| Basketball as a game needs no introduction. | | | | version of the game started the next year, in |
| Legends like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 'Magic' | | | | 1892. Senda Berenson, a physical education |
| Johnson and Michael Jordan have achieved | | | | teacher at Smith's College modified the rules |
| cult-status, both, within U.S.A and outsides. | | | | for the women's version. |
| However, this fascinating game that went on | | | | |
| to be the darling of the world began, rather | | | | It may be hard to believe but the first |
| innocuously. | | | | basketball games used soccer balls. The balls |
| | | | that were made for the game were brown in |
| It was December, 1891. Dr. James Naismith, a | | | | color. It was not until the late 1950's when |
| Canadian physician of McGill University and | | | | the orange balls that have become a common |
| minister on the faculty of Springfield | | | | sight now, made an appearance. The credit |
| College, Massachusetts, U.S.A was worried | | | | goes to one Tony Hinkle. |
| about the long New England winters. Well, not | | | | |
| exactly. He was preoccupied with the indolent | | | | Dribbling did not form a part of the game's |
| state of his students. They were not to be | | | | original ball movement. The bounce-pass was |
| blamed. The cold broke the back of the best. | | | | there but the predominant way of movement was |
| | | | by passing the ball. The asymmetric shape of |
| He tweaked his mind for something that would | | | | the early ball limited the evolution of this |
| beat the cold. He had a brainwave. It would | | | | one act that is the cornerstone of the modern |
| be a game. And the game was basketball! | | | | play. |
| | | | |
| He was wrong on one account, though. | | | | The game spilled over from schools and |
| Basketball did not remain a simple game meant | | | | colleges to become a national rage. As a |
| for winter. It went on to became a passion | | | | result, the NBA or the National Basketball |
| that touched millions. | | | | Association came into fore. The N.B.A |
| | | | organized the professional game and today the |
| The research activists claim that Dr Naismith | | | | N.B.A has become synonymous with basketball. |
| had evolved the basics of a Mayan game and | | | | The first professional game took place |
| written his own rules. What is interesting in | | | | between the Toronto Huskies and the New York |
| this respect is the fact that the archetypal | | | | Knickerbockers. The place was Toronto, Canada |
| baskets had a bottom, totally unlike the | | | | and the date was November 1, 1946. |
| modern counterparts. The balls that went into | | | | |
| the basket had to be poked out. | | | | From 2001, the NBA has formed a developmental |
| | | | league called the NBDL. |
| It became popular, quite fast. The women's | | | | |