THE HISTORY

OF BASKETBALL
T I M E L I N E

1891-1892
The sport was invented by
Springfield College
instructor and graduate
student James Naismith. The
main idea of the sport was it
to be indoors and a small
space. 1891-1892
He used two peach baskets and a
soccer stile ball. The peach
baskets were nailed to railings
of the gymnasium balcony. After
a while, the buttoms of the
fruit baskets were removed.

Dec. 21, 1891

James Naismith published the
rules for his knew game.
There were 13 rules and
named it basketball.

1892
The first college to play the
game was either Geneva College
(Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania) or
the University of Iowa.

1893
The Narragansett Machinery
Co. of Providence, Rhode
Island, marketed a hoop of
iron with a hammock style of
basket.

1894
A soccer ball (football) was
used for the first two years.
In 1894 the first basketball
was marketed.

1895
Baskets were frequently
attached to balconies, making
it easy for spectators behind
a basket to lean over the
railings and deflect the ball
to favor one side and hinder
the other; in 1895 teams were
urged to provide a 4-by-6-
foot screen for the purpose
1895-1896
of eliminating interference. The points for making a
basket (goal, or field goal)
were reduced from three to
two, and the points for
making a free throw were
reduced from three to one.

Sherry Lene S. Gonzaga / BSED-Filipino 2 / PE 122-BSE 2B

Jan. 18, 1896
The first college basketball
game with five on a side was
played between the University
of Chicago and the University
of Iowa in Iowa City. The
University of Chicago won,
15–12, with neither team
using a substitute.
1903
It was ruled that all boundary
lines must be straight.

1906
The smart set athletic club
of Brookland and the Saint
Christopher of New York City
were the first independent
all black basketball teams.

1908-1910
Glass backboards were legalized
by the professionals in 1908–09
and by colleges in 1909–10.

1909
The National Collegiate
Athletic Associaltion
(NCAA).

1910
Basketball was first
introduced to the Philippine
public school system by the
Americans as a women's sport
and was played in
Interscholastic meets in 1911
until 1913.

1912-1913
Nets open at the bottom were
adopted.

1913
The first men's national team
– organized in the 1910s –
won the first Far Eastern
Championship Games.

1920-1921
In 1920–21 the backboards
were moved 2 feet (0.6
meter), and in 1939–40 4
feet, in from the end lines
to reduce frequent stepping
out-of-bounds.

1924
The National Collegiate
Athletic Association (NCAA),
which had basketball as its
main sport was established in
the Philippines.

Sherry Lene S. Gonzaga / BSED-Filipino 2 / PE 122-BSE 2B

1936
The Philippines became a
member of FIBA through the
Basketball Association of the
Philippines in 1936.

1936
The Philippines made their
debut in the Olympic Games in
1936 where they finished fifth,
the best result of an Asian
team in Olympic basketball
history. In the same year, the
first basketball stamp in the
world was released by the
country.

1938
The first commercial league
was the basketball
tournament of the Manila
Industrial and Commercial
Athletic Association (MICAA)
which was established.

1940-1941
Fan-shaped backboards were made
legal in 1940–41.

1948-1949
By 1948–49, when the
laceless molded ball was
made official, the size had
been set at 30 inches (76
cm).

1949
The national basketball
association of america merged
with the rival nation
basketball league to form the
modern day national basketball
association called the (MBA).

1950-1951
The NBA began to racially
intergrate.

1967
The second professioanl
league called the american
association the ABA was
founded and played with a
three point shot. They folded
in 1976 and four teams joined
the NBA. The NBA continues to

1975 use the three point shot and

continues to be one of the
The commercial league model most popular leagues in the
pioneered by the MICAA country.
continued with the Philippine
Basketball Association (PBA)
in 1975 and the Philippine
Amateur Basketball League
(PABL) in 1983.

2007
In 2007, the Samahang
Basketbol ng Pilipinas
became the newly recognized
national basketball body for
the Philippines by FIBA.
1980s
Basketball grew steadily but
slowly in popularity and
importance in the United
States and internationally in
the first three decades after
World War II. Interest in the
game deepened as a result of
television exposure, but with
the advent of cable
television, especially during
the 1980s, the game’s
popularity exploded at all
levels