From YMCA to NBA, Basketball Hall of Fame reflects rich, complex history of ...
It's a story of near mythical origins. In 1891, Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian phys. ed. instructor at the YMCA School for Training in Springfield, Massachusetts, was assigned the task of creating an indoor game that a restless group of aspiring secretaries could play during the cold winter months. At the time, indoor exercise programs were mostly restricted to the boring routine of drills and calisthenics. Naismith wanted a game that was fun, physically-demanding, emphasized skill over strength, and could be played in a limited space.
Drawing on the concept of "Duck-on-a-Rock," a game Naismith played as a boy in which players lofted rocks in order to knock other rocks off a base stone, Naismith attached two peach baskets to the opposite ends of a gymnasium ten feet above the floor (a measurement which remarkably holds true today), posted thirteen rules (almost all of which are outdated), and brought out a leather soccer ball (the "dribble" had not yet been invented). On December 21, 1891, the first "Basket Ball" game was played, and the sport that would come to capture the imagination of millions was born.