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How basketball became popular
How basketball became popular
How did basketball develop - DailyHistory.org
Figure 1. Statue of Naismith in Kansas, which is dedicated to his invention of basketball.
Unlike other major sports, the origins of basketball are not very ancient and most historians agree that the sport was founded in 1891 by James Naismith. However, its development was at times complex and was able to thrive as other major sports enthralled audiences in the United States and later the world.
Early History
With the invention of basketball in 1891, a new game that was very different than its contemporaries formed. The specific founding of basketball are precisely known because James Naismith (Figure 1), who worked as a instructor at a YMCA, was given the task of creating an indoor game. This was seen as a way to keep children out of trouble and entertained during the winter months. Initially, Naismith tried to create versions of American football or soccer as indoor sports. However, all of these proved too violent, as they also caused damage to property in confined spaces.![]()
Within two weeks of Naismith's task, the first basketball rules were created. Although done in haste, six of the original thirteen rules Naismith created are still with us. This includes not using your fist, shoulder, and not being allowed to run with the ball. The first "nets" were, in fact, two peach baskets attached at either end of the court.
The first ball was a soccer ball, with the first court being in Springfield College's YMCA in Springfield Massachusetts. The first baskets were 10 feet high, something that has been retained, but the ball could not go through the basket and after each score the ball had to be retrieved. The name "basket ball" developed when one of the children playing the new game referred to the game as such after seeing it.[1]
Very quickly, in January 20, 1892, the first official game, with 18 players, using Naismith's rules was played, with the final score 1-0. The first games were simply about keeping the ball away from the opposing team and it took some time for the concept of offense to develop.
By 1898, a professional league was already being founded, called the National Basketball League, although it did not prove to have long-term success, as it was abandoned within 6 years. In the next decade during the 1900s, the basketball net developed to be more like the modern one, with a net and backboard developed. The ball was replaced with a new type that is of more similar dimensions to those used today. [2]
Why Did Basketball Thrive?
Figure 2. The North Carolina Tar Heels were an early basketball team with this team photo from 1911.
As basketball was founded by the YMCA, which is a Christian institution, the spread of the game coincided also with missionary and medical activities undertaken. Soon, the YMCA used basketball as part of its work abroad and within North America. This helped to popularize not only the YMCA but also the game itself. [3]
Similar to American football, colleges became key places for spreading basketball (Figure 2).
With long winter months in many parts of the United States, people increasingly sought recreation during this time. Colleges developed indoor gymnasiums that soon became taken over with basketball courts, spreading the popularity of the game. This soon led to the organization of college basketball teams. New rules, including dribbling and concept of fouling out of games, developed. By the end of the 1910s, most of the rules that are with us today had developed in the college game. However, what did not develop were professional teams, as the early professional teams had to fold.[4]
Similar to baseball, however, it was war and the rapidly changing economy that developed that helped to shape how basketball spread. In the 1910s and going into World War I, the spread of soldiers to different parts of the country and world brought basketball to new places. In fact, the first official international games occurred as a result of World War I, as the allies created teams that competed in the so-called Inter-Allied Games.
Domestically, basketball continued to spread in colleges in the 1920s and 1930s, even as the professional leagues had still not developed. Disorganization and the Great Depression likely prevented basketball from becoming professional during this time. By 1938 and 1939, the development of the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament developed, which are still present. The University of Oregon was the NCAA's first winner with a score of 46-33 against Ohio State. [5]
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In 1937 and 1946, the National Basketball League (NBL) and Basketball Association of America (BAA) were created respectively. While the NBL eventually had to fold, some of its teams and the BAA merged into what became the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1949. [6]
The Modern Era
Like many other sports, the combination of superstars, radio, and then television helped to spread the popularity of the game and make the game modern with new stadiums purposely build for basketball.
The first true superstar was George Mikan, who was six feet and ten inches tall. His height forced changes to the game, mainly the 3-second lane being widened as his large height made the sport less competitive for opposing teams as he simply dominated underneath the basket with his height. By 1950, the basketball color barrier, which was far less formidable than that in baseball, was broken by Chuck Cooper who played for the Boston Celtics. By the late 1940s, slam dunks were becoming part of the game.[7]
The college game continued to thrive and it was the college game that continued to be ahead of the pros, with TV rights signed in the 1950s that helped to increase the games popularity. Meanwhile, the professional leagues popularity stalled, as rules regulating time wasting and fouling were not developed in the NBA. This led to the game becoming much slower and less interesting for viewers. In 1954, Danny Biasone introduced the 24 second shot clock and foul limits that then revitalized the professional game.
It now became a much faster sport, with higher scoring, where by 1958 average scoring topped the 100 mark, gaining more popularity. Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russel joining the professional game by the late 1950s helped to make the professional game popular. While Bill Russel helped found the Celtic dynasty of 1957-1969, Chamberlain is best remembered for his high scoring and being the first player to score 100 points in a game. Chamberlain's dominance led to the center lane being widened. The 1950s and 1960s were the first decades when television broadcasted games.
In 1967, the American Basketball Association (ABA) emerged as a threat to the NBA. It did have some major stars to its name because it began to actively recruit in college campuses. The NBA, meanwhile, developed its iconic logo that debuted in 1971. The ABA and NBA competed throughout the early 1970s. This was a period where the NBA grew from 9 to 18 teams, mostly because of the competition with the ABA forced the NBA to aggressively expand.
By 1976, however, the ABA and NBA merged. Another period of declining interest started in the late 1970s. This time the introduction of the three-point shot (in 1979) and arrival of major stars that became international phenomena revitalized the game. The first two were Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, who famously battled in the 1984 finals. With the arrival of Michael Jordan in 1984, the game's popularity surged to new heights and helped develop what many think of basketball today, as his style of play and commercialization of many aspects of the game became major draws for investors and fans alike.[8]
Global Phenomenon
Although early in its history basketball had already spread globally, with the Olympics adopting basketball by 1936, the modern era's popularity is attributed to both TV and players. Stars such as Michael Jordan were at times more popular than national heroes in foreign countries. Slow motion replay, no doubt, helped those worldwide watch how Michael Jordan would effortlessly glide or slam dunk in a seemingly impossible move.
The popularity of Michael Jordan awakened many firms in marketing basketball and the NBA promoting itself. The realization of how marketable Jordan was and the introduction of professional athletes to the Olympics in 1992 (so-called Dream Team) was part of the NBA strategy to expand its brand. This spread basketball's popularity, where it rivals football (or soccer) in many places. By 2014, the NBA itself had become international, with more than 100 players being foreign born. In 1992, only 23 players were foreign born.[9] This shows that the history of basketball will be one shaped by many nationalities despite the sports distinct American heritage.
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References
- ↑ For information on the invention of the game by Naismith, see: Rains, R.
(2011) OCLC: 829926672. James naismith: the man who invented basketball. Place of publication not identified, Temple University Press. - ↑ For more on the early games of basketball, see: Bjarkman, P.C. (2000) The biographical history of basketball: more than 500 portraits of the most significant on-and off-court personalities of the game’s past and present. Lincolnwood, Ill, Masters Press.
- ↑ For more on the early spread of basketball, see: Naismith, J. (1996) Basketball: its origin and development. Bison Books ed. Lincoln, University of Nebraska Press.
- ↑ For an early history on college basketball, see: Anon (2009) OCLC: 472605763. Summitt: a pictorial retrospective of college basketball’s greatest coach. Battle Ground, WA, Pediment Pub.
- ↑ For a post-war history of basketball, see: Mark Dyreson & J. A. Mangan (eds.) (2007) OCLC: ocm63397310. Sport and American society: exceptionalism, insularity, and ‘imperialism’. Sport in the global society. London ; New York, Routledge, pg.
46. - ↑ For an early history of professional basketball, see: Nelson, M.R. (2009) OCLC: 431502825. The National Basketball League: a history, 1935-1949. [Online]. Jefferson, N.C., McFarland & Co. Available from: http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=1593750 [Accessed: 10 August 2016].
- ↑ For a history of the NBA and its rules, see: Surdam, D.G. (2012) The rise of the National Basketball Association. Urbana, University of Illinois Press.
- ↑ For history on the ABA and NBA, see: Pluto, T. (2007) OCLC: 153578380. Loose balls: the short, wild life of the American Basketball Association. New York, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.
- ↑ For more on the internationalization of basketball, see: Markovits, A.S. & Rensmann, L. (2010) OCLC: 650308562. Gaming the world: how sports are reshaping global politics and culture. [Online]. Princeton, Princeton University Press, pg. 89.
Top Reasons Why Basketball is so Popular
Basketball is a popular sport all around the world.
It is popular in nearly every Asian, European, and American country. Basketball has even been designated as an Olympic sport. Basketball’s prominence on the Olympic platform has enabled it to become the world’s second-most popular team game, after only soccer. Basketball has established itself as a global economic and social force.
Read more: Drills to Prepare for Basketball Tryouts
Affordable
Basketball is among the most cost-effective sports to participate in. There isn’t any extra equipment required. All you need is a ball and a hoop to get started. It doesn’t even necessitate the use of a basketball or a hoop. A hoop can be made out of any ball or other object. A box can also be used in place of the hoop. It is possible to buy such equipment. To mention a few, there are high-end basketball and pro hoops. It’s a good idea to look for deals on the internet to save cash on these goods.
Accessible
Basketball is more available to the general public than any other sport.
It is both playable and watchable. It just takes one person to play basketball, and it’s a lot of fun. Basketball may be practiced on the road, at a schoolyard, inside, outdoors, and in a variety of other settings. Basketball is now aired internationally, so you can attend a match virtually from anywhere in the world. The games are also streamed live online.
Easy to Learn and Play
Basketball regulations are simple to understand and play. The game’s simple rules make it simple to understand and play for players of all ages.
Teaches Teamwork
Basketball fosters collaboration, which is one of the main reasons for its appeal among parents. They learn to collaborate with their classmates and acquire important social skills. Basketball also helps to enhance focus while burning calories, increasing balance, agility, and stamina.
Read more: Setting Goals in Youth Sports
FUN
The game is entertaining. In comparison to other sports, the game’s duration is brief.
You get to connect and get out with others who share your interests. Throughout the game, the anticipation is tremendous. The spectators get worked up over the dunk and the alley-oops. Basketball online gaming is popular because the sport is so enjoyable.
Basketball is still popular now because of well-known former players. When most people think about basketball, the very first person who comes to mind is probably Michael Jordan. Basketball players perform crazy stunts and get in trouble, which draws fans to the sport because they want to see how amazing or awful they can play now that they’ve been caught in the news doing something improper. Basketball is well-known around the globe because it is played everywhere. Everyone likes basketball because they don’t just follow it to observe the movements and benefit from them; they also marvel at the footwear that the stars may be wearing.
Basketball keeps you engaged with all of the many types of players, such as passers, playmakers, shooters, defenders, and dunkers or high flyers.
Nothing beats the sensation of a ball passing through the hoop without touching anything (or not). Basketball has gained popularity to become one of the most popular sports in the world.
Read more: THE IMPORTANCE OF WORK ETHIC FOR A STUDENT-ATHLETE
How did basketball become popular? - Information about companies in Dnipro
17:40, 22 March 2016
Sports
In the sports world, basketball is rightly one of the most popular games, and in some countries - a cult sport. If you also dream of doing it at an amateur level, the basketball training presented on the HOOPS portal will help you.
Today, a league like the American National Basketball Association is a cultural phenomenon that attracts athletes from all over the world. Although, in the era of the birth of this sport, it differed from the option that is now familiar to mankind. At the origins of the development of this game, instead of a traditional basketball basket, a braid for apricots or peaches was used.
After each goal, a ladder had to be used to restart the process. Only after a while they began to use baskets with a cut off bottom.
The first mention of basketball-like entertainment can be found in ancient civilizations. The Maya Indians played a similar game called “pok-ta-pok”, and the losing team was sacrificed to the gods to organize the next match with them. The basket for such a game was carved directly into the stone, the ball was smaller in size and rubber was used for its manufacture. Basketball began to take on its familiar form at the end of the 19th century, when James Naismith formulated the first principles of the new game. This sport began to spread rapidly in educational institutions, first in the state of Massachusetts, where it comes from, and then throughout America
The first match between professionals took place already in 1886, after which the game began to spread far beyond the US. After the end of World War II, basketball associations appeared, the most famous of which was the NBA, which was opened in 1946.
The dynamic sport was included in the program of the Summer Olympics in 1936.
Almost immediately after the start of the world forums, the USSR sports teams became one of the giants of international basketball. Like volleyball players, Soviet basketball players over the years have won many awards of various denominations at world championships and the Olympics. The only athletes who could offer worthy resistance to Soviet basketball players and basketball players were the Americans. In the team standings, based on the results of all world forums, Soviet and Russian athletes are second only to representatives of the United States. True, it should be taken into account that professional basketball players and basketball players of the American leagues began to take part in the Olympics and World Championships relatively recently.
The game is a mass sport largely due to the developed basketball infrastructure in many countries of the world. In almost any courtyard of large cities in the United States, European countries and Russia, you can see at least one basketball hoop.
In most countries, various children's and youth competitions are organized, and in the States, for example, all Americans forget about the NBA games during the so-called "March Madness". During this period, decisive knockout matches in the student basketball league take place.
Why is basketball so popular in the USA? | Physical Education and Sports
At the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, the US team won 65 medals (19 gold, 21 silver and 25 bronze). And at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010, the Americans pleased their people with brilliant performances, earning 37 medals (9 gold, 15 silver, 13 bronze). These victories are not accidental.
For most Americans, it is thanks to sports that the initial idea of life and the world is formed. Indeed, in sports such important values of American society as equality of chances for success, achievement of success, the desire to be the first, competition, a healthy lifestyle, etc.
are most clearly manifested in sports. and opportunities, as well as the ability to use them .
Most Americans are actively involved in sports also because they have long understood that maintaining health is much cheaper than restoring it. Constant and strict care of one's health has become an integral part of the American way of life, so sports grounds and swimming pools have firmly entered the local life. Love for sports, and especially for team sports, is instilled from an early age, especially great attention is paid to sports in schools.
Do you remember the 1991 comedy film Father of the Bride? On the eve of the wedding, late in the evening, father and daughter enthusiastically play basketball in their yard. When I first watched this movie many years ago, I was very surprised by this episode.
But after living here long enough, I stopped being surprised by the craze for basketball. Although, according to official polls, the most popular sport in the United States remains American football (very similar to rugby, but with slightly different rules), which was named as a favorite by 30% of the country's residents, Basketball , along with baseball, is one of the three most popular and developed sports . Frame from the film "Father of the Bride", 1991.
Photo: kinopoisk.ru
The popularity of basketball can be explained by a number of reasons.
- This game is characterized by a variety of movements: walking, running, stopping, turning, jumping, catching, throwing and dribbling, which improves metabolism, the activity of all body systems, and forms coordination.
- Basketball is less traumatic than American football or baseball.
- You can play basketball both indoors and outdoors, it does not require particularly complex equipment, expensive uniforms, that is, it is more accessible to all segments of the population.
Basketball poles with a basket on our street are almost every second house
Photo: Gertrud Rybakova, personal archive
In Houston, in residential areas with individual buildings, almost every second house, especially if children grow up there, has a basketball pole with a basket in the front yard, in front of the house, and in any free minute you can leave the ball, practice.
I often watch in my neighbors how a father and a five-year-old boy play in the evenings and on weekends. The boy began his "training" at the age of two. At first the basket was lowered lower, now it is raised almost to its full height. It is surprising that the kid almost without misses throws the ball into the basket, even from a distance of 5-7 meters.
My seventeen-year-old grandson can talk about basketball for hours and is ready to jump with the ball in any free minute.
He knows all the great players in the NBA-NBA (National Basketball Association), and Michael Jordan (Michael Jeffrey Jordan) and Yao Ming (Yao Ming) are role models, especially since Yao Ming plays for the Houston Rockets.
And what's so surprising? After all, the United States is the birthplace of modern basketball. Although there is evidence that the Aztecs played a similar ball game in the 14th century. But the spread of this wonderful team game began in the United States at the end of the 19th century. A famous NBA basketball player's handprint compared to his grandson's. Orlando, 2008
Photo: Gertrude Rybakova, personal archive
In 1891, at the Christian Youth Association Training Center in Springfield, Massachusetts , a young teacher, Dr. James Naismith, originally from Canada, came up with a new game to revive gymnastics lessons.
He attached two fruit baskets without a bottom to the railing of the balcony, into which a soccer ball was to be thrown. He developed the first 13 rules a year later.
Already in December 1891, the first official basketball competition was held at the school in Springfield. There were 18 students in the group, two teams of 9 participatedhuman. The very first matches under these rules caused them to change. Shields appear (protection of the basket), because the fans on the balconies caught flying balls and threw them into the opponent's basket. In 1893, iron rings with a grid appeared. The game turned out to be so interesting and dynamic that in 1894 the first official rules were published in the USA.
Basketball quickly spread to other countries: first to the East - to Japan, China, the Philippines, and then to Europe and South America.
Ten years later, at the Olympic Games in St. Louis, America, the Americans organized an exhibition tournament between teams from several cities.
In 1932, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) was established, and in 1935 the International Olympic Committee decided to recognize basketball as an Olympic sport.
FIBA headquarters, Switzerland
Photo: Christophe Badoux, ru.wikipedia.org
Basketball was added to the program at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin . The game's guest of honor was James Naismith, the creator of this game. Teams from 21 countries participated in the basketball tournament. Matches were played on open tennis courts. During this Olympiad, the first FIBA Congress took place, where the existing and adopted unified international rules of the game were considered.
Basketball is currently the fastest growing sport in the world. One of the reasons for this growing popularity is the activity of of the National Basketball Association (NBA) , which shows the most talented and popular basketball players performing their amazing sports feats on a high-profile stage.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the world's premier basketball league. Founded in 1946, the NBA has a rich and storied history, and over the past decades it has become more popular around the world than any other American sports league. Now the NBA includes 30 teams from the cities of the USA and Canada, which are geographically divided into the Western and Eastern conferences, each of the conferences is divided into three divisions of 5 teams. Photo: Depositphotos
NBA games are constantly televised both in the US and around the world, attracting a very large number of fans to television screens.
