Find a sponsor for your web site. Get paid for your great content. shareasale.com.The History of Basketball

Michael Jordan! Slam dunk! NBA! Upon hearing these words, what comes into your mind? I believe it would be basketball! Almost everybody loves this game but do you really know how it developed as an international game and how it evolved to become the most popular game in the world today?

Basketball originated from a primitive game played by the early people of Mexico. The Mayans and other tribes from South America played a basketball type of game. However, they used the skulls of their dead enemies as balls. Believe it or not, strange it may sound, but it is true!

The modern basketball was invented by Dr. James Naismith in the 1890s. Dr. James Naismith was a professor at YMCA. He wanted to make his students active during the rainy days and so he formulated the basic rules and nailed peach baskets to serve as hoops. The goal is to put the ball inside the basket and the team with the most ‘basket’ wins. A soccer ball was used to play basketball then. It was only about when Tony Hinkle introduced the orange ball to make the ball more visible to the players. It was in Albany New York where the first official game was played. The opposing teams were composed of nine players. Did you know that the first official score was 1-0?! The first player to make this score was William Chase.

Basketball grew in popularity reaching even as far as Canada. However, with the rough nature of the game, YMCA centers started to ban the game. Amateur groups, however, formed associations to strengthen and promote the game thus giving birth to Intercollegiate Athletic Association and Amateur Athletic Association.

In 1896, the first professional basketball was played. The game was played between Trenton YMCA and Brooklyn YMCA. Each player was given $15 except for Fred Cooper who got $16 for the game! So guys, remember this! For the record, the first highest paid player was not Michael Jordan! It was Fred Cooper! Trenton won the game over Brooklyn. The score was 15-1.

After several years, the National Basketball League was founded, and the other leagues from the eastern coast of the United States followed.  It was in 1901 that basketball reached its landmark when different colleges started sponsoring games.  The first national college championship was won by Yale and the following year, University of Minnesota became the first undefeated team in the history of basketball.  The games that followed then were criticized for having associated with serious injuries. This is due to lack of trained referees for every game. Civic groups demanded that restrictions to the game must be set and thus the Intercollegiate Athletic Association was created.

As basketball became popular internationally, the International Basketball Federation was formed in 1932. It was founded by Switzerland, Romania, Portugal, Italy, Latvia, Czechoslovakia, Greece and Argentina. In 1936, it was included at the Summer Olympics in Berlin.

Nowadays, basketball is played in almost any part of the world. It can be played in many variations and styles. It has gone a long way from its primeval form to its golden age in these modern days.