konwersatorium3/pjwstk: Part 1: History of Basketball

Preface: Having very little time to think of some brilliant and creative idea for a series of articles, I decided to describe my second favourite sport – basketball. I’ll try to keep it as interesting as possible, so keep reading and don’t feel disappointed if you don’t like the topic :)

Part 1: History of Basketball

Basketball was invented in December 1891 by the Canadian clergyman, educator, and physician James Naismith. The concept of basketball was born from Naismith's school days in the area where he played a simple child's game known as duck-on-a-rock outside his one-room schoolhouse. The game involved attempting to knock a "duck" off the top of a large rock by tossing another rock at it.

Naismith introduced the game when we was an instructor at the Young Men's Christian Association Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts. At the request of his superior, Dr. Luther H. Gulick, he organized a vigorous recreation suitable for indoor winter play. Naismith wanted to create a game of skill for the students instead of one that relied solely on strength. He needed a game that could be played indoors in a relatively small space. The first game was played with a soccer ball and two peach baskets used as goals. By 1897-1898, teams of five became standard.

A number of U.S. colleges adopted the game between about 1893 and 1895. In 1934 the first college games were staged in New York City's Madison Square Garden, and college basketball began to attract heightened interest. By the 1950s basketball had become a major college sport, thus paving the way for a growth of interest in professional basketball.

In 1949 two subsequent professional leagues, the National Basketball League (formed in 1937) and the Basketball Association of America (1946) merged to create the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Boston Celtics, led by their center Bill Russell, dominated the NBA from the late 1950s through the 1960s.

The NBA suffered a drop in popularity during the late 1970s, but was resuscitated, principally through the growing popularity of its most prominent players. Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics, and Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers are credited with injecting excitement into the league in the 1980s through their superior skills and decade-long rivalry. During the late 1980s Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls rose to stardom and helped the Bulls dominate the NBA during the early 1990s. A new generation of basketball stars, including Shaquille O'Neal of the Orlando Magic and Larry Johnson of the Charlotte Hornets, have sustained the NBA's growth in popularity.