basketball etymology

Etymology

The word "basketball" is a compound of two English words: "basket" and "ball."

Meaning

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing a ball through a hoop (a basket) on their opponent's backboard.

Origin

The game of basketball was invented by Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian physical education instructor, in 1891. Naismith was looking for a new indoor game to play during the winter months, and he came up with the idea of basketball as a way to keep his students active.

The first game of basketball was played on December 21, 1891, at Springfield College in Massachusetts. The game was played with nine players on each team, and the goals were made of peach baskets. The baskets were nailed to the walls of the playing area, and the players had to throw the ball through the basket from a distance of 20 feet.

The game of basketball quickly became popular, and by the early 1900s it was being played all over the world. The first professional basketball league, the National Basketball League (NBL), was founded in 1937. The NBL merged with the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1949 to form the National Basketball Association (NBA), which is the premier basketball league in the world today.

basketball relate terms

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