Dr. James Naismith was a physical education teacher at the YMCA. Dr. Naismith invented basketball in the year of 1891. “Naismith first took a soccer ball and a peach basket to the gym and invented basketball. In 1893, James Naismith replaced the peach basket with iron hoops and a hammock-style basket. Ten years later came the open-ended nets of today. Before that, you had to retrieve your ball from the basket every time you score.” (Bellis p.1) James Naismith was later inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame and the basketball world kick-started at that moment. Everyone should learn how to play basketball because of how the game has evolved over the years, how the talent was similar/different in the 1950’s, and people opinions towards basketball . First of all, Basketball is a game that has evolved over the years by the rules, equipment, and the talent. According to Hooptactics, “The basketball, the court, the number of fouls you could receive, a dunking rule, and the out of bounds line rules, have all changed over time due to players trying to stall during the game or the basketball committee just wanted to increase scoring.” The equipment has changed from different styles of uniform, for example, back in 1930 the shorts would go up to your thighs, but in today 's game, the shorts go down to your …show more content…
If you take a player from the 1950’s and you compare them to an NBA player now, they are totally different due to the increased height, talent, and better skill. “In the 1950’s college basketball was where the fans were. The final four that year had a total cost of 10.8 billions dollars worth of the TV network.” (Smith p.4) During the 1950’s, college basketball was more important at the time due to segregation issues towards black people. After these segregation issues, basketball started to pick up the fame and become more and more popular. To this day basketball has changed due to the impact on the
Charles does his best to reveal to his audience about the flaws in collegiate sports, and how the barriers were broken and created a environment were talent was based on skill not color. However, I still believe that racism in sports exists in rural and not industrial areas of the United States. In addition to my liking to this book, I feel that it is well written and can be beneficial society. The book, Benching Jim Crow: The Rise and Fall of the Color Line in Southern College Sport, is impactful to changing the view of race and practicing equality. All in all, this book is set out to inform his readers about the history of race in intercollegiate
The NBA did not desegregate until the late 1950’s roughly 5 years after baseball had fully Integrated. Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton and Earl Lloyd were the first African Americans to be over Drafted in the second round by the Boston Celtics. Beforehand there were African American Teams, in the 1904 they were called black fives. They were branches outside of the YMCA, During the black fives era the teams emerged out of the cities: New York, Washington, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Cleveland. The teams were affiliated with churches, social clubs and newspapers.
Over 60 years ago, America began the greatest shift in its society: the Civil Rights Movement. Before this movement began, Jim Crow laws were still in effect segregating blacks in certain schools, bathrooms, and even public buses (History.com). Over time, many in the black communities grew frustrated with the Jim Crow laws, because of their effectiveness in limiting an African American’s pursuit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. With the new emphasis on equality a new athlete was ready to make American history, and it would come on the baseball field. Jackie Robinson, Hall of Fame MLB player, become the first African-American to every play on a Major League Baseball team.
A few decades ago, African-Americans weren’t able to participate college basketball due to racial tensions amongst blacks and whites and to Jim Crow Laws. Many programs at the collegiate level blocked this from happening on multiple occasions until in 1949, when they lifted the ban and allowed integration. By lifting the ban, this allowed inclusion that ushered in whites to compete against blacks. However, some schools still refused to compete because they were hesitant and continued to stereotype. Over time, integration was evident but it didn’t take place in major programs and blue blood schools, such as Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky and Kansas until the 70s.
While the rules of basketball have changed a lot over the past 70 years, certain decades brought about more changes to the sport. During the 1960s, there was only one rule changed in NBA and one rule changed in college basketball. There was a good chunk of rules changed in the 1950s. One of the main changes that happened was that in 1964 the court widened from 12 to 18 feet which is a major change to the court style (Irvine). Also, from 1967 to 1977 a rule for dunking was enacted in college basketball to prevent injuries and harm on the court, but it was released later (“Basketball Basics Evolution of the Game”).
Jackie endured racism from fans and players but played through it all being a role model for future African American athletes. After Jackie Robinson signed with the Dodgers farm team other African Americans followed in his footsteps. Less than a year later the Los Angeles Rams signed 2 African American players Kenny Washington and Woody Strode. And in 1950 Chuck Cooper, Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, and Earl Lloyd 3 African American athletes were drafted into the NBA. increasingly more and more African American athletes were integrating into all sorts of professional sports.
This was seen as a great change in racial segregation and had a huge impact on the civil-rights movement in America. Many years after the American Civil War, The civil rights of the African American population was constrained due to state laws and discrimination, which led to them not having the right to vote, the right to be treated equally and have the freedom of speech. By the 1950’s racial segregation became legal due to “Jim Crow” laws in many states which resulted in the separation of colours in public places, work places, transport, Education and of course Sport which include Baseball at the time. Civil rights movements commenced in the following years which led to the de-segregation of Public Schools in 1954.
According to Sports Institute Magazine, “ The degree to which these degrading segregation policies hurt black communities – in and outside of sports”. Jackie Robinson once said, “I’m not concerned with your liking or disliking me… All I ask is your respect as a human being.” This was the main problem in sports. Coaches and managers didn't even care how good players were or what their personality was like.
Integration of College Sports In the United States, the integration of collegiate athletics constituted a critical turning point in the struggle against racial segregation, with several events influencing its development. Kenny Washington, Woody Strode, and Jackie Robinson's time at UCLA in the 1940s was one such occasion, and their athleticism in football there helped build the groundwork for future Black athletes in university settings (Spivey, 1983). The Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 indirectly impacted college sports policy, which challenged racial segregation in education nationwide. As a result, many college programs began to admit Black students, so Black athletes made their way onto teams.
The people who were against segregation and promoted civil rights helped to accomplish what we call today, an integrated society. During the Civil Rights Revolution, there were many prominent figures such as Jackie Robinson, the first major league baseball player who influenced the court’s decision to integrate society. Not only did Jackie Robinson play major league baseball, but he also ran track, played basketball and football. He played these college sports at UCLA, USC and Pasadena Junior College, which are predominately white colleges. Even though Robinson was black he was still desired on college teams because he possessed amazing talent.
Did you know that Michael Jordan averaged about thirty points a game, and retired with six NBA championships. The debate between who the best basketball player of all time has been going on for many years. Two of the names that come up a lot in this conversation are Michael Jordan and Lebron James. Many of the reasons why this decision can never be agreed on is because of many things. Those things including statistics, how many NBA championships have been won, and what you have been awarded with by the league and sports analysts throughout your career.
Throughout the life of America views on African Americans in sports have drastically changed. This is all because of one sport. That sport is the great game of
Ever since its debut by gym teacher Dr. James Naismith in 1891 basketball has become a widely popularized team sport for both men and women across the nation. Though enjoyed by both men and women, women have struggled to attain the same respect in the sport as men, even though the women at the University of California had their first extramural game in 1892. The same trend continues in the NBA, National Basketball Association, and WNBA, Women’s National Basketball. The NBA started 70 years ago in 1946 while the WNBA began 20 years ago in 1996. The NBA continues to gain popularity, while the WNBA struggles to still be known.
Some of the major highlights from this decade include, in 1950, “female tennis wonder Althea Gibson became the first black player to participate in the U.S. National Championships and was the first black woman to win the tennis Grand Slam.” (Fisk, Judy). “Also, in college football, the Oklahoma Sooners won three national championships over the course of the decade. The team was undefeated from 1953 to November 1957.” (Fisk, Judy).
The effect of Jordan’s game was so profound that the league changed its rules to make the games more enjoyable. This translated in outlawing defensive contact when a player is in the perimeter, which in turn allowed players to relentlessly attack the lane and score on spectacular layups or dunks in a manner similar to what Jordan popularized.