Naismith's Legacy

“The origins of basketball go as far back as the late 19th century, in Springfield, Massachusetts. Dr. James Naismith, a physical education at the YMCA, had class was full of fractious men, and was told that he needed to create an indoor game to keep the class distracted. He created basketball in two weeks, and it originally had 13 rules. As a child, Naismith and his friends played “duck on a rock”, a game in which they tried to knock a large rock off of a boulder by throwing smaller rocks at it. He also remembered seeing rugby players throw balls into boxes in a gym. Using these concepts, he came up with the idea of nailing up boxes, and having players try to throw balls in the boxes. The game caught on when the YMCA graduates traveled around. …show more content…
Among his players was Wilt Chamberlain, one of the first superstars of pro basketball. Wilt was 7’1 and 275 pounds. He was one of the strongest players, and as he played more, he was listed at 300 pounds. He was so tall that he was able to block dunks. During one game in 1962, he scored 100 points. He was unstoppable; the only NBA player to score 4,000 in one season. He’s set many records, including most points in a game, most consecutive field goals in a game, and most rebounds in a game. During the 1961-62 season, he had an average of 50.4 points per game, and had an average of 48.5 minutes per game. When he retired, he had 31,419 career points, 23,924 rebounds, and he led the NBA in scoring for 7 consecutive years. During his basketball years he had 50+ points in 118 games, 40+ points in 14 games, 30+ points in 65 games, and 20+ points in 126 games. He had a scoring average of 37.6 points per game, and his highest field goal percentage in a season was .727. He set a KU record when he scored 52 points in an 87-69 win. He also played for the Harlem Globetrotters in 1958-59 for a salary around