The invention of Basketball, personally my second favorite sport, came way back in 1891, in Springfield Massachusetts. It was invented by a PE instructor named James Naismith. It was created to be a safer alternative to football. Basketball grew very quickly and became extremely popular, especially in America, and then all over the world. The American National Basketball Association, better known as the NBA was established in 1946 and has grown to become a multi-billion dollar industry by the end of the century. The game started out using a fruit basket, and a soccer-style ball. Dr. Naismith created 13 rules originally. The first ever public basketball game was held March 11, 1892. Basketball is a globally famous game and is played on an international level. Some people would argue that the second most popular game in America, after football, is baseball, but over the last few decades that has been put to the test. Both on the college and NBA level, basketball is a huge pass time for Americans and is a great sport. ¨BHS Boys Basketball” by Chip Griffin is shared under an Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)