The Origin of the Game of Basketball

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There are 5 seconds left on the clock in the last quarter, the coach calls a time out. Down by 2, the team has a chance to win the game. The whistle blows and the clock winds down, 5...The ball is passed in…4…the point guard dribbles around the key…3…the ball is passed to the shooting guard…2…the shooting guard passes it back to the point guard…1…the point guard shoots from behind the 3-point line…0. Countless fans across the globe may get thrills while watching an intense minor or professional basketball game, although, few actually know where or how this widely popular sport was created. From this paper, one will acquire information about the origin of the game of basketball, how the game has evolved over time, and basketball as a business.

“The two questions that I am most commonly asked when I am discussing basketball with persons whom I have just met are, "How did you come to think of it?" and "What changes have taken place in the game since its origin?”” (Naismith 61). The game of basketball started at a local YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts in late 1891. In the late 1870’s, men who attended college would usually find an intercollegiate sport to participate in. However, when the men graduated and moved to the cities to find jobs for themselves, they found that there was too much leisure time and began searching for athletic diversion. Men often filled their newfound leisure time with different sporting clubs and the YMCA. With so many summer and fall sports to choose from, the athletes found it astonishing that winter sports and organizations were hard to come by. In fact, the only activity clubs and the YMCA tried to interest the men with was gymnastics. Nonetheless, gymnastics could never amount to filling the gaping h...

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2. "Billion-Dollar Knicks and Lakers Top List of NBA's Most Valuable Teams." Forbes.com, January 23, 2013.

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Association Press. "BASKETBALL: Its Origin and Development." Kirkus Reviews. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/james-naismith/basketball-its-origin-and-development-2/

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