How Has Basketball Evolved

Jaiden Hemphill-Kron

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Basketball is one of the most popular sports, and everyone has heard about it. The game has changed greatly since James Naismith created it in 1891. I bet he never dreamed about it still going on 130 years later, but it is. Basketball, then, was very different than it is now. Back then, they played with a bigger and lighter ball. They have changed the ball they use in the National Basketball Association (NBA) 8 times. Two years after creating the game, Naismith changed the peach basket to an iron hoop and a net. The 3-point line wasn't added to the NBA until 1979. That was the same year Larry Bird and Magic Johnson came into the league. Players have evolved from back then, sticking to fundamentals of the game, to now doing the craziest things such as shooting from half court. It wasn't until the late 1960s when dunking became a popular thing to do. 1937-1942 Glenn Roberts played in the NBA and he is said to be the first person to ever do the jump shot. Now that’s all you see since that's normal now. It's crazy how things can evolve and people now do not know anything different than what we see. One man with a dream to create a game has affected millions of people all across the world and guys dream to make it to the NBA.