Krausehouse.club September 3, 2021
Author: @GladRobot
Contributors: @thycommodore, @karsenthil, @benschecter, silkeyj#6827
It’s June 12, 1991. A who’s who of Hollywood stars, musicians, and movie executives watch live as the man they call “Magic” is knocked off the proverbial pedestal. Millions more stare at their TVs in awe.
Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls just defeated Magic Johnson’s L.A. Lakers to win the NBA championship. The first of six titles for the man better known as “Air Jordan”. Basketball is on the precipice of becoming a global phenomenon, and the NBA is on its way to eventually earning $8.76 billion in annual revenue.
Yet, 100 years earlier, basketball was just an idea.
In 1891, Dr. James Naismith was a P.E. instructor at the local YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts. One day, he was asked to create an indoor sport to keep athletes in shape during the frigid winter months. With a set of 13 rules, two peach baskets as goals, and a ball with twine lace stretched across the inseams, the game we know today as basketball was born.