We look at the history of basketball, its origins and how far it has come in terms of professionalism.

The Naismith Ball

Millions of basketball fans tune into the game’s madness every year, but a few may know the story behind the invention, besides knowing the inventor, James Naismith, a physical education instructor at the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA.  

But how did Mr Naismith become known to be the inventor of the great game, in a generation without social media and many of the other forms of information gathering did not exist? 

According to what we know, it was a Dr Michael Zogry of the University of Kansas Religious Studies department who discovered film clips of Naismith and a national radio program recording in his voice in the Library of Congress. The recording was made in 1939.  He was actually doing some research on the life of the fellow and so this was somewhat an accidental discovery.  The footage apparently clearly proved that James Naismith was the inventor of a game which at the time was referred to as ‘Basket Ball’ (today it is one word. ‘Basketball’)

Personally I am still a bit confused.  How did basketball become what it is today? Did he take a ball and call it a basket ball or did he say, “let’s play basketball?

Did Naismith invent basketball out of thin air? 

Did Naismith invent basketball out of thin air? Legend has it that it started with something of a disaster which is pretty much how most things start. Here is the story; It was a cold snowy, windy winter along the New England Coast where Springfield, Massachusetts, USA is situated. In those days, the good people of States from Maine to Connecticut and pretty much anywhere in the world that suffered any natural disasters did the sensible thing and bunkered down. The school’s principal, Luther Gulick, at the time tasked Mr Naismith with coming up with an indoor sport since the the students were getting bored and causing ‘roughhouse’ everywhere. The most interesting part of this story is that he was given only 4 days to implement this – can you imagine that the hoopster was formed slam dunk in the middle of a Hurricane Katerina moment? Neither can we.

Legend has it that it started with something of a disaster which is pretty much how most things start.  Here is the story; It was a cold, snowy, windy winter along the New England Coast where Springfield, Massachusetts, USA  is situated.  The year was 1891.  In those days, the good people of States from Maine to Connecticut and pretty much anywhere in the world that suffered any natural disasters did the sensible thing and bunkered down.  The school’s head of physical education, Luther Gulick, at the time tasked Mr Naismith with coming up with an indoor sport since the students were getting bored and causing ‘roughhouse’ everywhere.  The most interesting part of this story is that he was given only 14 days to implement this – can you imagine that the hoopster was formed slam dunk in the middle of a Hurricane Katerina moment? Neither can we.  James obviously was the man for the job.

Basketball is believed to have landed on the Australian coasts about 6 years later in 1897.  How did it end up here?  The YMCA? 

The first basketball game in Australia was between the Our Boys Institute (OBI)  and YMCA in 1897.  The first recorded game however was played in 1905 at the YMCA in Melbourne.  Then, it spread to Victoria and Adelaide before sweeping across the nation. Several organizations were formed dedicated to the promotion of the sport particularly among ‘indigenious’ communities, a classic example of how sport brings people together.  The Victoria Basketball Association perhaps the most noted then the NSW Basketball Association followed by the Amatuer Basketball Union (ABU), the first officially recognised Basketball sport regulator.  It later changed its name to the Australian Basketball Federation. One of its tasks was to set up Australia for the international stage of basketball and thus, The Men’s National Team (the Boomers) was formed in 1956.

The following year in 1957 the Women’s national basketball team (the Opals) came into existence and it was in 1981 when the Women’s National Basketball League was actually formed with 6 teams in the original set up.

Today, Australia ranks third in the (FIBA) World ranking for the men and for the Women’s respectively. 

Basketball has undergone several rule changes since its inception in 1891. Some of the key changes include:

In 1895, the court was divided into two halves, and a center line was added.

In 1901, the rule was established that the ball must be passed, not kicked or carried, across the midcourt line.

In 1909, the free throw line was moved closer to the basket.

In 1951, the shot clock was introduced to limit the amount of time a team can hold the ball without attempting a shot.

In 1967, the three-point line was added, allowing shots made from beyond a certain distance to be worth three points instead of two.

In 1984, the use of zone defenses was permitted.

In 2019, The NBA adopted a coach’s challenge rule, similar to the NFL, allowing coaches to challenge certain calls made by the referees.

These are just a few examples of the many rule changes that have been made to the game of basketball over the years.