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From Passing the Time to an International Pastime

Basketball

Coaching Youth Basketball (by Mccarthy, John P.)
Basket Ball (by Mather, Edwin J)
Basket Ball Its Origin and Development (by James Naismith)
The Official National Collegiate Athleti... (by National Collegiate Athletic Association)

The season of March Madness is starting in the U.S.. One can already hear the drumming of leather against wooden floors, the squeaking of sneakers stopping on a dime, the heartbreaking rattle of missed shots as the clock winds down. Brackets are filled and refilled, buzzers sound, and millions of students, fans, and general spectators watch and cheer college and university teams.

Basketball, invented by Dr. James Naismith in the winter of 1891, has very humble beginnings. At a walled-in gymnasium in a Springfield, Massachusetts YMCA, Dr. Naismith nailed a peach basket to an elevated track, provided a soccer ball and instructed his students how to play what became one of the world’s most popular sports. Five decades later, James Naismith wrote a comprehensive guide to the game he invented, Basketball Its Origin and Development, proving that an interest in the sport had greatly spread. Set at the end of the 19th century, John D. Fitzgerald’s character Tom Fitzgerald, from The Great Brain series, introduces his southwestern Utah boarding school classmates to the then newly-developed sport. Fitzgerald depicts basketball as Naismith would have wanted: a burgeoning sport that could rival the world’s most popular athletic recreations.

Today, some of the most recognizable celebrities, analysts, and public figures belong to the celebrated fraternity of the NBA. The names and faces of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Jerry West (who is the logo of the NBA) Yao Ming, Dirk Nowitzki, and dozens of others give credence to basketball’s long lasting, international impact.

It’s hard to imagine that over 100 years ago Dr. Naismith foresaw the legacy he’d help create.

Basketball is played and televised in nations throughout the world. International leagues and organizations like FIBA, the Summer Olympics, and the NBL (represented in Australia, China, Japan, Lithuania, and several other countries) work in conjunction with with players and officials to ensure that rules remain consistent and that fans everywhere can enjoy the exciting play of the world’s most extraordinary players.

Dr. Naismith and the ambassadors who continue the tradition he invented inspire millions of athletes, writers, analysts, coached and fans, as basketball remains one of America’s greatest and most celebrated exports.

For more basketball related reading, check out Edwin J. Mather’s Basket Ball and John P. McCarthy’s Coaching Youth Basketball, both of which provide intimate knowledge and experience of an American pastime.

By Logan Williams