19 April 2008

Basketball, Now and the Early Years

For a quick preview, Meadowlark Lemon was a popular team leader for The Harlem Globetrotters which is originated in Chicago, Illinois, in 1927. He was a professional athlete who specializes in tricky moves and hilarious slapstick. Surely, he has entertained basketball fans around the world since the team’s inception.

Meadowlark Lemon and Wilt Chamberlain wouldn’t be famous basketball players, if James Naismith didn’t invent the basketball game in 1891. There wouldn’t be such names neither Jordan nor O’Neal right now. James developed the game as an activity for his students during the harsh winter months, as he taught physical education at McGill University and later at Young Men’s Christian Association Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts.

At first, Naismith assembled his class of 18 young men to play the game. He sent the school janitor to seek for two boxes as the basketball goals, fastened to a balcony railing at opposite sides of the gymnasium. Unsuccessful, the janitor only found two half-bushel peach baskets, and the game was played with those baskets.

Nowadays, the game itself has been changing with many improvements and specialized equipment. For example, the baskets in the early days were closed at the bottom, which means someone should climb up to retrieve the ball after a made basket. Basketball court dimensions also changing from time to time, but now a playing area 84 ft (25.6 m) long and 50 ft (15.2 m) wide is considered ideal for most players. And basketball should not always be played in a court or indoor field. Since inground basketball hoops are easy to install, everyone can play it in front of their garage.

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