The History of Basketball

Nowadays, we all love and play our favorite game, basketball. Yet, where did basketball come from? 

Basketball was invented in December of 1881 by Dr. James Nesmith at Springfield College in Massachusetts. His goal was to provide an indoor winter activity to keep his students occupied. 

At first, Dr. James created 13 rules using a soccer ball and two peach baskets hung from opposite balconies in a gymnasium. Since then, the game has evolved, replacing baskets with nets and formally becoming a popular national sport. 

The original leagues BAA and NBL merged to form the NBA in 1949. Since then, basketball has expanded to become a global sport; every country plays it, and this is further exemplified by the Olympics.

The original game required nine players per team, and the game was played with a soccer ball. Also, dribbling was not permitted, so players had to pass and then move to catch the ball.

After Nesmith’s invention of the sport, it spread throughout the country. Then, in 1898, the University became the first college team. Sometime later, dribbling became permitted. The first NCAA Division 1 tournament was held in 1939.

Eventually, the International Basketball Federation was formed to govern the sport on a global level. Basketball became an official event at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and remained as such till the late 1900s. These Olympics competitions were played by collegiate-level athletes from the USA.

Then came the Dream Team: this was a team composed of the greatest United States basketball players of all time. Even today, it's remembered as the greatest Olympic basketball team ever created, and they dominated, not losing a single game. The average number of points of differentiation between them and their opponents was 43 points.

Over the years, the NBA has been dominated by many different players, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain, who famously scored 100 points in one game.

As time goes on, different players have emerged with different skill sets, such as LeBron James, who's known as a great all-around basketball player, or Stephen Curry, who's known as the greatest shooter of all time.

Many of these athletes have achieved records that people think will never be broken, such as LeBron James point record. However, I disagree - records are made to be broke. People didn't think that Kareem Abdul Jabaar point record would never be broken, and then LeBron broke it. LeBron’s record will fall eventually, as well. It's just going to keep going forever and ever until the NBA is extinguished.

And that is the history of basketball.