History of Basketball
Basketball is a team sport played between two teams of five players who face off and attempt to shoot the ball into the net by dribbling and passing it across the court. In December 1891 Dr. James Naismith, a physical education instructor, at the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts invented the basic rules of basketball. He designed the game as a vigorous indoor sport intended to keep students fit during harsh winters, when it was virtually impossible to play outdoors. Originally, the game was played with an actual basket that was nailed to a wall. Over the years, the sport has evolved into its present hoop, net and backboard form. Each time the team gets the ball through the net, the team scores.
Although basketball has become a sport played by people all over the world, it still remains the most popular in the land of its birth. The NBA (National Basketball Association) is the top professional basketball league in the world. It is comprised of twenty-nine teams from the United States and one from Canada. The FIBA (Fédération Internationale de Basketball) or the International Basketball Federation, is the sport’s official governing body. It organizes the FIBA World Championship, a quadrennial tournament for men’s national teams. The FIBA European Basketball Championship, also known as EuroBasket, is a popular basketball competition for men’s national teams within FIBA’s European Zone.
Previous Basketball season(s)
The United States won its first gold medal in basketball at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. It was the first U.S. Olympic team to consist of NBA stars, including three of the all-time greatest basketball players: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. This truly talented group of players became known as the Dream Team. Their exceptional performance at the Olympics brought basketball to the lime light, and the sport has rivaled the popularity of football among international audiences ever since. The 2009 NBA finals saw Kobe Bryant and the LA Lakers enter the championships final for the 30th time in the NBA history. The Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic headed by Dwight Howard, with four games to one in a best-of-seven series.
