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Over the years, changes in technology, rules, and player athleticism have shaped basketball into the dynamic sport we enjoy today. From the early days of using peach baskets as hoops to the high-tech sports equipment of the modern era, basketball has seen a significant evolution in its equipment.
- Overview
- The early years
- Growth of the game
- U.S. high school and college basketball
history of basketball, notable events and people in the development of basketball since its invention in the late 1800s. Unlike that of most popular sports, the origin of basketball is concise and all-American—it is the only major sport strictly rooted in the United States. The game was created by James Naismith, a physical education instructor, on or about December 1, 1891, at the International Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) Training School (now Springfield College) in Springfield, Massachusetts. Its creation was met with great enthusiasm, and within a decade basketball became a collegiate sport. Although the first professional league was formed in 1898, the growth of the sport was fairly slow—albeit steady—for much of the early 1900s. It gained inclusion in the Olympic Games in 1936 and grew in international popularity following World War II. The formation of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1949 cemented the sport’s cultural importance in the United States, where it is played on playgrounds, in schoolyards, and on family driveways by children and adults alike. Basketball has also been embraced around the globe, notably in Spain, Italy, China, and Australia, where many contributions have been made to basketball’s varied history.
(Read James Naismith’s Britannica essay on basketball.)
In the early years the number of players on a team varied according to the number in the class and the size of the playing area. In 1894 teams began to play with five on a side when the playing area was less than 1,800 square feet (167.2 square metres); the number rose to seven when the gymnasium measured from 1,800 to 3,600 square feet (334.5 square metres) and up to nine when the playing area exceeded that. In 1895 the number was occasionally set at five by mutual consent; the rules stipulated five players two years later, and this number has remained ever since.
Since Naismith and five of his original players were Canadians, it is not surprising that Canada was the first country outside the United States to play the game. Basketball was introduced in France in 1893, in England in 1894, in Australia, China, and India soon thereafter, and in Japan in 1900.
While basketball helped swell the membership of YMCAs because of the availability of their gyms, within five years the game was outlawed by various associations because gyms that had been occupied by classes of 50 or 60 members were now monopolized by only 10 to 18 players. The banishment of the game induced many members to terminate their YMCA membership and to hire halls to play the game, thus paving the way to the professionalization of the sport.
Originally, players wore one of three styles of uniforms: knee-length football trousers; jersey tights, as commonly worn by wrestlers; or short padded pants, forerunners of today’s uniforms, plus knee guards. The courts often were of irregular shape with occasional obstructions such as pillars, stairways, or offices that interfered with play. In 1903 it was ruled that all boundary lines must be straight. In 1893 the Narragansett Machinery Co. of Providence, Rhode Island, marketed a hoop of iron with a hammock style of basket. Originally a ladder, then a pole, and finally a chain fastened to the bottom of the net was used to retrieve a ball after a goal had been scored. Nets open at the bottom were adopted in 1912–13. In 1895–96 the points for making a basket (goal, or field goal) were reduced from three to two, and the points for making a free throw (shot uncontested from a line in front of the basket after a foul had been committed) were reduced from three to one.
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Basketball grew steadily but slowly in popularity and importance in the United States and internationally in the first three decades after World War II. Interest in the game deepened as a result of television exposure, but with the advent of cable television, especially during the 1980s, the game’s popularity exploded at all levels. Given a timely ...
Basketball at the high school and college levels developed from a structured, rigid game in the early days to one that is often fast-paced and high-scoring. Individual skills improved markedly, and, although basketball continued to be regarded as the ultimate team game, individualistic, one-on-one performers came to be not only accepted but used as an effective means of winning games.
In the early years games were frequently won with point totals of less than 30, and the game, from the spectator’s viewpoint, was slow. Once a team acquired a modest lead, the popular tactic was to stall the game by passing the ball without trying to score, in an attempt to run out the clock. The NBC, seeing the need to discourage such slowdown tactics, instituted a number of rule changes. In 1932–33 a line was drawn at midcourt, and the offensive team was required to advance the ball past it within 10 seconds or lose possession. Five years later, in 1937–38, the centre jump following each field goal or free throw was eliminated. Instead, the defending team was permitted to inbound the ball from the out-of-bounds line underneath the basket. Decades passed before another alteration of like magnitude was made in the college game. After experimentation, the NCAA Rules Committee installed a 45-second shot clock in 1985 (reduced to 35 seconds in 1993), restricting the time a team could control the ball before shooting, and one year later it implemented a three-point shot rule for baskets made beyond a distance of 19.75 feet (6.0 metres). In 2008 the three-point line was moved to 20.75 feet (6.3 metres) from the basket.
More noticeable alteration in the game came at both the playing and coaching levels. Stanford University’s Hank Luisetti was the first to use and popularize the one-handed shot in the late 1930s. Until then the only outside attempts were two-handed push shots. In the 1950s and ’60s a shooting style evolved from Luisetti’s push-off one hander to a jump shot, which is released at the top of the jump. West Virginia University guard Jerry West and Purdue University’s Rick Mount were two players who demonstrated the devastating effectiveness of this shot.
Coaching strategy changed appreciably over the years. Frank W. Keaney, coach at the University of Rhode Island from 1921 to 1948, is credited with introducing the concept of “fast break” basketball, in which the offensive team rushes the ball upcourt hoping to get a good shot before the defense can get set. Another man who contributed to a quicker pace of play, particularly through the use of the pressure defense, was Adolph Rupp, who became the University of Kentucky’s coach in 1931 and turned its program into one of the most storied in basketball history.
Defensive coaching philosophy, similarly, has undergone change. Whereas pioneer coaches such as Henry Iba of Oklahoma A&M University (now Oklahoma State University) or Long Island University’s Clair Bee taught strictly a man-to-man defense, the zone defense, developed by Cam Henderson of Marshall University in West Virginia, later became an integral part of the game.
Over the years one of the rules makers’ chief concerns was to neutralize the advantage of taller players. At 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 metres) Joe Lapchick was considered very tall when he played for the Original Celtics in the 1920s, but, as even taller players appeared, rules were changed in response. To prevent tall players from stationing themselves near the basket, a rule was instituted in 1932–33 prohibiting the player with the ball from standing inside the foul lane with his back to the basket for more than three seconds; the three-second rule later applied to any attacking player in the foul lane. In 1937–38 a new rule forbade any player from touching the ball when it was in the basket or on its rim (basket interference), and in 1944–45 it became illegal for any defending player to touch the ball on its downward flight toward the basket (goaltending).
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Basketball began with its invention in 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts, by Canadian physical education instructor James Naismith as a less injury-prone sport than football. Naismith was a 31-year-old graduate student when he created the indoor sport to keep athletes indoors during the winters. [1]
Mar 27, 2021 · The nets used by athletes to dunk the ball and score points in the beloved game of basketball evolved from peaches, or rather the baskets used to collect peaches.
Dec 27, 2023 · From its humble beginnings in a Massachusetts gymnasium to becoming a worldwide game, basketball has evolved a great deal since its invention in 1891 by James Naismith. Read on to learn the full story of when basketball was created, how the game has changed since its invention, and how basketball became a global phenomenon.
Dec 1, 2022 · Players evolve over time, and so has the sport. Basketball has seen its fair share of changes – new styles, technologies, and rules – since it was first invented in 1891. Where did it all...
May 27, 2021 · Today’s game of basketball has evolved significantly since Naismith’s era, with modified rules, improved equipment, and a global fan base. However, the sport still retains some elements of its original foundation, contributing to its enduring popularity around the world.
