Basketball

HISTORY OF BASKETBALL

A similar game to basketball was played by the Olmecs in Mexico in 1000 BC.

Basketball was invented on December 21, 1891 by Canadian YMCA trainer James Naismith. He set out to invent a game to occupy students between the football and baseball seasons during the cold winter months. Naismith nailed two peach baskets on opposite ends of the YMCA International Training School (later named Springfield College) in Massachusetts and instructed his students to toss soccer balls into them. Half-bushel peach baskets were used at first, thus providing the name "basketball." He first published his basketball rules on January 15, 1892.

The original 1891 "Basket Ball" court in Springfield College. It used a peach basket attached to the wall.

Before finishing his education, earning a doctorate, and inventing the sport of basketball, Dr. James Naismith was a high school dropout.

Basketball immediately became popular. At nearby Buckingham Grade School, the women instructors wanted to try it out themselves. They were granted permission but with the one proviso that they did so in private. The result was that not only did they become enthusiastic fans of the sport but one of them - Maude - attracted Dr Naismith's attention so much that they were married soon afterwards.

The first college basketball game took place in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania in 1893 when Geneva College defeated the New Brighton YMCA.

The original basketball peach basket was closed at the bottom; a ladder was needed to recover the ball.

The peach-basket was replaced by a metal one and in 1906 by open loops fixed on a pole or board, ten feet (3 m) above the ground. This dispensed with the ladder that had been necessary until then to retrieve the ball from the basket.

Repeated bouncing of the ball (dribbling) was illegal in Naismith's original rules.

Naismith's original 13 rules were constantly changed and not until 1934 were they finally standardized.

James Naismith, was the first coach of the Kansas Jayhawks. He is also the only Kansas coach with a losing record.

Basketball was televised for the first time when the University of Pittsburgh's win against Fordham University at Madison Square Garden was shown by NBC station W2XBS on February 28, 1940.

The Harlem Globetrotters were central to integrating the NBA. In exhibition games in 1948 and 1949, the all-black team defeated the Minneapolis Lakers, champions of the all-white NBL. The first black NBA players came from the Globetrotters, and Wilt Chamberlain played for them before turning pro.

The first American Basketball Association (ABA) game was played on October 13, 1967, between the Oakland Oaks and the Anaheim Amigos at the Oakland Arena in Oakland, California. The Oaks won the game 134-129. Andy Anderson of the Oaks was the high scorer with 33 points.

On January 20, 1968, the underdog Houston Cougars stunned the nation by toppling the mighty UCLA Bruins 71-69, ending their 47-game winning streak in a game dubbed the "Game of the Century." This electrifying clash, broadcast live in primetime, catapulted college basketball into the national spotlight.

The ABA was a professional basketball league that operated in the United States from 1967 to 1976. It merged with the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1976, with four ABA teams joining the NBA. The ABA was known for its innovative rules, including the three-point shot and the slam dunk contest. It also featured a number of star players, including Julius Erving, Rick Barry, and George Gervin.

In 1980 the NBA Board of Governors voted to make the 3-point goal a permanent part of pro basketball. They drew the 3-point line at 23 feet 9 inches.

BASKETBALL RECORDS

The lowest-scoring game in NBA history took place on November 22, 1950, between the Fort Wayne Pistons and the Minneapolis Lakers. The final score was 19-18, with the Pistons emerging victorious. This game stands as a stark contrast to the high-scoring affairs that have become commonplace in modern basketball.

Several factors contributed to the low score in this game. First, the pace of play was much slower than it is today. Also The Pistons' strategy in this game was to stall the offense and prevent the Lakers from scoring. They did this by holding the ball for long periods of time, and they were also very successful at rebounding the ball. 

The United States suffered its first loss of an Olympic basketball game on September 10, 1972 in a disputed match against the Soviet Union at the Olympic Games in Munich, Germany. The Americans had won the previous seven gold medals, since the sport began Olympic play in 1936. and was favored to win another at the 1972 Summer Olympics. The Soviets won the game by a single point, making the winning basket as time expired and igniting vociferous American objections questioning the legitimacy of the final play.

The Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association had a 33-game winning streak before losing to the Milwaukee Bucks on January 9, 1972, It was the longest winning streak in major American professional team sports.

The Philadelphia 76ers hold the record for most defeats in a season with 73 during their 1972-1973 season.

In 1977 University of Cincinnati guard Brian Williams roared in for a dunk but misjudged the distance and missed everything -- except the head of referee Darrin Brown. It's the only known slam-dunk air ball in basketball history.

The highest-scoring game in NBA history occurred on December 13, 1983, when the Detroit Pistons defeated the Denver Nuggets 186–184 in triple overtime at McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado. The two teams combined to score 370 points, the most in an NBA game to date.

The Pistons, led by Isiah Thomas's 47 points, were able to overcome a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime. The Nuggets, led by Kiki Vandeweghe's 51 points, were able to tie the game with just over 10 seconds remaining in the first overtime period. However, the Pistons were able to pull away in the second overtime period to secure the victory.

The highest-scoring regulation NBA game was played on November 2, 1990, between the Golden State Warriors and the Denver Nuggets. The Warriors defeated the Nuggets 162-158. The Warriors were led by Chris Mullin, who scored 38 points. The 162 points scored by the Warriors is the most points scored by any team in a regulation NBA game.

On December 2, 2021, the Memphis Grizzlies beat Oklahoma City Thunder 152-79, the largest margin of victory in an NBA game.

The 1992 Olympics US basketball team (the "Dream Team") won all of their games by an average of 44 points. They have been called "the most dominant squad ever assembled in any sport."

With his 1000th win with the Utah Jazz, Jerry Sloan becomes the first coach in NBA history to reach the mark with one team on November 7, 2008. Sloan also holds the record for coaching one team longer than anyone in NBA history. The 2009–10 season was his 22nd season (and 21st full season) as coach of the Jazz.

FUN BASKETBALL FACTS

Basketball is the national sort of Lithuania and Georgia. It is the summer national sport in Latvia, where ice hockey is the winter national sport.

Los Angeles Lakers name comes from the team's Minnesota roots. The basketball team was founded in Detroit, Michigan in 1946, and a year later, they moved to Minnesota and adopted the Lakers moniker to honor Minnesota's state motto of "The Land of 10,000 Lakes." Even though the team moved to Los Angeles in 1960, they decided to keep the name.

Basketball has been included at every Olympics since 1936 and was a demonstration sport in 1904.

North Korea has developed its own scoring system for the game: three points for a dunk, four points for a three pointer that doesn't touch the rim, and eight points for a basket scored in the final three seconds. Also a point is deducted for missed free throws.

Hospital emergency rooms in the US in 2013 treated 268,580 cases for injuries sustained by playing basketball. No other team sport caused more injuries.

Air Jordans were banned from the NBA. Michael Jordan wore them anyway and had Nike pay the fines.

Sigourney Weaver made the behind-the-back, half-court basketball shot successfully on the very first take in the 1997 movie Alien: Resurrection after two weeks of basketball tutoring.

Players in the US National Basketball Association (NBA) are said to be on average the world’s best paid sportsmen.

A basketball hoop is 18 inches in diameter.

There's a basketball court above the Supreme Court. It's known as the Highest Court in the Land.

Shooting free throws in basketball underhanded, or "granny style," is statistically more effective, but players don't do it because it doesn't look cool.

Sources Europress Encyclopedia, Buzzfeed, Daily Express