Nobody knows who made the first shot in basketball history, but it happened on a December day in 1891. One of 18 students who were trying out a new game invented by their Canadian – born professor claimed the honor by throwing a soccer ball into one of two peach baskets hanging from a gymnasium railing at the Yong Men’s Christian Association Training School in Springfield, Mass.
For Dr. James Naismith, “basket ball” was a simple matter of expediency. Forced to deal with testy students who were bored with physical education routines of calisthenics and gymnastics, he decided to invent an indoor game that would give them a competitive outlet. Naismith, a future Presbyterian minister who played on the school’s football team for legendary coach Amos Alonzo Stag, envisioned a contest that would promote the subtler sporting arts of finesse, agility and teamwork over brute strength and power.…
