History of basketball

IntroductionBasketball is an extremelypopular all around the world. The object is to put a ball through a hoop, orbasket, and thus score more points than the opposing team. Teams comprise often players, with a maximum of five on court at any one time. Substitutions areunlimited during the course of the game. Although basketball can be playedoutdoors, it was invented to serve as an exciting indoor exercise for thewinter months in a northern climate.It quickly became a spectator sport,however, and now attracts large audiences to gymnasiums and arenas, especiallyin the United States, South America, and Europe.The sport is played on theamateur level by schools, colleges, other groups, and, since 1936 by nationalteams in the Olympic Games. It also is played by professional athletes, notablyin the United States and Europe.The foremost Americanchampionships contended for are those of the National Basketball Association NBA for professionals, the National Collegiate Athletic Association NCAA for colleges.

Britain has National Associations for each country and theEnglish Basketball Association EBBA runs amateur national competitions, theNational Basketball League NBL is run by Basketball League Ltd forprofessionals.

International competion is organised by the Federation ofInternational Basketball FIBA .The Early Days It all started with two peachbaskets in a YMCA in Massachusetts.In 1891 James A Naismith 1861-1939 , a leader of the Springfield YMCA, was thinking about ways ofproviding exercise for the young men in his care. As a physical educationinstructor he taught gymnastics, however he was looking for something new. Hehad the idea of nailing peach baskets onto the balconies as goals, at eitherend of the gymnasium and throwing a soccer ball into it from below.

So a National andInternational game was born.In 1892 he published the firstbooklet containing the basic rules, almost unchanged today although expandedupon considerably These rules were adopted by the YMCA and the AmateurAthletic Union.Word spread quickly amongstYMCA s in the Eastern United States about this new game. It took off so rapidlythat the first intercollegiate game was played in 1897, and the firstprofessional league in the following year. The Eastern Intercollegiate Leaguewas formed shortly afterwards, in 1902. Women also took up the game before1900.The growingpopularity of basketball resulted in improvements in equipment and skills.

Themetal hoop was introduced in 1893, and backboards in 1895. The soccer ball wasreplaced by the first basketball.

As playing skills also became moresophisticated, the game attracted more and more spectators.Until the late 1930s, scoreswere low, sometimes in single digits. After each score, opposing centers oneof the five positions, the others being two guards and two forwards lined up inthe middle of the court and jumped for the ball. Then the team that got theball would pass or dribble until a player was about 3 m 10 ft from the basketbefore trying a shot. The slow pace did not inhibit the growth of the game,however.

By the 1920s, basketball was being played all over the United States,and tournaments were being conducted in high school and college gymnasiums.Most states held high school championships for boys.The Rise of the ModernGameSeveral events in the 1930sspurred the growth of the game as a spectator sport and at the same time madebasketball more exciting for the players.The first of these came in the1932-33 season basketball seasons tend to run from Autumn through to Spring rules designed to speed up play were adopted.

It became mandatory, underpenalty of losing possession, to move the ball past midcourt in less than tenseconds. In addition, no player was permitted to remain within the foul lanesfor more than three seconds.Then in 1934 a New York sportswriter, Ned Irish,persuaded the promoters at New York s Madison Square Garden, a large arena, toschedule doubleheaders between college teams.

These events proved successful,and similar promotions followed in other cities. Before long, colleges beganbuilding their own arenas for basketball.Another significant advanceoccurred in 1936, when a Stanford University team traveled from California to aMadison Square Garden promotion to challenge the eastern powers in the cradle of basketball.Opponents and fans were stunned by theStanford style of shooting one-handed while jumping, which contrasted to theprevalent method of taking two-handed shots while standing still.

One Stanfordplayer, Hank Luisetti, was so adept at the jump shot that he couldoutscore an entire opposing team. The new style gained universal acceptance,and basketball scores rose remarkably. In the 1937-38 season thecenter jump following each field goal was eliminated.At the end of the nextseason, Madison Square Garden brought in college teams from around the nationfor the National Invitation Tournament NIT , a postseason playoff that wasadopted 1939 on a wider scale by the National Collegiate Athletic Association NCAA . Although the NIT is still held annually, the NCAA tournament serves asthe official intercollegiate championship.The University of Kentucky coached, 1930-72, by Adolph Rupp , St. John s in New York , the University ofNorth Carolina, Western Kentucky, Kansas University, and Indiana Universityhave been among the leading college basketball teams for years.

From 1964 to1975 the University of California at Los Angeles UCLA , coached by John Woodenand led by the centers Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton, dominated theintercollegiate play-offs, winning the title an unprecedented 10 times in 12years.

The 1,250 college teams in the United States now draw about 30 millionspectators per season.Although women have played thegame since the 1890s, and even though a few states Iowa, for instance haveshown great participatory and spectator interest in secondary-school women sbasketball for some decades, significant growth and serious recognition ofwomen s basketball in the United States and elsewhere did not occur until the1970s. Almost all U.S. states now hold girls high school tournaments, andbasketball is the fastest-growing women s intercollegiate sport.Professional BasketballFrom 1898 on, many attemptswere made to establish professional basketball as a spectator sport-but successdid not come until 1946. The best of the early efforts was made by the HarlemGlobetrotters, an all-black team that toured first only the United States andthen internationally to play local professional or semi-professional teams.

TheGlobetrotters, founded in 1926, were not affiliated with a league.

Their stylewas and is often showy because, at least into the early 1950s, they coulddominate all opponents. In 1946 serious professionalbasketball had acquired a following among American sports fans, who wanted tosee the former collegians in action.That year the Basketball Association ofAmerica, with teams from the United States and one from Toronto, begancompeting in large arenas in the major cities.

Another professional league, theNational Basketball League, was already in existence, with many franchises inmedium-sized midwestern cities.The two leagues merged in 1949 as the NationalBasketball Association NBA and pared away the weaker franchises.Modern TimesWith the signing of thecountry s best collegians through what was called a player draft, the NBA coulddisplay both talent and balance.

The NBA s greatest spurt of growth occurred inthe 1960s and 70s. Although the Boston Celtics, led by Bill Russel, Bob Cousy,and John Havlicek and coached by Red Auerbach, won 11 of 13 NBA titlesbeginning in 1957, fans also closely followed such stars as Philadelphia s WiltChamberlain, Cincinnati s Oscar Robertson, and Los Angeles s Jerry West andElgin Baylor.The NBA of the 1970s and 1980s exhibited a welcome balance ofpower from 1970 until 1988 no team won consecutive NBA titles, though the NewYork Knicks with Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, and Bill Bradley won twice theBoston Celtics, 5 times 3 with Larry Bird and the Los Angeles Lakers, 6times 5 with Magic Johnson . In the 1970s the NBA expandedfrom 9 teams to 22. Some of the new franchises were acquired when the AmericanBasketball Association 1968-76 merged with the NBA. Also, a Dallas franchisewas added in 1980 Charlotte, Carolina, and Miami, in 1988 and Minnesota andOrlando, in 1989.During the late 1970s andearly 1980s several women s professional leagues were begun all of them failedfinancially.

Women in the USA are currently under the WNBA. The NBA today enjoys a massiveworldwide following, and European basketball is fast emerging. to challenge thedomination of the Americans.

Watch this space HISTORY OF BASKETBALLWrittenby Kisel DmitryPetrozavodsk 1998.