9781422288009 Players & the Game Around the World

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B asketball started out with peach baskets and ladders. Today, the sport has grown into a major industry and way of life for millions of people all around the world. However, the basics remain: you still have to throw a ball through a hoop! And the game of basketball is still a force to bridge differences between all sorts of different people. THE BIRTH OF BASKETBALL During December of 1891, a Canadian physical educator named James Naismith wanted a sport his students could play during the long winters. Naismith had started out thinking he would be a minister, because he wanted to help others. However, one day while he was watching a football game, he realized the power sports have to shape people. He understood, he said, that “there might be other ways of doing good besides preaching.”

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