Basketball

Basketball is a sport that has changed in various ways since its invention in 1891. It has evolved and expanded across the United States and across the world. Although it has had its ups and downs basketball is still a sport that is enjoyed by over 250 million people in this world. Today it is one of the biggest sports known and it continues to grow every year with new players bringing new styles and competition. The changes throughout the history of basketball can be shown through its origin, how it developed into a competitive sport, and its evolution into present day leagues. The game of basketball was invented by Dr. James Naismith, on December 14, 1891, in Springfield, Massachusetts. Naismith wanted to find a sport that would keep the

The major competitive games were played majorly on the east coast in states such as New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. The first professional game was played on November 7, 1896, in Trenton, New Jersey. At this game, each player got paid $15, which is not an adequate amount compared to the earnings that professional players make today. Yale was actually the first college to win the National College Championship in 1901. A lot of colleges adopted the sport because, “ It was good competitive exercise for students and students didn't have to be strong to play basketball”. Once the YMCA started to host more basketball games they realized it was dangerous and soon banned it from their gyms. A few of the well-known professional teams at that time included the New York Celtics and the Buffalo Germans. The New York Celtics were considered a very dominant and successful team. Due to the start of World War I they briefly had to disband their team, but later started it back up again. With the first development of professional games the players only got paid $2.50 for home games and $1.25 for away games. During that time period that was actually a satisfactory amount of money to be made. Over time various leagues started to form for different basketball teams and the sport began to be played more seriously and more

The formation of the National Basketball Association (NBA) was created on August 3, 1949. This was due to the merger of the National Basketball League (NBL) and the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The NBA teams actually played against the American Basketball Association (ABA) for nine years until the ABA folded. Four teams from the ABA are actually part of the NBA today- Indiana, Denver, New York, and San Antonio. The NBA began to become a widely popular league and is known for having some of the best players known today. Eventually, in 1996 the NBA formed the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) with 8 teams making it still a fairly new league today. An African American woman named Sheryl Swoopes was the first woman ever signed to play in the WNBA. Their first game wasn’t played until 1997 with the New York Liberty playing the Los Angeles Sparks. A team was made in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2003 giving the NBA a total of 30 active teams, while the WNBA has a total of 12