Basketball, one of the most popular sports in the world, had very humble beginnings. Dr. James Naismith, a physical education instructor, created the game of basketball. The Canadian born Naismith, while at the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, invented basketball in 1891, when looking for an indoor sport during the winter months – specifically to keep his football players in shape during the off season months.

The Invention

Naismith and his wife saw an article in a magazine from South America that featured an Aztec ball game called Ollamalitzli, and the Mayan game called Ulama, where the round bouncy ball had to go through a hole. He also read another article by Tom Ellison, a New Zealander, which described an ancient Maori ball game that involved a lot of handball skills, where the ball was passed aerially with speed and agility.

Taking these games into account, he and his wife devised a new ball game, to be played indoors in a gym. He developed 13 rules for his game, and divided his 18 players into two teams of nine players each. Two peach baskets were tied to the lower railing of the gym’s balcony. The idea was to throw the soccer ball into these peach baskets. As the bottoms of the peach baskets were intact, the game had to be stopped every time the ball entered the basket, for the janitor to get a ladder and retrieve the ball!

Of course, those days the games were very low scoring affairs. The very first basketball game ever played had an amazingly low score of 1-0. The first official game, played on January 20, 1892, was played on a court half the size of the modern National Basketball Association (NBA) court, involving the use of a soccer ball and two peach baskets for goal.

YMCA, which initially spread the game, later started to discourage playing it, as it was quite rowdy and rough, and deviated from its basic mission. The game however caught on, and it was picked up enthusiastically by other sports clubs, professional clubs, and colleges.

Basketball, of course, used soccer balls initially, and the first basketballs made for the game were brown in color. In the late 1950s, the orange color basketballs were introduced by Tony Hinkle, to make the balls easily visible to the players and the spectators.

Tickets

From such humble beginnings, basketball has grown into a game that is played by more than 300 million people worldwide. The legends of the game, such as:

Michael Jordan

Larry Bird

“Dr. J” Julius Erving

Magic Johnson

Kareem Abdul Jabbar

Wilt Chamberlain

Bill Russell

Oscar Robertson or Robinson

“Pistol Pete” Maravich

have added richness to the game, over the years.

Basketball tickets, whether for the professional games or the collegiate games, are well sought after. You can arrange your basketball tickets for the games of your choice through legitimate ticket brokers.

Put in your request for the basketball tickets for the games of your choice and they will be delivered to you.

The Canadian, Dr. James Naismith, a physical education instructor, while at the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, invented the game of basketball, in 1891. The following year, in 1892, he put together the rules of the game, and the first game of college basketball involved 18 players from YMCA, Springfield, who split into two teams of nine each. This was in 1893.

The first recorded instance when a basketball game involved at least one college team was between Geneva College and New Brighton, YMCA, on April 8, 1893, in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, which Geneva College won. Geneva College calls itself ‘The Birthplace of College Basketball.’

It was on February 9, 1895, that two basketball teams from two different colleges – Minnesota State School of Agriculture, and the Porkers of Hamline College – played the first college basketball game. Minnesota won 9-3. Naismith’s original ‘peach basket’ rules were in force, and had nine players to each side.

The Modern College Basketball Games

The very first five to a side college basketball game was between the University of Chicago and the University of Iowa, played in Iowa City, Iowa on January 18, 1896. Chicago won 15-12. The first inter-collegiate basketball game was between Wesleyan University and Yale in New Haven, Connecticut, which Wesleyan won 4-3.

By the 1900s, many colleges all over the United States were fielding basketball teams. By 1906, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) was formed in Chicago, and the first tournament of the NCAA Men’s College Basketball Championship was held in 1939 at Evanston, Illinois in front of an audience of 5,500 fans. Oregon took the first National Championship by beating Ohio State – 46 to 33. That was the only time Oregon has ever reached the finals of this tournament.

In 1940, the first televised college basketball games were played at the Madison Square Garden. Since then, there has been no end to the popularity of college basketball.

March Madness

NCAA’s Men’s Division I Basketball Championship is colloquially known as the March Madness, as the tournament is mostly held in March, each year. It is also called so as it ignites such frenzy among the followers of college basketball. This single elimination tournament takes place over a three-week period across the United States, and features 65 college basketball teams.

The term March Madness now refers to both – the men’s and women’s tournament. Traditionally, the semifinals and the finals of the Men’s championship is played on a Saturday and the following Monday, whereas the Women’s championship semifinal is played on a Sunday, followed by Tuesday, for the finals.

Florida won the 2007 NCAA Men’s Division I Championship beating Ohio State 84-75 at Atlanta Georgia, whereas the 2007 NCAA Women’s Division I Championship went to Tennessee, who beat Rutgers, 59-46, in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Tickets

The easiest way to procure your college basketball tickets is through the services of legitimate ticket brokers.

Legitimate ticket brokers have a reputation to maintain and ensure your college basketball tickets for the games of your choice are delivered to your door.

National Basketball Association (NBA) is the body that governs basketball in the United States and Canada. When the group of owners of the top professional basketball teams met in New York at the Hotel Commodore on June 6, 1946, they formed an association known as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). Most of these primary members were the owners of the arenas in the major cities of the United States. In 1949, BAA merged with another league, the National Basketball League (NBL), to form the NBA.

The First NBA Game

The new league’s first game was between the Toronto Huskies and the New York Knickerbockers. The game was played on November 1, 1946 at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, and was won 68-66 by the Knickerbockers in front of a crowd of 7,090 spectators. Considering that every young Canadian then played hockey, this was a very good attendance.

The basketball played then was very different from how it is played today. There was hardly any leaping and feats akin to ballet – as is common in the game today! That first game was from a very different era. Double pump and slam dunks were not a routine maneuver. In fact, the players could not, and did not, jump well. The teams had an unlimited time to shoot, as the 24 second clock had not yet been introduced. The belief, then, by many coaches was that when a player left both his feet off the ground for a shot, it spelled trouble, and so jump shots were hardly taken.

The BAA started with 11 teams when it formed in 1946, and today there are 30 teams playing in the NBA – 29 teams from the United States and one from Canada. NBA is currently divided into two conferences – the Western and the Eastern conferences, with each conference having three divisions. Each division has five teams in it. Currently, the Boston Celtics is the most successful team in NBA having won 16 NBA Championships. The Los Angeles Lakers come in second with 14 Championships under their belt.

The Origin Of Basketball

Basketball was invented, in 1891, by Dr. James Naismith, a physical education instructor at the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA. He devised the game when looking for ways to keep his football players in shape during the off season months. By the following year in 1892, he put the rules of the game together, which had 13 rules. The first game of basketball was played in 1893, when he split his team of 18 players into two sides of nine players each.

From such humble beginnings has come the game which is played today by more than 300 million people globally!

The Tickets

NBA tickets are one of the most sought after sports tickets in the United States. Most young Americans, mostly going to school or attending colleges are ardent fans of the game, and look to purchase NBA tickets for the games their favorite teams are involved in.