Did you know that the first hoops were simply peach-colored baskets and that the first backboards were made of wire? Surprisingly in 1972 college basketball was televised only regionally. Interestingly, Walt Fraizer was the first player to get paid for certain shoes!! Since the days of fishing baskets, basketball has come a long way in rules, teams, history and the NBA. Basketball was invented in 1891 by a man named James Naismith and the first game was played in December 1891. It was named an Olympic sport in 1936. Two leagues called the National Basketball League (NBL) and the Basketball Association of America (BAA) they merged after the 1948-49 season to become today's National Basketball Association (NBA). The NBA was founded in 1949. The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a rival league of 10 teams to the NBA that began play in the 1967-68 season but unfortunately disbanded nine years later in the 1975-76 season. Four current NBA teams, the Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs, originated in the ABA. The NBA instituted the three-pointer before 1979-80, borrowing the idea from the ABA. Basketball originated in the United States but is now played around the world by both men and women. In order to have a history of basketball it is necessary to have rules. The first formal rules were established in 1892. It is played by two teams of five (plus substitutes), usually indoors. The field can be up to 91 feet long and 49 feet wide. At each end is a backboard on which a bottomless net hangs in a hoop 10 feet above the floor. Basketball is played on a rectangular floor called a court. The pitch is divided into two main sections by the halfway line. The US standard course is 94 feet/28.7 m long... center of card ......th Wooden Award in 1984.Works CitedDigger, Phelps and John Walters. Basketball for dummies. Foster City, CA: IDG Book Worldwide, 1997. Elliott, Stephen P., ed. "Basketball." Webster's New World Encyclopedia. New York [ua: Helicon, 1993. 109-10."Fact Monster™ from Information Please ®." Fact Monster: Online almanac, dictionary, encyclopedia, and homework help. 2000-2013. Pearson Education. November 12, 2013 .Giacomeli, Paolo. "The rules." Revolutionary basketball. 06 November 2013 .Lazenby, Roland. The NBA Finals: The Official Illustrated History. Dallas, TX: Taylor Pub. Co., 1990.London, Steve L. "Basketball". Illustrated encyclopedia in one volume. New York: Oxford UP, 1997. 70."Teams." NBA.com. 06 November. 2013 .