Brief History of Basketball

The history of basketball goes back to 1891, when a college physical education teacher named James Naismith, a Canadian by birth, decided to diversify his classes by inventing this sport. The rules at the time were simple: the players are divided into two teams, and whoever scores more balls in the basket of the opponent (at that time played with a soccer), and he wins. This increased the interest of students, who at that time were engaged only in gymnastic exercises, in sports. 

You can use modern websites if you want to find the latest NCAAF news or basketball news. Now let’s go back to the first steps of basketball in the world of sports.

The rules of the first basketball

At that time, basketball little resembled the present game, but the essence remains the same. As early as 1892 the first rules for the new game were introduced, such as:

• hitting the ball into the floor with the hands only;
• player had no right to run on the field with the ball, throwing was allowed only from the position in which the player or if the player is running at high speed;
• hitting, pushing and holding the opponent was not allowed;
• the ball was counted if it remained in the basket;
• there were two halves of the game, each lasting 15 minutes.

These are just a few of the rules of those years, as time went on there were more and more every year. The first “official” game was played in February 1892. The result of the match was 2:2. After each game, the rules were adjusted. So appeared the basketball backboard, and the fruit basket has already turned into a ring with a net, which remains unchanged to this day. Naismith’s creation was a resounding success, and within a year the sport was covering the entire northeastern United States.

Even before the turn of the twentieth century, basketball embraced not only the United States, but also neighboring Canada. James Naismith tried to promote the game at the university and college level, and the college where Naismith taught began to regulate the rules almost 10 years after basketball began. Two organizations, the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Amateur Athletic Union, picked up the baton. They promoted basketball throughout the United States. 

Beginning in the twentieth century, basketball was actively promoted in Japan, China, Europe and South America. In 1904, the St. Louis Olympics decided to hold an exhibition competition between several teams. Basketball competitions were held in Paris and Amsterdam at the Olympics, but at that time basketball was not included in the Olympic program. In 1932 after the 1932 Conference of National Basketball Associations it was decided to form FIBA, at the same time the official rules of the organization were adopted and applied to the whole world. Later, the rules were revised and changed.

The year 1935 was an important milestone for the ball game, for it was then that basketball was approved for the Olympic Games. A year later Berlin hosted the first basketball game in the Olympics. It was the only Olympics where basketball was played in the open air. Now you can use the sites with NCAAM news to get the latest information.