Why i Love Basketball: History, Rules, and Legends

From Naismith’s Invention to NBA Legends: A Journey Through Basketball’s Rich Heritage

The sport I will be researching is Basketball. Basketball is a game played between two teams of five players in which goals are scored by throwing a ball through a netted hoop fixed above each end of the court. Some famous basketball players are LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal, and Dwyane Wade.

LeBron James is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association.

His accomplishments include three NBA championships, four NBA MVP Awards, three NBA Finals MVP Awards, and two Olympic gold medals. Shaquille O’Neal is a retired professional American basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program Inside the NBA on TNT. Dwyane Wade is an American former professional basketball player. Wade spent the majority of his 16-year career playing for the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association.

I chose this sport to research because it interested me, and I took this as a learning experience to dig deeper into the game of Basketball. The history of Basketball began with its invention in 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts, by a Canadian physical education instructor, James Naismith. A month after James Naismith invented Basketball, the first official game was played at a YMCA gymnasium in Albany, New York.

Basketball Hobby: Rules, Equipment, and Intriguing Tidbits from the Court

The rules of Basketball are listed as the following. The ball may be advanced toward the basket by being shot, passed between players, thrown, tapped, rolled, or dribbled. The ball must stay within the court; the last team to touch the ball before it travels out of bounds forfeits possession. The ball is out of bounds if it touches a boundary line or touches any player or object that is out of bounds. The ball may not be kicked nor be struck with a fist. For the offense, a violation of these rules results in loss of possession; for the defense, most leagues reset the shot clock, and the offensive team is given possession of the ball out of bounds. Basket interference, or goaltending, is a violation charged when a player illegally interferes with a shot. This violation is incurred when a player touches the ball on its downward trajectory to the basket unless it is obvious that the ball has no chance of entering the basket, if a player touches the ball while it is in the rim, or in the area extended upwards from the basket, or if a player reaches through the basket to interfere with the shot. If a player is fouled while attempting a shot and the shot is unsuccessful, the player is awarded a number of free throws equal to the value of the attempted shot. A player fouled while attempting a regular two-point shot thus receives two shots, and a player fouled while attempting a three-point shot receives three shots.

The only essential equipment in a basketball game is the ball and the court. Competitive levels require the use of more equipment, such as clocks, score sheets, scoreboards, alternating possession arrows, and whistle-operated stop-clock systems.

An interesting fact about Basketball is that in the early 1900s, basketball players played in cages of chicken wire and mesh to keep players from falling into the audience’s seats. Another interesting fact is the player silhouetted in the NBA logo is former all-star Jerry West, who played with the Los Angeles Lakers.

References

1. Naismith, James. “Basketball: Its Origin and Development.” University of Nebraska Press, 1941.
2. George, Nelson. “Elevating the Game: Black Men and Basketball.” HarperCollins, 1992.
3. Goldstein, Richard. “Shaq Talks Back.” St. Martin’s Griffin, 2002.

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