The game basketball which is one the most prestigious and lucrative sport in this century began in the year 1891, being invented by a Dr. James Naismith, who happened to be a Canadian physical education professor and instructor at Springfield College, Massachusetts. His intention was a little next to noble as he only sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his gym class occupied and at proper levels of fitness.
Having rejected other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot (3.0 m) elevated track.
The only essential equipment in a basketball game is the ball and the court: a flat, rectangular surface with baskets at opposite ends.
A regulation basketball court in international games is 91.9 feet (28.0 meters) long and 49.2 feet (15 meters) wide. In the NBA and NCAA the court is 94 by 50 feet (29 by 15 meters). Most courts have wood flooring, usually constructed from maple planks running in the same direction as the longer court dimension.
The basket is a steel rim 18 inches (46 cm) in diameter with an attached net affixed to a backboard that measures 6 by 3.5 feet (1.8 by 1.1 meters) and one basket is at each end of the court.
The white outlined box on the backboard is 18 inches (46 cm) high and 2 feet (61 cm) wide. At almost all levels of competition, the top of the rim is exactly 10 feet (3.05 meters) above the court and 4 feet (1.22 meters) inside the baseline.
The size of the basketball is also regulated. For men, the official ball is 29.5 inches (75 cm) in circumference (size 7, or a "295 ball") and weighs 22 oz (623.69 grams). If women are playing, the official basketball size is 28.5 inches (72 cm) in circumference (size 6, or a "285 ball") with a weight of 20 oz (567 grams),
The game had gone on for a while after invention when Frank Mahan one of the players from the original first game, approached Dr. Naismith after the Christmas break, in early 1892, asking him what he intended to call his new game. Naismith replied that he hadn't thought of it because he had been focused on just getting the game started. He (Frank Mahan) eventually suggested it be called basket ball.
The truth is I’m really not here to talk about basketball as just a sport but to draw out a valuable lesson from the game.
Although basketball is just a game of fitness and pleasure, like every other sport it has it perks and one of the perks if not the most important perk about basketball is TEAMWORK. Like Michael Jordan would always say “Talent wins games, but TEAMWORK and Intelligence wins championships”.
Although basketball is a game of 5ves consisting of the point guard, Shooting guard, Small forward, power forward and Centre, whose major objective is to outscore one's opponent by throwing the ball through the opponents' basket from above while preventing the opponents from doing so to them, the emphasis in this prestigious game is placed on the collective strength of all the players and not an individual player. The strength of each player is of great necessity and individual skill and talent is a prerequisite for being on the court, but on the court, the game is played as a team sport.
Individual awards are given to players during competitions but the assistance of their teammates cannot be watered down.
Life like basketball is a game of teamwork, being that you need people to help you go from where you are to where you want to be, so never forget to appreciate those who helped you on your way to success when you get an individual awards or when your name hits the wall of fame.
We are all branches of the same tree called humanity and no one is more important than the other for like basketball, we all have individual roles to play on this court called planet earth. So learn to work with people to achieve your goals and help others achieve theirs. Let this mind be in you; that when one player wins, the teams wins, and when your neighbor succeeds, you succeed.
If God knew you would survive without relationships, he should have placed you in Mercury or any of the other planets.
BASKETBALL AND LIFE have one thing in common “To succeed, you need the help of other and they need yours too”.
So basketball is not just a game, it’s a philosophy!
My name is …………………………. And I love basketball.