Who Made That Basketball By Tanner Nerwin

Dr. James Naismith invented basketball in 1891, in Massachusetts. Naismith was a Canadian physical education teacher at a YMCA training school. His goal was to make a game that people could play inside during the freezing winters of the East Coast. He was inspired by a game he played as a young boy, where they would set an object on a big rock, then throw things at the object and try to knock it off. Just like that, Naismith took a soccer ball, two peach baskets ten feet in the air, and nine players to a team to create a game called basketball. The first game was played on December 21, 1891, and little did Naismith know this make-shift game he created would become one of the most popular sports all across the world. When the game was first being played, players could only advance the ball by passing it. The skill of dribbling, which we see today, was not added to the sport until later.

Dr. James Naismith.

James Naismith was inducted into the Basketball Hall Of Fame in 1959. Today, we honor him by an award in college basketball called the Naismith Award. This award is given to the best men and women's basketball player in the entire NCAA, this is the biggest honor that any player can get in college basketball.

The Naismith Award.

Today, basketball is one of the most popular sports in the world. They play it in the olympics with tons of different countries competing. There are professional leagues not only in the U.S, but all across the world. The sport pays very well in the NBA, the average player makes a minimum of 5 million dollars a year. Without James Naismith, one of the best and most popular sports in the world wouldn't be a thing.

Lebron James after winning the gold medal in the Olympics.
The Olympic Dream Team in 1992.

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