A Winter Game with Peach Baskets

The problem was a winter class. In 1891, James Naismith was teaching physical education in Springfield, Massachusetts, and needed an indoor game that would hold his students’ attention without reproducing the collisions of football in a confined space. His supervisor, Luther Gulick, had asked for something new. Naismith’s answer did not require a purpose-built arena or elaborate equipment. It began with a ball, two peach baskets and a decision about what players would not be allowed to do.

A player holding the ball could not run with it. Moving the game across the floor therefore required passing rather than carrying an opponent out of the way. The targets were raised above the players, attached to the gymnasium balcony at a height of ten feet. Putting a basket overhead changed the task from driving through a defended line to sending a ball toward an elevated opening. The design encouraged a different kind of coordination, even before players had learned how best to exploit it.