has grown from a peach basket to highlight slam dunks. As time has passed by, the rules and the way the game is played has changed. New rules were implemented to make the game more enjoyable and create more of a competitive balance for all those who play. Players were given titles for the position they played like for example, the tallest player on the team was called the center. While the shortest player on the team or the person who dribbled the ball the best was called the point guard. The history of basketball has correlated with the history of the US during the 20th century. As the game and the country began to evolve, the game of basketball became the 2nd most played sport in the world behind soccer. Some of the major events in American history in the 20th century such as Brown vs. Board of Education impacted the growth and development of basketball in the beginning. Although, whites and blacks both played basketball, they did not play with or against each other until the 1950s on a pro level. Basketball was the only one of the four major sports to be played in the Olympics. Because the rules of basketball were easy to play and understand, the sport began to grow globally. Basketball players became international super stars and sports heroes. As the country began to have diversity, sport of basketball began to grow it took on a racial connotation and was deemed a “thug league” by the some members of the