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Link to original content: http://web.archive.org/web/20201025104422/https://www.olympic.org/basketball
Olympic Basketball - Summer Olympic Sport
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Basketball


Basketball is a relatively new sport, invented in 1891. It has now grown into one of the most popular sports in the United States.

Keeping students fit

Basketball was invented in December 1891 by Canadian James W. Naismith. An instructor at the YMCA Training School in Massachusetts, he sought a suitable indoor game to keep his students fit and warm during the cold New England winters. He formulated 13 rules, most of which still apply today. In 1893, the first women’s game was played at the Smith College, in Northampton, Massachusetts, USA. 

Peach baskets

Originally, basketball was played with peach baskets and balls had to be retrieved manually after each score. Subsequently, a hole was drilled into the bottom of the basket allowing the balls to be poked out with a long rod. In 1906, the peach baskets were finally replaced by metal hoops with backboards 

Orange ball

Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball. The first balls made specifically for basketball were brown, and it was only in the late 1950s that Tony Hinkle, searching for a ball that would be more visible to players and spectators alike, introduced the orange ball that is now in common use.

Global popularity increases

In the early 1900s, students from abroad who had studied in Springfield, started to spread the game. In the 1920s, the first international games were played and by 1950 the first World Championship for Men was held in Argentina. Three years later, in 1953, the first World Championship for Women took place in Chile.

Olympic history

Basketball made its appearance at the Olympic Games in 1904 in St Louis as a demonstration sport, as the competition was held between only American teams and counted as an event of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU of the USA) Championships.
At the Games in 1936 in Berlin, basketball joined the Olympic programme, where it has remained to this day. Women’s basketball debuted at the 1976 Games in Montreal.

The USA dominates international basketball and won all the titles up to 1972, the year it was defeated by the Soviet Union at the Munich Games. In the women’s event, the Soviets took gold in 1976, 1980 and 1992, and were later dominated by the Americans between 1984 and 2008, except in 1992.

In 1992 at the Barcelona Games, famous players from the National Basketball Association (NBA) were allowed for the first time to represent the USA. This team, known as the “Dream Team”in the international media, was undoubtedly the best basketball team ever formed. It delighted the public and widely dominated the Olympic tournament in 1992.

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Gallery

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Michael Jordan: Being part of 1992 Dream Team was "highlight of my career"

Basketball legend Michael Jordan looks back on the USA's historical triumph in the men's competition at Barcelona 1992.
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LeBron: Real Men Cry

Two time Olympic champ LeBron James is not frightened to admit he can shed a tear from time to time. But why?
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0:26 play

James' monstrous block against Angola

LeBron James shows why he is one of basketball's most celebrated players with an epic block against Angola at Beijing 2008.
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0:49 play

Best dunks by LeBron James

LeBron James slam dunks his way through the Summer Olympic Games London 2012.
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2:36 play

I am legend: Jordan v LeBron

Showtime!
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Kobe Bryant #10 of the United States reacts to a foul call during the Men's Basketball gold medal game between the United States and Spain on Day 16 of the London 2012 Olympics Games on August 12, 2012 in London, England.
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Kobe Bryant - London 2012 Olympics Games in England

Kobe Bryant #10 of the United States reacts to a foul call during the Men's Basketball gold medal game between the United States and Spain on Day 16 of the London 2012 Olympics Games on August 12, 2012 in London, England.
2012 Getty Images
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