YouTube Gold: Basketball In The 1920’s

James Naismith, who was born in 1861 laid down the first 13 rules for basketball in 1891, when he was about 10 years younger than LeBron James is now.

Although Naismith originally asked for boxes, a janitor brought peach baskets instead and we got basketball and rims instead of boxball and, well, something else.

Anyway, the game developed rather quickly. In the beginning, you took a stick and knocked the ball out of the basket with that, so knocking the bottoms out was an improvement and sped the game up considerably.

By 1929, basketball had spread across the country and not only was it in high schools and colleges, but early professional basketball had begun.

This video of the New York Celtics and the Rochester Centrals is from 1929, the same year that John Wooden, who Bill Walton said was the first great player in the game, was at Purdue.

You can see the basics of the game already here. There are some versions of a fast break, one very long outside shot, and a drive.

There are obviously the old lanes, no shot clock and no three pointers, but it’s very much and unmistakably basketball.

It’s amazing to think that this is now 104 years old.

Go to the DBR Boards to find Blue Healer Auctions | Drop us a line