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Basketball Facts

Basketball Facts
In Basketball there are two teams, of five players each. They play on a rectangular court, and try to shoot the highest number of balls through the hoop during the game. The game was created by a physical education teacher in 1891, at Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts in the United States. The creator, Dr. James Naismith was a Canadian who was trying to create a game to keep the students active during the long winters. A peach basket served as the first basketball net until 1906, and the first ball used was a soccer ball. The first official basketball game was played in 1892 with nine players. It changed to five by 1898.
Interesting Basketball Facts:
Back when peach baskets were used as the hoop, every time someone scored, a referee had to fetch the ball by climbing a ladder.
The National Basketball League was the first pro-league, established in 1898, and it lasted only five years.
In the 1920s there were basketball teams all over the United States, but it wasn't until 1946 that the Basketball Association of America was formed.
In 1949, the Basketball Association of America merged with the National Basketball League. The merger created the National Basketball Association (NBA).
The Basketball Hall of Fame was created in 1959 in Springfield, Massachusetts, where the game was created.
In 1936, basketball became an official game at the Olympics, which were held in Berlin, Germany.
Even though basketball is widely known as an American sport, the first pro game was played in Toronto, Canada in 1946.
It wasn't until the 1950s that the orange ball became the norm.
The most points any player has ever scored in one game is 100. Wilt Chamberlain, who played for Philadelphia, scored 100 points against New York in 1962.
Lenny Wilkens, the Atlanta Hawks coach, has led his team to victory more times than any other coach.
Although he retired in 1999 for two years, Michael Jordan has scored more playoff points than anyone else.
Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team.
In 2011 there were 249,650 injuries of 12-17 year old basketball players in the U.S. that had to be treated in hospital emergency rooms. Football is the only sport with more injuries.
For nine years, starting in 1967, slam dunks were illegal.
The regulation basketball court in NBA and NCAA basketball is 50 feet wide by 94 feet long.
The basketball court floor is usually made of wood flooring.
The basket's steel rim has an 18 inch diameter.
The backboard behind the net is 3.5 feet by 6 feet.
The rim of the basket is 10 feet high from the court floor.
Most male basketball players are at least six feet, three inches tall, and have an average weight of 222 pounds. Guards are usually the shortest players.
Mugsy Bogues was the shortest player to play in the NBA. He was only five feet, three inches tall.
The tallest man to play in the NBA was Gheorge Muresan. He was seven feet, seven inches tall.


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