Running head: The History Of Basketball 1
The History of Basketball
The History Of Basketball 2
Introduction
What Dr. James Naismith started as a game for students to play inside during the winter, basketball is now played by women and men as amateurs and professionals in over 200 countries. This paper will discuss how basketball has evolved from a Massachusetts gymnasium to who plays today and where, and the different ways the game is played. The challenges facing today’s game, both on the amateur and professional level. Finally, examples of how the game’s legion of fans have become “actively” involved with their favorite players, will also be given.
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The History of Basketball
Dr. James Naismith is credited as the inventor of basketball (Laughead, 2005). Looking for a game of skill for his students to play inside during Massachusett winter months, Dr. Naismith took a soccer ball and two peach baskets, and created rules, some still in use today- goaltending results in a basket for the shooting team, a player cannot run with the ball, five seconds to inbound the ball, and referees monitor the action. Now, 119 years since the winter of 1891, basketball is played in over 200 countries, with countries competing against each other in the FIBA World Championship, Pan-Am Games, and the Olympics. (FIBA, 2010). It is played in driveways and on street corner courts, on the beach, and recently, in the Dallas Cowboy Stadium, where over 108,000 attended the NBA All-Star Game (Pallakoff, 2010). It’s not even limited to two-leg able participants. Wheelchair basketball, which was created by World War II veterans, has its own national organization, while unicycle basketball is also organized. (Schweikert, Labanowich, Thiboutot, 1954, 2008).
In the United States, basketball is popular in high school, with most states awarding state titles, on the college level, where it is regulated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association established in 1906 (National Collegiate, 2010), and in the pro’s where the 30 teams are overseen by the National Basketball Association (NBA), which merged with the Basketball Association of America (established 1946) in 1948 (National Basketball, 2010). The biggest challenges the latter two organizations face are the NCAA keeping the caliber of play high and exciting when so many athletes are ‘one and done’ players – leaving college for the pro’s after one year of play, and the NBA hammering out a new contract with their players’ association before it expires in 2011, and so many premier players become free agents this summer (NBA, 2010). Perhaps one of the best aspects of today’s game is how its legion of fans can play socially. Fantasy leagues allow fans to draft their own teams, then compete based on their pro players’ stats. Video games, and video game consoles, such as Playstation 3, lets fans ‘play’ as their favorite players.
All in all, basketball has moved beyond peach baskets. It is a billion dollar business that generates money from ticket sales, concessions, and gambling, among other areas, and despite challenges and images that go up and down, the game appears in great condition. Here to stay.
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References
FIBA: Structure: Commissions & Councils. (2010). Retrieved February 28, 2010, from http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/FIBA/fibaStru/bodi/p/openNodeIDs/985/selNodeID/985/commCoun.html.
National Basketball Association – Hoopedia. Retrieved February 28, 2010 from http://hoopedia.nba.com/index.php?title=National_Basketball_Association.
The History of the NCAA. (2010). Retrieved February 28, 2010 from http://ncaa.org/wps/portal/ncaahome?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/ncaa/ncaa/about+the+ncaa/overview/history.html.
Laughead, Jr.G. (2000, January 5). Basketball History: Dr. James Naismith, Inventor of Basketball, KU Basketball Program Founder. Kansas History Web Sites. Retrieved from http://www.kansasheritage.org/people/naismith.html.
NBA, Players Dispute Contract Offer Status. (2010, February 13). UPI. Retrieved from http://www.upi.com/Sports_News/2010/02/13/NBA-players-dispute-contract-offer-status/UPI-66501266041367/.
Pollakoff, B. (2010, February 15). Close Finish, Record Crowd Highlight the 2010 NBA All-Star Game. Retrieved from http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/02/15/close-game-record-attendance-highlight-the-2010-nba-all-star-ga/.
Schweikert, Jr. H., Labanowich, S., Thiboutot, T. (1954, updated 2008). National Wheelchair Basketball Association: History. Retrieved February 28, 2010 from http://www.nwba.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13&Itemid=120.