NAISMITH'S CREATION CELEBRATES 11 DECADES

By Jan Hubbard

As he began scribbling the rules of a game that was born out of desperation and exasperation, Dr. James A. Naismith undoubtedly did not envision a time when his name might be mentioned in an exchange between natives of Summerfield, La., and Denmark. The notion that a global game would result from an exercise of trying to control and focus 18 rebellious males in a gym class was as foreign to Naismith as a question Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz attempted to answer at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

"I am from Denmark and new to this business," a writer told Malone, a member of the U.S. Olympic team. "How come you get two points every time you score?

While many in the large interview room began laughing, a baffled Malone sputtered to come up with a response.

"Dr. Naismith, when he invented the game said two points," Malone said.

Dr. Naismith, while he was inventing the game on December 21, 1891 - 110 years ago on Friday, would have been amused for at least two reasons.

First, Malone was wrong. When Naismith invented the game, goals were worth one point. Second, although Naismith would be proud that he is so readily remembered as the inventor of basketball, he would be surprised that 11 decades later, his name is still used to define the way the game should be played.

It is a situation peculiar to basketball. When there are debates relating to rules changes or fundamentals in other sports, seldom does anyone say:

"Just play baseball the way Abner Doubleday intended it to be played."

Or: "Just play football the way Walter Camp intended it to be played."

Naismith, however, is often cited when the purists or traditionalists are ruminating on current trends that they may find unappealing. In recent years, rule changes or adaptations in basketball have often been accompanied by the exhortation to, "just play the game the way Naismith intended."

Naismith's intentions, in fact, were nothing more than practical. His class of 18 men, most of whom were in their 20s, could exorcise their physical demons outside during mild weather, but when it was cold and they had to stay inside, the mixture of boredom and hormones in a cramped area made for nothing less than chaos. Naismith's boss had issued a mandate to create something to keep the men occupied, but several attempts had failed, and the men had added disdain to their aberrant behavior.

When he sat down with a pencil and a pad to write down the 13 rules he had made up, it was a little more than an hour before his rowdy gym class was going to convene. Naismith had imagined the worst possible behavior.

First, he had decided the ball had to be large because games with smaller balls needed what some called an additional piece of equipment - a bat, club or racquet. To Naismith, those were called weapons.

Second, there could be no running with the ball, thus no tackling, which would lead to fighting, blood or broken bones.

Third, and this was the key to the game, there had to be some sort of goal. Naismith didn't want a soccer or lacrosse goal because indoors, nine men would line up in front of the goal and it would be impossible to score, although that would not prevent rugby-like collisions from taking place in front of the net. So the goal had to be elevated.

Those three elements obviously are still fundamental parts of the game.

Yet if other aspects of Naismith's game are considered, it is clear that he did not imagine the refinements that would come later.

Naismith initially believed the ideal number of players was nine on each side. He said the game could be played with as few as three or as many as 40 players on the court at the same time.

His game was played with a peach basket with no hole in the bottom.

There were no backboards.

There was no 10-second line, no three-second violation, no frontcourt and backcourt and no boundary lines.

There were no free throws. If a team committed three consecutive fouls, the other team got a point.

But the greatest difference between Naismith's invention and basketball as we know it today was that in the 13 rules, there were no provisions for dribbling.

One of Naismith's final decisions before the first game was whether to use a soccer ball or rugby ball and it obviously would not have been possible to dribble an oblong ball. Naismith's game was to pass or bat the ball with an open hand, and, indeed, one early technique players used was to run down the court tapping the ball over their heads, much like the technique Dennis Rodman would use a century later to control rebounds.

Naismith, however, was usually delighted by changes and he marveled at the ingenuity of the young males, who quickly advanced the technique of the game. The early innovators realized the way around the rule banning running was to temporarily lose possession of the ball, so they would roll it or bounce it on the floor. One bounce led to two, and soon, players were dribbling.

Naismith was giddy in his response, calling the dribble "one of the most spectacular and exciting maneuvers in basketball."

Naismith never expected his game to remain the same. In his autobiography Basketball: It's Origin and Development, published in 1941, two years after his death, Naismith indicated that he not only expected the game to evolve, but that he also was excited by change.

"Each generation that has played basketball has passed on some new developments to the next," Naismith wrote. "The technique and expertness with which the game is now played are indeed wonderful to me."

If there is one Naismith commandment that is consistently desecrated, it is that basketball should "contain no personal contact." In recent years when the NBA tried to limit physical play, there were complaints from some players who believe brute strength is a substitute for refined skills. Limiting contact, they said, was not the way basketball was meant to be played.

Naismith, of course, disagreed, but in defense of the complainers, it should be noted that ignoring the no-contact rule is almost as old as the game. In 1910, Naismith watched a rough game between Kansas and Missouri and said: "Oh my gracious. They are murdering my game."

While Naismith and fundamentally sound play are synonymous, he did have at least one position that would be considered radical and might surprise some of the current purists. Today's players would be shocked to know that for the first 45 years of the game, play was stopped after every basket and there was a jump ball at center court. That rule was eliminated in 1936 to speed up the game and increase scoring.

Naismith, the ultimate purist, was not pleased.

"Personally, I feel that the center jump is to basketball what the kickoff is to football," Naismith wrote. "to award the ball to a team after a goal is scored takes away much of the thrill that is present in an opening play."

Generally, however, Naismith embraced the evolution of the game while also maintaining pride that the spirit of his 13 rules endured. There are some remarkable aspects of those 110-year-old rules. At a time when no one could have imagined the athleticism that would take the game high above the basket, Naismith actually wrote a rule that addressed goaltending.

So while some references to basketball's founding father may not be technically correct, it is appropriate to pay tribute to a man of remarkable vision, intellect and imagination. If it is necessary to have one word that describes basketball perfection, it seems fitting that it should be "Naismith."

(Jan Hubbard is the editor of the Official NBA Encyclopedia and currently is a free lance writer living in New Jersey.)