History
| When James Naismith was thirty he was a physical education teacher at the School for Christian workers, which is now Springfield College in Massachusetts . James was instructed to to create a game to keep the attention of a bunch of restless students, during the winter when there weren't any sports. | |
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The game he created is now known as basketball. After Naismith created the game, he assembled his eighteen men and used a soccer ball to instruct them how to play. For hoops Naismith used two peach baskets, and he told the janitor to hang them from the balcony. |
| Originally the game was played with peach baskets that were closed at the bottom. This made people have to climb a ladder to retrieve the ball. Later, the baskets were replaced with metal rims and nets. In 1906 people began to open the net to let the ball fall through. | |
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The first basketballs were made from leather stitched together with a piece of rubber on the inside. Cloth was also added to the outside for support and uniformity. In 1942 the molded ball was introduced. This ball was made in a factory was better than the old ones. |
| The game started out with thirteen original rules that James Naismith created. Most of these rules were later changed. The rule that players couldn't move was changed. | |
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In 1910players were allowed to dribble, but after dribbling players weren't allowed to shoot, just pass the ball. Dribbling is a technique that brought the rule of double dribbling with it. There are many variations of dribbling that are now widely used, like dribbling through the legs. |
| In 1916 officials debated the rule that players couldn't shoot after dribbling, and eventually changed it. If they didn't change the rule there wouldn't be as many fast break points, and lay-ups. | |
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This is the history of basketball and changes made to it over time. Pictured to the right is James Naismith with the rest of the students he first taught basketball to. |