December 21, 1891: The Invention of Basketball

December 21, 1891: Basketball is invented by Dr. James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts. Unlike baseball, football and hockey, we have definitive answers as to the invention of basketball: We know who, when, where, how... and even why.

For those of you born in the 21st Century: No, basketball was not invented by LeBron James. For those of you born in the 1990s: No, it was not invented by Kobe Bryant. For those of you born in the 1980s: No, it was not invented by Michael Jordan. Maybe Wilt Chamberlain re-invented it, but he did not invent it.

James Naismith (no middle name) was born on November 6, 1861 in Almonte (now part of Mississippi Mills), Ontario, outside the Canadian capital of Ottawa. He graduated from Montreal's McGill University, where he lettered in lacrosse, gymnastics, soccer, rugby, and the Canadian version of gridiron football. He was hired as McGill's athletic director in 1890, but, just a year later, he was hired by the Young Men's Christian Association International Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, the facility that is now Springfield College.

The YMCA's directors asked him to invent a game that could be played indoors in the Winter, when baseball and football couldn't be played. It would not be volleyball, but that would be close. Literally: William G. Morgan invented that sport in 1895, just 4 years later, and only 10 miles away in Holyoke, Massachusetts. And he would use the Springfield school for its 1st demonstration.

Naismith knew he should start with a ball, but with a large, soft one, like a soccer ball; not a small, hard one like a baseball, which would be dangerous in the confined space of a gymnasium. Morgan would follow this suggestion, and so, to this day, a standard volleyball now resembles an old-time soccer ball more than does a current soccer ball, or a current basketball, for that matter.

Naismith noted that most of the rough action of a sport took place around its goal: The goal in soccer, hockey or lacrosse; the end zone in football or rugby; or home plate in baseball. So he thought he could reduce the danger by raising the height of the goal.

He asked the school's custodian, a Mr. Stubbins, to get him two boxes, which he could use as goals. He was ready to name his sport "boxball." The custodian could only find peach baskets. So Dr. Naismith had invented basketball instead. The date was December 21, 1891.

In his handwritten report, Naismith told of the first game. Teams were nine-a-side, as opposed to the eventual standard of five-a-side. A soccer ball was used, as there was, as yet, no such thing as a basketball. The peach baskets, which would eventually be replaced by netting, were secured to the inside of the railing of the gymnasium's gallery, about 10 feet from the floor, setting a standard which has never changed.

Naismith had written 13 rules, and put them on a bulletin board on the gym wall. He said that the class did not show much enthusiasm. He said that most of the fouls were called for running with the ball, and some for tackling the ballcarrier like in football. There was, as yet, no dribbling: The ball could only be moved up the court by passing. And after every goal (later to be called a basket), another jump ball was taken (a rule eliminated in 1938). 

Through the influence of the YMCA's worldwide organization, the word was spread. Naismith earned his medical degree, and in 1898 became the head coach at the University of Kansas, which became one of the great college basketball programs. He remained head coach until 1907, and continued to teach at their Lawrence campus until his death on November 28, 1939, at the age of 78.

Within the last 4 years of his life, he had seen the debut of sold-out doubleheaders involving national powers at Madison Square Garden, the debut of basketball as an official medal sport at the Olympic Games, and the foundation of the NIT and the NCAA Tournament.

One of Naismith's players at Kansas was Forrest "Phog" Allen, who later became their head coach, and for whom their Allen Fieldhouse is named. Allen's players included Adolph Rupp, who turned the University of Kentucky into a national power; and Dean Smith, who did the same at North Carolina. One of Smith's players, Roy Williams, became head coach at Kansas, and excelled there before going back to North Carolina and winning National Championships there.

It all goes back to 1891, and James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1968, on the campus of Springfield College, which had been the YMCA school, the first Basketball Hall of Fame building opened. It was, and remains officially, named the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The growth of the sport required a new building in Springfield in 1985, and yet another in 2002.

There had been a Hall of Fame organization since 1959, prior to the construction of the first building. Naismith was one of the Hall's 15 charter inductees.

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December 21, 1891 was a Monday. Baseball and football were out of season, which is why basketball was invented, anyway. Hockey was still all-amateur. So the only score of significance on this historic day is the score of that very first game of basketball.

And only one goal was scored: One of the intramural teams beat the other, 1-0. In 1896, the rule was changed so that a single basketball goal was credited with the now-familiar 2 points.

February 9, 1895: The Invention of Volleyball

February 9, 1895: Like its contemporary, basketball, but unlike baseball, football, ice hockey and soccer, we know about the invention of volleyball. We know who, when, where, and why.

Indeed, the invention of volleyball has a direct connection to that of basketball. They were both invented under the banner of the YMCA, the Young Men's Christian Association. They were invented a shade over 3 years apart, and at a distance of 10 miles.

William George Morgan was born on January 23, 1870 in Lockport, New York, outside Buffalo. He attended the YMCA International Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, a school which would evolve into Springfield College. While there, he was a student of Dr. James Naismith, who invented basketball there on December 21, 1891.

During the Summer of 1895, Morgan moved 10 miles north to Holyoke, Massachusetts, where he continued to work for the YMCA, becoming the Director of Physical Education. With Morgan being the Director, it allowed him to devise workout plans and teach sports in depth.

He invented a game for his clients at the YMCA, most of whom were middle-aged businessmen for whom the physical demands of basketball were too great. Because he originally derived the game from badminton, he initially named the sport "mintonette." As with baseball, he gave his game 9 rounds and called them "innings." Eventually, this would change, depending on the level of the game, with 1st to 15 points, or 1st to 21 points, wins.

William G. Morgan

After an observer, Alfred Halstead, noticed the volleying nature of the game at its first exhibition match in 1896, played at Springfield, the game quickly became known as "volley ball" -- like "base ball," originally written as two words. As with basketball, the YMCA spread the game throughout its installations, all over the world.

Despite its being popular in high school and college sports, being an Olympic sport since 1964, the growth of its beach variety, and the efforts of many people, including an attempt in the late 1970s by basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain, who loved the sport, there has never been a major professional league for volleyball. I guess, with the NBA and the NHL having such a hold on North Americans' Winter viewing habits, both live and on television, there just isn't room for it.

Morgan left his job at the YMCA in 1897, to start a new career with General Electric and Westinghouse. He stayed in touch with Springfield College and stated that he was "content in the knowledge that the game brought a richer life to millions of people throughout the world." He died on December 27, 1942, in Lockport, at the age of 72.

In 1985, the City of Holyoke established the Volleyball Hall of Fame. Morgan was the 1st inductee.

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February 9, 1895 was a Saturday. There were no scores in North American sports. Baseball and football were out of season, hockey was still all-amateur, and basketball had barely been invented.

In English soccer, Woolwich Arsenal, the forerunner of the team I would later support, played Yorkshire team Rotherham Town to a 1-1 draw at the Manor Ground in Plumstead, then a part of Kent but now a part of South-East London.

Three days earlier, in Baltimore, a child was born to George Herman Ruth and his wife, Katie Schamberger. He would be named George Herman Ruth Jr., The world would know him as Babe Ruth.