Did You Know?
Originally, two teams of 9 players made up a basketball game, a number that was based on the standard number of players on a baseball team.
Originally, two teams of 9 players made up a basketball game, a number that was based on the standard number of players on a baseball team.
From New York to London, to Paris, to Beijing. From Sarajevo to Dafar to Buenos Aires to Los Angels and everywhere in between the game of Basketball is played. It's played in the city parks of New York and the dusty plains of Africa, and the expensive designed courts of the NBA. The game is played wherever someone can get a ball, and a mounted ring-like object. Unlike other sports that require multiple people and a lot of equipment, Basketball only requires a Ball and the willingness to play.
The First basketball type game may have been played by the early Olmec people of ancient Mexico as early as 500 years go. The Aztec, and Mayan cultures also had a game similar to basketball, only instead of a rubber ball they used the decapitated skulls of their conquered foes. The First true basketball game as we know it was on January 20th, 1892 in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Canadian Doctor James Naismith invented the game for the YMCA to play during the winter months. Naismith wrote simple rules for the game, and nailed up two peach baskets for hoops, most of original Naismith rules are still in place today. Some of the rules have changed a bit, and new rules have been added since then, such as in the original game bouncing the ball was prohibited. Of the 13 rules, nine have been modified and kept in the modern game of basketball, the rest have been disregarded.
The First game consisted of 18 players, or nine to a team which was standard to the baseball teams of the day. Since Naismith or the YMCA didn't have the money to design a new ball they used a soccer ball. The concept of the game must have been foreign to the players as the game was played for 30 minutes and the final score was 1-0. Halfway though the game however William R. Chase made the ball go into the peach basket, and thus became the first player to ever score in a basketball game. It was during this game that someone suggested a name for this new sport, Basketball.
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