Wisdom of Life: James Naismith, Father of Basketball

Introduction to James Naismith, Father of Basketball – Mini Biography

Inventions come into being because problems need solving. The sport basketball was created because the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts needed an indoor sport during the wintertime to keep the young men occupied.

Name: James Naismith
Birth Date: November 6, 1861 – November 28, 1939
Job Functions: Medical Doctor, Ordained Minister, Director of Physical Education
Fields: Medicine, Sports, Spirituality
Known For: Creating the game of basketball

Mini Biography: James Naismith, Father of Basketball

James Naismith had always been very athletic. He often used his free time playing snowshoeing, ice hockey, skating, tobogganing, rugby, soccer, lacrosse and gymnastics. While he attended the Presbyterian College in Montreal, his professors believed that he was devoting too much time to sports and wanted him to stop. In fact, they believed that lacrosse was “legalized murder.” Naismith refused to give up sports because he believed that there was a place for a blend of spirituality and sports.

James Naismith approached the administrators at the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) and expressed an interest in developing a program for youth that blended sports and spirituality. D. A. Budge, the general secretary, told Naismith about an international training program for youth leaders that the YMCA had in Springfield, Massachusetts. After graduating from the Presbyterian College as an unordained minister, Naismith left for Massachusetts in the summer of 1890 to participate in the YMCA’s 2-year training program.

While at the YMCA International Training School, Naismith took courses that combined his interests in both spiritual and physical development. In the winter of 1891, Naismith was placed in charge of indoor physical education program. Luther Halsey Gulick, superintendent of the physical education department tasked Naismith and his peers to create an indoor sport that would occupy the students between the seasons for football and baseball and gave them two weeks in which to do so.

Naismith thought back to all the outdoor sports that he enjoyed for inspiration, thinking that he would find a way to adapt them for the indoors. He faced a difficult challenge because indoors you have a space restriction so there couldn’t be too much running around and since the floor was hardwood there also couldn’t be a lot of rough play. As he considered other options and ideas, Naismith remembered a game he played called “duck on the rock.”

For the “duck on the rock” game, players “tried to knock a stone, or ‘duck’ from atop a boulder by throwing a rock at it. One player was ‘it’ and placed his rock on the boulder for the others to knock off. If a thrower successfully knocked the duck off, he had to run to retrieve his stone and return to his throwing base before the one who was ‘‘it’’ could pick up the duck and tag him with it. If the thrower missed, he still had to retrieve his stone, but the guard did not have to pick up the duck before attempting to tag him. The most successful players lobbed their stones in an arc—stones thrown in a hard, straight line often traveled so far that the thrower did not have time to retrieve it and return to base safely,” reports Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives.

Naismith got two peach baskets from the janitor and placed them at opposite ends of the court. He adapted the arching shot from the duck game to the new game, and to add another level of difficulty, Naismith raised the goals above the height of the court. The YMCA’s gymnasium had an indoor running track which was 10 feet above the floor of the gymnasium. Naismith selected this height as the position of his goals. Subsequently he cut out the bottom of the peach baskets to save the players time and trouble from having to climb a ladder to retrieve the ball.

Naismith’s students were the first to play the new basket ball game in December 1891. The new sport was an instant success, and it spread throughout the YMCA both nationally and internationally. With the assistance of several colleagues they established 13 formal rules for the game in January 1892. These rules have evolved over the past century.

Naismith passed on his basketball information to Senda Berenson Abbott, the head of physical education instructor at Smith College, a female institution where she modified the rules for the young women. The first games were played in 1893.

The American military and naval academies adopted the game and organized tournaments at home and abroad.  In two years basketball had made its debut in more than 10 countries because of the YMCA’s international reach. Within a decade, most major Canadian and US cities had basketball leagues, and in 1936, the game was introduced into the Olympic games in Berlin.

Naismith left Springfield in 1895 to study medicine at the University of Colorado Medical School. After he graduated with his medical degree he became the assistant athletic director at the University of Kansas, and subsequently became a professor and doctor. Naismith finally became an ordained minister in 1915.

While at the University of Kansas, Naismith was a mentor to, and very influential in the life of Forrest (Phog) Allen, “the legendary University of Kansas coach, and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, and one of the great college coaches, innovators and tacticians in the early development of basketball.” As an aside, according to Wikipedia, “In Forrest (Phog) Allen’s 39 seasons at the helm of the Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball program, his teams won 24 conference championships and three national titles.”

Thanks to a “nationwide penny campaign” in Canada and the United States – from February 9 to 16, 1936, one penny from each ticket sold at high school, college and professional basketball games were earmarked for Naismith’s trip to the inauguration of Basketball as an Olympic sport – Naismith was able to witness the first basketball Olympic games.

James Naismith was best known for inventing the game of basketball, but while he was at the University of Kansas, he created a comprehensive student health service. He also conducted physical exams and maintained medical records for all male undergraduates.

Naismith was also credited for designing the first safely headgear used in football.

Why James Naismith Was Wise

1. Though he invented the game of basketball, he was very humble and knew how to let go to allow the sport to evolve.
2. He was pressured while he studied theology, but he didn’t cave in because he knew the importance of a healthy body and soul.
3. When he was tasked with inventing a new sport, he started with what he knew – he looked to all the sports he had played for inspiration.
4. Naismith understood the importance of ongoing learning.

Books About James Naismith, Father of Basketball

 Basketball: Its Origin and Development Hoop Genius: How a Desperate Teacher and a Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball (Carolrhoda Picture Books) James Naismith: The Man Who Invented Basketball The Man Who Invented Basketball: James Naismith and His Amazing Game (Genius at Work! Great Inventor Biographies) The Man Who Invented the Game of Basketball: The Genius of James Naismith (Genius Inventors and Their Great Ideas) Who Invented Basketball? James Naismith (I Like Inventors!) The Basketball Man: James Naismith The Crossover: A Brief History of Basketball and Race, from James Naismith to LeBron James

Sources Cited/Referenced

World of Sports Science
Notable Sports Figures
Encyclopedia of World Biography
Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures

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