Basketball is a sport with a history that is very different from many modern sports. While many of the present day team sports evolved from variations of past sports, basketball is unique, having been invented by Dr. James Naismith, a physician and minister working for the college for YMCA professionals (later called Springfield College, in Massachusetts). Seeking a rigorous game that could be played indoors during the New England winter to occupy restless young men, Naismith sat down in December of 1891 and developed the first set of rules for the game.

Legend has it that Naismith nailed a peach basket ten foot high on an elevated track. The first game was played on January 20, 1982, in the YMCA gymnasium, with nine players and a court half the size of a present day NBA court. A student suggested calling the game