In 1891, Dr. James A. Naismith, a physical education teacher at a school in Springfi eld, Massachusetts,
in the United States, was asked to create a game that could be played indoors during the harsh winters.
So Naismith put up two peach baskets on opposite walls of the gymnasium and got his class of 18
students to play a game of “basketball.” Th e team that dropped the ball into the basket more times won.
At fi rst, a football was used, but in 1894, it was decided that the ball should be 7 inches (81 centimeters)
around and weigh 17.6 ounces (500 grams). In spite of all the changes that have taken place since then
in the game of basketball, the size of the ball has remained the same, but the weight has increased to 21
ounces (600 grams).
Th e baskets used in early games had the bottoms in them, and after
each goal, someone had to climb a ladder in order to get the ball out
and put it back into play. In 1906, open baskets were introduced,
which allowed the ball to pass through, and as a result, the pace of
the game became faster. In the beginning, no backboards were used
either. Th erefore, fans sitting behind the basket would push away
the ball when the opponent was going to score. Also in the early
days, each team was made up of nine players. It wasn’t until 1897
that the fi ve-player team became offi cial.