The game of basketball was fashioned from fragments of other games, seeking to eliminate flaws of indoor rugby, soccer and lacrosse. Naismith also borrowed aspects from the children’s game “Duck-on-a-Rock,” in which children tried to knock off a rock from a boulder by tossing smaller rocks from about 20 feet away (Lauren S. Bahr, 1995).

There has been no question that basketball was first played in the United States. In fact, the first game was played at the International Young Men’s Christian Association Training School, now called Springfield College. (Joseph Morse, 1973) Naismith invented basketball as an alternative to the calisthenics and marching his students practiced to keep fit in the winters (Lauren S. Bahr, 1995).

Basketball was a simple game, which consists of a ball and a basket. The very first ball that was used was a soccer ball until 1894 when an actual “basketball” was invented. The basketball was slightly smaller, about 30 inches in diameter (William D.Halsey, 19

For six years the NBA had operated with an eight-team league. These teams included the Boston Celtics, New York Knickerbockers and the Philadelphia Warriors. By the early 1960’s the NBA expansion began with such teams as the Chicago Bulls, Seattle Supersonics and the Phoenix Suns (Barbara A. Cherow, 1993).

At this time in 1927 basketball was drawing extraordinary popularity not only with the fans but also with its 20,000,000 players worldwide (Frank G. Menke, 1970).

Through the years of 1891 to the 1940’s there were many rule changes as well as addition of rules to the game of basketball. In 1895, the free throw was introduced after a person was fouled. The problem with this rule at first was that a team had a “special shooter” to take the foul shots. It was not until 1923 that a player that had been fouled had to shoot the foul shots (Joseph Morse, 1973). In 1897, the number of players allowed on the court was reduced to five on each team. A team consisted of a center, two forwards and two guards. At the beginning, there were allowing six, seven and even eight player on each team (William D. Halsey, 1975). In 1908, the addition of the five foul rule was introduced into the game. It stated that a player who had exceeded the limit was not permitted to continue play of the game. One of the most important rules, which helped speed up the game, came in 1937. It was the elimination of the jump ball after any foul or stoppage in play. Since the standardization of rules in 1934, I believe that the game of basketball had changed for the best because it allowed for more speed and intensity.

Some topics in this essay:
Lauren Bahr, Joseph Morse, Frank Menke, Kevin Garrnet, William Halsey, Harlem Globetrotters, Basketball Association, Bob Kurland, Saperstein Negro, Basketball League, game basketball, lauren bahr, bahr 1995, lauren bahr 1995, national basketball, morse 1973, basketball league, joseph morse 1973, basketball association, joseph morse, national basketball league, national basketball association, harlem globetrotters, frank menke, frank menke 1970,