James Naismith was a graduate student at Springfield College, and studied under Luther Gulick, who helped develop the modern concept of physical education. ^1 Gulick was the director of the college's physical education department and was requiring college students to participate in indoor activities during the colder winter months. This had been difficult, as most of the activities that instructors had come up (such as marching and calisthenics) with were not as fun as the sports of football and lacrosse the students played in warmer months. Gulick had challenged instructors to come up with a game “that would be interesting, easy to learn, and easy to play in the winter and by artificial light.” ^2

Naismith noted that such a game “should be of a recreative nature, something that would appeal to their play instincts.” ^2

Naismith's challenge was to find a game that allowed for exercise and a large number of participants, but without being as physical as football or lacrosse, since greater injury could occur in the confined indoor spaces.

He used concepts from a variety of sports like rugby, lacrosse, soccer, and a game he had played as a child called duck on a rock. ^3 Duck on a rock was basically where the kids would throw balls at a large rock higher up and try to knock it down. One of the important (and ironic, considering how popular dunks are now) rules of that game was that you could not slam the ball into the rock.

With all of those games together, he came up with the idea of basketball, which basically started as throwing the ball at a target. Originally, when a basket was scored, play was stopped because they had to remove the ball from the basket. The bottoms of the basket were not removed until a few years later. ^4

In fact, the version in 1891 was greatly different from what it is today. ^5

1. The ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands.

2. The ball may be batted in any direction with one or both hands (never with the fist).

3. A player cannot run with the ball. The player must throw it from the spot on which he catches it, allowance to be made for a man who catches the ball when running at a good speed if he tries to stop.

4. The ball must be held in or between the hands; the arms or body must not be used for holding it.

5. No shouldering, holding, pushing, tripping, or striking in any way the person of an opponent shall be allowed; the first infringement of this rule by any player shall count as a foul, the second shall disqualify him until the next goal is made, or, if there was evident intent to injure the person, for the whole of the game, no substitute allowed.

6. A foul is striking at the ball with the fist, violation of Rules 3,4, and such as described in Rule 5.

7. If either side makes three consecutive fouls, it shall count a goal for the opponents (consecutive means without the opponents in the mean time making a foul).

8. A goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from the grounds into the basket and stays there, providing those defending the goal do not touch or disturb the goal. If the ball rests on the edges, and the opponent moves the basket, it shall count as a goal.

9. When the ball goes out of bounds, it shall be thrown into the field of play by the person first touching it. In case of a dispute, the umpire shall throw it straight into the field. The thrower-in is allowed five seconds; if he holds it longer, it shall go to the opponent. If any side persists in delaying the game, the umpire shall call a foul on that side.

10. The umpire shall be judge of the men and shall note the fouls and notify the referee when three consecutive fouls have been made. He shall have power to disqualify men according to Rule 5.

11. The referee shall be judge of the ball and shall decide when the ball is in play, in bounds, to which side it belongs, and shall keep the time. He shall decide when a goal has been made, and keep account of the goals with any other duties that are usually performed by a referee.

12. The time shall be two 15-minute halves, with five minutes' rest between.

13. The side making the most goals in that time shall be declared the winner. In case of a draw, the game may, by agreement of the captains, be continued until another goal is made.

Note: Basketball was originally two words and these original rules were published January 15, 1892 in the Springfield College school newspaper, The Triangle.

You can hear James Naismith talk about the invention of basketball in this radio interview in 1939.