Basketball (1792)

It is known that in the winter of 1892, Dr. James Naismith, instructor of the Training College in Springfield, Massachusetts, invented the game of basketball in order to provide indoor exercise and competition for the students between the closing of the football season and the opening of the baseball season. He affixed peach baskets overhead on the walls at opposite ends of the gymnasium, and organized teams to play his new game in which the purpose was to toss the ball into one basket and prevent, as far as possible, the opponents from tossing the ball into the other basket. Fundamentally, the game is the same today, though there have been some improvements in equipment and many changes in the rules.

Due to its simple equipment requirements, indoor play, competitiveness, and easily understood rules, the game gained popularity quickly. United States soldiers introduced the game in Europe during the World War I and it soon became a world-wide sport. Basketball, as a team sport, is now played by more than 250 million people worldwide. Though it is still chiefly an in­door game in the United States, in other countries it flourishes almost entirely outdoors.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the major professional basketball league in the world from the United States and Canada. The NBA now has 29 teams competing in two conferences, the Eastern and Western, in four separate divisions. In the second week of February, the NBA interrupts its season to celebrate the annual All-Star game, featuring the game's best players as selected by fans throughout the United States and Canada. In a fan poll, Michael Jordan was voted the greatest player in NBA history. At the end of the season, the champions from the Eastern and Western conferences meet in a best-of-seven series to determine the NBA champion.

More than 200 national federations belong to FIBA, the Federation of International Basketball, and an independent organization that governs international basketball. In 1992, professional players were first allowed to compete in the Olympics, and a Dream Team, made up of the NBA's best players, was assembled.

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