7
1
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.”
A G
ame
T
hat
B
ridged
D
ifferences