Basketball
13 basketball facts you didn't know
Basketball dates back to 1891, and much has changed from its earliest days. Here's what you need to know about this sport — and the up-and-coming players taking basketball to new heights.
Basketball is not an easy sport — it takes endurance, team spirit, and great skills to outscore opponents and win the game. There's more to the game than just a court, a ball, and a referee. Red Bull basketball athlete Arike Ogunbowale exemplifies the dedication and hard work required to rise in the game.
Arike Ogunbowale
© Sean Berry/Red Bull Content Pool
“I would finish workouts with just fade threes. I would go around and when I got to the corner I was fading 3s, hitting 5 in a row,” says Ogunbowale.
Many aspects of basketball can go unnoticed during the hustle and bustle of the game. Here are some interesting basketball facts that don’t always come to mind when talking about the sport, as well as three players who are changing the game as we know it.
01
James Naismith invented basketball
Asked in 1891 to invent an indoor winter activity by his boss at a YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, James Naismith is credited as the founder of basketball. Naismith, a physical education teacher, also wrote the original basketball rule book and founded the University of Kansas basketball program, considered one of the best in the United States.
02
Basketball was played with a different ball
As bizarre as it sounds, basketball was originally played with a soccer ball and peach baskets, with referees having to retrieve the ball each time a player made a basket. In 1900, the string baskets we know today were introduced to the game and, later, backboards were attached to prevent spectators from blocking a shot.
03
Dribbling wasn't allowed
Players never could advance the ball. Instead, each player had to throw it from wherever it was caught. The first team credited with advancing the ball by dribbling played at Yale in 1897, and the official allowance for the dribble, just one per possession at first, was adopted four years later.
Setting offense at a basketball game
© Ryan Taylor
Another important basketball move, the slam dunk, was banned just before the 1967-1968 season until the 1976-1977 season.
04
There used to be more players per side
The number of players per team was never specified. Naismith invented an indoor winter activity and wanted a game flexible enough to include whoever wanted to play. For a while, the total number of players was a default of 18, nine per side, the same number that showed up for the very first game.
05
Fouls weren’t implemented for several years
Shouldering, holding, pushing, tripping, or otherwise striking an opponent was never allowed. However, such offenses did not count as fouls until 1910, when a rule disqualifying a player for committing four of these violations was introduced. That total was raised to five in 1946 in the inaugural rules of the Basketball Association of America (the original name of the National Basketball Association). The total increased to six the following year.
06
Referees used watches
One of the official duties of early refs was timekeeping. Then again, there wasn’t that much time to keep: the 24-second shot clock wasn’t instituted until 1954, to combat stalling tactics NBA teams had begun to employ.
07
The game was much shorter
Naismith proposed two 15-minute halves, with five minutes of rest in between. This meant the entire game, including breaks, lasted only 35 minutes. That’s 13 minutes shorter than a current NBA game, which totals 48 minutes of active play time. However, breaks and stoppages cause most NBA games to be between 2 and 2.5 hours (120 to 150 minutes).
08
The 1979 NCAA tournament was the start of basketball greats
College basketball remains one of the most popular sports. Spectators fondly remember the Michigan State versus Indiana State college basketball game of 1979 during the NCAA tournament, which is one of the best-rated games in the sport's history. As a matchup between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, legends who had never played each other prior to this tournament, this game marked the beginning of the many NBA stars to come.
09
Possession rules changed in 1913
The game as we know it gives possession of an out-of-bounds ball to the player who last had contact with it, but that wasn't always the case. Prior to 1913, a referee would pick up and throw an out-of-bounds ball down the court, and the first player to touch it retained possession. The rules eventually changed because of the increase in the number of player injuries.
10
The first women’s basketball game took place more than 130 years ago
The first women’s basketball game was played in 1892, just one year after the sport was invented. In 1893 at Smith College in Massachusetts, Lithuanian immigrant Senda Berenson organized the first women’s college basketball game to promote physical fitness. However, the Women’s National Basketball Association wasn’t established until 1996 — more than 100 years later — when Sheryl Swoopes was the first player signed by the WNBA for the Houston Comets.
11
Michael Jordan paid fines for wearing his shoes
Many fans connect Michael Jordan with his legendary Air Jordans, a now-iconic shoe because of its record sales numbers. These shoes used to be against NBA dress code. Michael Jordan paid an NBA fine each time he wore them rather than play the game without them. Eventually, the NBA allowed the shoes on the court.
12
3x3 half-court tournaments were introduced in the 2000s
Half-court games were always played casually, where a smaller number of players enjoyed a version of the game played on half the court instead of a full court. Formal tournaments and competitions are a recent invention, though, first emerging in the late 2000s.
The Red Bull Half Court was created in 2010, called “Kings Of The Rock,” and was a 1x1 tournament. The Kings Of The Rock was for players on the West Coast in the U.S. Then it transformed into the Red Bull Half Court and became a 3x3 basketball tournament. Unlike traditional basketball, which is played 5-on-5, 3x3 basketball is a faster-paced, half-court game that has grown in popularity worldwide.
The tournament now brings together teams from around the globe to compete in high-energy matches. Red Bull Court Half USA 2024 expected more than 8,000 participants to make up thousands of teams. The only way to advance each round is to win games until there’s only one crowned.
13
The first slam dunk contest took place in 1984
Brandon Moss playing for Dyckman Basketball at the Red Bull PABC in LA
© Nick Tomoyasu / Red Bull Content Pool
The slam dunk is one of the most electrifying plays in basketball — in fact, it’s so thrilling to watch, it has its own competition to celebrate it. The first-ever NBA Slam Dunk Contest took place in 1984 during the NBA’s All-Star Weekend. Larry Nance won the inaugural contest, but Dominique Wilkins and Michael Jordan truly popularized the event with their iconic battles in the following years.
Final buzzer: Reflecting on basketball’s journey
Basketball has evolved tremendously since its invention in 1891, with countless changes in rules, gameplay, and the culture surrounding the sport. From its humble beginning with peach baskets and soccer balls to the global phenomenon it is today, basketball continues to challenge athletes around the world.