The man who invented basketball was born in Almonte, Ontario, Canada on November 6, 1861. At nine years of age, James Naismith became an orphan. Both of his parents died within three weeks of each other. After high school, the man who invented basketball finished his first of four degrees from McGill University in Quebec. It was a philosophy degree, and he followed that with a religion degree from Presbyterian College in Montreal. |
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One year after obtaining his religion degree, Naismith stepped foot on the grounds of the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts. YMCA Training School later changed its name to Springfield College. History would be made at Springfield College during a PE class, as the rough New England winter was in full force. The year was 1891, when the man who invented basketball made history. Naismith, who was 30 years of age, was teaching a physical education class that consisted of students who were older than him. The class was getting restless from the winter, they were too old for the children’s games, and gymnastics protocol was getting boring. Naismith needed an “athletic distraction” from the weather and current class format.
Luther Gulick, the Physical Education superintendent at Springfield College, should also be given credit as the “man who invented basketball.” The other “man who invented basketball” gave Naismith 14 days to develop a new game for the students. Gulick believed, “nothing new under the sun,” would be developed. His statement meant he thought a new indoor game would most likely be developed by combining aspects of different existing games. Naismith, the man who invented basketball, wanted a game of finesse and accuracy, not a game that would be too physical. He came up with a soccer ball; two peach baskets set 10 feet in the air, 9 players on each team and 13 basic rules.
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The object of the game is to put the ball into your opponent's goal. This may be done by throwing the ball from any part of the grounds, with one or two hands, under the following conditions and rules.
1. The ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands.
2. The ball may be batted in any direction with one or both hands.
3. A player cannot run with the ball. The player must throw it from the spot on which he catches it, allowances to be made for a man who catches the ball when running if he tries to stop.
4. The ball must be held by the hands. The arms or body must not be used for holding it.
5. 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 come as a foul, the second shall disqualify him until the next goal is made, or, if there was evident intent to injure the person, for the whole of the game, no substitute allowed.
6. A foul is striking the ball with the fist, violation of Rules 3, 4, and such as described in Rule 5.
7. If either side makes three consecutive fouls it shall count as a goal for the opponents (consecutive means without the opponents in the meantime making a foul).
8. A goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from the grounds into the basket and stays there, providing those defending the goal do no touch or disturb the goal. If the ball rests on the edges, and the opponent moves the basket, it shall count as a goal.
9. When the ball goes out of bounds, it shall be thrown into the field of play by the person touching it. He has a right to hold it unmolested for five seconds. In case of a dispute the umpire 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 side persists in delaying the game the umpire shall call a foul on that side.
10. The umpire shall be the judge of the men and shall note the fouls and notify the referee when three consecutive fouls have been made. He shall have power to disqualify men according to Rule 5.
11. The referee shall be judge of the ball and shall decide when the ball is in play, in bounds, to which side it belongs, and shall keep the time. He shall decide when a goal has been made and keep account of the goals, with any other duties that are usually performed by a referee.
12. The time shall be two fifteen-minute halves, with five minutes rest between.
13. The side making the most goals in that time shall be declared the winner. In the case of a draw the game may, by agreement of the captains, be continued until another goal is made. |
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The first real basketball game occurred on December 21, 1891.
Seven years after developing the game, the man who invented basketball earned a medical degree from Gross Medical College in Denver, CO. However, it did not take long for Naismith to realize his true calling was in an educational setting at the University of Kansas. As a doctor, Naismith had a case where a young boy fell off of a pommel horse and landed on his neck. The young boy died from the accident and the outcome pushed the man who invented basketball to Kansas.
Naismith was hired at the University of Kansas as a chapel director and PE instructor, but ended up being the school’s first coach of the basketball team. His salary in 1898 was $1,300/year. Unfortunately, the man who invented basketball is the only coach in Kansas’s history to have coached his teams to a losing record. Naismith’s record from 1898-1907 was 55 wins and 60 losses. One of Naismith’s famous quotes was, “basketball was never meant to be coached, only played.”
Other notes about the man who invented basketball:
1. Why did he set the peach baskets at 10 feet off of the floor? Ironically, that was the height of the indoor elevated track at Springfield College.
2. Naismith invented the first football helmet.
3. In a 1995 book, Naismith was ranked the 4th out of 100 most influential American sports figures.
4. Received a Gold Medal at McGill as the best All-Around Athlete.
5. Enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1959
6. Died on November 28, 1939 in Lawrence, KS
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