James naismith biography video on michael jordan

And yet if we look closer at these two central basketball figures, we can see surprising areas of shared values and interests. Jordan wanted to win, yes. But perhaps just as much, he loved the challenge. He loved to compete. A man who came out of retirement for a second time to give it one more go with an aging and creaking body. This was an athlete Naismith could respect, one who sought out impossible challenges.

Naismith was always wary about the increasing power coaches had in his sport. Basketball, in his view, was made for the players. It was a space for them to explore, to create, to become better versions of themselves—limited only by the rules that officials were to dutifully enforce. Coaches could sometimes get in the way of this. Of course, Naismith emphasized the team concept, too.

Yet he also delighted in the new moves that players discovered. He never envisioned the dribble when he invented his game. Jordan did not overpower his opponents with brute strength, but by going over, around, and between them. There is at least one more thing Naismith would appreciate about Jordan: his role as a global ambassador for the sport.

Although Naismith saw basketball as part of his Christian mission in life, he did not hold it tightly. He gave it away for all to enjoy, supporting its spread beyond its white Protestant origins to a diverse constituency made up of men and women. Basketball, unleashed and unbound after to captivate, bring joy, and cultivate character, could do that.

Naismith would no doubt approve of the extent to which Jordan popularized the game across the globe and encouraged its growth. To play it effectively, Naismith found that it was better to lob the stones rather than forcefully throw them directly at the target. This was a key idea in the creation of basketball. He, therefore, wanted to have a goal with a horizontal opening high enough so that the ball would need to be tossed into it rather than being thrown.

Naismith asked the school janitor if he could find two 18 inch boxes to use for the goals. The janitor came back with two peach baskets. Naismith took the baskets and nailed them to the lower rail of the gymnasium balcony, which just happened to be 10 feet from the ground. From there Naismith was ready to start the first game. After looking at various sources, most are in agreement that the first basketball game was played on December 21, This is when Naismith posted the original rules and a game was played using them.

It is a little unclear if there were any attempts or practices before that. He stated that it ended in a large scrum with the players wrestling, pushing and shoving to get the ball, the opposite of what he was hoping for. Several players ended up with bruises and black eyes. One ended up with a dislocated shoulder and another was even knocked unconscious.

However it happened, Naismith was compelled to write the 13 original rules of basketball and posted them in the gymnasium for the players to see. On December 21, , the first game was played with the 13 original rules. Because he had 18 students in his class, he split the teams into two teams with 9 players each. With the new rules in place, the game went just as Naismith had imagined it.

The gym was only about 50 ft. Much smaller than the standard courts today. The game was divided into two 15 minute halves and of the 9 players on each team, there were 3 centers, 3 forwards and 3 guards. The game started with a jump ball and the players learned to pass the ball in order to advance it up and down the court since dribbling was not yet part of the game.

At the end of the game, the score was a whopping 1 — 0. Team 1 ended up prevailing in the first game with William R. Chase on record as the first scored basket in basketball history. The following are the 13 original rules that Naismith used to tame his class of energetic athletes during the first basketball game :. As the game spread across the country, and eventually the world, the rules were modified and new rules were adopted to ultimately improve on the game.

Changes were also made to the equipment. Originally, there needed to be people at each end of the courts with ladders to get the ball out the peach basket anytime someone scored. They eventually cut small holes in the bottom of the peach baskets so they could poke the ball out with a stick. Eventually, metal rims and nets were created.

Originally, Naismith, had his players use a soccer ball because that was the largest and softest ball they had around. He wanted a large ball that was easy to handle but was soft and safer than using a hard baseball or lacrosse ball. The basketball was not made until when Naismith persuaded A. After that first game, Naismith was not completely confident in how the game was received, but the students came back the next day and were itching to play again.

It was a success and soon after, small crowds were gathering at the YMCA to watch the daily games. As students returned home for Christmas vacation they began spreading the game organically amongst friends. The game began to spread rapidly in January of when Naismith wrote an article introducing the game. Naismith credited this article and its correspondence with the rapid spread of the game across the country.

The game began spreading to large and small towns alike across the U. S and Canada. It spread so rapidly that many states have had disputes over which small town started playing the game first. With the recent digitization of newspaper articles, we can now search and find many articles showing YMCAs in small towns introducing the game as early as In some states such as Indiana, these articles have created quite the controversy and even with the digitized newspaper articles from , it is hard to determine who played basketball first.

Is it a practice, a scrimmage game, a pickup game, or a game between two organized teams? In any case, there is no doubt that the game was a huge success. International students who learned of the game also took the game home with them and the game began to slowly spread around the world. Some YMCA physical educators also began taking the game to other parts of the world, but the popularity of the game around the world would take off even quicker, once the United States Military learned of the game.

World War I started in and U. Troops entered the war in By this time there were many physical educators in the military and basketball had become a very popular game with the U. As they were deployed to Europe and other locations around the world, they took basketball with them and played it during their recreational time. As people in other countries witnessed the game, it became increasingly popular around the world.

Although basketball is a game that is already known to most of the world today, it continues to increase in popularity through the NBA, college and other leagues around the world.

James naismith biography video on michael jordan

As the game of basketball spread throughout the country and the world, teams began forming at places like the YMCA. Outside of the YMCA clubs, several basketball leagues also began to form. The first professional league was formed in It consisted of 6 teams and was called the National Basketball League. The league was eventually abandoned in There were also organized teams that played exhibition games, traveling from town to town and often playing the same team or local organized teams.

By Erik Spanberg James Naismith holds the ball and peach basket that served as the elements of the original game. Later in the show, Jay Kaufman of NRG drops in to provide deep insight into sports media consumption data and patterns. Shareable URL copied to clipboard! Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you. You have 0 articles remaining.

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