Basketball
is a team
sport in which two teams of 5
players try to score points against one another by placing a
ball through a 10 foot (3.048 m) high hoop (the
goal) under organized rules. A regulation NBA basketball court is 94' long by 50' wide. Basketball is one of the most popular and widely viewed sports in the
world.
[1]Points are scored by throwing (shooting) the ball through the basket from above. The team with more points at the end of the game wins, but additional time (overtime) may be issued when the scores of both teams are the same. The ball can be advanced on the court by bouncing it (
dribbling) or passing it between teammates. Disruptive physical contact (
foul) is penalized, and free throws will be issued if an offensive player is fouled while shooting the ball. (
violations).
Through time, basketball has developed to involve many common techniques of shooting, passing and dribbling, as well as players' positions, and offensive and defensive structures. Typically, the tallest members of a team will play
center or one of two
forward positions, while shorter players or those who possess the best ball handling skills and speed, play the
guard positions. While competitive basketball is carefully regulated, numerous
variations of basketball have developed for casual play. In some countries, basketball is also a popular spectator sport.
While competitive basketball is primarily an indoor sport, played on a basketball court, less regulated variations played in the outdoors have become increasingly popular among both inner city and rural groupsThe first rules, court, and gameIn early December 1891, Dr.
James Naismith,
[2] a Canadian-born physical education
professor and instructor at the International Young Men's Christian Association Training School
[3] (YMCA) (today,
Springfield College) in
Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, was trying to keep his gym class active on a rainy day sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied and at proper levels of fitness during the long
New England winters. After rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in
gymnasiums, he wrote the basic
rules and nailed a
peach basket onto a 10-foot (3.05 m) elevated track. In contrast with modern basketball nets, this peach basket retained its bottom, and balls had to be retrieved manually after each "basket" or point scored; this proved inefficient, however, so the bottom of the basket was removed
[4], allowing the balls to be poked out with a long
dowel each time. The peach baskets were used until 1906 when they were finally replaced by metal hoops with backboards. A further change was soon made, so the ball merely passed through, paving the way for the game we know today. A
soccer ball was used to shoot baskets. Whenever a person got the ball in the basket, his team would gain a point. Whichever team got the most points won the game.
[5] The baskets were originally nailed to the mezzanine balcony of the playing court, but this proved impractical when spectators on the balcony began to interfere with shots. The backboard was introduced to prevent this interference; it had the additional effect of allowing rebound shots.
[6]Naismith's handwritten diaries, discovered by his granddaughter in early 2006, indicate that he was nervous about the new game he had invented, which incorporated rules from a children's game called "
Duck on a Rock", as many had failed before it. Naismith called the new game "Basket Ball".
[7]The first official game was played in the YMCA gymnasium on January 20, 1892 with nine players. The game ended at 1-0; the shot was made from 25 feet (7.6 m), on a court just half the size of a present-day
Streetball or
National Basketball Association (NBA) court. By 1897–1898 teams of five became standard.
Women's basketballWomen's basketball began in 1892 at
Smith College when
Senda Berenson, a physical education teacher, modified Naismith's rules for women. Shortly after she was hired at Smith, she went to Naismith to learn more about the game.
[8] Fascinated by the new sport and the values it could teach, she organized the first women’s collegiate basketball game on March 21, 1893, when her Smith freshmen and sophomores played against one another.
[9] Her rules were first published in 1899 and two years later Berenson became the editor of
A.G. Spalding’s first Women's Basketball Guide
[9],