it was the winter of 1891 to 1892 inside a gymnasium at springfield college then known as
the international ymca training school located in springfield massachusetts it was a group of
restless college students the young men had to be there they were required to participate in
indoor activities to burn off the energy that have been building up since their football season ended
the gymnasium class offered them activities such as marching calisthenics and apparatus work
but these were pale substitutes for the more exciting games of football and lacrosse they
played in warmer seasons so nate smith went to work his charge was to create a game that was easy
to assimilate yet complex enough to be interesting it had to be playable indoors or on any kind of
ground and by a large number of players all at once it should provide plenty of exercise
yet without the roughness of football soccer or rugby since those were threatened bruises
and broken bones have played in the confined space much time and thought went into this new creation
it became an adaptation of many games of its time including american rugby passing
english rugby the jump ball lacrosse use of a goal soccer the shape and size of the ball and
something called duck on a rock a game nate smith had played with his childhood friends
in benny's corners ontario duck on a rock used a ball and a gold that could not be rushed the goal
could not be slammed through thus necessary team a goal with a horizontal opening high enough so that
the ball would have to be tossed into it rather than being thrown nate smith approached the school
janitor hoping he could find two 18 inch square boxes to use as goals the janitor came back with
two peach baskets instead nate smith then nailed them to the lower rail of the gymnasium balcony
one at each end the height of that lower balcony rail happened to be 10 feet a man was stationed
at each end of the balcony to pick the ball from the basket and put it back into play
it wasn't until a few years later that the bottoms of those peach baskets were cut to
let the ball fall loose nae smith then threw up the 13 original rules which described among other
faucets the method of moving the ball and what constituted a file a referee was appointed the
game would be divided into two 15-minute halves with a five-minute resting period in between nate
smith's secretary typed up the rules and tacked them on a bulletin board a short time later the
gym class met and the teams were chosen with three centers three forwards and three guards per side
two of the centers met at mid court smith tossed the ball and the game of basketball was born
here's a fun fact when james nate smith first invented this game one of his students said you
should probably name a nate smith ball after you but nate smith didn't agree that was a great idea
so he decided that he would listen to the student a little bit more and see what exactly he had in
mind and the students said well since we play with baskets and there's a ball we should call
it basketball over the next 20 years nate smith made a few adjustments to the game he played
with some different set of balls and he also realized that it would be tough to keep playing
the game constantly with having just a ball go into the basket and ever come through the
hoop so he then decided to cut a hole in the peach basket which then allowed the ball to fall through
but then later added a backboard and also a metal ring to enhance the game because natesman students
enjoyed the game so much they started going to other ymcas and spreading the word of the game
and teaching all the skills and rules of the game by 1895 basketball started being implemented in
different high schools for the boys and girls team but with different roles but in 1898 the first
college team actually had a basketball team and that was kansas university before we get into the
full evolution of the game let's talk about what the basic rules of basketball were before they got
complex as they are today number one the ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands
number two the ball may be battled in any direction with one or both hands never with the
fist number three 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 number four the ball must be held in or between the hands the arms or body
must not be used for holding it number five 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 is evident intent to injure the person for the whole of the game no substitute allowed
number six a foul is striking at the bar with the fist violation of rules three four and such is
described in rule five number seven if either side makes three consecutive files it shall count for a
goal for the opponents consecutive means without the opponents in the meantime making a foul
number eight a goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or battled 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 number nine 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 empire 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 sight persists in delaying
the game the empire shall call a foul on that side number 10 the empire shall be the judge of the men
and shall note the files and notify the referee when three consecutive files have been made he
shall have power to disqualify men according to rule 5. number 11 the referee shall be judged of
the ball and shall decide when the ball is in play inbounds to which side it belongs and shall keep
to time he shall decide when a goal has been made and keep account of the goals with any duties that
are usually performed by a referee number 12 the time shall be two minute halves with five minutes
rest between number 13 decide making the most goals in that time shall be declared the winner
in case of a draw the game made by agreement of the captains be continued until another goal is
made let's talk about the basketball fashion teams consist of nine players per side three forwards
three centers and three backs play begins with a jump ball between two central players game
was played with a soccer ball players wore black full sleeve walden jerseys and long gray trousers
nate smith was hired as a physical education instructor in the coach of the basketball team
because there wasn't any other teams to play against kansas played against other ymcas but
then other college teams joined the hype of basketball those teams alongside kansas state
were the university of chicago and kentucky in 1901 college had a regular schedule of games 1907
nate smith retired from coaching he was 55 wins and 60 losses for his career and the only coach
with a losing record at kansas before coach nate smith decided to quit there was a situation where
there were seen too many injuries in the games of football and in 1905 the president
no not this president and definitely not this president all right here we go that's the one
i was looking for he wanted sports to be canceled due to the injuries players were
having in football because he felt it wasn't safe enough and so the college pushed back and said no
they didn't like the idea of canceling sports so he said you need to have a committee come up with
a way to make the game safer and so they did and that committee is now known as the ncaa committee
the ncaa started organizing more sports due to what the president wanted done with making
sports safer and because of this they have put a little more organization behind basketball which
led to many different colleges having basketball at their school and the ncaa complied enough teams
and they had their first ncaa championship in 1939. the 1920s had amateur semi-pro
small pro leagues which consisted of two to three teams that were in a similar area the
pro leagues in the 1930s started to grow and people started taking it more serious
in 1937 the nbl was created and they received sponsorships from general electric in the nbl the
home team got to choose if they wanted four minute quarters or three 15-minute quarters they played
in bowling alleys and even ballrooms which is much different than the huge arenas they play in today
in 1945 walter brown establishes the basketball association of america brown had the brilliant
idea of using the hockey arenas as a place to hold games so there was no longer small
venues being used for such a growing game also realized that they could do this across
the country with other hockey arenas thus growing the game even more from 1946 to 1949 nbl and baa
were competing against each other to see who had the best basketball league once they realized
being separate wasn't the best idea so executives met and decided to merge teams from one league
to the other the only problem with this merger is statistical data didn't carry over from one
league to the other even though records have been shattered since then it is still nice to
have some history of the guys who started the game we now enjoy today the teams that were
able to track stacks and keep their history were minneapolis lakers rochester royals fort wayne
pistons syracuse nationals tri-cities blackhawks a quick side note that's important in 1950 earl
lloyd was the first black player in the nba picked in round 9 and was the 100th pick sheesh
imagine if they had that many rounds today we all might get a chance to play in the league
back to your regular scheduled programming oh wait got something interesting for you have you
heard of fiba while the sport was growing in the 1910s to the 1920s in the us it was also growing
internationally the countries that caught on were eight countries argentina czechoslovakia greece
latvia italy portugal romania and switzerland they formed what we know as
fiba this information is so vital because we have acquired some different playing skills
and methods from the international players that have come to play in the nba this launch of the
league definitely helped the influence and the sport being included in the olympics in 1936
fiba had their first world cup in 1950 so i think that covers the basics of how the basketball and
nba got started as a whole wait till you hear how the teams got named you might need some
snacks in the computer to keep up with all the details welcome to basketball you and remember to
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and some more information on how to play the game remember someone's always working are you