Baller Alert Entertainment & Lifestyle 
Blogged By @Climb_This_Hill
With All-Star Weekend in action, we thought we’d share a few random facts about one of America’s favorite sports.
For some, these may already be familiar to you, and for others, now you have some random jewels to drop on bae during halftime.
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The first time “Basketball” was ever thought of was in Massachusetts in 1891 by James Naismith, a YMCA gym teacher who was just looking for something his students could do inside while it was raining.
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The first actual basketball hoop was a peach basket with the bottom still in it. When teams made a basket the officials had to take the ball out every time. Imagine that. Net baskets weren’t invented until about a decade later.
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The backboard was thought of when fans in the audience interfered by constantly handling the ball.
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As the game gained more popularity, teams played within a court half of the size of today’s NBA standard court. It was surrounded by chicken wire and mesh so the players wouldn’t fall into the audience due to the intensity of the game.
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The rules of basketball were integrated from a children’s game called, “Duck On A Rock.” Kids would put a larger rock on a taller platform while one kid was assigned to guard the stone, and the rest of the kids tried knocking it down by throwing smaller rocks.
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For almost 60 years, basketball was played with a soccer ball.
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Dribbling or traveling we’re both not a thing until about the 1950’s. Players were allowed to take a few steps with the ball in hand until they attempted a shot. Makes sense though, you can’t dribble a soccer ball! Stricter ball-handling rules were enforced when the modern basketball was created.
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Until 1923, whoever’s team was fouled got to pick the player of their choice to shoot the free throw, rather than the actual player who got fouled.
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So there! A few random facts to share about basketball. Last fun fact and a little black history, African-Americans dominate the NBA at nearly 75 percent of its players, when once upon a time, there were zero black players on the court. It was star players such as, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and Oscar Robertson who changed the game forever, and gave aspiring African American athletes the determination to break barriers, and essentially create the diverse platform it is today.
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Happy All-Star Weekend!
