Unlike many professional sports it is easy to identify where basketball came from and to track the evolution of basketball. It began with one man and grew into one of the one of the most popular sports in the world within the span of a century.

Working at a company that produces electronic basketball scoreboards, Electro-Mech employees are fans of many teams sports, and basketball is just an example. We follow latest basketball news and trends, scandals and games, and we would love to share our knowledge with everybody about our favorite sports, teams and players. In this article, we want to raise your attention to the history of basketball in United States.

It all began with one man and a need for an indoor sport in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1891. Dr. James Naismith was running a winter program from the local YMCA and needed a sport that could be played inside in a relatively small area. From a soccer ball and two peach baskets, basketball was born. Naismith wanted a sport that would drive participants to get exercise and also develop and test their skills, rather than rely on brute strength. The thirteen rules of basketball that Naismith created are still the basis of the professional game that is played today. The sport immediately caught on in the US and grew in world popularity to the point that it was featured in the Olympics in 1936. Naismith was flown to watch the competition in Berlin and died three years later.

Though the origin of basketball is easy to trace, its growth in popularity went through some serious ups and downs. During the roaring 1920s, basketball, like everything, boomed and formed a following as minor leagues everywhere were hosted in arenas, gyms and even armories. But when the Great Depression hit the US and the US involvement with World War II began shortly after the Berlin Olympics, the leagues fell apart as the players and the audience were swept into the war. From this difficult environment a group of arena owners, looking to fill their venues, saw the popularity of college basketball and established the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1946. The concept was to take the college athletes that had a history of basketball in America and bring them to face each other. The new league had mixed results, selling out arenas spottily mainly from fans who wanted to see George Mikan and others who wanted to see the Harlem Globetrotters, the opening act for some games.

After a few seasons adding some popular teams from another league and some new venues, the origin of basketball in the National Basketball Association (NBA) emerged in 1948. They played second fiddle to the college teams in the towns where they played but the foundation of a league was beginning to solidify. An unlikely scandal helped the NBA jump in popularity. A rash of college point-fixing scandals were revealed in the next year, causing fans to search for the legitimate competition found in the major leagues. This was an important event in the history of basketball in America because the new crowd helped establish the league as a fixture along with baseball and football. From there the league grew in teams and popularity. The emergence of stars in each generation helped fans identify with the sport: Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Magic Johnson, and the biggest, Michael Jordan. Today, basketball is played all over the world and the NBA is one of the wealthiest sports leagues.